Where are the good soccer journalists?

[Mountainia]

Does anyone have links to good soccer reporters? I have been reading espn.go.com/soccer for a while, but they seem to have fewer good analysts than they did even a year ago. Also, I cannot ever find a soccer magazine at the newstands, or even a general sports magazine that covers soccer.

If anyone knows good sources, please post them to this list. Thanks.

[skipshady]

They're not reporters but I always enjoy Marc Connelly and Jeff Bradley's columns. Grant Wahl's contributions to SI are excellent as well.

What part of Virginia do you live in? In every city I've lived in, Barnes & Noble usually had a half decent selection of soccer magazines. Or you could subscribe to FourFourTwo, When Saturday Comes and/or Soccer America.

[Jose L. Couso]

Steven Goff of the Washington Post is one of the best!

[Mountainia]

Thanks, Skip. I didn't think. Of course a bookstore has much better selection. I'll stop by a B&N for a look.

I like Goff's articles, and I also like Jeff Bradley's columns. I was hoping that there were some good analysts writing about individual players in MLS, their strengths, progress, etc. I remeber hearing Dave Dir talk about strategy on ESPN. For example, how players should be supporting the attack as well as positioning themselves in case the ball is lost. Things that help people who already know the game, not stuff for non-soccer people.

I also like the series about Americans overseas. I forget who writes those. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

[Texan]

Rob Hughes for the International Herald Tribune and Henry Winter for the Daily Telegraph are two of my favorites. David Lacey for the Guardian was also a favorite, but sadly has recently retired.

[Minnman]

Craig Merz does a good job in Columbus.

For the most part, I think the great soccer reporters are in the same place as are the hoards of soccer fans who demand their daily does of soccer reporting (i.e, they don't exist).

What we have (as has been pointed out) are columnists (Bradley, Connolly, Wagman) who cover soccer, but don't necessarily report on the day-to-day happenings of the sport. The best (like Connolly) don't just spew out their own unsubstantiated opinions (as do Trecker & Jones). But until the fan base for the sport grows, and grows a lot, in this country, I doubt that we'll see much of a jump in the numbers of soccer reporters.

The fun (if I can focus on the silver lining) is that this means soccer fans, in the Internet age, are free to roam countless websites looking for the diamonds in the rough; guys like Charles Gardner in Milwaukee who does a very good job covering the sport for the Journal-Sentinel. Hopefully, as the fan base grows, as the USMNT gears up for its WC Quals in 2004, and if MLS ever gets around to expanding into more markets, we'll see better coverage evolve. But it's gonna take a while.

[mpruitt]

Frank D'Apala of the Boston Globe is also very good. very in depth analysis

[bocatuna]

Try http://football.guardian.co.uk/ or www.worldsoccer.com to read Brain Glanville the best in the buisness

[Boro_lad]

I got to say none. (when it comes to transfers)

And very few as most are always negative towards middlesbrough. Southern b@$t@rds

yea so good journolists....non from england as they are all biased....

[desertfox2]

Well, all I have to say is that I want to be a soccer writer (especially about the WC) when I get out of college. I mean, I wrote a 167 page analysis on the 32 WC Finalists of this past WC, and that was just for fun. Hopefully one day I'll be travelling the world and you will all see my articles about the WC on some site.

[Samarkand]

Originally posted by desertfox2
I wrote a 167 page analysis on the 32 WC Finalists of this past WC, and that was just for fun.
FOUR FOUR TWO is about 130 pages long and that includes the advertising.
Most newspapers rarely have more than 15 pages dedicated to ALL sports and that also includes the advertising.

So at 167 pages, I'd have to say you just might be guilty of overwriting a little...............:)

[desertfox2]

I did not overwrite. Listen, I did a breakdown of each of the 32 nations. This is what I had for each team:

1) General Statistics (FIFA Rank, different records in WC play, what region they are from, etc.)

2) Qualifying Round story (I listed each result, and then gave what I thought that match meant at that time for whatever team I was writing about.)

3) History in past World Cup Finals (Just listed past results in past World Cups.)

4) Teams in their group (Just listed their group.)

5) Past Encounters (Listed all (if any) of previous encounters with the 3 other teams in their group, the date, and what it was that they were playing in (friendly, World Cup, etc.).)

6) My Analysis (Wrote my analysis on each team (usually was about 3/4 of a page long.)

7) Their schedule (Just listed who they were playing, what day, what time, and which city they were playing in.)

8) My Prediction (I then gave my prediction on the team and listed how far they would get and gave the scores that I predicted.)

9) Top 3 Stars (Listed who I thought were the top 3 stars heading into the World Cup Finals.)

10) Final Thought (Gave one last thought on the team.)

I used a 14 font on my comp, which is not much larger than a normal 12 font. I only used it cause I thought it looked better. That's basically it. 167 pages total. And I thought all of it needed to be included. I mean, think what you want to, but I felt that it was close to being an ultimate breakdown of the teams going into the WC Finals. I wish that other journalists would do something like that. I mean, I've seen only people write about the history, or their predictions with an explanation, or just facts on the team, but I had them all.

[todda74]

Fox how long did it take you to write that?

[desertfox2]

todda, it took me about 3 months to write it, and that was just on regular paper. Then it took me about 2 weeks just to type it up. I finished it in early March. It even took about 2 hours to print lol. It just stunk though when I wrote about players and then they got injured before the Finals began. Like for France, i wrote a lot about how Zidane was going to be their leader and then he is out for the first 2 games. With predictions, I was right on with some teams and way off on others (i.e. France, Portugal, Argentina). Right now I'm writing just my analysis on each group heading into EURO 2004 qualifying. Who knows, maybe I'll type it in the UEFA forum.

[Turk from Pigs Eye]

Are you aware of SoccerAmerica Magazine?

The Dallas Morning News, Chicago Tribune, and Columbus papers have articles at times.

[sydtheeagle]

Originally posted by desertfox2
Well, all I have to say is that I want to be a soccer writer (especially about the WC) when I get out of college. I mean, I wrote a 167 page analysis on the 32 WC Finalists of this past WC, and that was just for fun. Hopefully one day I'll be travelling the world and you will all see my articles about the WC on some site.

Becoming a journalist has more to do with initiative than anything else. Speaking from experience, if you want to write (and be published), you will find a way if you have the nous and initiative. You'd be surprised...the "mystique" is not all it's cracked up to be.

[desertfox2]

Syd, you're right. To get into the journalism world you must have initiative. It's how you can become successful, I know that. But I'm willing to take the initiative. I actually nearly did get my work published. It's just that papers in the US hardly could care about a breakdown of the teams in the World Cup. I did write about the World Cup however in my school paper and many people read my large breakdown of the teams as well. I'm just about to go into college and I hope that I will start working with people in my field. But yes, initiative is key.

[sydtheeagle]

Originally posted by desertfox2
Syd, you're right. To get into the journalism world you must have initiative. It's how you can become successful, I know that. But I'm willing to take the initiative. I actually nearly did get my work published. It's just that papers in the US hardly could care about a breakdown of the teams in the World Cup. I did write about the World Cup however in my school paper and many people read my large breakdown of the teams as well. I'm just about to go into college and I hope that I will start working with people in my field. But yes, initiative is key.

One point is, WRITE. Write about anything. Don't focus on becoming a soccer writer, just write and get published. Once you've established yourself (in print) as a capable writer, got some clips together, and hopefully built a reputation then it'll be much easier to leverage yourself into writing about something that interests you. Think of it like this: you have to play in the minors before you get to the big time.

Also remember that 99% of journalism (a fact all too often forgotten today) is about REPORTING. No one cares about your opinion or what you think...great journalists know how to present the facts in plain, good English. That is why good writing about anything is what will get you into writing about something you love. Being a soccer lover (or even knowing a lot about soccer) is not as a good a qualification for getting a job as a soccer reporter as having a proven track record as a top rate reporter and writer in, say, the nursing home management sector.

Well, hope this advice is of some use. If you do want more, send me a private message. Don't want this thread to be Syd's job clinic.

[Samarkand]

Originally posted by desertfox2
I did not overwrite.

OK you may not have overwritten in your estimation, but bear in mind a few things:

This is too long to be published in any newspaper or magazine ever, except perhaps as a supplement and even at that, it's too much writing by one person. Supplements usually have 3-5+ people writing, to break up the monotony of the style of one writer.

Now, if you're writing this to stretch out your writing muscles and for your own personal collection, fair enough. An interesting exercise would be to see how thin you can pare it.

167 pages - even in 14 font - is too much. Can you get it down to say 10 pages? Then you've got the guts of an article.

[desertfox2]

Samar, I wasn't expecting it to be published, as it is 167 pages. But I wanted people around where I live to check out a preview of whatever team they are rooting for. Plus, I did it for enjoyment. I like to look back on what I wrote before the World Cup Finals. Also, it gave me good practice with writing. And I try to write as unbiased as possible to please fans of all countries.