“Stud” is obviously a traditionally male term, having etymology pertaining to masculine breeding habits.
However, it’s a brave new world in 2016 as the ladies are the studs now. Chicago Red Stars and United States Women’s National Team forward Christen Press has been named Chicago sports “Stud of the year,” by the readers of the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. It’s the third year in a row RedEye readers voted a woman the winner of the honor.
It was an overwhelming majority too, as Press took home 75% of the vote. Cubs third baseman and National League MVP Kris Bryant was the next closest competitor and he was way back at 9%.
Chris Sosa of RedEye writes:
The Chicago Red Stars captain scored 12 goals for the U.S. national team this year, including a hat trick against Romania in November. The 27-year-old netted another eight goals for her club team in helping it reach the National Women’s Soccer League semifinals. Her national profile also spiked a bit when she appeared in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue.
The Chicago Sky’s Allie Quigley won the award in 2014 while her teammate Elena Delle Donne garnered it in 2015. Speaking of the Body Issue, here’s a link to a preview of that Christen Press photo shoot.
It was a year of ups and downs for Press, but the net aggregate was of course very positive. She helped lead the Red Stars to their second NWSL semifinal.
However, they didn’t advance any further.
She was one of the league’s top scorers, but home attendance for her club was dreadful. The Red Stars had a huge surge in attendance in 2015, largely fueled by World Cup mania, but couldn’t sustain it this season. Attendance took a sharp nosedive, as interest in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics wasn’t enough to sell more tickets. Quite often the Red Stars were playing in front if just proverbial friends and family at Toyota Park.
About those Rio Olympics…Press established herself as a first team regular with the USWNT! That’s the good news. We also learned this amazing, heart-warming story about her first year playing youth soccer this past summer.
However, the Olympiad ended with the U.S. getting upset by Sweden and ousted early, and a huge Christen Press gaffe on a penalty kick was a very lasting memory of the team’s failure.
On the plus side, the event triggered what was perhaps our favorite hash tag of the entire year, #DogsForChristen which showcased the good that’s in both our nation and in Twitter.
Given what a total horrific hellscape 2016 was from a current events and news stand point (an atrocity best embodied by the catastrophe of the Electoral College results on November 8th), it was nice to remember that a lot of great, heart-warming things did actually happen in 2016.
Christen Press certainly did her part for the greater good, with her PETA ad, starring alongside the California native’s rescue puppy, calling much attention to a truly noble cause.
There were highs and lows, just like there are for everybody in every single year, but in the end congratulations to Christen Press. Yes, we’re well aware that this post was a self/cross-promotion of ESPN/ABC/Disney proportions, so please, there is no need to point that out.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.