With So Much Exposure, Chastain Can Bare Her Soul
Brandi Chastain was walking through the parking lot toward San Francisco’s 3Com Park on Monday night before the 49er-Packer game when a tailgater recognized her.
“Are you going to take off your shirt?” he asked.
For those who appreciate women’s sports, soccer in particular, it is discouraging that Chastain is recognized more for her celebration after scoring the decisive penalty kick goal in the Women’s World Cup final last summer at the Rose Bowl than she is for scoring the goal. The encouraging thing is that she is recognized. The advertising adage is that if you can’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle. The U.S. Soccer Federation was able to sell both in the World Cup. Its team was the steak; Chastain was the sizzle.
That doesn’t mean Chastain isn’t a great player. She obviously is, a forward asked to convert to defense who succeeded so well that she became a starter for the world’s best team.
But the truth is that she became a breakout star, second only to all-time leading goal scorer Mia Hamm, because she appeared virtually nude in a magazine before the tournament and doffed her top, revealing a sports bra, on the field at the end of it.
Chastain isn’t complaining. On the contrary, she welcomes the attention.
“I never envisioned all of this publicity in a million years,” she said Wednesday while visiting Los Angeles to promote the Dec. 9 indoor soccer game at the Arrowhead Pond between the U.S. national team and the World All-Stars.
“But I love it because it gives me a chance to talk about the thing I love most, which is women’s soccer. I don’t think that’s a negative, to bring attention to our sport. It’s been a long time coming.”
The only thing she apologizes for is mild profanity in the nationally televised postgame interview. Like the mini-striptease, she said it was a product of the moment.
“People who know me have never heard me say that,” she said. “It’s just not something I say. But that’s what popped out of my mouth. That’s how excited I was.”
As for that tailgater in San Francisco, she obliged him, lifting her sweatshirt to reveal a 49er jersey.
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Chicago Bear quarterback Jim Miller’s agent, Joe Linta, took the high road when his client was suspended Wednesday for testing positive for a steroid. . . .
“You can’t appeal based on stupidity or ignorance,” he said, claiming Miller didn’t know the steroid was an ingredient in a nutritional supplement he took. . . .
But you wonder whether Linta would have been so compliant if Miller had been a track and field athlete. . . .
Several of them, including Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey, were suspended for two years by the international track and field federation last summer because they tested positive for the same steroid, nandrolone, discovered in Miller’s system. Miller was suspended for four games by the NFL. . . .
That is similar to the situation last year when shotputter Randy Barnes was suspended for life after testing positive for androstenedione, which Mark McGwire and other baseball players were taking without impunity because baseball hasn’t banned it. . . .
Is track and field too strict in its steroid policies? Or are other sports too lenient? . . .
I lean toward the latter, but it would be a good topic for discussion at the USA Track and Field convention this week at the Century Plaza Hotel. . . .
Craig Masback, USATF’s executive director, acknowledged Wednesday that his sport holds its athletes to a higher standard. . . .
I hope that’s not something for which he ever feels he has to apologize. . . .
HSI, the track club coached by John Smith in Westwood, doubled Wednesday, when two of its athletes, sprinters Maurice Greene and Inger Miller, were named winners of the USATF’s annual Jesse Owens awards. . . .
HSI stands for Handling Speed Intelligently. But member Jeff Hartwig, a pole vaulter who owns 74 snakes, told Track & Field News it should stand for Handling Serpents Intelligently. . . .
You don’t think Virginia Tech is a worthy contender for football’s national championship? The Hokies haven’t played a tough schedule, but the respectable teams they have played--Virginia, Syracuse, Miami and Boston College--they’ve outscored, 178-38. . . .
Ron Dayne will win the Heisman Trophy, but college football’s most valuable player is Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick.
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While wondering if the Dodgers couldn’t have found a shredder for those Adrian Beltre files, I was thinking: L.A. fans still upset with the Mike Piazza deal shouldn’t go to Seattle--it’s not that kind of trade convention.
Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.
