<p>She definitely deserves to be suspended, but there’s no way she should be kicked off the team. The ponytail-takedown and hitting the other player in the face were dirty plays, but the rest is more incompetence than anything. Things like this happen sometimes. Removal from the team would be much bigger than the typical punishment.</p>
<p>It’s also hard to tell whether kicking the ball in the BYU player’s face was intentional, but that’s not really relevant since someone else did it. The way ESPN included the play in the highlight package says a lot about the network’s integrity.</p>
<p>Not saying she was right in doing these things, but it kind of pales in comparison to what Brandon Spikes, the UF linebacker did last week. Especially in length of punishment.</p>
<p>Apparently he sat himself out for the whole game, but they were playing Vandy. If they were playing, Bama, LSU, etc… Meyer might not have even suspended him at all. </p>
<p>Many of the more violent offensives were away from the ball, so they weren’t likely seen by the refs. There were a couple by the ball that should have resulted in at least yellow cards, so she should have been removed.</p>
<p>I’ve never been much impressed by hollow apologies for something that was done deliberately. Saying sorry is cheap and easy and doesn’t magically make things all better and seldom reflects true regret.</p>
<p>However, I think the punishment already handed out is appropriate and sufficient. I might have added a forfeit if BYU had not already won the game, but that’s about it. As others have pointed out, there was some provocation for some of Lambert’s actions. Her offense was to way OVER-react, to respond with actions way beyond what was called for in the context of a rough soccer game. And unless she brought a weapon out on the field, there is no call to get the police involved. Having cops, prosecutors, and judges acting as back-up refs in school games is the last thing we need.</p>
<p>Most of it does go on all the time. There were a couple things in there that were dirty, but the rest was either shoddy defending that should have been called as simply a foul or rough 50/50 play.</p>
<p>^^^ Maybe where you are from. We were a soccer family for many years and H both coached and played at the college level and beyond - this kind of stuff absolutely did NOT go on all the time. And in the cases where it did, it was caught and penalized appropriately. I don’t think the tape took much, if anything, out of context. The violations were outrageous, even considering those that were “provoked.” Far from being the least serious of the bunch, jerking the neck back by the ponytail with force was extremely dangerous -no laughing matter. </p>
<p>I agree with coureur about the apology. The statement was taken straight from the public relations playbook of what to say in these situations. IMO, she was presumptuous to tell people that her behavior in no way reflects her character. People have a funny way of deciding that for themselves. She needs to prove by her future actions that she is committed to behaving in a way that allows others to judge her differently.</p>
<p>I didn’t say pulling the player down by her hair was the least serious of the bunch. I specifically said otherwise. But that was only one of the highlights. Of the other 6, only one was really serious. A couple could have drawn yellow cards, a couple may not have even been fouls. It’s hard to say the tape didn’t take anything out of context, because there is some implication (which a couple people here fell for) that she was responsible for the ball being kicked in the BYU player’s face.</p>
<p>And the hair pulling incident happened after her opponent grabbed the edges of her shorts and pull them up. There is a lot of tit-for-tat contact that goes on in soccer. The key is to not to retaliate with tat times ten.</p>
<p>I agree with UCDAlum–I fault the UNM coaching staff for not pulling her earlier and giving her time to simmer down. But this was a big game in a big tournament–no courage shown by the coaching staff.</p>
<p>My daughter is a defender and she thought this girl’s actions were outrageous. Pulling of shorts is something that DOES happen regularly. If this girl is so upset by having her shorts tugged on that she feels the need to respond by practically taking this girl’s head off, then she does not belong on a soccer field. She needs to give it up and get therapy for her anger problem.</p>
<p>As someone who has suffered with a neck injury, I could hardly watch this clip. She could have SERIOUSLY injured the player-there is NO place for this kind of behavior on a soccer field. </p>
<p>I also doubt that she wrote the apology. Probably written by some athletic dept. PR person and she had to sign off on it or face worse consequences. She has probably been playing this way for years and has gotten away with it. Finally a camera catches her red handed and she’s suddenly remorseful.</p>
<p>I’d love to know if the girl’s parents encouraged this type of behavior over the years. At our high school we are experiencing an “anything to get ahead” player and his dad is behind him 1000%.</p>
<p>Reminds me of my D when she was 5 yrs old, playing mixed sex soccer league. She was the princess on the team - gave up the ball when someone wanted it more than she did, etc. But one game, (the refs ignored everything) one boy from the other side kept pushing and shoving and hitting her. She went 3/4 of the game taking it, and then she hauled off and let him have it. The other team filed a protest and out coach and the other parents laughed. The team’s princess? But she had had enough. Nothing came of the protest. And we think it was done because the parents of the boy were upset a girl had gotten the better of him! We saw a limited portion of the situation, and am very leary to pass judgment without appraising the other players’ actions more closely, although I do believe that she went overboard.</p>