So you were a football fan that lost interest and then regained it? Not sure how thats the same thing, but okay.
Fair enough yeah. I've taken a passive interest in other sports myself with time, but I get the sense that like myself most people come back to the thing they grew up on.
but most people in MLS stadiums did not grow up in the sport. they're brand new converts is what i was saying. so there's still hope. a friend of mine who had only watched soccer sparingly before the Dynamos came once asked me how i remembered so many players and so many games. the reason was that i watched those games live and they were somehow tied to childhood memories of family gatherings and dinnertime soccer conversations with the uncles. he then asked me how i recommended him to "catch-up" and i told him don't bother because everyone has a starting point and a starting place. for some its George Best, for some its Pele, for other its Maradona, mine was Miguel Marin. from that starting point watch all you can, learn all you can and listen to old timers all you can and in 10-15 years there will be youngsters and new converts asking you the same thing "how do you remember all those players and all those games".
Appreciate what you're saying, but I still think that the majority of people attending MLS games had a prior interest in soccer. Not saying everyone, but a large majority. I have no evidence to back this up admittedly, but it would go against conventional wisdom for MLS fans to be entirely new converts to the game.
Maybe their reporting is biased but on the field (photographers) or in the press box they are "supposed" to be impartial and not wear team's colors or cheer. But sometimes it would be hard to control excitement, but you are supposed to try. I'm not talking about announcers, that varies, I'm talking about the press. I know Nigel, for example, can never wear orange while on the sidelines, even though he does his stuff for free. And I know that's one of Ortiz' big complaints, that often the Dynamo press box is "unprofessional" and wears Dynamo jerseys or t shirts and cheers for the team.
Well what do they do when Ortiz goes outside the press box and unfurls his Mexico flag and gives US fans a beer shower?
I then must be an exception. As an old guy who remembers oilers in 78,79 my first soccer match was at Reliant in 2003. Forget who they were (Bimbo and Corona on all jerseys) It was enough for me. Been standing with supporters since 2006. You do not have to grow up with it to appreciate the game. By the way Tigres v Seattle quite a match.
It's odd, I was always a soccer fan even though I hardly ever saw or played it. I was a kid and knew I loved it but nobody else did. I lived in Bangladesh as a teenager and saw other kids play but I didn't get to. Then when I came back to Texas nobody played except the Iranian kid across the street, we used to kick some but he played at the Y and I wasn't a member. I remember seeing bits of World Cups on Wide World of Sports and was amazed. The first time I ever played a game was in college, at Southwestern there was no team but we took a soccer class and made it a team and played other local colleges. There were lots of Latin Americans that taught me how to play. I remember people making fun of NASL but I had never seen a game until I moved here the same time the Hurricane moved into the Dome. I still don't remember really understanding the game until they started showing more and more Mex League games on satellite. And I made lots of LigaMex games at Robertson as well as the Cotton Bowl and Reliant (InterLiga games.) And that's the history of Brahma's soccer career. (By the way, my principal here once asked me if I really liked soccer or if I was trying to be different. )
I should have put a smiley face on the last post. They have a little info box on the game, just like they do for Aeros games. No article, notes, etc.
Dinosaurs living by old rules. So long as a reporter can be unbiased in their reporting, I don't care how they act, or dress, while on the field or in the box. One of the reasons Bernardo and Glenn are such great reporters is that they are both fans of the sport in general, the Dynamo in particular, but can give unbiased views on a game, or a player. They tell you how it is, warts and all. The most (in)famous example being the Dynamo/FCD playoff series. Ortiz can't, or won't, seperate his bias from his reporting and it shows. One of many reasons people don't like his writing.
regardless. its pretty pathetic when you cant be bothered to print anything about a hometown team on gameday.
Is there anywhere to write to complain about lack of coverage of such an important game? I'm guessing writing to Ortiz won't do much good.
I suppose you could write to the sports editor. Nick Mathews (one T) is the guy in charge of sports coverage.
Nick Mathews is the Sports Editor at the Chron. If you go to this page, there's a "Connect" section where you can apparently send a message: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/nick-mathews/ He's also on twitter, where you can send him a direct message or whatever: @nick_mathews
plus his email address should be easy to ascertain. never mind, his email is public from old blog posts: http://blog.chron.com/hottopics/author/nick-mathewschron-com-nick-mathews/
No, no, no. Suggest me. I'll be like the white, print version of Gus Johnson. I've watched a UEFACL game before. I'm qualified!