The Hope Solo/Greg Ryan debacle could be the best or the worst thing that has ever happened to women’s soccer. I can’t decide. Women’s soccer has certainly gotten more ink in the last week than it has since Brandi Chastain swung her jersey over her head. Of course, the quality of that ink is debatable. In fact, I can’t recall a situation where so much has been written and said based on so little available information.

The heroes and villains in this drama seem to shift with each passing news cycle. Ryan is the villain for distracting his team with a questionable (questionable is probably the most polite thing that’s been said about it) coaching move. Hope Solo is a villain for throwing Briana Scurry under the bus (I know, the under the bus thing is getting old!) with her criticism of Ryan’s decision. Ryan is a villain for keeping Solo away from the third place match. The team is full of vengeful, spiteful, monstrous villains for supporting Ryan’s decision and not supporting Solo. Solo is a hero for having the courage to speak her mind. It goes on and on with the only constant being Ryan as villain.

In recent days, public opinion seems to have shifted to Solo as saint and the rest of the team, led by Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach, as monsters. Again, this is with very little information available to support an informed opinion.

Let’s review what we know for sure:

• Greg Ryan made a questionable coaching decision to pull his starting keeper from the semi-final match against Brazil and replace her with her back up, a world class keeper in her own right, who hadn’t seen much time in the net since the Olympics and none in this World Cup.
• Solo, the starting keeper, was very upset by this move. We can infer that at least some of her teammates were also upset, but there have been no public statements to support the inference. In fact, the only statement that has been made was that it didn’t divide the team.
• The team, collectively, put in a poor performance and was shelled by a Brazilian team playing the match of their lives.
• Hope Solo gave an emotional, post match interview against advice from her press officer, emphatically stating the coach made the wrong decision, that she would have made the saves that Scurry didn’t and inferring (unintentionally, I suspect) that Scurry was a has been, living on the accomplishments of the past.
• Solo apologized via My Space, to Briana Scurry and to her teammates for her remarks. We don’t know the details of her personal apologies. The public My Space apology reads more along the lines of “I’m sorry I was misunderstood” rather than “I’m sorry for my behavior”. I have a 13-year old son and am very familiar with this genre of apology. It doesn’t usually get him out of trouble either.
• Greg Ryan with input from “team leaders” decided that Solo would not train with the team or suit up for the third place match.
• Team leaders, Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach, characterized the decision as a team decision as the team felt Solo would be a distraction to their preparation for Norway.
• Solo did not participate in the match or the ensuing medal ceremony.
• Solo was not made available to the media during the duration of the China trip.
• Solo did not fly home with the team.
• She hasn’t spoken to media since.

What we don’t know:

• If the team decision was unanimous
• The content of her apology to Scurry and her teammates. Was it humble and sincere or more forgive me, you misunderstood?
• What has gone on behind the scenes between Solo and her teammates before, during and after this conflict.
• How Solo responded to being left off the team for the Norway match.
• Why she didn’t fly home with the team. Was it her choice or theirs?

Without answers to these questions (which may never come), I’m not prepared to sort the villains from the heroes. And, I’m certainly not prepared to vilify women whose good conduct I’ve observed up close and from afar over a period of years. That includes Hope Solo. I’ll wait for the facts to roll in before I make further judgment.

For now, I’ll enjoy the 15 minutes of fame that this story is bringing women’s soccer, while cringing that this is what it takes for this group of quality athletes and women to get noticed. At least they didn’t have to get naked to catch some attention.

After spending an evening commiserating with our English friends, the Fair Game crew stuck around to watch the Brazil vs. Norway quarterfinal and then took a couple of days off to see Beijing.

The quarterfinal was my first chance to see Marta in person and I was not disappointed. In fact, I probably was able to enjoy her play more since I was not emotionally invested in the match. The first time Brazil served a long ball toward the end line and Marta took off after it, I was reminded of the often-used Anson Dorrance expression, "she looked like she was just shot out of a canon." She was that fast. Formiga was also as impressive as ever. As to Brazil in general, they showed moments of brilliance and were astounding at times, but looked somewhat sloppy and undisciplined in the back, just like they usually do. I like our chances tomorrow.

On our first day off, we took a train into Beijing and visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is massive and a little bit difficult to appreciate as a result. I'm a lousy tourist anyway and found myself feeling a little like Clark Griswold; nodding my head a few times and ready to move on to the next thing.

The next thing for me was a shopping excursion at the Silk Market, a massive shopping center filled with booths packed to the rim with designer shoes, bags, clothes, electronics and who knows what else. I gave up after two floors. The whole shopping experience in the markets in China is really exciting at first. It is all about salesmanship and negotiating. Every time you pass a stall, a sales person yells out, "Heylady, heylady, heylady. I make you bargain. You want shoes? You buy t-shirt?" The sales people are very aggressive at getting you to look at their merchandise. It is all very amusing for about 15 minutes, but after about the 20th time of getting grabbed and pulled into someone’s stall, it wears a little thin.

Once you eye something you're interested in, the real fun begins. My friends and family will attest to the fact that I'm a little contrary, so I love to bargain. Once I even hinted that I was interested in something by making eye contact or asking a question, the first response was always "How many pieces you buy?" Once that was settled, the salesperson would pull out a calculator and show their "best, special friend, just for you price" which would be ridiculously high by Chinese standards (probably would not be so bad if in the states). My response would be to shrug it of and make a face as if it were the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard, followed by a wave of my hand and an attempt to walk off. Then the salesperson would give me the calculator for me to type in my "best price" which was usually about 10% of their asking. They would hold their chest and act like I had insulted their mother and then take the calculator and make their next offer, usually while telling me about the "high quality" of the merchandise. This would go on for a while and usually ended with me walking off as if we were done and being chased for several stalls (one time a city block) and finally settling on a price between 10% and 25% of the original asking price. I took some victory in each successful negotiation, but somehow still feel that there are several Chinese merchants still laughing at the "stupid American" that over paid.

Our second day off (and probably the last of our trip) was spent on an excursion to The Great Wall. The trip was spectacular and one that I'm glad I made time for. We took a ski lift up. There was an anxious moment or two mid ways through the ride as we wondered how we would get off, as we weren't wearing skis. We got off without incident and proceeded to climb up. The view was amazing. The mountainous scenery would be worth the hike, but the combination of what God had made with the wall that man built was awe inspiring. We hiked until we had had enough and then headed back to where we started and enjoyed a moderately thrilling ride down on a toboggan. I have to confess that I was little bit surprised that you could ride down the Great Wall in a toboggan, as it seems a bit commercial, but you can and it's an experience I highly recommend.

Speaking of commercialism, I was quite amused to find a sign at the Forbidden City emblazoned with the American Express logo. I have no idea what the sign said as it was in Chinese, but it did give me a chuckle.

Sightseeing is over and we're back to soccer. I am watching Germany and Norway live at this very moment and it is shaping up to be a great match. I'm looking forward to the "other" semi-final tomorrow and am very intrigued by the news that Greg will start Briana Scurry in goal. Should be a great evening. See you then!

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Fair Game UK staff has avenged England's loss to the U.S. by defeating the American's … in bowling.