There Was Nothing Wrong With Carli Lloyd’s Commentary on U.S. Women’s Soccer Team

Also in Traina Thoughts: Damar Hamlin continues to amaze; former MLB player pulls back the curtain; Iowa State gambling scandal and more.

1. Let me be up front right off the bat here: I don’t watch any soccer, men’s or women’s, and I couldn’t care less if the U.S. women’s team wins the World Cup or not.

Having said, this business with Carli Lloyd is a media story, so I do have some thoughts.

Lloyd called out the U.S. team on TV for celebrating after a 0–0 tie earlier this week, and the clip of Lloyd was all over social media. 

Fox's Carli Lloyd did not mince words about the USWNT appearing to celebrate their disappointing 0-0 draw with Portugal.

"To be dancing? To be smiling? The player of the match was that post." pic.twitter.com/QPHCIAoZ1e

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 1, 2023

Now there is some backlash against Lloyd. I don’t know enough about soccer to know whether Lloyd has an agenda, but just as an outside media observer, there is absolutely nothing wrong with what she said. She was doing her job.

I think fans across all sports are shocked whenever someone doing studio work harshly criticizes players. It simply doesn’t happen that much. Yes, people on hot-take shows will rip away, but the folks on studio shows who are doing pregame, halftime, postgame, rarely unload.

So I think people were taken aback by Lloyd’s being so blunt and direct.

You want to see a bad take? This is a bad take:

Ali Krieger, who played with Carli Lloyd on 3 World Cup squads, says Lloyd’s criticism of the #USWNT post-game smiles & selfies wasn’t “necessary.”

“They’re allowed to enjoy the moment.” pic.twitter.com/Vni0g8oTJs

— Michele Steele (@MicheleSteele) August 2, 2023

First off, “they’re allowed to enjoy the moment” doesn’t make much sense because the U.S. players didn’t hear Lloyd’s comments while they were dancing and taking pictures. So they were totally allowed to enjoy their 0–0 tie.

Second, “wasn’t necessary” could be said about 95% of things said on a postgame show. Again, Lloyd’s job is to offer analysis and commentary. If she felt the team was over the top in celebrating, that’s a legitimate topic to discuss.

You don’t have to agree with Lloyd’s analysis or like Lloyd’s analysis, but to say she shouldn’t have said that means you just want to stifle her and prefer “rah rah” commentary only.

That’s not what Lloyd is getting paid to do.

2. Who knows how he will perform in the regular season, but it's just surreal to remember what happened to Damar Hamlin on that Monday night in early January and now see him pick off a pass at Bills practice.

Love to see it! 👏 #BillsCamp @HamlinIsland | @Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/8UnOSmxNCF

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 1, 2023

3. Outfielder Travis Snider played in the majors, mostly with the Blue Jays and Pirates, from 2008 until ’15. Snider never had a big season. His career high in homers was 14, and his career high in RBIs was 38. Snider, inspired by the trade deadline, opened up about never living up to expectations and getting dealt during a game in a tweet worth reading.

11 years ago, I was pulled off of the field in my hometown in front of all my family and friends, while warming up before the sixth inning. Confused, I jogged off the field and was handed a cell phone at the bottom of the dugout steps.

On the phone was the @BlueJays GM letting…

— Travis Snider (@Lunchboxhero45) August 1, 2023

4. Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers has been accused of betting on Cyclones games, and the details, via the Des Moines Register, are fascinating.

• Dekkers is accused of placing 26 wagers on Iowa State sporting events.

• He’s accused of betting on Iowa State’s 2021 football game against Oklahoma State when he was a backup QB.

• He allegedly made approximately 366 mobile/online sports bets totaling more than $2,799 via DraftKings.

• He’s accused of “tampering with records in an attempt to disguise his identity while placing sports wagers. In other words, Dekkers tried to make it look like someone else was placing the bets instead of him.

I don’t understand why Dekkers couldn’t legally place a bet on Iowa sports (other than football). I also don’t think it’s a big deal if he bet on his own team, but that’s just me.

Bottom line: Free Hunter Dekkers! 

5. HBO released a cookie-cutter, generic teaser clip for Hard Knocks, which debuts Tuesday. 

Now boarding... ✈️#HardKnocks Training Camp with the @nyjets premieres August 8 on Max. pic.twitter.com/08RsQjUkKk

— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) August 1, 2023

6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with WWE superstar Seth Rollins. Among the topics covered:

• A potential story line with wife Becky Lynch

• His enormously popular theme song and the crowd sing-alongs

• His relationship with Cody Rhodes

• What happened in that Raw segment the night after WrestleMania when he came out did nothing

• His love of the Chicago Bears

• NFC North breakdown

• His dreams of calling an NFL game and the play-by-play guy he’d like to work with

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I’ve always thought Cheri Oteri was criminally underrated when it comes to Saturday Night Live cast members. Plus, the episode she did on Curb Your Enthusiasm was epic. So I got a huge kick out of this video I saw of Oteri while scrolling through TikTok last night.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.