Armour: Fans on the fence about Hope Solo

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Delaney Burks' all-time favorite player is Fred, the Brazilian forward. When it comes to Americans, however, it's not even close.

"Hope Solo," Burks said.

The 11-year-old has Solo's jersey at home, and she planned to cheer loudly for the goalkeeper when the U.S. women defeated Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 in Wednesday night's opener of the World Cup qualifying tournament.

As for the domestic violence charges Solo is facing? Burks shrugged.

"Look at the football players. They still get to play," said Burks' mother, Amanda Keltner.

For all the fury that has been directed at the NFL over its lackadaisical response to domestic violence, Solo's case hasn't generated anywhere near the outrage. She continues playing, and U.S. Soccer has largely gotten a pass for it.

Oh, sure. There was grumbling about how the federation could be so tone deaf as to celebrate a woman charged with punching her 17-year-old nephew in the face and tackling her sister just because she was closing in on the U.S. shutout record. Again when she was given the captain's arm band for an exhibition game last month.

But save for a scathing op-ed by former U.S. goalkeeper Jill Loyden, one of Solo's backups at the 2011 World Cup whose sister was killed in a domestic violence incident, the U.S. team has followed the federation's lead and publicly backed Solo.

"We've dealt with that and moved past that," coach Jill Ellis said.

No surprise there. Solo is the No.1 keeper in the world, and the USA has won two Olympic gold medals and finished second at the 2011 World Cup with her in goal. It's a lot easier to take a stand when there's no price to pay for your principles.

But fans are equally ambivalent, willing to give Solo the benefit of the doubt at least until she goes to trial next month.

Solo has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of domestic violence and has a Nov. 4 trial date.

"That's the thing that gets me: You've got to be proven guilty," said Travis Lilienthal, who was at Wednesday's game with his wife, Stephanie, and their 9-year-old daughter, Lexie.

"But if it is true, I'd say, yeah, I wouldn't want her to play."

The recent rash of incidents in the NFL has prompted a national conversation about domestic violence — one that was decades overdue. For too long, we averted our eyes and kept our mouths shut, reassuring ourselves with the excuse that someone else's "family matter" wasn't our business.

Truth is, most of us simply didn't want to get involved. Or didn't realize how pervasive the problem was.

But as the cases involving Solo and Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy and the former general counsel at Xerox have illustrated, domestic violence cuts across all races, all socioeconomic classes, all genders.

No one is immune, be it the family next door or the No. 1 goalkeeper in the world.

"She brought it up to me. 'Mom, did you know Hope Solo is in jail?'" Jamie Hart said, nodding at her 11-year-old daughter Mackenzie. "Even the Ray Rice situation, we've talked about that, too. We're very aware of it, and we talk about it at home."

It seems to be one thing, however, to get worked up at the idea of Peterson playing after he was indicted on charges he whipped his 4-year-old son so severely the boy had bruises and welts, and another when it's a female soccer player.

"The NFL lets their guys play under some pretty heavy clouds," Mike Swope said. "To hold her to a higher standard would be pretty unfair."

Yet it also would have sent a message that violence in any form, by anyone, will no longer be tolerated.

"I think they all should be held to a higher standard," Swope said. "But I don't think they should start with Hope Solo. There are a lot more egregious examples."

So Solo will play on, at least for the next few weeks.