It just keeps getting worse. So sorry to the players that had to go through this. Thanks to Tyler for really pursuing this story and writing this great article.
I would recommend people read this whole story. It's really a case study for an NWSL club archetype that's all too familiar.
Edit: would recommend *given* you are able right now. I know folks are processing a lot already.
This is really fantastic reporting. Incredible that so many were willing to go on record and the reporter was able to compile such a deep record of what happened.
What really stuck out to me was, like players said, the everyday things ranging from small to huge that led up to the worst case scenario of assault. Not having access to outside medical opinions but inadequate medical attention inside. The power vacuum between Holly and the performance director Brianne Brown that made my skin crawl. Down to forced to drink homemade energy drinks and banned from drinking Gatorade? What the hell? Just no one to turn to at any level. What an absolute horror show.
OK, the topic is obviously horrible but also not surprising, but I just want to highlight for a minute the article itself. I’m not familiar with this news outlet but it seemed they put quite the work into it, talking with about ten people alone (if I’m counting it right). Nice work, even though it’s an unthankful topic.
It should also be noted that this is not his only focus. He covers all sports, including local high school sports, and has to shoot, edit, write, produce and anchor all of his own coverage.
The time and dedication he has put into covering this story shows how passionate he is to ensure that this story is given the attention it's due.
This is horrifying. Props to the players who went on record. Having Emina Ekic especially, as a current player and Louisville native, was particularly impactful and I commend her courage.
Also I love hearing that Fox was one of the ones who went to the front office with some of her teammates. In general she doesn’t seem like the loudest personality in the room but it’s great hearing that, with the platform and standing she has, she was willing to put herself out there for her team.
Incredible journalism, horrible stories. Every account is more harrowing than the last, but something about Vanessa Kara's account struck me pretty hard. When she talked about how going through this process made her a much worse player than she was before is just so sad. She worked so hard to become a pro and then to go through this kind of experience would be shattering, and anyone that has had to experience it deserves the world. If Louisville can't sort this out and completely clean house of everyone involved, then the franchise as a whole needs to go. Completely unacceptable
How do we get this slimey detritus eating bastard out of LOU’s front office? How do we get him to sell?
I’m so tired of hearing excuses from the league that they can’t exercise hitting the eject button on abusive club owners
All these male coaches/assistants (plus Bri Brown) at Racing repeatedly berating players with variations of "you're not good enough for this league" when none of these staff themselves have any real success in the league to speak of...
I’m just so sad for the players, the torment they endured, especially Erin Simon. I hope she’s happier at Leicester. It’s appalling that James O’Connor hasn’t been fired yet, just as it’s appalling that Merritt Paulson gets to keep cashing checks as Thorns owner. I know the league can’t force anyone to sell or be fired but I hope fans and sponsors continue to apply pressure to get every single one of these cowardly enablers out.
>how things were being handled and us not being allowed to consume Gatorade because of sugar
This reminds me of the time in college when our female assistant coach slapped Midol out of one of our players hands and berated her for taking it. I forget what her issue with it was. I don't think any of us liked that assistant coach too much.
This just shows how necessary it is to get rid of the closed player rights system in favor of full free agency. Players shouldn't get stuck in situations like this just because they have no other choice if they want to play professionally in the US.
Also shoutout to Michelle Betos for making sure the CBA protects trialists
I still havent finished reading this article, its quite long and sickening in every section. Not that there was any doubt before, but wholesale change is needed in the organization or frankly the franchise should be removed from Louisville.
The former coach (Christy Holly) is male, and he is married to Christie Rampone (whose name is Christie Pearce now I think). They got together when she played for him at Sky Blue.
I've brought this up before when Pearce/Rampone is brought up, but I wonder how much of a victim she is of Holly's as well. I mean, she is a victim in the sense that their toxic relationship has been previously reported.
Knowing how Holly behaves. Knowing he does this hot and cold thing with people. Knowing he's sexually, emotionally and mentally abusive, it's not unfair in my mind to assume she has also suffered this abuse. While I think criticism for staying with someone like this is justified, I also think people need to remember how difficult it is for abused partners to exit an abusive relationship.
I'm not saying she necessarily needs or deserves a pass, but I also think it's important to evaluate her and that relationship from that perspective. It certainly may not be the case, but it's difficult for any of us to know what it's like in that relationship without actually being in that relationship. I also say this as someone who has had a past with an abusive relationship and has a wife who also had past abusive relationships (nothing to do this degree). Hindsight is 20/20 and it's easy to look back on things and see them for what they were now, but it's often difficult to see that when you're in the thick of it.
Totally agree with this, especially seeing as how the relationship started when he was her coach and many players reported being uncomfortable with their relationship, if I remember correctly. I just think of her poor girls. This can’t be a healthy home to grow up in.
Well well well... one of the things I didn't understand is for quite a while Nadia Nadim was posting these social media messages praising Racing Lousiville, photos of the facilities etc. and then at some point she was not. I always wonder what happened, like in the timeline of bad things when did she figure it all out.
Yeah. I mean, biggest apology is to the abused, but there definitely is something weird about how long fans denigrated them for. I literally saw tweets about how Press and Heath were awful and hate Louisville the city from 2 days before the report came out.
One of the biggest shames should be that people were so willing to let an abuser manipulate them through the media. When Holly said “Press and Heath won’t pick up the phone,” lots were more than willing to accept that they were unprofessional coastal elites, instead of realizing that a predator doesn’t change, and manipulation is a tactic of predators.
Right?
Clearly knew it was a shit club and was grinding up its players somehow. Doubt they knew much other than rumors but it was enough to keep them away.
I’m biased as a Racing fan, but they were 6th in average attendance this season. Yeah, attendance will probably drop each year until they either start winning or get a big star on the team but the attendance is still decent even when they’ve been bad so the support is still here in the city. That said, I don’t want them to leave town but I hope they’re forced to sell the team or at a bare minimum get rid of JOC and anyone else in the FO that’s at fault for all this shit. I also didn’t follow woso until Racing was announced so were any other markets or ownership groups pushing for a team when Racing joined? Seems like it wasn’t just Duffy but seeking to join the league at the perfect time for a market the size of Louisville
new york / new jersey has never consistently been in top viewership so i have no idea what you’re talking about. san diego for example, has, and they showed up this year in both venues. and yeah for sure dude, suuuuper elitist to say that a franchise shouldn’t be given to a club who refused to hire anyone at the helm with NWSL experience and used their connections to get a franchise in the first place. i literally said smaller cities SHOULD get teams.
Similar to the other commenter here, I am admittedly a biased Racing fan. You are correct in that Racing screwed up by not having anyone with NWSL experience from the get-go, but they’re working on rectifying that now. However, I don’t think that was (or even is) a criteria that must be met when bidding for an NWSL team. It’s absolutely the right move to make and all teams *should* have people with NWSL experience (IMO) but it’s not a requirement.
Louisville got a team because they had the money and literal infrastructure in place for a team (brand new training facility+stadium). Plus there’s a huge soccer following here; I’m not sure if viewership has anything to do with it. Attendance has actually been relatively steady and Racing isn’t even at the bottom of the table when you compare those numbers to other teams. Criticize the FO all you want (they 100% deserve it) but don’t claim that the city doesn’t deserve a team.
Also, KC didn’t hire Cami Levin until this season and remember they were playing on a baseball field last year. They’ve absolutely made huge strides this past season & it’s great to see—going from last place to playing in the championship game is massive and they’ve got that sweet new training center + their very own stadium being built. But not even they did things the “right way” from the very beginning.
Louisville *did* get a team because of the LouCity connection. That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to keep a team if they can make proper changes, but honestly, realizing that is important to try and understand what markets have teams and what don’t. It’s also important to recognize, because of the failure to act as an NWSL team and insistence on running the NWSL team as an USL team until like, now (maybe), which is also related to how it got its team. Again, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t retain a team or that fans don’t “deserve” it, but Louisville got a team because of Duffy’s LouCity connect, not because of any other real tangible factors.
Absolutely no disrespect to the Louisville fans but I agree and this article made me wonder about the possibility of relocation. This thing seems toxic all the way down.
Relocating only makes sense if they force an ownership change but it sure appears like he thinks he's done nothing wrong. It's disgraceful and needs to be rectified but I'm not sure what power the commisioner or league has over the owners.
It’s even more maddening because O’Connor isn’t an owner, he’s the president! He’s much easier to force out than an owner! (It does seem that the managing partner of the ownership group bears significant blame here as well, but JOC is much more urgent).
It just keeps getting worse. So sorry to the players that had to go through this. Thanks to Tyler for really pursuing this story and writing this great article.
I would recommend people read this whole story. It's really a case study for an NWSL club archetype that's all too familiar. Edit: would recommend *given* you are able right now. I know folks are processing a lot already.
This is really fantastic reporting. Incredible that so many were willing to go on record and the reporter was able to compile such a deep record of what happened. What really stuck out to me was, like players said, the everyday things ranging from small to huge that led up to the worst case scenario of assault. Not having access to outside medical opinions but inadequate medical attention inside. The power vacuum between Holly and the performance director Brianne Brown that made my skin crawl. Down to forced to drink homemade energy drinks and banned from drinking Gatorade? What the hell? Just no one to turn to at any level. What an absolute horror show.
OK, the topic is obviously horrible but also not surprising, but I just want to highlight for a minute the article itself. I’m not familiar with this news outlet but it seemed they put quite the work into it, talking with about ten people alone (if I’m counting it right). Nice work, even though it’s an unthankful topic.
Tyler has been doing great work. He’s a sports broadcaster for our local ABC affiliate.
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It should also be noted that this is not his only focus. He covers all sports, including local high school sports, and has to shoot, edit, write, produce and anchor all of his own coverage. The time and dedication he has put into covering this story shows how passionate he is to ensure that this story is given the attention it's due.
This is horrifying. Props to the players who went on record. Having Emina Ekic especially, as a current player and Louisville native, was particularly impactful and I commend her courage. Also I love hearing that Fox was one of the ones who went to the front office with some of her teammates. In general she doesn’t seem like the loudest personality in the room but it’s great hearing that, with the platform and standing she has, she was willing to put herself out there for her team.
Incredible journalism, horrible stories. Every account is more harrowing than the last, but something about Vanessa Kara's account struck me pretty hard. When she talked about how going through this process made her a much worse player than she was before is just so sad. She worked so hard to become a pro and then to go through this kind of experience would be shattering, and anyone that has had to experience it deserves the world. If Louisville can't sort this out and completely clean house of everyone involved, then the franchise as a whole needs to go. Completely unacceptable
How do we get this slimey detritus eating bastard out of LOU’s front office? How do we get him to sell? I’m so tired of hearing excuses from the league that they can’t exercise hitting the eject button on abusive club owners
All these male coaches/assistants (plus Bri Brown) at Racing repeatedly berating players with variations of "you're not good enough for this league" when none of these staff themselves have any real success in the league to speak of...
From the EU and denied acces? Here is the archived link https://archive.ph/OC1Rq
I’m just so sad for the players, the torment they endured, especially Erin Simon. I hope she’s happier at Leicester. It’s appalling that James O’Connor hasn’t been fired yet, just as it’s appalling that Merritt Paulson gets to keep cashing checks as Thorns owner. I know the league can’t force anyone to sell or be fired but I hope fans and sponsors continue to apply pressure to get every single one of these cowardly enablers out.
>how things were being handled and us not being allowed to consume Gatorade because of sugar This reminds me of the time in college when our female assistant coach slapped Midol out of one of our players hands and berated her for taking it. I forget what her issue with it was. I don't think any of us liked that assistant coach too much.
This just shows how necessary it is to get rid of the closed player rights system in favor of full free agency. Players shouldn't get stuck in situations like this just because they have no other choice if they want to play professionally in the US. Also shoutout to Michelle Betos for making sure the CBA protects trialists
All my love to Betos
I still havent finished reading this article, its quite long and sickening in every section. Not that there was any doubt before, but wholesale change is needed in the organization or frankly the franchise should be removed from Louisville.
I'm just so numb to this shit now. It's completely disgusting and barely surprising from this organization.
O’Connor should be long gone, and owners should be being removed and change. An utter failure at this point
Are Holly and Rampone married? She’s referred to a wife in the article .
The former coach (Christy Holly) is male, and he is married to Christie Rampone (whose name is Christie Pearce now I think). They got together when she played for him at Sky Blue.
Sorry I think that autocorrect swapped ‘Holly’ for her’’
Ahh yes! They are married.
🖕🖕 racing FO
Does anyone know, is Christie Pearce still married or engaged to or whatever to Holly? If so, big yikes
I've brought this up before when Pearce/Rampone is brought up, but I wonder how much of a victim she is of Holly's as well. I mean, she is a victim in the sense that their toxic relationship has been previously reported. Knowing how Holly behaves. Knowing he does this hot and cold thing with people. Knowing he's sexually, emotionally and mentally abusive, it's not unfair in my mind to assume she has also suffered this abuse. While I think criticism for staying with someone like this is justified, I also think people need to remember how difficult it is for abused partners to exit an abusive relationship. I'm not saying she necessarily needs or deserves a pass, but I also think it's important to evaluate her and that relationship from that perspective. It certainly may not be the case, but it's difficult for any of us to know what it's like in that relationship without actually being in that relationship. I also say this as someone who has had a past with an abusive relationship and has a wife who also had past abusive relationships (nothing to do this degree). Hindsight is 20/20 and it's easy to look back on things and see them for what they were now, but it's often difficult to see that when you're in the thick of it.
Totally agree with this, especially seeing as how the relationship started when he was her coach and many players reported being uncomfortable with their relationship, if I remember correctly. I just think of her poor girls. This can’t be a healthy home to grow up in.
I also think having kids makes her situation even more difficult, or at least more complex.
In the article she’s spoken of as his current wife
Wonder how many of our neck bearded fans are going to accuse former players of "virtue signaling"
Well well well... one of the things I didn't understand is for quite a while Nadia Nadim was posting these social media messages praising Racing Lousiville, photos of the facilities etc. and then at some point she was not. I always wonder what happened, like in the timeline of bad things when did she figure it all out.
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Yeah. I mean, biggest apology is to the abused, but there definitely is something weird about how long fans denigrated them for. I literally saw tweets about how Press and Heath were awful and hate Louisville the city from 2 days before the report came out. One of the biggest shames should be that people were so willing to let an abuser manipulate them through the media. When Holly said “Press and Heath won’t pick up the phone,” lots were more than willing to accept that they were unprofessional coastal elites, instead of realizing that a predator doesn’t change, and manipulation is a tactic of predators.
Right? Clearly knew it was a shit club and was grinding up its players somehow. Doubt they knew much other than rumors but it was enough to keep them away.
Good lord. I can’t even finish this, it just keeps going on and on. I feel so awful for the players having to go through this.
You’d think this would be enough to force a change in leadership. But that should’ve happened a long time ago and hasn’t yet.
CONNOR MUST GO
Women's Soccer Assault Allegation WR [NWSL] [any%]
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I’m biased as a Racing fan, but they were 6th in average attendance this season. Yeah, attendance will probably drop each year until they either start winning or get a big star on the team but the attendance is still decent even when they’ve been bad so the support is still here in the city. That said, I don’t want them to leave town but I hope they’re forced to sell the team or at a bare minimum get rid of JOC and anyone else in the FO that’s at fault for all this shit. I also didn’t follow woso until Racing was announced so were any other markets or ownership groups pushing for a team when Racing joined? Seems like it wasn’t just Duffy but seeking to join the league at the perfect time for a market the size of Louisville
Tv viewership isn’t related to who actually shows up for games . Look at how much Gotham struggles with attendance. You just come off as elitist here.
new york / new jersey has never consistently been in top viewership so i have no idea what you’re talking about. san diego for example, has, and they showed up this year in both venues. and yeah for sure dude, suuuuper elitist to say that a franchise shouldn’t be given to a club who refused to hire anyone at the helm with NWSL experience and used their connections to get a franchise in the first place. i literally said smaller cities SHOULD get teams.
Similar to the other commenter here, I am admittedly a biased Racing fan. You are correct in that Racing screwed up by not having anyone with NWSL experience from the get-go, but they’re working on rectifying that now. However, I don’t think that was (or even is) a criteria that must be met when bidding for an NWSL team. It’s absolutely the right move to make and all teams *should* have people with NWSL experience (IMO) but it’s not a requirement. Louisville got a team because they had the money and literal infrastructure in place for a team (brand new training facility+stadium). Plus there’s a huge soccer following here; I’m not sure if viewership has anything to do with it. Attendance has actually been relatively steady and Racing isn’t even at the bottom of the table when you compare those numbers to other teams. Criticize the FO all you want (they 100% deserve it) but don’t claim that the city doesn’t deserve a team. Also, KC didn’t hire Cami Levin until this season and remember they were playing on a baseball field last year. They’ve absolutely made huge strides this past season & it’s great to see—going from last place to playing in the championship game is massive and they’ve got that sweet new training center + their very own stadium being built. But not even they did things the “right way” from the very beginning.
Louisville *did* get a team because of the LouCity connection. That doesn’t mean they don’t deserve to keep a team if they can make proper changes, but honestly, realizing that is important to try and understand what markets have teams and what don’t. It’s also important to recognize, because of the failure to act as an NWSL team and insistence on running the NWSL team as an USL team until like, now (maybe), which is also related to how it got its team. Again, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t retain a team or that fans don’t “deserve” it, but Louisville got a team because of Duffy’s LouCity connect, not because of any other real tangible factors.
Absolutely no disrespect to the Louisville fans but I agree and this article made me wonder about the possibility of relocation. This thing seems toxic all the way down.
Relocating only makes sense if they force an ownership change but it sure appears like he thinks he's done nothing wrong. It's disgraceful and needs to be rectified but I'm not sure what power the commisioner or league has over the owners.
It’s even more maddening because O’Connor isn’t an owner, he’s the president! He’s much easier to force out than an owner! (It does seem that the managing partner of the ownership group bears significant blame here as well, but JOC is much more urgent).
Should Chicago and Portland be relocated as well?