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Rarely does an international sports event Downunder create as much excitement as the current FIFA Women's World Cup being played out here, in New Zealand, and "across the ditch" (Tasman Sea) in Australia.
My wife and I attended the U.S. versus Portugal match in Auckland. We drove four hours from our home north of the city, and even though no goals were scored by either team we never regretted making the effort.
Played at Eden Park, the citadel of New Zealand rugby, we sat among 43,000 and the feeling was not so much partisanship as an all-inclusive party celebrating women's sport.
It was an international festival with a vocal contingent from the U.S. and Portugal, and New Zealanders as on-lookers, but all enjoying a special moment in sports where just being there is what mattered most.
That is why it was so disheartening for me to hear the usual bimbos on Fox News (talking about you Tomi Lahren) go on about something they know nothing about. Pretty faces masking ugly souls. And that the USWNT failed to achieve its goal is a sign the country going to hell, according to the former President, is complete and utter nonsense.
For my part, I'm not sure what the psychology is, but for many years I've cheered for American teams competing internationally like USA basketball, track athletes, and even the Eagles rugby team, which has improved over time but remains relatively hopeless. Yet no team works me up quite like the men's and women's soccer teams. It must be the hidden nature of the sport. It is draining.
This World Cup is no different. I felt deflated when we lost that shootout to Sweden, but I was not surprised. The USWNT (they really ought to have a nickname) had won the two previous World Cups. Coming into this one, they were ranked number one and with that came the highest expectation, namely, winning their third straight golden spiral.
I believe that was unfair because after a glorious run over the last decade the team is now in a generational transition. An organic cycle if you will that every team goes through at some stage. Check out the history of the New York Yankees or, more recently, the Golden State Warriors. It's the nature of team sports. Expectations come to exceed reality.
And, ironically, the success of the USWNT has inspired women's soccer globally, producing a greater number of ultra-talented players from more countries than ever before.
In this instance, we had players over the age of 30, foremost Megan Rapinoe (38) and Alex Morgan (34) and others under 25, like Sophia Smith, 22, Trinity Rodman, 21, Naomi Girma, 23, and Alyssa Thompson, the baby at 18.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is likely out when his contract expires at the end of this year. Yet it's hard to see how he could have shaped this inter-generational team in transition with, I assume, widely different sociocultural values into a solid, efficient goal-scoring unit like the teams of previous World Cups.
That they "lacked chemistry" or were like a "deer in the headlights," according to former star Julie Froudy, who knows what she's talking about, is that not the product of a program in transition?
They did not get it done this time, but watching the likes of Smith, Rodman and Girma leaves me feeling the future of the USWNT is incredibly bright. Meanwhile, at this World Cup, no matter who is playing games, are averaging 27,000 fans, many of them new to the sport, while setting a record for TV ratings. We are out, but the party carries on, as it should.
Tom Hyde is the son of former Post-Journal sports editor Frank Hyde.