Women's Soccer Gets Rowdy, Elizabeth Lambert Has Pull

Author: Min-Q Kim
Posted on: Tuesday November 17, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Filed under: sports, elizabeth lambert, soccer, new mexico, exclusive

AP/YouTube

(See what I did there?)

Alright, I'm caving. This video has become a national news story here in the U.S., and given this site's international readership, I am compelled to ask what you all think of New Mexico defender #15. Full disclosure: Elizabeth Lambert (the star of this show) has been suspended indefinitely by her Conference.

General reaction seems to fall into the following categories:

Reaction 1: Horror (Sign up for the Facebook page)

Reaction 2: "Go girl" (Sign up for the Facebook page)

Reaction 3: Cat fight!

ESPN chimed in with a carefully-chosen, yet still a little patronizing: 'Feisty.'

Now I'm hearing that the BYU players weren't exactly acting like little angels themselves. If you look at that clip, let's be fair, BYU's #7 initiates contact with a chippy little elbow. Thing is, it was stealth and (dare I say) skill. Lambert then retaliates with (let's call it) 'an unproportional response.' Maybe her biggest sin was simply being too obvious? (Though, don't tell that to the refs, who were presumably busy doing something else while all this was going on.)

Personally, I'm thinking Lambert is just a classic case of an average player trying to get an edge any way she can -- even if it involves some occasional thuggery. You know, there was a time when teams in the NBA were celebrated for that kind of play, and a player with a similar sounding name built his reputation on playing the villain. And you better believe the opposing team thought twice before driving the lane on the Pistons of the early 80's. So, why is this different? Perhaps the above clip could benefit from some tough-sounding music.

So, what do we think? Elizabeth Lambert: Pariah? I'd want her on my team? Orrrr "yeye catfight!"

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