by Ethan Johnson
June 11, 2008
I have a stack of books waiting to be read, but the vast majority are heady tomes that may not qualify as "light reading". I have been reading ostensibly fluffier fare in the short term. As fate would have it, I read two similar yet different books in a row, and before I return the library copy of the two, I have some thoughts to share about each.
Book One: The Girls of Summer: The US Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World by Jere Longman.
This book is largely an account of the 1999 Women's World Cup Final between USA and China. This was the game that featured the iconic and/or infamous "shirtless Brandi Chastain" moment.
Now that soccer has "clicked" for me (as of 2006), I have been doing a fair amount of homework to fill in the gaps in the narrative. Going into this book, I knew why Chastain's celebration happened, why it was more deeply significant than the lay viewer would have known, and to some extent why a bigger deal was made about it than was warranted. Knowing what I knew about the USWNT to date, I was hoping for more insight into the team. Instead, the author clearly has an axe to grind and couldn't decide what he really wanted to write about: An iconic team and victory, or a primer on the state of gender relations around the globe. I don't disagree that the latter is an important subject and certainly could have been woven into the story much more deftly. Instead, Longman starts a chapter about a given player or position, and jumps away to expound on issues like cultural barriers facing female athletes worldwide. While I found such material informative, it also detracted from the central narrative of the US team grinding out a scoreless game against China in front of a sellout crowd on national television.
Mechanically, I would have preferred a compromise of sorts: A chapter about a given player or position, then a chapter about the barriers that were overcome, what the game represented and why, what barriers remain, and so forth.
The author also does himself and his subject no favors by lashing out several times at other sports, such as football and basketball. He makes a point of calling such sports irrelevant, tired, and predictable. Strangely, the "big four" sports in the USA manage to continually stay relevant enough to warrant countless hours of TV time, even during the off-season. While I agree that sports like soccer deserve to be taken more seriously by the networks - and 2008 is shaping up to be something of a watershed year for soccer on US television - trashing established, even venerable sports does nothing to persuade newcomers to give soccer a fair hearing. Quite the opposite.
Longman does have an eminently readable writing style, with pleasing turns of phrase, especially in the opening chapter. It's unfortunate that this way with words could not have been employed in a more focused manner.
I highly recommend Dare to Dream, as USWNT retrospectives go.
Book Two: The Beautiful Game: Sixteen Girls and the Soccer Season That Changed Everything by Jonathan Littman
First the world, now "everything". Lots changed in 1999!
Aha, now this is the book I was looking for, and didn't know it. This story covers a 15-month (!!) season as experienced by a youth soccer team, the parents, and its rookie head coach. I wasn't aware that there was a team photo on the back cover (hardcover) until I got about 100 pages into the book. The team photo is especially jarring after reading the first few chapters. These are the proverbial Girls Next Door, but perhaps unknowingly serve as testimony to the triumphs and tribulations facing today's young women. Being male, and childless by choice, I found the insights into the average 14 year-old girl's life and times especially edifying. In my experience, guys are oblivious, and are under different pressures - real or imagined. The soccer team represents something of a divergent path for these girls; it's either this or hanging out at the mall. (Overly simplified.)
This is not a story about good versus evil, or good guys and bad guys. Instead, human nature takes center stage. The players are treated with a certain familiarity that is a bit off-putting to the lay reader, as is the depiction of a typical soccer match. I know what an outlet pass or an offside trap is, but not everyone else does. The author tried to strike a balance for the soccer n00bs and the veterans, but I suspect each will have their own set of complaints.
Something about the story suggested that names were changed to protect the guilty. No, these are real names, places, and events. Apparently, the author was tipped off early on to start following the exploits of the team and ultimately shape it into a book. To his credit, this isn't a Hollywood script full of explosions and predictable Karate Kid endings. The narrative and prose is compelling to the last page.
I'm not the sort of person who uses a highlighting marker while reading (especially not with library books), but this book made me want to start. The coach seems to be concerned with one essential question: Where is [this team's] heart? What have each of you done to show me that you're prepared and able to leave everything on the field?
As someone who once ran to complete exhaustion during gym class at a new school that wasn't particularly interested in who I was or where I came from, I knew exactly what the coach was talking about. I am not sure how many of the girls on her team ultimately got the message, but perhaps one day it "clicked" for them, like soccer did for me not long ago.
Between the two books, this to me was the superior choice. Same root message, similar insights into the barriers that still exist for women looking to succeed in what I'll call non-traditional ways, much less hyperbole. Sexism disappoints me to no end, but stories like this serve as a glimmer of hope for the future.
It's sad that the irrelevant, tired, and predictable attitudes that prevent women from self-actualization thrive so strongly today. My response to such attitudes is "may you be blessed with a daughter." And may you read books like this one, and learn something new. <EM>
(Sports? Why, sure! The ethmar.com sports archive may be found here.)
