Hope Solo pleads not guilty to 4th Degree Assault
Former University of Washington soccer star, current US National team, and Seattle Reign FC goalkeeper Hope Solo was in court on Monday and entered a not guilty plea to 4th degree assault charges in response to a domestic violence incident early Saturday morning.
Solo spent the weekend in a Kirkland jail after officers were called to respond to a situation involving a woman in this case Solo allegedly according to King 5’s Chris Daniels report was “going crazy and hitting people.”
The supposed crux of what caused Solo to go crazy in the King 5 was her being intoxicated and her husband former Husky tight end Jerramy Stevens refusing to take her to catch a flight. Based on what is in the report it looks like Stevens was simply using common sense if Solo was intoxicated by not taking her to the airport.
This selfishness by Solo is not the first time she has done something off the field that has been her national team teammates and now her Seattle Reign FC teammates in a tough situation. Back in 2007, there were the infamous comments were Solo threw Greg Ryan under the bus for benching her in favor of Briana Scurry. There was also the near debacle of the 2012 Olympics where Solo tested positive for a banned diuretic but was able to avoid suspension.
Fast forward to this past weekend her Seattle Reign FC teammates are rolling along at 10-0-2 getting ready to go play a very tough Western New York Flash side and where is Solo sitting in a jail cell. Thus, the question has to be raised whether she is convicted or not with the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup looming Can Hope Solo be trusted by US Soccer to bring home a World Cup for time since 1999. On the surface that is a tough call because there is no denying the on the field skill and ability that she brings to the sport. But, by even simply putting herself in a position to spend time in courtrooms and away from the pitch at the age of 32 she is not a young college kid anymore. Also, if she truly believes that she is a great example for female athletes then its time to grow up and stop shooting herself in the foot and stay of courtrooms. At the end of the day there is one person with any shot to keep Solo in line and that’s US Women’s National team head coach Jill Ellis. Ellis is highly capable of keeping Solo on point but is on her to step up and grow from this. If I had to make a prediction right now I say Solo stays out of trouble off the pitch but costs her team the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup at a critical moment.