Insights into field hockey's frustrating battle for popularity and an unfortunate Mets decision

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Dilemmas: Field hockey’s extremely popular problem

There has never been a better time for women's sports in this country. The WNBA is exploding in popularity. The NWSL is on the rise. A few weeks ago, women won the most American medals at a particularly high-profile Olympic Games.

These popularity spikes are largely due to big-name stars. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Marta and Debinha in the NWSL. Running stars like Sha'Carri Richardson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. And so on and so forth.

So why isn’t field hockey joining this wave? As Brendan Quinn wrote in a spectacular post today, the issue of fame in sport is a delicate and controversial one, and it essentially revolves around one person: I'm Erin Matson.

Matson is a talented – and extremely popular – lightning rod:

• Matson, only 24 years old, won four national titles in North Carolina and was named Player of the Year three times. She graduated in 2022 and was immediately hired as North Carolina's head coacha stunning move for the best program in the country.
• Matson then won a national title in his first year. as coach last season. Not bad.
• The problem is: she still wants to play for the national team and has good skills to do so. The infrastructure of the sport did not allow this and refused to allow her to have a trial training session.

The American women's field hockey team finished 1-3-1 in Paris. The cruelty is that Matson, the face of the sport, was present at a gathering of the most influential female athletes in the world. Instead of helping the American national team win a medal, Matson was busy hanging out with Megan Rapinoe and Serena Williams.

There is so much more complexity to process in Brendan's full storywhich is definitely worth reading today. It comes down to one decision: Why does American field hockey avoid the face that could put the sport in the spotlight?

Matson has every intention of playing for her country at the 2028 Games. Whether she will make the team is another question.

Things you must see: No double oops error

The Mets won on Monday night. Francisco Alvarez's amazing walk-off dinger gave the catcher – and the team – a lot of hope for the final phase of baseball. Then last night, when the team momentarily forgot how to use gloves:

It's safe to say that the Mets have had better days catching the ball 🙃

🎥 @MLB pic.twitter.com/9eQ0xoqzOL

— The Athlete (@TheAthletic) 21 August 2024

Both were costly errors, but Brandon Nimmo's boof on a routine flyball unleashed a series of errors seen more at Little League level than here. Two runs scored and the game was decided.

The Mets are 2 1/2 games away from making the playoffs. Losses like this don't help.

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Backyard Sports is back, baby
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Williams signs with Seattle
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