Did anyone see Ch. 5's reoprt on the 11pm news? The sports guy said, " I'd like to show you highlites of the revs playoff game but there weren't any...the game ended in a 0-0 tie." And then went straight to the next story. How lazy can you get. He must of thought...gee, no goals, I guess I don't have to look at any video to double check to see if there were any great saves, clearances off the line, or spectacular shots. Simply unprofessional, lazy and the journalistic version of a pig. Of course this is the same sportscast that kept referring to Wolde as Wolde Clark the last game versus the metros when he had an assist and scored. It wasn't like the highlites constantly showed his name on the back of the jersey. Just another proud moment for the Boston media.
Channel 5 essentially gave up on sports coverage about 8 years ago, when they drastically cut back on the time they gave to sports in their newscasts. Mike Lynch is a notorious soccer basher, as well, prone to editorializing on those rare occasions when he shows soccer highlights. So if the sport and the Revs have a true enemy in Boston TV, it's Ch. 5. Chs. 4 and 7 might not care too much, but I don't think Lobel or Lavanchy is hostile, and they more often show highlights of Revs games. Ch. 4 had several highlights on its 6 p.m. news as well as a live shot with Dan Roche at Gillette and a taped interview (on a quick turnaround) with Heaps. They did the job right.
Channel 4? Ha! Did anyone see their sports final last night? Bob 'clueless' Lobel and Dan Shaunessy berated both the Revs and soccer in general for about 15 minutes. Lobel couldn't grasp the '5 points to win the series' concept, and he kept saying that yesterday's match was (and I quote) "For nothing, it meant nothing , nobody scored and each team got 1 point so it was all for nothing". He futher went on to say that soccer will never be a mainsteam sport due to tie nil-nil boring games like this one. It was such a joke, I couldn't help but marvel at what a tired old man he is, and Shaunessy for that matter. There was a third gentleman in on the discussion who was the proponent of the Revs and the game and the sport, but Tweedle-Dee (Shaunessy) and Tweedle-Dum (Lobel) wouldn't let him get a word in and just kept putting the Revs and soccer down. I wonder how those two guys can look in the mirror each day and honestly think that they cover sports objectively in this town. To say that they are each a joke in their own respective professions would be putting it lightly. Yes, Mike Lynch is certainly no friend of soccer, and when they do have Rev news, he doesn't even spend the time to learn the names properly, but he looks like a genious compared to Lobel. It makes you wonder how Lobel even keeps his job, he's such a tired old man with a closed mind. Both Lynch and Lobel couldn't be bothered to throw a good word towards the Revs, yet spent most of the show showing footage of the Pats getting their ass handed to them in Miami. THEY ARE A JOKE! At least Butch Stearns (Ch 25), who although not a complete soccer basher but sometimes can be a bit of an a-hole, had Leo Cullen on his sports show last night and is taking the Revs seriously. He gets an 'atta boy' for that one. Channel 7 takes the Revs seriously as does NECN, but don't expect to get an intelligence from either channel 4 or 5. To say that they are the worst in what they do in sports, would be the understatement of the year.
It would be one thing if it was an informed opinion about the playoff system. I'm not a big fan of the 5 point system myself, but it isn't an indication that the sport sucks. I'll never understand why soccer fans are so needy that they crave acceptance from everyone. Some get it, some don't. That's the way it goes. I'm all for spreading the word and raising awareness, but some people just don't want to be converted. Too bad for them. Concentrate more on the people in the media who do get it.
GET OVER IT!!!!!!!! I have been a soccer fan my whole life. I have watched as many games as I can. I have witnessed games in several different countries and prefer to watch a soccer match (even what the MLS puts out) over other sports. We have never and will never have everyone accept the game. Baseball is America's past time and people whine that it is too slow and boring! That is just the way it is. Baseball has been around for over a century. Are you trying to tell me that back when they started, everyone like it and covered it???? NO!!! It takes time to develop understandings and a taste for the game. We have to let the league and game develop. Hopefully, it will evolve and become much better than it presently is. When that happens we will have some more air time and the fan base will increase. When sponsors see a significant amount of money can be made, suddenly you will find more TV coverage and more folks talking about it. Until those things happen, we will never get a fair shake and should stop sounding like spoiled cry babies. Watch the games and enjoy. Let the closed mided Lynch's, Lobel's, et al be morons.
Each of these people are flexible enough to pander to a particular audience. How many Pats fans were watching Sports Final last night, eh? You think Lobel was going to risk "losing his cred." by supporting both soccer and the Revs in front of that audience and Shaugnessy. So how'd the Pats do yesterday? How's the post-season going for the Red Sox? Gee, have the Bruins won a pre-season game yet? Lobel did have a point, the "point system" for the MLS post-season is rediculous, and that's why we'll probably see a home-and-home series starting next season. The Magpie
If Lobel, or anyone else wants to make an argument against the first-to-five, that's fine, but I think it is a fair system from a competition standpoint. The higher seeded team gets the advantage if they need it, and most times they do. Where it doesn't work is in the business end, where the uncertainty of dates, stadium availability, time enough to sell tickets, etc. have all caused problems. I think the 2-leg aggregate solves the business problems, but doesn't address the competitive issues. If you're clearly in the playoffs with 3 games to go, what does it matter where you finish as long as you're in the mix? And don't tell me that having the second game at home is enough of an advantage for the higher seeded team. Tom
I too at one time got annoyed, and even angry at sports reporters for not giving us our due. But I am no longer a member of the 7% of the population to watch the sports portion of the evening news. I am part of the 93% who turn off the newscast after the weather. I also very seldom read the post game newspaper reports. They cannot compare to the posts here and the other team forums. And you know....I don't miss them at all. If I were a reporter I would mention how I did start to doze yesterday when I entered the stadium a bit early and they had the other team on the big screen. Does it every time for me. So I can see where the opposition is comming from. They don't like mine and I don't like thiers. We can all be content in the fact that "our" boys have two more games at home this year and we WILL be there. The Rev/Col final will be a doozy.
Jeez, everybody was ready to kiss Lobel's b*tt last week when he gave the Revos some play. But the proverbial worm has turned. Won't say I told you so. Oh, wait, I just did. Beggin' crumbs (any coverage) from crumbs (anti-soccer media snobs) never works in the long run.
There is a whole generation of young people coming up who have both played and been educated about our sport. History to date says that most of them revert to being fans of the more traditional US sports but for sure some of them will eventually be sitting in the sports casters seats. This more knowledgable sports caster will not show his or her stupidity in saying a nil-nil match was boring In actuality, I think all the news people missed a good bet last night. They could have said that Cup winning soccer sides are built on good defense and then they could have shown some of the spectacular saves made by both teams. The save on Heaps and Ralstons sure goals were highlight stuff and some of Browns save were also worthy of being shown. It would have shown up better than seeing Brady being sacked The fact that the sporting news on the main stream channels has been covering the Revs recently is a step up even if they made cryptic remarks about the match last night due to ignorance. If the Revs advance to the Cup match it would generate significant coverage even if the sportscastes don't understand the game. Conversion of the main stream news media may take another generation but I'm convinced it will happen.
These so called "sports" guys can shove it... ...when the Revs win MLS Cup, lets see how they kiss their ass!!!!
The media cannot and should not be ignore if soccer is to grow in this country. Many if not most people opinion about soccer is based on what they hear on the news. Lots of people talk about soccer like they know all about it but never watched a game or even more than 5 minutes, they simple repeat what they hear and will never give a chance to the sport This is not an issue of converting people. Soccer should be treated with respect, if they give soccer 10 second, well let it be, but let this 10-second be reasonable good news hopefully done professionally. I don’t know if MLS is doing anything about this, my personal impression is probably not. But I will suggest starting doing something about. And perhaps start with: No videos or Interviews should be given or allow to broadcast in those channel who do not give the proper respect to soccer Go Revs
That's one way to increase media exposure. Decide that Lynch is an idiot (check) and based on that, deny them video footage, don't send the press releases and make them pay $5 for the media guide that gets sent to everyone else for free. I bet they'd cover the Revs and soccer with a lot more "respect" after that. Tom
Re: Re: Channel 5 - How unprofessional !!!!! I'm sorry, but I bet if someone at Channel 5 read this, they'd rolling on the floor laughing....... Doing this would definitely by cutting off your nose to spite your own face. It's not that I don't sympathize with you Tom, just that at the moment the MLS has to pander to the media to survive and not the other way around.
Owlsfan, I'm pretty sure that Tom was responding sarcastically to JAIME1's post. Tom is not, I believe, suggesting that the Revs do the things suggested in his post.
This is a view of wisdom. We can isolate weaknesses in most Major Sports (5th or otherwise) and still 'miss' the long term goals. New England has one of the strongest programs for Youth Soccer in the country. We are now one of the breeding grounds for future MLS (and world) stars. Just as we are in Hockey. But not all of these young soccer/futbol enthusiasts will be playing out their passions on the pitch. Many will be proponents of "The Beautiful Game" and some will be journalists. We may trail the rest of the world in these 'departments', but like most other endeavors; we'll ketchup. We mustard.
I agree that we are doing well in the youth soccer world in terms of participation and appreciation. But in terms of excellence, we will always lag California and other warm-weather states.
The issue on the table isn't producing soccer stars but rather soccer knowledgable adults some of which will work in the media. People like Lobel and Lynch grew up in a non-soccer enviorment and just don't understand the sport. Their replacements will have experienced the game first hand and see the Beautiful Game in a much more positive light.