Editors Note: I don’t know why I never pressed the “Publish” button on this one. Although it’s short, I wanted to make the point that winners are winners because they work hard, not because of their reputation. Without further ado:

I’ve been unsure whether or not I wanted to wade into what became an embarrassment for the U.S. Women’s National Team’s abrupt exit from the Women’s World Cup. If you didn’t happen to notice, there was a lot of commentary, on television and in writing over what was truly an abysmal performance by the world’s number one team. It seemed to this writer that the angry conclusions had more to do with politics than what happened on the field. Many focused on Megan Rapinoe, who only had a small part in the overall outcome. What it really came down to, I believe, were unrealistic expectations along with mind wrenchingly poor field performance. If you’re not used to winning, you won’t.

What happened to the USWNT is no mystery: They entered the competition as favorites, to win a third title in a row. Many of those that got them to this pinnacle had, unfortunately, retired from international play.That’s bound to happen as with all of us, players become older and the team needs “fresh legs” to replace and rebuild to its current glory. This is something that doesn’t happen overnight. How does any organization replace top members with others expected to perform at that level? They don’t. No one does.

Unrealistic expectations? Maybe, but more so dreams don’t necessarily playout as they were supposed to from the beginning. Will the USWNT become the stars they once were? Only if they really want it.