Megan Rapinoe. great player. obnoxious personality. She seems determined to one up herself with crass and crude comments and over the top woke-ness in every interview and tweet. The more she speaks, the fewer people can stand her.

The level of hostility, ignorance, and narrow-mindedness reflected in many of these comments is startling. As someone who has an Olympian in my family and happens to know Megan, let me set the record straight. Athletes do not leave their right to freedom of speech on the locker room floor. Many are highly educated, in addition to being athletes. And, for women athletes in particular, because it is so difficult to earn a living to support oneself, they must be knowledgeable of the world around them. Megan is anything but self-involved. She is pushing the envelope and demanding that women athletes by paid their due. And, just what is wrong with that? She and her team mates have worked extremely hard for years to achieve all they have. They owe nothing to anyone. They got there through their own blood, sweat and tears. She is deifnitely not an example of White Privilege. No, that distinction belongs to some of the writers here. If you object to her dream of owning a Rolex, well, isn't that the American Dream? Ownership of material goods? I know of professional athletes who give of their time and money to those less fortunate, who truly give back. But, who also "own" things that some of you might find offensive. Really? Why? They have only worked hard for their success. If you do not like what Megan and her team mates are fight for, then do not listen. But, do not accuse Megan or any other woman athlete of self-involvement.

Another tiresome, ego-driven celebrity for whom performing well in their chosen field is not enough; no, they believe they are thus endowed as social arbiters sent forth to enlighten the lowly masses. Whether a movie star or an athlete (or simply a rich person), their conceit that they thereby have obtained a wisdom unknown by the rest of us is offensive. Congratulations to Ms. Rapinoe in her athletic skills. But she needs to remember that her star performance is limited to the game field, not equating that to excellence in all spheres of public concern. (And many commenters will no doubt bristle at that, but they should be honest and admit they would not hold that position if Rapinoe didn't adhere to only one side of the political spectrum.)

This is a person who has become famous for two things: kicking a ball. and being outspoken. She is welcome to speak out as is everyone else but I'm one of those people who don't believe that professional athletes have any more to tell us than the average person.

Rapinoe actually is a regular white girl in the one percent. Being gay or lesbian is no drawback for those in possession of the ultimate “Pass here, collect $200” card, white people. She seems a decent person, congrats on the championship but don’t overlook her societal and racial privileges.

Professional athletes routinely demonstrate that the amount of time and effort required to become a world class athlete leaves no time for anything else in their psychological development. This may be just one element leading to elevated levels of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and disordered eating amongst professional athletes. One dimensional individual adulation seems to have eclipsed the societal value in a well rounded individual leading to earlier and more intense involvement in specific activities. I would encourage someone seeking to find a role model to watch Michael Jordan's acceptance speech into the Hall of Fame to better understand a great athlete and leader. It is apparent in this interview, that the "role model" Megan Rapinoe, has nothing of substance to add to any conversation beyond insight into narcissistic personality disorder (me,me,i'm different,me, LGBTQ, me millionaire, rolex, private jets.) It is likely she shares this personality disorder with a person she publicly hates. "This is the time that nobody cares what you do. You can ask for anything, you can do anything. Live it up." -M. Rapinoe " And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." D. Trump Her actions appear as a plea for help and not a call to action for a cause.

I find Rapinoe's self-involvement and self-dramatization quite tedious. She decided to turn herself and her soccer team into a "lightning rod" by egregiously baiting Trump via Tweet, in order that he would respond in his predictable manner. Oh joy. And she's an out gay woman?! Oh, how brave. As for the pay inequity between men and women soccer players, look to the fact that Mens' World Cup Soccer generates about 400 million dollars in revenue each tournament, where Women's World Cup generates 30 million dollars per tournament. Simply put, far fewer people are interested in watching women's soccer than men's. And it because men's soccer teams are generally far better than the top women's teams.

She’s a delight to read. Straightforward, bright, obviously generous. I hope people learn from such a beautiful human being

I love the fact that Ms. Rapinoe is out and outspoken. I love the way she plays the game, both on and off the field. In almost every respect she's a great role model for our youth. But it is the latter that gave me pause when she mused, at the end of this article, about buying a Rolex, or having a private jet. Really? Is obscene commercialism and materialism the message she wants to send our children? Surely there are way more meaningful and satisfying ways to display her prominence than status symbols. And as an aside, as a part-time professional sports photographer, I would be ashamed if I had edited some of these images. Ms. Rapinoe and the other women look like mannequins. I'm quite certain the original images did not look like that. And I'm fairly certain that the edits would have been quite different if the subjects were men.

I love Megan Rapinoe and the visibility she is bringing to women's sports. If you don't like her politics, don't listen to them. But you can't argue that she is an incredible athlete and makes the game super, super fun to watch. I happen to love her politics, her speaking about including everybody, loving more and hating less. I wish our actual politicians could be half as passionate about caring for all people as Ms. Rapinoe. And I hope the women's soccer teams achieve equal pay.

All this attention for Ms. Rapinoe is because her politics lean to the side that the mainstream press favors. If she were an outspoken pro-life conservative, there would be no lengthy interviews, no hero treatment, she would be getting savaged by the Left, and there would be no book deal, World Cup champion or not. I do hope she enjoys the spotlight while it lasts, and makes some money, because the billionaires are not going to save the NWSL as there's not going to be any return on that investment. The women have a moment here, with national exposure for their league on ESPN. Hopefully there will be more exciting soccer, and fewer political lectures!

Most players when they score turn around and run towards their teammates. Rapinoe runs to the corner of the field and absorbs all the applause herself. I doubt she is different off the pitch.

I adore Megan Rapinoe. She's a wonderful American, a thoughtful human being, a spectacular athlete and a patriot of the highest order. What a delightful contrast to he who shall not be named.