I wouldn't say the Europeans are "so much smarter" than us. Soccer is just more ingrained in the daily life of Europe. It's like local cable channels showing high school football games or regional channels showing local college basketball games. Soccer is a marginal sport here, and women's soccer even more so. We won't see the coverage of the sport expand until there are more fans of the game. It's a lot better than it used to be, though.
I'm guessing that between Univision/FSC/ESPN we see comparable coverage of womens international soccer as Eurosport shows. Fox Soccer Channel provided wall to wall coverage of the last European Championships. Galavision and Fox Soccer Channel both provided coverage of the U19s in Thailand and Canada - though I'm not sure the Russia tournament was covered. FSC, which will show the Gold Cup, showed the last one. Telemundo and NBC showed pretty much every game of the last Olympic tournament. We may complain about coverage, but that doesn't mean we aren't getting a large number of games on television. What we haven't been getting is properties that aren't owned by FIFA, CONCACAF, or the USSF. I'm guessing that whoever owns the worldwide rights to the Algarve Cup, Four Nations Tournament, and Peace Queen Cup have all wanted too much money for the broadcast rights.
Still love the TOAD'S EYES. Soccer for me consists of playing a bit (at 50 now), watching every English Premiership game possible on FSC, watching UNC Women demolish all comers, and putting in my 2 cents worth whenever possible!
If this is going to be on FSC, does that mean we're going to hear from Max "and, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!" Bretos?
The last women's games (possibly the 2004 WUSA Festivals) I remember on FSC were called by Allen Hopkins and a former WUSA player (can't recall the name right this second) who lived in southern California.
Are you sure about that? I thought it was Tracey Milburn that did that. Errr maybe. I know she's done some college games in recent years.
Yes I do. No one posted the official release about this. I know this news was posted already but it was not official until the PR was released yesterday and no one didn't post it.
Please just look into your crystal ball or balls and tell my if Heather O'Reilly is going to play for the NATS on Wednesday and/or Sunday. Thanks.
Mine shows me that HAO will start on Wed., then fly back to UNC and play on Sat., and not go back for Sunday's final.
I certainly hope she does. First of all, she can make it to all three games. Second this is qualifying for the World Cup, IMO more important than qualifying for College Cup even though I highly doubt either the USWNT or UNC will have any problems achieving their goals.
and the fact is, I'm sure she'll be released if the U.S. wins on Wednesday. Sunday's Gold Cup Final is a tragically meaningless game.
My guess is because if the USA makes it into the Gold Cup Final....then they are already guaranteed a spot in the 2007 WWC since 2.5 CONCACAF teams get in...the two teams in the Gold Cup Final plus the winner of 3rd place of the Gold Cup v Japan next April. Really...it's just for bragging rights. I only have one friend (my cat), so I already told her.
I've tried to convince my American friends and family to watch more soccer but they are all lame except my girlfriend. She has learned to love it. How could you not love teams that almost always win, play with a fair amount of style and have, in my mind, redefined what it means to be a woman. The most important game in the world should be important to the USA for a number of reasons. If anything, increased interest would prove that not all Americans are xenophobic, just a majority....
My friends are more than capable of choosing what they want to watch. By not trying to force them into watching soccer, they tend not to resent, nor resist it. They come to accept that soccer will be on at my house, and many of them have begun to learn some of the teams and players. You can open the door, but to push someone through is often counterproductive. As to "why I said that". 1) The two teams in the Gold Cup Final will have already qualified for the Women's World Cup, making the game meaningless with regards to qualification. Whereas the two teams in the third place game will be desperately trying to win. An odd reversal from most knockout tournaments. 2) Because the Gold Cup Final is the same weekend as the NCAA Divison I Women's Championship quaterfinals, it is almost certain that teams playing in the final will release players to their college teams. The U.S., Mexico, and Canada all have collegians on teams that should be in the NCAA quarters. The fact that the Confederation championship isn't the most important womens soccer action going on that day is a tragedy in scheduling. Yeah. I'll watch the game - and if airfares had ever dipped below $350 I would've travelled to it, but that doesn't mean the game is particularly compelling or meaningful.
I may be wrong, but Iris Mora played for UCLA last season. I haven't checked the brackets, so maybe they've been knocked out - or Iris isn't playing this year.