In sports, when beloved athletes announce they are hanging up their cleats/sneakers/boots/gloves, there is usually a grand farewell tour full of gifts and adulation.
Look no further than the recent NBA examples of Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, both of whom received lavish send-offs throughout their final season.
NFL quarterback Tom Brady would have gotten a similar treatment had he just made up his mind about retirement in a timely manner (and might have saved his marriage to boot).
Even if a star athlete doesn’t get the golden carpet rolled out for a farewell, he or she usually gets something as a sign of honor.
NBA legend Reggie Miller finished his illustrious career with a home loss in the playoffs to the Detroit Pistons. During that critical playoff game in 2005, Pistons coach Larry Brown burned the last of his timeouts in a game that his team was assuredly going to win — just to give the Indianapolis Pacers fans some extra time to shower Miller with love.
Just like Miller, polarizing soccer star Megan Rapinoe made what is likely her final appearance with the U.S. Women’s National Team on her own home turf Sunday.
Unlike Miller, however, one of the most famous (and infamous) women’s soccer players in American history received little fanfare in her U.S. swan song.
The national anthem protester, LGBT activist and anti-Trumper has made it clear that this is her last stand, so one would assume that the otherwise innocuous send-off game (the last before the USWNT travels for World Cup play in New Zealand) between the U.S. and Wales would be as good a chance as any for Rapinoe to have her own Reggie Miller moment.
Additionally, the game (which the U.S. won 2-0) was being held in San Jose, California, not too far from where she grew up in Redding, California.
But instead of any celebration of her legacy at the game, Rapinoe got … nothing.
No, literally: nothing. She didn’t even play.
“On Sunday, a day after she surprised her team and her fans by publicly announcing plans to retire at the end of this year, Rapinoe found herself settling into a seat on the U.S. women’s national team bench a couple hundred miles from her hometown,” The New York Times reported.
“That the U.S. struggled to break down a resolute Wales team that failed to qualify for the World Cup … was perhaps a hopeful indication that Rapinoe might still have an important role to play before she walks away from the team for good,” the Times’ Claire Fahy wrote.
“Her chance never arrived on Sunday: Rapinoe did not warm up and [coach Vlatko] Andonovski never called for her to come on.”
Now, that could be due to any number of factors.
On the one hand, it’s inarguable that Rapinoe is simply not the player she once was. And that’s OK: Age eventually catches up with every pro athlete, and sometimes it’s simply unavoidable to go out with a whimper.
Perhaps she was sat simply because she wasn’t cutting the mustard as a player. (It’s worth noting that Reggie Miller finished his final game with 27 points on red-hot 69 percent shooting.)
But even if that were true, you might think she’d get in for at least a token appearance in front of her family and friends. (The Times reported Rapinoe had about 40 friends and family show up for her.)
Even Wade and Nowitzki were “lifetime accomplishment”-type additions to the NBA All-Star Game in their final year in the league.
Rapinoe’s coach said she was healthy and medically cleared to play.
Vlatko says Ertz, Lavelle, and Rapinoe are “all healthy,” with Ertz further ahead. Adds that Ertz could have played today if this were a World Cup match, & that Lavelle & Rapinoe are “medically cleared.” #USWNT
— Jason Anderson (@JasonDCsoccer) July 9, 2023
Perhaps she was simply resting since this game is rather meaningless and the World Cup games begin soon enough. (The U.S. will take on Vietnam in New Zealand at 1 p.m. local time July 22.)
Regardless, it’s an ignominious omission at best and a downright humiliating move at worst for the leftist soccer star.
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