U.S. Soccer Team: Talented Women Behaving Badly.

Gosh, seems like it’s been years since I last wrote about the super-talented spoiled brats of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team.

Actually it’s been almost exactly two years: July 9, 2019: America’s Flag Draggers.

That was when these foul-mouthed women conflated the flag and the  White House with President Donald Trump and behaved like disrespectful morons.

I didn’t write about them last November when they sported Black Lives Matter warm-ups and knelt during the National Anthem while playing in Europe.

They play a boring sport and whine constantly about money. I decided to ignore them.

But yesterday a handful of rude team members alienated another chunk of the American fan base before a match with Mexico by once again disrespecting the National Anthem.

During a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” it appears that several members of the team turned their backs on the flag and the performer while the rest of their teammates and all of the Mexican team stood politely at attention.

What makes this a particularly ugly and immature act on the part of the athletes was that this wasn’t just a canned recording of the anthem. It was played on a harmonica by 98-year-old World War II veteran, Pete Du Pre. 

The musician is known as “Harmonica Pete” and he’s played at numerous events. Including at a Green Bay Packers game. I suspect this is the first time athletes essentially thumbed their noses at him. The fans, on the other hand, gave him a standing ovation.

At age 17, both of Pete Du Pre’s parents had died, he was head of his family and yet he joined the Army and served three years as a medic in England. 

Du Pre is literally part of a dying breed. Official estimates reckon that we lose 348 World War II vets a day. Presently, it’s estimated there are about 200,000 survivors of that war out of the 16 million who served. Most are in their mid-90s. Before we know it, they’ll all be gone.

This man and his brothers really were members of the Greatest Generation. They saved the world from fascism. They are owed respect if not gratitude.

Whether they meant to or not, a handful of imbeciles on the USWST let Mr. Du Pre know what they thought of him and his service on Monday.

As a result, I - and I suspect others - wouldn’t walk across the street to see  U.S. Women’s Soccer Team play. Let alone cheer for them in Tokyo.

As expected, a number of outlets are defending the soccer team, claiming there was some confusion about the flag, etc. Maybe so. There was a reason I wrote that it “appears” that members of the team turned their backs on the flag. I choose my words carefully.

However, given the antics of this team in the past I am not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. In fact, I’m with Richard Grinnell, former director of National Intelligence and ambassador to Germany on this one. https://twitter.com/richardgrenell/status/1412237094601183235?s=21