30 people who can replace Stephen Colbert on The Late Show
By Buckie Wells
18. Julie Foudy
If Mia Hamm is the Neil Armstrong of women’s soccer, Julie Foudy is Buzz Aldrin.
Julie Foudy played seventeen years with the United States women’s national soccer team, winning two World Cups and two Gold medals over the course of her career in what was considered the “golden era” of soccer. She retired in 2004, and in 2007, was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
After her retirement, Foudy went on to become a sports analyst, serving as an anchor for ABC and ESPN during several women’s World Cups and women’s national team games. Many fans consider her the commentating authority when it comes to women’s soccer.
In addition to being the voice of reason on the pitch sidelines, Foudy is a political activist and also served as president of the Women’s Sports Foundation — an organization dedicated to equal participation in sports for women that was originally founded by tennis star Billie Jean King in 1974.
We’ve seen sportscasters switch gears and take hosting jobs before. If Foudy snagged The Late Show, she’d just be doing what Michael Strahan did, and what Jeff Gordon may do if he ends up being the one to take Strahan’s place. Sports commentators are journalists and are as qualified to host things as the rest of us.
Just imagine an episode of The Late Show with Julie Foudy where soccer star Carli Lloyd rides a unicycle around the studio while Alex Morgan throws water balloons filled with shaving cream at her because that’s the kind of quality content we could be getting. Or on a more serious note, an episode where we finally find out the story behind Hope Solo’s 2014 assault charges.
Next: 17. Jim Parsons