Monday, June 27, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
Most of the time, you don't get a gold watch when you retire in sports, which might explain why there are so many different ways to hang 'em up, bow out, lower the curtain and move on to greener pastures.
Some of them aren't exactly graceful.
In auto racing, for instance, guys usually announce they are retiring two years in advance, which gives them plenty of time to sell "Jim-Bob Farewell Tour" T-shirts out of their souvenir trailers. Then even when it's time to quit they don't, as most usually wind up racing limited schedules or a pickup truck.
In boxing, unless your name is Marvin Hagler, you only stay retired until somebody offers a big paycheck. Or in the case of Mike Tyson and the IRS, demands one.
Athletes aren't the only ones who have trouble saying goodbye. Jay Leno recently announced he would be stepping down as host of the "Tonight Show." In 2009. That's when Conan O'Brien will take over, provided he doesn't break his hip.
But of all the ways to go out from the worlds of sports and entertainment, you've got to like soccer star Julie Foudy's way best: On top.
Last December, the longtime captain of the U.S. Women's National Team joined her lifelong friend Mia Hamm in calling it quits following a 5-0 victory against Mexico in a "friendly" at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. It also was the swan song for Joy Fawcett, who, like Foudy and Hamm, was retiring following a luminous career spanning nearly two decades, but could not play against the Mexicans because of an injury.
Naturally, that game capped the requisite "Fan Celebration Tour" for the trio, who, if truth be known, could just as easily rode off into the Greek sunset following their gold medal victory in last year's Olympics, were it not for wanting to give a little back to the game that gave so much to them.
Naturally, it was an emotional night.
"I had all my emotions intact," Foudy said at the time. "I was thinking, 'Why am I not feeling this?' (Then) I get in the tunnel ... and I lose it. I was crying during the Mexican national anthem, (much less) my own."
All during the game, the big crowd of 15,549 kept chanting the names of the three departing U.S. stalwarts, who were presented with framed jerseys and bouquets of roses.
Which sure beats what their fellow pioneer Brandi Chastain received on what most likely was her final day as a member of the national team.
All Chastain got was a pink slip. She was notified prior to Sunday's game against Canada by new coach Greg Ryan that he was going in another direction, one that would not require her participation in training camp anymore.
And so now there is just one. Of the five veterans who helped lead the U.S. to the inaugural women's World Cup victory in 1991, a second in '99 and free-kicked women's soccer onto the front page of the sports section, only defender Kristine Lilly remains.
Chastain, 36, wrote a book called "It's Not About the Bra," in reference to her winning penalty kick in the 1991 World Cup, which she celebrated by stripping down to her sports bra. Maybe, Foudy said, it should have been about the bra. Or at least who was wearing it.
She said it would have been nice had Chastain been able to bow out on her own terms, as she and Hamm and Fawcett did.
"I think she deserved it after what she gave to the sport, the country and how much energy she put into it," Foudy said by telephone Thursday as she continued preparing for her role as a broadcast analyst for the national side's 2-0 victory against Canada on Sunday and the soccer camp she's bringing to Las Vegas July 11-12 at Summerlin Community Park.
Maybe it was a case of staying on too long, which wouldn't be the first time that happened in sports, but a little more finesse could have been used to announce the end of Chastain's playing career.
There wasn't so much as a press release on the U.S. Soccer Web site, only a list of those from the player pool who had been invited to training camp for the Canada game. Chastain's name was conspicuously absent.
"She could have been allowed to retire gracefully," Foudy said.
It was like Rocky Balboa reporting for his sparring session, only to find that Mick had taken away his locker and put his gear on a hook -- after he had tangled with Apollo Creed.
Chastain, who had been the distance so many times with the national team, finally commented on her fate last week.
"I think anytime you're not allowed to do what you're passionate about, it can be difficult," she told a Bay Area TV station. "I live soccer, continue to share the game with as many people as possible and when the time comes, I'll be ready to go back onto the field."
When she does, Foudy said it will probably be as coach, perhaps even as Ryan's successor with the national team.
"That will be the natural evolution for Brandi," Foudy said. "She has a great mind for soccer."
When asked if coaching also was in her future, Foudy showed a red card.
"Oh, God no," she said laughing. "I think I'd make an excellent water girl. I'd bring it out right away."
Foudy, a native of San Diego who played college soccer at Stanford, will always have a place in the annals of women's soccer, even without coaching. She is the third-most capped (national team appearances) player in U.S. history and also anchored the midfield for the WUSA's San Diego Spirit before the domestic women's soccer league, spawned by the national team's success, capitulated in 2003.
Outside of soccer, Foudy, 34, is considered one of our country's most influential female athletes. She finished her term as president of the Women's Sports Foundation in 2002 and also served on the Presidential Commission on Title IX in 2002. In 2003, The Sporting News named her the Most Powerful Woman in Sports.
As they say in South America and elsewhere where the game is king (or queen), soccer has been very, very good to Foudy, who even met her husband through the game. In 1995, she married Ian Sawyers, who coached the San Jose Cyber Rays to the inaugural WUSA championship.
She said she misses playing, but not as much as you might expect for someone who has devoted virtually her entire life to soccer.
"It really hasn't been hard at all," she said, noting that projects such as her camp and budding broadcast career have kept her from missing her old teammates too much.
As for her legacy, she said that is probably up for others to decide. But when the votes come in, you might need penalty time to count all the ones for Foudy.
"One of the things we always talked about with the national team, that while it was great winning those gold medals and the World Cups and all that, we also touched a lot of young lives, empowered a lot of young girls and changed the attitude about women's sports," she said. "That's what I am most proud of.
"When you do these camps and see these kids come up to you and you get to interact with them and see the impact you've had on them, it's very reaffirming."
It's times like those that make Julie Foudy realize that while a gold watch is nice, it may not be the ultimate retirement gift.
archive
