A week ago, you were cuddling on the couch. Immersed in the hugs of your mom, and grandma, and auntie. Then they stopped, stared at their phones in horror, and tried to explain why they felt so sad.
Dear Boys,
I can’t add to what they said, because while the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg affects me and will affect you, it means something else for women. Also, much of what I’ve drafted has been deleted as it sounds like a man telling young men, “here’s a quick guide to feminist ideology and contemporary sexism”.
RBG was an icon. A diva who turned into a rock star. An idealistic ideologue who made time to share appreciate the passions and of her rival jurists.
Our lives are richer because she was in a powerful position to affect our world. As she said
Vitally, Ginsburg frequently argued before the Supreme Court prior to joining its ranks as a justice. She held, as did the renowned Title IX law, that:
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Title IX of Education Assistance Law (1972)
Too often, sports becomes an exclusionary place, especially in terms of gender. Too often, we fixate on the men of the sport and isolate women’s games to the fine print, or ancillary commentary.
Title IX challenged that notion. It insisted that young women have access to all the athletic programs that young men accessed by default. While college football and basketball are big business; women’s sports have brought in a more diverse and equitable student body.
Without Title IX, there likely wouldn’t be the bevy of young female soccer players in the US. Without that market (and corporate sponsorship that goes with it) there likely wouldn’t be the women’s game around the world as we know it today. Without that international competition, I wouldn’t be reporting breathlessly on the Rosenborg Kvinner, or the Grizzly Soccer team, or Freiburg, Emelec, and Grenoble.
Without Title IX, without a firm and emphatic belief that no person should be excluded from activities, including sports, on the basis of sex, our world would be poorer, our experience, more shallow.
Title IX is a droplet in the ocean of Ginsburg’s work. But the ripple effects of it crash ashore each and every day. We make mistakes (my ignorant titling of weekly MVPs at the start of this year is but one of my many). But with the challenging, strident, and invaluable contributions of women, especially those like RBG in places where decisions are being made, we grow.
For the first time since probably mid February there were both a bunch of games and a full time job on bmy plate… so rather than go back chronologically through the games that have happened here are some overriding takeaways from each side’s last two weeks.
Scores
Awful Alebrijes
Alebrijes 1 – 3 Dorados
Tepitlan 2 – 0 Alebrijes
270 minutes into the season, Alebrijes has scored once from open play. They have a habit of ceding early and staying behind. Last years trophy feels a long way away and not just because time is a flat circle in Corona-ville.
Ehhhh….Emelec….
Emelec 2 – 1 LDU Portoveijo
Técnico Universarito 2 – 0 Emelec
El Nacional 2 – 1 Emelec (M)
Emelec 2 – 2 Independiente de Valle
As Ecuador works double time to complete their two part season, Emelec seems like they’re biding their time waiting for the second half. In 4 of the 6 games since the return from COVID, they’ve allowed two goals. And only scored that many, twice.
Finding Freiburg
SC Freiburg 1 – 2 Bayern Leverkusen {W}
While the most consistently overachieving men’s team in Germany gears up for a new season without several stars, the women’s side started back without talisman Klara Bühl. Rebecca Knaak’s first half penalty seemed promising, but a late collapse left them frustrated in their opener.
Grinding Out Grenoble
Grenoble 5 – 3 Toulouse (M)
It wasn’t pretty at the back, but it got led bleus in the Win column for the first time in a while. Willy Semedo and Moussa Kailou Djitte exploited Left Back Kelvin Adou for three goals and our double star Yoric Ravet (formerly of Freiburg) got two assists with Brice Mableu recording a critical svae en route to an entertaining win in front of home fans (hey, remember them?!)
Missing in Minnesota
FC Dallas 3 – 1 Minnesota United
Houston 3 – 0 Minnesota United
Minnesota United 4 – 0 Real Salt Lake
All that good feeling and confidence evaporated pretty fast outside the Orlando bubble. But in true Minnesota sports form, just when you think you can write them off, they kick it into gear and make it interesting.
Heartbreaking but interesting. It might as well be the new state motto.
Ruling Rosenborg
Roa 2 – 3 Rosenborg BK
Rosenborg BK 4 – 2 Breidablik (M-E)
Rosenborg BK 1 – 1 Arna Bjornar
Rosenborg 2 – 2 Stabaek
LSK KVinner 0 – 1 Rosenborg {W}
Three more unbeaten matches for the Trolljenta put them in second place with a game in hand. The huge win in Lillestrom was especially valuable in fending off a fellow title contender.
Meanwhile, Åge Hareide and the Trollgutte have also been unbeaten of late, though their run hasn’t had the same effect on the table. Bodø/Glimt continue to run away with the league but RBK is closing ground on the top 3. That also coincides with a strong win in their first Europa League Qualifier dispatching Iceland’s Breidablik.
The Staggies only lost a game. But they lost it to a bottom of the table side. And they slipped to sixth. And they now trail Celtic and Aberdeen who have each played two fewer matches. Things still look better than last year, but not quite title contention…yet…
Wild Variations at Vozdovac
Backa Backa Palanka 2 – 1 FK Vozdovac
Another week another wild start in Serbia. This time the first goal came inside two minutes. All the others were notched before the game turned ten minutes old. Then bupkus. Still, Vozdovac has put a goal in every time they’ve played this season, so they’re halfway there.
News & Notes
More Flights from Freiburg
It must be said, I really liked Robin Koch. He was as integral and fundamental an element of Freiburg’s success as coach Christian Streich or just mirroring fundamental German efficiencies.
*Sniff* Good Luck Robin!
It also seemed obvious that he was bound for greener pastures. Still, it stings to see him leave for Leeds United. Perhaps the Premier League will give a wider audience an appreciation for the Head Cook. But we’ll always get to play the hipster card of knowing him when. (Incoming Midfielder Guus Til hasn’t exactly lit up Spartak Moscow…so…fingers crossed)
Celtic Takes the Low Road and Staggies take the high road…
And County gets fans in the stands ‘afore ye.
Sure, Celtic might have hundreds of trophies, legions of fans, oodles of cash, and 4 members of the national team, but Ross County are leading the way in getting fans back to the field.
Careful testing, tracing and automated grounds should help the highlanders stay separate and stay safe before next weekend’s clash with the 9 consecutive trophy winning Glaswegians. 500 fans may be a pittance, but it’s a 500 fold increase over what players have dealt with in the first two months of the league.
So while Celtic has all that cache, and got a two game suspension for playing quarantine-breaker Boli Bolingboli (sidebar: best name ever), Ross County can have 500 supporters live to 0 for the Hoops.
Player of the Week
Perhaps goal scorers deserve more credit. Perhaps I’m biased. But perhaps Yoric Ravet is the player we not only get to follow, he’s the player we are meant to follow.
Yoric, we are getting to know him well (Radio France)
MacKenzie's Boot Room 