A Grip on Sports: The Underdog Syndrome is sweeping the world as the U.S. tries to sweep its way through another women’s World Cup
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s get to the world of sports’ news quickly. After all, tomorrow is the Fourth and hot dogs, apple pie and fireworks await. Well, not that last one because, you know, fires and stuff. But hot dogs. Woo-hoo.
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• You hate the Patriots? How about the Yankees? Hope someone other than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal wins Wimbledon? Glad to see the Warriors’ roster crumble? If you do, you suffer from Underdog Syndrome.
It’s not just a disease here in the United States, though I’m pretty sure Patient Zero came from somewhere in rural Georgia. The sports-specific strain of the disease has infected the entire world and, this week at least, seems to be centered in France.
That’s where the U.S. women are en route to another World Cup title. Even as the rest of the world moans and groans about their dominance. And blows everything out of proportion.
Two staffers make sure a hotel has enough meeting room and England’s coach feigns disrespect. Celebrations are too boisterous or too “cheeky” and the world whines. Video review disallows a goal and it’s a conspiracy to put the Americans in the final.
OK, that last one is mine, though I really don’t think it is true. It just sounds fun. Besides, with FIFA, who knows?
The real point here is no matter which team or which player is dominant, there is a subset of fans who will always root against them and for their opponent.
When Tiger Woods was the best golfer in the world, there were golf fans that sat at home at rooted for anyone-but-Tiger. The Super Bowl comes on each year and 95 percent of the nation suddenly becomes huge fans of the NFC representative. It wasn’t just Canadians who rejoiced last month when the Warriors went down. And now the rest of the planet is united in the hope of someone besides the U.S. winning the women’s World Cup.
The Underdog Syndrome. It’s spreading.
• The U.S. won 2-1 Tuesday despite Megan Rapinoe out with a hamstring problem. No big deal. Her replacement, Christen Press, scored and Alyssa Naeher saved a penalty kick en route to another win.
However, much of the world focused on Alex Morgan’s celebration after scoring what turned out to be the winning goal. Sipping on tea? How disrespectful.
• You may not have noticed, but the Mariners have been playing pretty well lately. Not well enough to be in contention or anything, but well enough to give contenders fits.
It happened last night as well, when Tim Beckham came off the bench and hit a game-deciding home run against the Cardinals. It’s a perfect role for the worst defender since Jose Canseco and his home-run-producing head.
And the biggest off-season trade Jerry Dipoto made seems to be working out, even if there is no one from the deal helping the M’s right now.
We are talking about the deal that sent Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz to the Mets in return for a handful of players, most notably Jarred Kelenic and Jay Bruce.
Kelenic has already assumed the mantle of the M’s best prospect (he’s hit the ball well in his two stops this season as the 19-year-old moves up the ladder) while Bruce was traded to the Phillies for another minor leaguer.
The biggest aspect of the deal for the M’s was simply getting Cano’s contract off their hands. Yes, they are paying quite a bit of it, though it’s less than half of what’s left. And they shed an over-the-hill player who isn’t contributing in New York (Cano is hitting .243 with four home runs and 18 RBIs in an injury-plagued season) and probably won’t over the rest of his career.
The odd part of the trade’s value is Diaz, who could have been expected to continue his upward ascent as one of the game’s best closer. He hasn’t. In fact, things have been going so poorly for the 25-year-old right-hander recently, he is no longer exclusively pitching the ninth inning for the Mets. How bad is it? Last year he had a WAR of 3.2, making him one of the best relief pitchers in baseball. This year that’s down to 0.1, making him, basically, an average pitcher.
He’s blown more saves in his past nine appearances (four) than he did in Seattle all last season. He’s given up seven home runs, two more than last year.
He’ll more than likely bounce back. His talents are too transcendent not to. But for now, with the M’s banking money and assets for the future, this is one Jerry Dipoto trade that looks smart.
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WSU: Klay Thompson underwent ACL surgery yesterday. He should be able to return to the court anywhere in the next six-to-nine months. … Jalen Thompson is getting a lot of NFL attention. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, we have news that centers round the conference as a whole, including CBS’ guess on the win totals in football as well as Lindy’s. … Yahoo, meanwhile, looks at the upcoming basketball season, which seems a long way off. … Washington showed off its new Adidas football uniforms yesterday, though the Huskies wouldn’t allow photographs. There are, however, leaked ones on the Net.
Gonzaga: The U19 World Cup in Greece has a definite GU flair, with three of the top six scorers either a Bulldog player or a committed recruit. Two of the current players, Joel Ayayi and Filip Petrusev faced off yesterday, with Petrusev’s Serbia team defeating France. Jim Meehan has that and more in this story. … Larry Weir talked Zag basketball with The Slipper Still Fits’ Steven Karr on the latest Press Box pod.
Indians: The hot start is but a memory. Spokane lost 9-3 last night at Avista to Salem-Keizer, the Indians seventh loss in eight games. Dave Nichols has the game story. … Around the Northwest League, Eugene snapped its losing streak but Everett lost. … It’s the low minors. Sometimes players have to contribute in weird ways.
Mariners: As we said, Beckham’s pinch-hit home run lifted the M’s to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Cardinals, though it didn’t sound that way. St. Louis’ fans seemed to outnumber the Mariners, even in T-Mobile. … Before the game, Scott Servais talked about his relationship with the Angels’ Tyler Skaggs. … The M’s announced a dozen international signings. … Gene Warnick returns with his Out of Right Field recap.
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• It’s time to get rid of the clutter in our house. We’ve lived here for 34 years and it’s accumulated. Started with the garage yesterday. Got about halfway through it, though the back of the pickup is 100 percent full. My guess is I will be off to the waste-to-energy plant today and then back at it. Fun times. I’m not looking forward to cleaning out a couple rooms in the basement – or my closet for that matter. Until later …