Written Essay

Hope Solo and US Soccer VS Ray Rice and the NFL

There has been a trend recently of NFL players being accused of domestic violence, most recent was Ray Rice. The NFL has held Rice accountable for his disgraceful actions towards his wife when he knocked her unconscious in an elevator after an argument. Originally, the NFL only suspended Rice for two games. Then a video of the altercation was given to the NFL to view and once they saw video evidence of the assault a harsher punishment of being suspended indefinitely from the NFL was given. While some may say his punishment is too harsh, others will call it a slap on the wrist. By giving Rice this harsher punishment the NFL is using him as an example to other players on what will happen if they have the same kind of behavior. It shows that the NFL is ready to make changes and stand against domestic abuse violations. US Soccer should take note of how the NFL is using Ray Rice as an example and punish Hope Solo accordingly for her actions of domestic violence against her sister and nephew.

 
On June 21st Hope Solo was in an altercation with her half sister and nephew at her sister's house. Solo showed up intoxicated, looking for a ride to the airport. After several insults were thrown back and forth between Solo and her nephew, her nephew asked her to leave the home. When Solo refused to leave, her nephew threw out one last insult at Solo before she charged and punched her seventeen year old nephew. Solo then punched her sister who was trying to intervene. According to the arrest affidavit, in an effort to stop Solo from assaulting his mother the nephew broke a broomstick over Solo's head. When the broomstick didn't stop Solo, her nephew then got a broken BB gun, pointed it at Solo and told her to leave.

An unidentified man who is a neighbor of Hope Solo's sister, called 911 and cops showed up before Solo left the house. According to the 911 call obtained by TMZ the caller said, "Hope Solo is going psychotic... she's f***ing beating people up. We need help!” When police arrived they found Solo's nephew bleeding from one ear, his jaw, and a reddened nose. Her Sister’s jaw was swelling. Officers found no apparent injuries on Solo and she refused to let them search her for injuries. Solo denied hitting or assaulting anyone. She pleaded not guilty when domestic violence charges were filed against her. The 911 call is evidence enough to show she was at least partly to blame for the altercation.

 
US Soccer has not punished or reprimanded Solo in any way. In fact, they have been praising her hard work and success in recent weeks after the charges were filed. The US Women’s National Team (USWNT) sent out an email to numerous media outlets with the subject line, Goalkeeper Hope Solo On Verge of Breaking USWNT All-time Shutout Record. Attached was a full page of statistics and facts from Solo’s fourteen year international career. Solo was even given the team captain’s arm-band when the US team played against Mexico. USA Today sports writer Christine Brennan wrote, "This is not the time for US Soccer to be celebrating Hope Solo and her achievements. It is a time for Solo to be dealing with her personal and legal issues far away from the soccer field." Brennan wrote the USWNT in disgust asking why Solo was being celebrated. The spokesperson for USWNT responded by saying, ‘Solo had an opportunity to set a significant record that speaks of her hard work and dedication with the National Team. While considering all factors involved, we believe we should recognize that in the proper way’. Yes, it does speak volumes about Hope Solo as a soccer player, but what is this statement saying about the US Soccer Team that is very well known around the world? The fact that US Soccer is supporting Solo in her actions is telling the world that they are condoning domestic violence. There are millions of little girls in the United States and around the world that admire and look up to Hope Solo as a role model. These girls need to know that Solo’s actions are not okay. 

 
For those that think Ray Rice got a slap on the wrist, he still got a lot more punishment than Hope Solo has seen. If Rice had not have knocked his girlfriend at the time, now wife, unconscious in an elevator then Hope Solo’s domestic violence case would still be in the shadows and never would have fully come to light. The NFL took action and has removed several players from their rosters because of domestic abuse. The NFL has set a standard, and used players such as Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Dwyer and Greg Hardy as examples of what punishment will be for this kind of behavior, and what is expected of their players. They found the courage to act regardless of the negative impact it could have on the NFL. If the NFL had tried to hide these domestic abuse cases, the truth would have eventually been found out, making things worse for the NFL, which is now what is happening to the US Women’s Soccer team. 

The USWNT is an organization that has been used to empower and inspire women for the last two decades. Some may say that Hope Solo is innocent until proven guilty, but US Soccer needs to find the courage to punish Solo before the outcome of her upcoming trial scheduled for November 4. Christine Brennan wrote, it is a privilege, not a right, to represent the United States on the international sports stage. The US Soccer Team needs to follow the standard set by the NFL and revoke Solo’s privilege to play for the USWNT until she seeks help and the matter is resolved.

Essay Outline

Hope Solo and U.S. Soccer vs. Ray Rice and the NFL

I. Introduction

     There has been a trend recently of NFL players being accused of domestic violence, specifically Ray Rice. The NFL has held Rice accountable for his actions. Some may say his punishment of being suspended indefinitely from the NFL is to harsh, while others may say it is a slap on the wrist. 

     A. Originally NFL only suspended Rice for two games

          1. Once they saw video evidence of abuse they gave a harsher punishment

          2. Used Rice as an example

     B. NFL has shown they are ready to make changes and take a stance on domestic abuse violations.

     C. US Soccer should take note of how the NFL is using Ray Rice as an example and punish Hope Solo             accordingly for her actions of domestic violence against her sister and nephew.

II. On June 21st Hope Solo was in an altercation with her half sister and nephew at her sister's house.

     A. Solo showed up intoxicated (the altercation)

          1. After several insults were thrown back and forth between Solo and her nephew, he told her to                         leave the home.

               a. When solo refused to leave, her nephew threw out one last insult at Solo before she charged                            and punched her seventeen year old nephew.

               b. Solo then punched her sister who was trying to intervene.

               c. According to the arrest affidavit,in an effort to stop Solo from assaulting his mother the nephew                      broke a broom stick over Solo's head. 

               d. When the broom stick didn't stop Solo, her nephew then got a broken BB gun, pointed it at                            Solo and told her to leave.

     

     B. Unidentified man who is a neighbor of Hope Solo's sister called 911 and cops showed up before Solo          left the house. (Evidence)

          

          1. According to the 911 call obtained by TMZ the caller said, "Hope Solo is going psychotic... she's                 f***ing beating people up. We need help!"

          2. When police arrived they found Solo's nephew bleeding from one ear, his jaw, and a                                     reddened nose.

               a. Sisters jaw was swelling

               b. Officers found no apparent injuries on Solo and she refused to let them search her for injuries.

          3. Solo denied hitting/assaulting anyone.

               a. She plead not guilty when domestic violence charges were filed against her.

          4. 911 tape as evidence

     C. US Soccer hasn't punished/reprimanded Solo in any way. In fact they have been praising her hard                work and success in recent weeks after the charges were filed.

          1. US WNT sent email with subject line, Goalkeeper Hope Solo on verge of breaking US WNT                       All-time shutout record.

          2. Page full of stats/facts from Solo's 14 year Int. career.

          3. Solo was given the captain's arm-band when the US team played against Mexico.

          4. USA Today sports writer Christine Brennan wrote, "This is not the time for US Soccer to be                         celebrating Hope Solo and her achievements. It is a time for Solo to be dealing with her personal                   and legal issues far away from the soccer field." 

               a. Brennan wrote the US Women's National team in disgust asking why Solo was being                                   celebrated. 

                    i. Spokesperson for US WNT responded by saying, Solo had an opportunity to set a                                     significant record that speaks of her hard work and dedication with the National Team. While                       considering all factors involved, we believe we should recognize that in the proper way.

               b. Yes, it does speak volumes about her as a soccer player, but what does it say about her as a                        person? What does it say about the US team that is supporting instead of reprimanding her?                          What does it say to all the little girls' that look up to Hope Solo as a soccer player and person?

     D. Some may argue innocent until proven guilty.

Transition sentence

III. Conclusion

     A. For those that think Ray Rice got a slap on the wrist, he still got a lot more punishment than Solo has            seen.

     B. If it weren't for Rice knocking his wife unconscious in an elevator then the Hope Solo domestic                    violence case would never have come to light. 

     C. NFL took action and has removed several players from their rosters because of domestic abuse.

               1. NFL has set a standard, used players such as Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Dwyer and                   Greg Hardy as examples of what punishment will be and what is expected of their players. 

                    

                    a. Found the courage to act regardless of negative impact it could have on the NFL

     D. US WNT is an organization that has been used to empower and inspire women over the last two                  decades.

          

               1. US Soccer needs to find the courage to punish Solo before the outcome of the upcoming trial                       scheduled for Nov. 4.

               2. It is a privilege, not a right, to represent the United States on the international sports stage, said                     Brennan.

                    a. Hope Solo's privilege to play for US Soccer should be revoked until she seeks help.                               

            

          

Cogent and Fallacious Reasoning in Mediated Communication #1

Common Core

As I was scrolling through Facebook I came across an interesting article on Common Core titled Lies My Teacher Told Me. The article is just an opinion piece from a blog by Hollis Easter. I found it to be a fallacious argument trying to clear up some of the miss conceptions about Common Core State Standards. The article has a link to the Common Core website where one can go to see the entire set of standards. I thought the title alone was misleading.

It never says anywhere in the article where misleading information came from teachers. It actually says that teachers were involved with coming up with the state standards and that teachers agree with its concept. How are the teachers the ones telling lies? I understand that Common Core sets the standards for the curriculum and isn't actually the curriculum itself, but this leads to the same problem we had with the "No Child Left Behind" act and that is that to have the same standard for every student is wrong. Common Core is not part of NCLB, but it still holds the teacher accountable for which standard students reach. That's not a bad thing, but my point is that each and every child learns differently, but are all being taught the same way. 

About a quarter down the page the author tries to clear up the misconception that "Common Core is another Federal power grab" by stating this:

"Nope. Common Core State Standards are optional, voluntary standards developed by stakeholder groups in various states." The author then continues to state "What is true is that the federal government has awarded about $300 million in Race to the Top grants for states that implement Common Core."

If I understand this correctly, the states get to choose whether or not they implement Common Core Standards, but if they don't they lose out on the incentive the Race to the Top grants offer states that do implement it. That alone seems like a big giant bribe. When education is so under funded, what state isn't going to want the extra money the incentive offers. It doesn't seem like much of a choice (there are five states that have not implemented CCSS. I thought just to be fair that should be stated).

The article continues to break apart and clear up what the author believes to be misconceptions about Common Core. The problem is that some of the "misconceptions" aren't really being misconceived. There are problems with the Common Core Standards. The author even says as much. There is definitely room for improvement when it comes to Common Core. I don't disagree with the idea of the Common Core State Standards, I just don't like the way it is being implemented and found this article to be fallacious.

Testing, testing, 1,2,3 testing... does this thing work?