Elizabeth Ann Lambert has been suspended indefinitely from playing college women's soccer. And that is a good thing.During the Mountain West Conference Women's Soccer semi-final recently between Brigham Young University and the University of New Mexico, BYU scored the only goal during the first half. BYU's outstanding player, Kassidy Shumway and the BYU scorer, Carlee Payne paid the price for that.According to the
New York Times
and what you can see on YouTube (in case you missed the news reports at the time) was a level of violence that escalated horrendously.Payne gave a slight "dig" with her elbow to Lambert, who retaliated with a punch between Payne's shoulder blades. What followed were tackles, kicks up to waist high, face punches and cleats aimed into the inner thigh, and Lambert's final violent jerk on Shumway's pony tail, which sent the six foot girl to the ground. It was frightening. I worried that the girl's neck could have been broken. While Shumway was on the ground, not moving, one of Lambert's teammates kicked a ball into Payne's face.That's what I call feminist good sportsmanship: if you can't beat 'em....beat 'em up!!What was stunning was Lambert's coach didn't pull her out while her behavior was escalating. Equally stunning was the fact that the referee took no action outside of a yellow card for a "trip" move on Payne. It's interesting that these officials did not see the punches, slaps, high tackles and that ferocious pony tail jerk.The coach revved up her girls and then stood back while one of them went out of control. That's a sad state of affairs. Of course, Lambert gave the usual mea culpa/ "my bad" apology, which was orchestrated in order to stay in the game. I'm glad it didn't work.Call me cynical, but the look on her face and the deliberateness of her violent yank had the aura of entitlement and rage. I don't believe she's sorry she did it. My guess is that she's sorry she's gotten heat over it.She should never be allowed to play again...
never
... and that would send a message. Now, we've got to figure out how to deal with the coach and the referee.
