Megan interview

The Rapignome (@Rapignome)
7/1/12 2:18 PM
This was me helping @mPinoe get ready for the game yesterday! #BFFgnoment pic.twitter.com/IPPyqLES

PurpleGeezer wrote:we may be the last soccer website in the Nation to mention this:

“In female sports, if you’re gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly,” she says. “It’s very open and widely supported. For males, it’s not that way at all. It’s sad.”

DoubleDipper wrote:

PurpleGeezer wrote:we may be the last soccer website in the Nation to mention this:

Um, possibly, but it's really not news. I think Megan's statement sums it up:

“In female sports, if you’re gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly,” she says. “It’s very open and widely supported. For males, it’s not that way at all. It’s sad.”

Quite a while ago, during one of the occasional bubbles about "are there gays in baseball," a reporter asked Mike Mussina of the Yankees if he could "fully accept" a teammate who was gay. Mussina looked at the guy for a minute and said "I'm going to assume I already have."

I'm working with a half a dozen quite young males who played high school sports in the recent past; and none of them is even slightly homophobic. At least, we have another young colleague who, shall we say, displays considerable candlepower in his entire range of behavior-- yet is well liked and well treated by all of them.

PurpleGeezer wrote:Oh it's changing, just not as fast.

REDDING, Calif. - U.S. standout Megan Rapinoe no longer plays soccer in the shadows, on fields tucked between rivers and streams and the lush, rolling hills of her hometown. Though a major celebrity in this Sacramento Valley city for a decade or more, with her exceptional skills apparent since her early teens, she is enjoying the more recent burst of fame generated by those recurring, emotion-stained images from the 2011 World Cup.

For those who might have forgotten - and women's soccer routinely is ignored until the calendar assists with an Olympics or another World Cup - Rapinoe is the USA's 5-foot-7, 133-pound package of dynamite. She is the midfielder with the distinctive bottle-blonde short hair, the deceptively long, lean physique and the wild streak that makes her exceedingly dangerous to opponents.

She can strike from anywhere. She will say what she thinks.

In the tense, waning seconds of the Cup quarterfinals last July against Brazil, it was Rapinoe who delivered the cross to Abby Wambach, setting up the tying goal and introducing herself to many in the viewing audience - to those baseball, basketball and football traditionalists - back home.

A year later she's back, preparing for her first Olympics. She's still not a wallflower. While anticipating extensive media coverage for the women's opener July 25 in Glasgow, Scotland, Rapinoe last week confirmed what most of her friends and family have long known: that she is gay………………

Five years ago, it took not one, but two consecutive tears of the same ACL to teach U.S. women's soccer midfielder Megan Rapinoe a valuable lesson: Slow down.

The first injury, suffered in 2006 as a collegian at the University of Portland, threatened her new place on the national team. The second one, suffered in 2007, all but ended it, and ruled her out for the Beijing Games.

MORE: Olympic hopefuls series
"I may have rushed back a little bit faster than I should have after the first ACL," says Rapinoe, 27. "Not to say that was the reason that it happened again, but the second one humbled me a bit in a lot of ways.

"I took my time and really allowed my body to heal and be as strong as possible."

Rare is the athlete who has a second chance at gold in the Olympics, an honor the U.S. team claimed without her four years ago. The U.S. women open the Olympic tournament against France on July 25 — two days before the opening ceremony.

Rapinoe has 52 caps (international appearances) and is using her celebrity to make a difference. Rapinoe announced publicly that she is gay last week and hopes her confidence inspires others.

People probably guessed that I was gay because I'm pretty transparent in the way that I live my life. I think it's pretty cool, the opportunity that I have, especially in sports, because there's really not that many out athletes. I think it's important to be out. It's important to stand up and be counted and be proud of who you are.

I'm happy if I can help anyone else in their struggle. I'd like to make a positive impact on people.

We're playing good soccer. Everyone's feeling very confident. I'm feeling good personally. I feel like I'm in really good form right now. Maybe the best that I've felt ever. I'm really excited heading into the Olympics and I think everybody else is as well.

My knee feels good. I really took my time with the second one. It took almost a year to come back. I let myself heal and it hasn't given me a problem since.

It's huge to be able to play after missing the Games last time. In a way I feel like I'm a part of what they did. I feel an obligation to carry that legacy on and hopefully win another gold medal. We're all as competitive as they come so no matter what we want gold."

I have tons of family coming to London. My mom, my dad, my twin sister, nephew, my aunt and uncle… there will be a big Rapinoe contingent at the Games. It will be amazing to have them there. They're just as much a part of it as me. I wouldn't be there without them. It means a lot to look up and see your family in the stands.

I've been with Nike since the beginning of 2009. I kind of knew while I was in college that I could make a living playing soccer, but I didn't dream anything to the level of what I'm doing now. I feel very fortunate to make a living through my sponsors. It's pretty cool. For a female athlete it's not always that way. Female athletes in the United States are pretty lucky.

Megan Rapinoe was raised far from the bright lights of the London Olympics.

The 5-foot-7 midfielder for the U.S. women's national team was raised in a big family in Palo Cedro and eventually Redding, as the youngest of six children.

"Growing up in Redding was just pretty peachy, really," she said, in a U.S. Soccer YouTube video about her coming home to visit. "...We travel so much, it's nice to come back to something so familiar."

It wasn't just about soccer, either.

Rapinoe, who played her club soccer in Elk Grove, just south of Sacramento, played three years of basketball and competed in two years of track and field at Foothill.

Her intensity was too much for prep basketball.

"I fouled out of almost every basketball game in high school," said Rapinoe, in the YouTube video.

She didn't play soccer for the Cougars, and instead made her mark in a bigger, more competitive market.

With the Elk Grove United soccer club, Rapinoe played at nationals in 2003, and was a runner-up, in addition to her state and regional championships with the team.

Commuting back and forth in a two-plus hour drive was more than worth it for Rapinoe. A World Cup and an Olympic appearance later, those long hours seem perfectly viable. She was a national runner-up with Elk Grove in 2003.

Success on the pitch, though, wasn't Rapinoe's only forte as a high school student.

She hit the books and made the honor roll every semester at Foothill.

With a combination of athletic excellence and academic ability, Rapinoe was a perfect fit for soccer on a bigger stage.

Next level

Along with her twin sister Rachael, Rapinoe headed north to the University of Portland to play her college soccer for the Pilots.

In Portland, Ore., Rapinoe was a First-Team All-American as a senior in 2008, after recovering from an ACL injury, and led the West Coast Conference with 13 assists.

She only appeared in 60 matches in college after losing time to injury and international play, but is 10th in school history with 88 points – on 30 goals and 28 assists.

Some of that missed time came with good reason.

Rapinoe decided to forgo her freshman season to play in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup in Thailand.

In that tournament, Rapinoe was tied for the team lead with three goals, including a big one in a third-place match victory over the Brazilians.

She debuted with the senior U.S. team on July 23, 2006, and punched in her first goal on Oct. 1, 2006.

Rapinoe now plays for the Seattle Sounders FC, along with U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo.

Multi-talented Megan

An avid guitar player as well, Rapinoe could never limit herself to just one hobby.

She's an adamant fan of artists like Adele, Kings of Leon and Florence and the Machine, and has well-viewed videos on YouTube of her talking about music, and playing the guitar.

"It's just a nice release, and a sort of haven for me," she said, in a U.S. Soccer YouTube video entitled 'Megan's Medley'. "...I think it relaxes me because I can just zone out and go into a different world."

Yet, she's taken soccer to its highest point – as one of the most versatile, creative and dangerous women's soccer players on the planet.

She may not have the capacity to score like teammate Abby Wambach – the Americans' all-time leader in Olympic goals scored – but she can do a bit of everything.

Her eclectic skills started with humble north state roots, and exploded for the world to see.

She's done it all so far in London.

Instantly recognizable on the pitch with her shock of blonde hair, Megan Rapinoe is equally distinctive off the soccer field. Now, in her new ALWAYS ON video, viewers are treated to the experience of spending a busy day in the cleats of the world-class midfielder. After arriving in Portland—where she was a collegiate star—the 26-year old links up with friends at a coffee shop for a morning cup of joe and some laughs. Later, we witness how she uses yoga for to achieve relaxation, focus and balance. And finally, following a practice where she zips shots past the goalie, she closes out an exuberant evening with live music and dancing. The exclusive video is backed by the track "Simple Song," by The Shins.