Butt kickings are just part of the game

One thing you can say for certain.

Concerning that almost obscene final score, hey..

What’s new?

Thailand has been in a kerfuffle or two about beatdowns in the past, so the United States women weren’t exactly plowing new ground.

Routs can happen in any sport and even in the most stunning tournaments, and Thailand just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time against the team ranked No. 1 in the world.

Global debate and condemnation brought on by the USWNT cruising to a 13-0 victory over the Thai ladies in the World Cup this week wasn’t worth all this furious hand-wringing.

The Thais have been here before.

For instance, the Thais were tossed into a pair of double-digit romps during their run-up to this current World Cup in Reims, France.

I mean, the Thais versus India?

Good grief!

Oh…wait…

My bad.

Thailand WON that 10-0 blowout against India. Ditto a 10-0 thrashing of the Maldives just five days earlier.

IT’S CALLED sports, folks.

Every time you step onto the pitch, court, a concrete pick-up playground or the manicured grass of Wimbledon, the idea is to win.

Preferably, by a lot.

In American football, if you get up by 14 points, you want the margin to be 25 or 30.

The late coach Hank Stram let his Kansas City Chiefs lay the wood to the Chicago Bears in an exhibition game, back in the days when the NFL and AFL had already merged — but were not yet playing regular-season games against each other.

Thus preseason match-ups became grudge battles.

And on this particular night in Kansas City, the Chiefs trotted out new formations, plays they’d never used before — everything but the kitchen sink to befuddle the Bears, who had been jogging through their own training camp.

The Chiefs won 66-24 (calling a timeout with 8 seconds remaining to score that final touchdown).

Naturally, the media pounced on Stram afterward.

“I’ll tell you what, boys,” Stram said, before anyone could even ask a question. “That’s why God invented scoreboards.”

YOU CAN’T draw a direct line between the two events in question here, since one was an (almost meaningless) exhibition game, and the other was a group stage game in soccer’s World Cup.

But still...

The idea is to score, and then keep scoring.

Several players and pundits at the USA-Thailand game made it a point to remind newcomers that teams are allowed only three substitutions, so it’s not like you toss your third-teamers into the game, anyhow.

Then there’s the issue of respect.

Thailand came to France as the Asian Regional winner, and thus was carrying a flag for that part of the world.

Wouldn’t it be a classic insult if the USA began passing the ball around the edges, clearly allowing Thailand to avoid the indignity of allowing more goals?

“This is a world championship,” American coach Jill Ellis said at the beginning of her remarks. Clearly Ellis was looking ahead — but not until she saw a 7- or 8-goal margin with the clock ticking down.

Thailand’s players were in tears at the full-time whistle after suffering the heaviest defeat in World Cup history.

THERE WERE those on social media who criticized the defending champions for celebrating each goal, but Alex Morgan — who became only the second American to score five in a World Cup match — told reporters that “every goal counts.”

Morgan, who comforted Thailand player Miranda Nild after the match, said it was important for the team to “continue to go” and score as many as they could in case goal difference would ever prove to be a factor in the group stages.

“We knew that every goal could matter in this group stage game and when it comes to celebrations this was a really good team performance and I think it was important for us to celebrate together,” said the striker.

Ellis, who could become the first coach to win the Women’s World Cup twice, said her team had showed Thailand respect.

“I think to be respectful to opponents is to play hard against opponents,” she told reporters.

None of the USA players or coaches, however, mentioned plans for a post-tournament party in Bangkok.

***

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com