Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban are both complete assholes. If it's not the Redskins or Wizards they can't be bothered. It's nice to see someone in the DC sports community call them on it.
I normally don't find Pollin to be that bad. However, Steve is another story. He's an idiot on so many levels that it's hard to really know where to start on him. Oh well, such is life.
You can go further than assholes. The two of them have demonstrated in their commentary in the past that they're racists. I don't doubt for a second that that fuels a lot of their attitude. EDIT: To be fair, I shouldn't refer to them collectively as racists. That's wrong. It's Czaban who's demonstrated such.
even when Czaban talks about the 'Skins it is clear he doesn't know what he is talking about, I can't think of one person that likes him, maybe him bashing soccer and United will draw more people to it. I HATE Czaban and B Mich, and John Thompson, although I can't hate him, he knows NOTHING about any sport other than basketball and he turns EVERYTHING into a race issue
For the record, I despise Czaban. Despise. But I haven't heard him say anything racist. Do you have some examples for us? I don't doubt you really, I just would like to judge for myself.
Those idiots are the worst! They think they're soooo clever and witty. I swear, I'd love to take a shot at them. Please, someone get them to meet me in Lot 8 for a rumble. I'll only use my feet, just to make a point.
Hmm...not sure I can agree with your assessment of the man as a racist based on what he may have meant when cracking a dumb joke. Either way though, the guy is an asshole, whether he is talking about the Redskins or anything else. He makes his living making outrageous statements and trying to stir up controversy.
It's funny, but our sports broadcast community here in Toronto basically does the same thing. The commentators often wonder why so many people around the world love the game. The biggest obstacle for football in North America is the fact that it is not an indigenous game - it has always been seen as an immigrant sport. In the US, where conservative commentators have a lot of influence on public opinion, football is seen as a foreign intrusion, powered by the dreaded Europeans and the equally despised Latinos.
I don't think this is a political issue. You seem to be making soccer a sport that only liberal people enjoy?
I am not sure what that dipshit Czaban is up to these days but he seems to be doing his best to make sure EVERY fan of every team in town hates his guts. I'll will admit that I listen to their show occasionally but only because I find his negative "tough guy" routine so pathetic/funny that its a train wreck. That station is so desperate for ratings they are even turning on the Skins and Gibbs trying to do ANYTHING to get their own niche/purpose. Stevey C. was recently bashing MarK Brunell so hard in his new wannabe Jim Rhome style that I was hoping for a repeat of the Jim Everett ass whooping http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNgqQVHI_8
Well, there was the gratuitous/needless comment about "conservative commentators" having a lot of influence in the U.S.; but I do think it's a fair argument that a good portion of the animosity in the U.S. sports media towards soccer seems to stem from a perception of the sport as being foreign. I would need a bunch of extra hands to count the number of times I've heard everyone from Jim Rome to Tony Kornholer make the statement that soccer isn't one of "our sports" and it'd be best if it stayed that way. Presumably, all the recent immigrants from places where soccer is a major cultural force don't qualify as part of the "our."
Right, which in itself can be interpreted as a "second class", xenophobic, psuedo-racist, type of mindset. It's an interesting sociological subset of the larger 'soccer in America' issue.
Well, whether we soccer fans like it or not, baseball, basketball and football--aka the big 3, were invented in the US. Soccer was not. It is not the sport that many of these talk show hosts or writers grew up with. Not as sure as some folks around here who like many in US politics throw out the racism card that the dislike of soccer has anything to do with it or that soccer is a liberal only or 'immigrant' game. Is is an accessible game that is loved by the rich and poor, in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America as well as North America. It truly doesn't belong to one country or class of people. That is one of the things that makes it so great. I hope soccer does break into the big 3 in a big way in the US...most talk show hosts (most of whom are boorish blowhards) bash it because the big 3 is what they know and it is a 'world game' (read not just an 'immigrant' game). They see soccer rightly or wrongly as as a kickabout for suburban mother's children in the US complete with CapriSun, a game where players frequently dive or feign injury (not perceived as an "american" quality), or a European sport that is "soft" and not as athletic as american football, basketball or even baseball. It will take a new generation of sportswriters (like Grant Wahl, etc) for some of this 'old school' opinion to change or at a minimum, a significant world cup run but the Nats. Everyone loves a winner.
Let's be clear: No Man Is An Island. The NFL of today is not the NFL of when it was invented. The same goes for the other two sports. The sports evolve. And, that's the main point. None of these sports materialized out of the blue without influences from similar sports. People built upon previous games and past-times, whether global or local, and devised sports that resemble the sports we have today. But, the rules and complexities keep on changing. So, the ignoramus' who want to tout anything as 'American' are really ignoring the fact that these sports are 'human' above anything else. PS: It should also be noted that American Football is clearly, and documented to be, an evolution of a game that closely resembles soccer as we know it. Even the first match many claim to be the first American Football match was a game where you kicked to ball to advance. Not to mention rubgy outdates American Football by several years. So, clearly American football is not simply this 'American Invention'.
I think Michael Wilbon got it wrong when he said that Americans don't like sports we didn't invent. Americans love golf, which was invented in Scotland, and other sports we didn't invent. Americans don't like sports that 1) they don't understand, and 2) we don't rule the world. Most Americans, even non-soccer fans, will say how much they love the women's national team. But you see, they are considered the best in the world. We loved cycling when Lance Armstrong was winning and then forgot about it as soon as he retired. Since America hasn't won a men's world cup, or even come close, then soccer is not a sport the ignoramuses can support. It's clear they don't understand the sport when they make fun of, say, a 2-0 score. I always ask them whether a 14-0 football game can be exciting. Of course. Well, if soccer goals counted for 7 points each, that would be the equivalent score. I believe the dinosaurs on sports talk radio who refuse to acknowledge soccer as a viable sport will be left in the dust. Soccer ratings are on the climb. During the recent TV sweeps, Univision was second nationwide to Fox in the coveted 18-34 age group. Why? Copa America. We know that the Univision ratings for the Gold Cup final beat the NBC ratings for the NHL finals. World Cup ratings were great - the best ever. I guess you can't really blame the sports talking heads for trying to shun the sport. They don't want to take the time to learn about it, and they just sound stupid if they try to have a conversation about it. So, it's just easier to make fun of it and move on. One day, though, this ignorance will come back to bite them in the butt. Soccer is growing in this country in two ways - 1) Nearly 4 million children in this country are now registered soccer players, more than any other country in the world. My generation didn't play soccer. I learned it through my children playing. My kids (now grown) are huge soccer fans, having played the sport. So the popularity of the sport among children is creating a new generation of fans, which includes their parents. 2) Immigrants love soccer. As the demographics of the country change, more life-long soccer (futbol) fans are tuning in. This shift in popularity of the sport was already happening, albeit it gradually, before Beckham got here. I don't want to see the over-hyping of his arrival, in an attempt to accelerate the popularity, backfire on the league. We need more stars, and some home grown ones would be nice. By focusing only on him, we risk shutting out potential fans who want to be proud of what America can produce. There are plenty of good stories out there, but they've all been buried in the Beckham-hype. Too bad.
ok...to defend some of the misguided sportswriters and talkshow hosts in their absence, obviously some american sports have some roots from the past but it is pretty clear that as we know it today, american football is still perceived as an american game despite its close resemblance to soccer as you describe it. Baseball is actually closer to cricket than football to soccer. Ask most people worldwide and they'd describe the big 3 US sports as primarily 'American' even if basketball is played now in many countries as is baseball in Latin American and Asian countries. Whether you agree with the above is immaterial though...the point is that this is what many sportswriters/talk show hosts believe. There is some relevance there in that all 3 are more traditionally american than soccer.
Couldn't agree more with your post. Everyone loves a winner. Soccer is growing and is vastly underrated by many in the 'mainstream' sports media. It is only a matter of time before soccer explodes for the reasons you have outlined. The only thing I disagree on is Beckham's arrival. Overhyped or not, it can only be a positive catalyst to ignite the sparks. Whether Beckham is American or not, new fans will be made and MLS/US soccer will grow.
I totally agree that there is a bias among many sports commentators against soccer here in America. However, nearly all sports columnists on networks like ESPN (Wilbon, Kornheiser, Rome, Saunders, Lupica, etc) are quite liberal. My point is that it's not a liberal/conservative issue. Trying to make it one is disingenuous.
I sent some folks at sportalk 980's staff a friendly e-mail reminding how many soccer fans are in the DC area, and how we are turned off by this nonsense. I suggest others do the same. link to contacts
Is there ANY mainsteam Sportstalk radio in the US that covers soccer?? Shoot, the former Fusion stadium announcer has a sportstalk show here,and barely mentions the game because every time he does, people call up and bitch. As much ground as soccer and MLS has gained,there are more important battles to be won(like better quality GOTW coverage),than this one.....
Hey cut'em some slack... they have a United page: http://www.sportstalk980.com/pages/dcunited.html I won't mention it hasn't been touched in over a month and looks like a high schooler's web project (from 1998) The "Thong of the Day" is a nice touch though... Good to see they are a media outlet that demands to be taken seriously: http://www.sportstalk980.com/cc-common/babes/ While you are there jerking off feel free to email Czab. I asked him why "The Caliente" 88.3FM "Salsa in the Morning" program just crushed his show in the local ratings and if his bosses could spring for a bit more tin foil for the stations tower