The Gold Medal in Women’s Hair Pulling Goes to …
[Guest post by DRJ]
New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert in a November 5, 2009, game with Brigham Young:
Lambert has been suspended indefinitely, but she’s sorry:
“I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions,” Lambert said in a statement. “I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation.”
***
“I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary from the coaching staff and UNM administration,” Lambert said. “This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am.”
— DRJ
As a die-hard Notre Dame fan, it pains me no end to see that a female soccer player from New freaking Mexico has more nasty in her than our collective offensive (boy, are they offensive) line.
Ed from SFV (1333b1) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:00 pmI saw that earlier. The forearm shiver to the kidney prolly hurt worse. I got the feeling that the gal that got her hair yanked was a bit overly dramatic, a trait not endemic to women, but to soccer players in general. I don’t want Dana chucking shoes at me.
Snookie’s Cookies are awesome.
JD (d36609) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:03 pmI wonder if she grew up with a bunch of brothers. Pretty tough chick. A little overboard though, for soccer. She needs to play hockey.
Marty Farty (cb1d38) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:06 pmShe would make a kick ass marine.
An honest cookie for a fair price is what built this little country I think.
happyfeet (f62c43) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:10 pmHmmm… what is that I see the BYU #7 doing to her long before the hair pulling? Yes… #7 of BYU is elbowing her in the breasts. How come I haven’t heard any commentary about #7’s actions????
JB2 (8a32c3) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:11 pmthe comments at youtube are awful awful awful but I haven’t stopped giggling at them
happyfeet (f62c43) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:13 pmMaybe I’m a little confused, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it is.
KellyT (7653cb) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:15 pmThe girl that got her hair pulled should have been suspended for waaaay over-reacting.
JD (d36609) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:15 pmI have to go buy a new laptop tomorrow. Ugh.
The comments at youtube are teh funny.
JD (d36609) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:23 pmI think the only sport this girl should be allowed to play is boxing or martial arts, where the goal is to hit and hurt your opponent.
Even forgoing the hair pull, the rest of her actions are unreasonable as well. If that is considered normative behavior in soccer I’d be surprised.
I love college hockey (Wisc. alumnus here) including women’s (Go Coach Mark Johnson and team USA!) You can play a game tough without being unsportsman-like. She doesn’t belong on a hockey or football team either (ok, put her on the men’s football team for a quarter at RB or wide receiver).
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:23 pmIn my experience, some of the contact in the lane, and away from the eyes of the ref, are every bit as vicious as football. In fact, I took much harder blows in basketball than in years of football, with the exception of a cheap shot.
JD (d36609) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:31 pmI don’t want Dana chucking shoes at me.
Heh. There was a time, JD, I would have chucked my cleats at you rather than high heels.
Dana (e9ba20) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:34 pmThis is an outrage. Most of it was just good hard soccer playing and she got elbowed first before hitting that other girl. Then she had an opponent grabbing at her crotch so she pulled her to the ground by her hair. Maybe she did some not so nice things after that, but I can see why she was pissed off by that time.
j curtis (5126e4) — 11/9/2009 @ 7:43 pmI’m not sure we are looking at the same video.
It looked like the BYU player grabbed her shorts to maintain position, not grab at her crotch. The reasonable response would have been to swipe a L backhand at her arm and clear the grip. Don’t you think the R and L forarms to the head at around 1:14 are a bit much?
I don’t usually watch soccer, but I did get to see some of the USA-Costa Rica match a few weeks ago. Nothing even approaching this behavior.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:17 pmThat was the weakest elbow I’ve seen in a long time.
If I punched someone in the back for every one of those I got over the years, I’d still be fighting over games ten years old
Nice suspension too. seasons over… so what exactly is she suspended from?
I played central defensive midfield until I was 35 and played in very good semi pro adult leagues where an elbow to the mouth away from the ball that draws blood is part of the deal.
I was kicked in the face intentionally on one of those “down in the box and ball is loose” situations and broke bones in my face and needed a bunch of stitches. Somehow a few years later that guy who kicked me wound up unable to lift his arm above his head because he took a hard fall on his scapula and it got broken…
Anyway the ref should have sent her off for two of the tackles, the hair pull, and the stupid retaliatory punch… that is four red card offenses.
SteveG (903eac) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:30 pmOtherwise don’t have refs and just let the cops sort it out
Dana, if I am going to get skulled with a shoe, I would prefer it to be a Manolo. They are considerably lighter than cleats.
JD (584916) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:32 pmShe did do a thing or two that wasn’t so nice. And she got what was coming to her, maybe, depending on how long “indefinitely” is. But she did “man up”. I’ll give her props for that.
And, SteveG, she’s a junior. There’s next year and off-season training and conditioning.
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:41 pmSteveG,
It wasn’t a totally meaningless suspension since New Mexico was eligible for an at-large bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, although these brackets show UNM did not get a bid. I guess the suspension could also be continued until next season.
DRJ (dff2ca) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:48 pm14
It looked like the BYU player grabbed her shorts to maintain position, not grab at her crotch
She was giving her a frontal wedgie. Lambert was basically sexually molested on that play.
Then they say the BYU girl had a ball kicked in her face but they do it in a way to lead you to believe that it was Lambert who kicked the ball into her face. All she did on that play was a basic non violent trip that happens dozens of times during these games. Some other girl kicked the ball into the face of the BYU player.
The punch at 1:15 was convenient because they zoom the camera in just in time to see that but the camera view is distant a second before when Lambert is hit. Even the ESPN announcer admitted they traded punches on that one, but we don’t see the punch that hits Lambert. It’s not likely that the original recording zoomed in at that time and more likely that the ESPN studio zoomed it in their video editing program.
I have no idea why they felt the need to do such a biased report.
j curtis (5126e4) — 11/9/2009 @ 8:54 pmJust girls being girls.
AD - RtR/OS! (7c0a4b) — 11/9/2009 @ 9:53 pmWow, this girl is out of control. She is an undisciplined tyrant. Steve G’s analysis is spot on. That girl has no skill so she plays dirty to make up for her lack of basic skills. Equating a little tug on the shorts to a full grab & pull of the hair simply exposes ignorance or bias. Yanking someone down by the pony tail is similar to face masking in football. You have total control of the head and neck. Its like leading a bull around by the ring in his nose. Even Julie Foudy understood the seriousness of that cowardly stunt. It dangerous and likely to cause serious injury.
And at 1:14 I see nothing from the BYU player. Her arm can be seen going up but it was not being swung at the UNM player. It is the UNM player who is wildly swinging and hitting the BYU player multiple times. It is a tribute to the BYU players that they had the professionalism and discipline not to just start brawling after what that one woman wrecking crew was doing to them when the referees failed to take appropriate action.
Brett (0247fc) — 11/9/2009 @ 11:41 pmBullshit. You feel bad because you got called on how you acted.
I don’t care if #7 was cleating you in the vagoo, you don’t do that.
A yank like that can cause whiplash, plain and simple. You acted like a thug, and I hope to god you lose your scholarship, so it can go to someone who won’t act like a God Damn Animal.
Exactly. Dead on.
Shoes? What, exactly, is she doing wearing shoes???
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 11/9/2009 @ 11:49 pmMy sister played rugby. Suffice it to say that I too am impressed, but likely because I’m used to my sister breaking collar-bones during a game. 🙂
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 11/9/2009 @ 11:53 pmJ.D.–how about a Jimmy Choo? I think they’re more stylish.
Rochf (ae9c58) — 11/10/2009 @ 5:43 amAll she’s showing is her inner Socialist. She’ll grow out of the physical phase and become New Mexico’s next Senator. Maybe even the next US President.
cedarhill (ec687a) — 11/10/2009 @ 6:22 amOther than for a chuckle, this really does not bother me. Much worse happens in any Big 10 basketball game. Much much worse happens in every pile-up after a run off-tackle in football. This was only shocking because it was so visible.
JD (959071) — 11/10/2009 @ 6:38 amShe should run for President.
The Emperor (82e13a) — 11/10/2009 @ 6:40 amA ponytail pull here, an eye-gouging there (Spikes of Florida). No big deal, right? None of it could possibly be indicative of the character of these players, or lack thereof. If you have no confidence in your ability, you resort to all kinds of tactics to win. Very little character there…
Beth in Texas (47ec7a) — 11/10/2009 @ 7:49 amThis is unconfirmed, but Lambert may have learned from her horse.
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 11/10/2009 @ 7:55 am😉
“This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am.”
????
Sure as hell looks like it IS.
BTW, BOTH should be suspended
JEA (9f9fc9) — 11/10/2009 @ 9:00 amLook, it’s a well known fact that sports commentators are heavily biased in favor of BYU sports… strike that… poorly phrased.
The BYU Women’s team showed a fair amount of grace and class, qualities that Lambert wouldn’t know if they snuck up and bit her on her penis.
General Malaise (d9a26c) — 11/10/2009 @ 11:35 amShe performed five actions worthy of a red card and didn’t even receive a yellow card. Nice.
physics geek (6669a4) — 11/10/2009 @ 11:49 amComment by Rochf — 11/10/2009 @ 5:43 am
I think Dana has chucked her share of Jimmie Choo’s at JD, and other commenters here, including yours truly.
AD - RtR/OS! (98a208) — 11/10/2009 @ 11:49 amWe wear those marks as badges of honor!
The prettier Dana wrote:
Choos your weapons carefully!
The very punny Dana (3e4784) — 11/10/2009 @ 1:08 pmOur Dana will have to Choos;
The Limerick Avenger (3e4784) — 11/10/2009 @ 1:12 pmCleats, or just regular shoes
With which she will beat us
Her posts will defeat us
And we’ll all be singing the blues
Hey, the Avenger is back!
My sister played rugby
I played a few pick – up games of rugby in college, and none of the sports I played in HS prepared me for that kind of action – there’s a valid reason why you see some of the players wearing ear gear; I got the worst case of cauliflower ear in my lifetime. Even having my football helmet twisted off of my head during a game didn’t do that much damage.
Dmac (a964d5) — 11/10/2009 @ 2:24 pmThat girl with the pony tail was hot. The one who pulled it, as expected, was not.
lee (cae7a3) — 11/10/2009 @ 2:27 pmThe only spectator sport I like is nude midget mud wrestling.
nk (df76d4) — 11/10/2009 @ 3:05 pm. . . which is all the little screen TV in nk’s doghouse can show! 🙂
The mean Dana (474dfc) — 11/10/2009 @ 3:30 pmDmac, that’s why it takes leather balls to play rugby.
The snarky Dana (474dfc) — 11/10/2009 @ 3:33 pm