Why the double standard for Hope Solo?

By all accounts she's a garbage person who goes on national TV and lies and then sees no discipline from the US Women's National Soccer team. She blatantly lied and was made to look like the victim when she was the instigator. She physically beat up her sister and her nephew, but when she saw an opportunity for a "redemption" story from the Today Show and ESPN The Magazine, she decided that she could lie herself into looking like a victim. The fact that her nephew is 6'7 and about 280 pounds, who would question her, she has an athlete's body, but she is still smallish. But her sister is much smaller than she is, so why did no one question this at the time. Well, it looks like one (and only one) group in the ESPN family, Outside the Lines, decided it was time to go back and look at the police records and they found quite the treasure trove. Apparently Hope Solo called at least two of the police officers a gay slur, called them 14 year old boys, and when they asked her to remove a necklace, she told them that it was worth more money than they make in a year. Now, I'm not a fan of police officers, especially in the town of Ballwin in St. Louis County, but I have at least the dignity and the respect to not talk to authority like that.

Hope Solo seems to have a  speaking tone like the one employed by trash people who live in the gutter. Why does she think she is so much better than these police officers? Why does she think she can hit people and get away with it? Does she believe she can get away with this type of behavior because she's good at soccer? Spoiler alert, most Americans don't care about soccer. And you're not some world class athlete with sponsorships coming out of your ears. If Outside the Lines hadn't done this story, I wouldn't be able to pick her out of a police lineup, which I'm sure she's been in a ton. This isn't her first domestic abuse case either. She's had at least one other incident that's been reported. So she's had, at the very least, two reported domestic violence cases and yet team USA soccer does nothing in the way of discipline. She gets to travel with the team and play soccer and when reporters ask her about the cases, she deflects the question and says she just wants to talk about soccer. Spoken like someone who's guilty. What Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice did was just as bad. They are both big time athletes, one who knocked his wife out cold in an elevator, the other who beat up his 4 year old child, at least faced some consequences from the NFL. Both of them got suspended, without pay, for an entire season. They did terrible, horrible, unforgivable things to women and children and at least faced some form of discipline. Hell, Ray Rice still has not been signed by a team, because I think, no one wants that kind of PR nightmare. So, I ask the question again, why the double standard for Hope Solo? Yes, she's a woman and there's barely any cases of a woman being the aggressor in domestic disputes but, coming from my mom who works in the social work field, the disputes when they involve a female as the chief instigator are treated the same as when the man is the instigator. And good for Hope Solo's sister for coming out and speaking out in defense of herself and her son. These abusers need to realize that they can't get away with the horrible crimes they are committing by beating people up. You shouldn't stand for it and if someone is abusing you seek professional help. There are people out there to protect you from the Ray Rice's and the Hope Solo's of the world. So, shame on you Hope Solo and USA Women's soccer. You are just helping this horrible person think they can do whatever they want because they are good at a sport.

Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Hope Solo, and their media enablers disgust me.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor at Seed Sing. Throw him a follow on twitter @tykulik If you are a victim of domestic violence, get help, that is the only way to stop the violence.