The Slanch Report

Remember Elizabeth Lambert, the University of New Mexico soccer player who captured the sports world’s attention with her rough antics against the decent, god-fearing women of Brigham Young University? Well, she’s back, trying to repair her image with an interview with the New York Times. It turns out that she’s actually a really nice, smart person. Oh, and she’s like super super-cute.

“I think the way the video came out, it did make me look like a monster. That’s not the type of player I am,” said the 20-year-old All-Conference academic athlete. “I’m not just out there trying to hurt players. That’s taking away from the beauty of the game. And I would never want to do that.”

I also wouldn’t want anything to take away from the beauty…of the game.

“I still deeply regret it and will always regret it and will carry it through the rest of my life not to retaliate,” she added.

After the initial outcry from the video, many people noted the hypocrisy of the sports world where because it was a woman being “violent” it was sensationalized as compared to the many similar instances of men doing the same.

“I definitely feel because I am a female it did bring about a lot more attention than if a male were to do it,” Lambert said. “It’s more expected for men to go out there and be rough. The female, we’re still looked at as, Oh, we kick the ball around and score a goal. But it’s not. We train very hard to reach the highest level we can get to. The physical aspect has maybe increased over the years. I’m not saying it’s for the bad or it’s been too overly aggressive. It’s a game. Sports are physical.”

The Internet being what it is, Lambert received multiple messages from men looking to meet up with her; “That appalled me,” Lambert said. “A lot of people think I have a lot of sexual aggression. I was like, ‘Whoa, no, I don’t feel that way at all.’ That’s bizarre and shocking to me.”

So, creepy dudes out there, leave her alone, she’s not like what you saw in that video clip. I understand Elizabeth, I get it, after all, I DID play Varsity soccer in high school. Maybe we should get together and talk about it…

[NY Times]