Brandi Chastain was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on Monday night, a most deserving honor. What she didn’t deserve was the supposed likeness of herself on the plaque she received when she was honored.
The image on the plaque looks nothing like her. Chastain, though, has always been a classy person, and she handled the slight with class.
“It’s not the most flattering,” Chastain told the San Jose Mercury News when commenting on the supposed likeness. “But it’s nice.”
At first a representative of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame defended the image saying it was just a “representation” of Chastain. Well, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame doesn’t know what a representation is.
Fortunately, the organization has come to its senses and has announced it will redo the image.
I’m not going to dignify the slight by showing the image. But if you want to look at how bad it is you can go to the Twitter page of outstanding sports columnist Ann Killion, who justifiably slammed the sculpture.
Chastain played for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team through the 1990s and 2000s. Of course she’s best known for taking off her jersey which displayed her sports bra after scoring the winning goal against China for the U.S. to win the World Cup in 1999.
I thought that moment was blown way out of proportion. I had the chance to interview Chastain several times because of her ties to Carson City. Of course I like millions of others asked her about that incident and she was always gracious when addressing that iconic moment.
It’s no surprise Chastain is nothing but class since her grandparents, Roger and Hazel Chastain, who lived here in Carson City, were classy people.
Yes Chastain is nothing but class. And thank goodness the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame has also decided to show some class.
— Charles Whisnand
