‘91ers Move On, With Their Legacy Secured
ATHENS, Greece — Over the past 13 years, they talked about team, about being teammates.
The members of the U.S. women’s soccer team talked about little kids who needed strong female role models -- women athletes to look up to, emulate.
They talked about nail polish, how they would sit up all night, painting stars and stripes on each other’s toenails and who got to choose the color for next time.
They giggled when they talked about Julie Foudy’s hairdo on some publicity photo, wondering why it was poofy.
They took a picture of Foudy and her hairdo, made T-shirts, showed up at a team picture and, surprise, made Foudy laugh hysterically when they opened their warm-up jackets and inside, they were wearing those silly shirts.
They talked to reporters. Anywhere. All the time.
They teased each other, praised each other, pushed each other, cared.
They called Brandi Chastain “Hollywood,” because she never met a camera she didn’t like.
They call each other “The ‘91ers” because they’ve been playing together all these years.
They talked about Title IX, imploring the president of the United States to leave it alone and extolling the effect it has had on opportunities for women athletes.
Look at us. Watch us. We’re really just the start. There’s more to do.
They talked about sweatshops in underdeveloped countries and how they needed to see for themselves where the equipment they used was coming from.
They talked about the trips to Haiti, where there was no electricity so they studied college books by candlelight; where there was no water, so they jumped in the pool for something like a bath.
They hung around together, off the field, playing golf, going to movies, grocery shopping, buying each other their favorite snacks. Cookies for Foudy. M&M;’s and Skittles.
They talked about the U.S. men in supportive fashion when the guys finished dead last in the 1998 World Cup. They never gloated, even though everyone knew that it was them, the U.S. women, who were a better team -- not to mention the real face of soccer in America.
They played for three different coaches, winning Olympic medals and World Cups for them all.
They saw old players retire and young ones come up through the pipeline. Michelle Akers, Tisha Venturini, Shannon MacMillan and Tiffeny Milbrett are gone, not forgotten. Lorie Farr and Cindy Parlow challenged them but couldn’t quite stick around.
See, there is so much rich history with these gold medalists, these World Cup champs, it’s hard to say goodbye.
It’s tough to watch a dynasty stand at the brink of being dismantled, even when the reasons for calling it quits are sound, good, smart.
Mia Hamm’s body hurts. She wants to go home -- to Chicago, to her new husband, to see her family and friends and be there for them. How many more times can she be tackled, twisted, kicked or held?
Foudy sounded unusually subdued, which seemed impossible, considering her usual hyper energy, her drive, her mouth.
It’s the end of an era -- and it was a flood of memories and emotions that came with the awarding of the gold medal.
“We’re a big family. We thanked each other. Laughed. Cried. We are so happy to bring back the gold medal to the U.S.A.,” said Brianna Scurry, the goalkeeper who says she’ll join “The Original Five” and head off into the sunset.
No more World Cups or Olympics with a U.S. team that doubles as a dynasty.
Think of the women’s soccer team over the past 13 years and you might as well think of the New York Yankees or Montreal Canadiens.
Even so, it is time.
Thursday night, the fast and furious players from Brazil were better than the United States, but unlucky. The Brazilians showed the U.S. women that it’s probably a good idea: Time to move forward and hope the talent and the team values and the commitment will be there, the way it has been for 13 years.
Fresh legs can’t replace the pioneers who crafted one of the best teams that ever competed in the United States or for the United States, but neither can thirtysomething stalwarts continue on -- not when kids, partners, parents and the future call them.
The minds have been willing to push toward this Olympic goal, but the bodies can’t soldier on. And, in some cases, the minds of these U.S. soccer stars are tired, too.
What they have done over the past 13 years, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett, Foudy and Hamm.
These “Original Five” from the 1991 U.S. national team aren’t just the link to the origins of one of the greatest sports legacies in U.S. history, they are the will, the wherewithal, the talent, the brains, the brawn, the good looks and great personalities.
It has been a long haul. There have been many places where it could have all broken down or falled apart.
Foudy, Hamm, Chastain, Lilly and Fawcett refused to let anything get in the way.
At the same time, they refused to be selfish or egotistical or self-involved and instead, were the opposite: Generous, dedicated, tough, funny, smart, hard-working.
No wonder they were impossible not to respect and root for.
No wonder, then, after Thursday night’s gold-medal celebration, the junior members who are inheriting full control of the U.S. soccer team wanted it to end this way.
“This is about them. This is exactly what we wanted,” said Abby Wambach, 24, the powerful forward whose header secured the gold in overtime.
“I wanted to put them in the spotlight, let them step up to the podium, soak everything up, cherish every last moment,” she said.
Time is up. Time to move on. But not before remembering what and who these soccer teammates have been -- to each other, for us.
