Sports Illustrated Women's World Cup Cover

Perhaps, if you have been following sports lately (or even just the news), you might have become aware that in international soccer, women on various national teams have been playing for their version of the World Cup. The American team looked to capture the title, but were surprised by Japan in the final, with the game decided in a shoot-out after a 2-2 tie in regulation. So Japan is the women's soccer World Cup champion for the next four years! Congratulations to them, right? I say so and think their players deserve international sports fame, in the same way that the stars of the U.S. team enjoyed renown after their own Cup title a few years ago. Only one problem, though...

I was glancing at the cover of our premier popular sports weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, which reported on the Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan. Expecting to see triumphant Japanese players, I was surprised to instead see a doleful-looking American player. But wait, why should I be surprised at this: look at how obsessively nationalistic our media is about the Olympics. No matter what was happening and who was actually winning the events, the coverage was all about the Americans.

I am trying to get inside the mind of the editor of Sports Illustrated and determine the decision-making process for the cover. That the World Cup was THE event to picture for this particular issue was self-evident. If I had been the editor, I would have beforehand told my staff to run the best picture epitomizing the winning team, making it as emotionally compelling as possible. Instead, the editor apparently directed the staff to show the American side only, win-or-lose, with that emotionally-compelling angle reserved for them alone.

Whatever happened to sportsmanship, when the losing side would congratulate the champs and then discretely step into the background and accord the winners their moment of glory? Besides, I remember how people a couple of years ago were falling all over themselves about how great it was for the disaster-stricken city of New Orleans that their Saints won the Super Bowl. Why can't this feeling be transferred across our national borders to our friends in Japan, which has certainly suffered (and is continuing to suffer) its undue share of calamity and heartbreak?