Backtalk | What readers are saying

Grumpytown

Seattle does have championship team

I know Seattle sports are in the gutter right now, but Steve Kelley ("It's the worst of times in Grumpytown," Seattle Times, Oct. 19) failed to mention that we do have one champion in this city. The Sounders are fresh off their United Soccer League First Division championship. They gave the fans something to cheer about.

I know that soccer is second or maybe even third class in this city, but maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe the media could even get behind a winner and give them a little more attention to put them on the radar of the casual sports fan.

I want winners in our city as much as the next guy (especially the Huskies football team), but why not give a little credit to the guys that are making it happen without the hype and the million-dollar contracts?

— Mark Sterley, Redmond

Check out volleyball

At least the No. 5 UW women's volleyball team is rolling — a nice win Thursday against No. 7 UCLA!

You have to search a little sometimes, but you can always find a little something to smile about in sports.

— Jeff Steele, Seattle

Hope Solo

Young player learns harsh lesson

As a former soccer parent and soccer fan, I couldn't agree with Steve Kelley more ("Unjust penalty," Seattle Times, Oct. 17).

What she said was true (except maybe she wouldn't have stopped all the goals), but she just shouldn't have said it. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut and let the commentators do all of the talking for her. They were already castigating the coach for his poor decision. She would have been the wronged party and cemented her position with the team. That's a lot to ask of a young competitor, though. I'm sure she learned her lesson.

— Brian Iller, Richmond

Coach must apologize

I keep saying to myself: When will coach Greg Ryan apologize?

Everyone can be justly proud of Hope Solo and her teammates. However, Ryan should be suspended for his poor decisions and humiliation of Solo. As founder of the American Youth Soccer Organization, I can only imagine what damage such vicious behavior can do to the world's most popular sport, and life generally.

— Hans F.W. Stierle, Vashon Island

Intense teammate

Our daughters played select soccer for several years, and we understand the intensity of emotion behind games and the mental toughness required in the sport. Hope Solo is the kind of goalie every team needs — someone who is confident in her ability to make a difference.

— Pam Kulin and Jim Rogers, Seattle

The team failed

The coach's decision to bench her for the Brazil game may have been a bad one (and indeed the commentators on Eurosport — I'm living in Yerevan, Armenia — were pretty scathing toward both Brianna Scurry and the coach), but the bottom line is: The U.S. didn't score any goals.

At best, with Hope Solo in goal, they would have tied and gone to penalty kicks, which could have gone either way. And if you saw the game, it was pretty clear that the Brazilians were outplaying the Americans all across the field. Granted, in soccer you can outplay your opponent and still lose, but the team, not the goalie, lost this game.

Hope Solo wasn't in the goal, and she should know better than to second-guess the person who was. The coach may have acted vindictively, but he wasn't the only one to take offense. It was disrespectful to a legendary player, violated the one-for-all/all-for-one concept of the women's team, and was just rather presumptuous.

Of course she should eventually be forgiven and welcomed back into the fold. But a little time wearing the sackcloth and ashes might do her and the team a bit of good.

— Marko Velikonja, Yerevan, Armenia

From the heart

Solo probably should not have said what she did. But a goalie must go in to a game believing that they can stop every shot. Also this was the World Cup, possibly a once-in-a-lifetime event for her.

Who can blame her for telling us how she really felt? It was an incredibly bad decision by the coach. While everybody seemed to be aghast at her statement, I actually thought, "Wow, what honesty." She told it like it was.

— Bob Hundhausen,

Madison, Wis.

Too little, too late

I have talked to my daughters and used Solo's conduct as an example of what never to do in any circumstance. She created a distraction that harmed her team. Any repercussions are well-deserved. Her apology last week was too little, too late. It's time to move on and see if that team can ever trust her again.

— Laura Nagel, Springfield, Va.

Dominant player

This is who Hope has always been: outspoken, confident, beautiful and tough. To achieve what she has, to dominate the way she did in high school to get to the level she is at now, she had to be that way.

My girls looked up to her. They played on the same court and fields, for the same team, and they always knew that Hope was a Richland Bomber team player, that her team was her No. 1 priority and that her family was in the stands cheering her on.

— Linda Clark, Richland

Seahawks

Fans have duty to cheer for team

After Sunday night's game, I think Seahawks fans might need a reminder about 12th-man responsibilities. Somehow I just don't believe that booing our own guys is going to improve their performance.

Let's review our 12th-man duties: cheering in encouragement, painting oneself with pride, relaying helpful instructions to vision-impaired referees, reminding coach Holmgren that he can always "bring in" his 12th man, and just being there for one another during those hard times. Don't forget we are walk-ons to this team and I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be cut.

So I think we should secure our position on special teams, and make sure we're not dropping the ball. I know if I'm out there watching my Seattle Seahawks take the field, I've got their back.

— Kim Reynolds, Auburn

Sonics

Team belongs to Seattle

Someone sleeps on the streets while a child goes to bed feeling the pangs of hunger. In the meantime, a selfish owner of a basketball team tries to hold the city hostage to build a new sports venue. Is this really the way we need to spend our money on things so trivial?

Living in Seattle for the past 60 years, I never thought we would ever see the priorities of this fine city be taken into a hostage situation from someone trying to steal from us what belongs to us.

Is Oklahoma incapable of creating a team? Why else would they come here, play the robber baron, and steal away a Seattle tradition? I hope that the City Council and the courts will see the folly in this and ensure that we are not robbed of something that belongs to Seattle!

— Anna Haas, Seattle