Brandi Chastain is cool about odd Hall of Fame plaque: ‘It’s not the most flattering. But it’s nice.’
Art is hard.
Carving the likeness of a famous person into bronze must be extremely difficult.
That being said, here’s a shot of retired soccer star Brandi Chastain as many of us remember her, famously celebrating her game-winning shootout kick for the U.S. in the 1999 women’s World Cup final against China.
And here’s the plaque that was revealed Monday as Chastain was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Ummmmm … maybe Chastain has changed a lot in almost two decades?
Maybe not. Here’s Chastain standing next to the plaque during the induction ceremony at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
Chastain was cool about the whole thing. “It’s not the most flattering,” she told the San Jose Mercury News of the image. “But it’s nice.”
But the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in San Francisco said Tuesday it will redo the plaque.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ann Killion, who wrote the inscription on the plaque, didn’t mince words.
She tweeted: “Brandi Chastain is one of the most beautiful athletes I’ve ever covered. How this became her plaque is a freaking embarrassment for BASHOF. Makes Cristiano’s look perfect.”
OK, so we’ve established that the image doesn’t resemble Chastain at all. Folks on Twitter have plenty of ideas about just who is depicted on the plaque.
Anthony Savicke, the Hall of Fame’s vice president of finance and administration, told the Mercury News on Monday that the likenesses on the plaques are “representations” and that he hadn’t heard any complaints about Chastain’s.
But Killion said in a tweet late Monday night that a BASHOF patron had offered to pay for the sculpture to be redone.
“I hope that happens,” Killion tweeted.
Twitter: @chewkiii
UPDATES:
2:45 p.m.: This story has been updated with a statment from the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.
This article was originally published at 8:25 a.m.
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