I don't know how many of you caught the shoddy reporting by Dave Sheinin in sports section of Washington Post today. According to him since the Caps are of the playoffs, "the District's sporting stage belongs entirely to Zimmerman and the Nationals." Guess that idiot hasn't heard of DC United and all of our championships.
I thought Shoddy was the proper name of the Washington Post Sports Dept.... now its proven correct....
This is true. however, someone who's paid job entails writing about local sports should at least acknowledge their existence. apparently the writer says his mistake was that he should have included the phrase "among the Big 4 sports"
The Post is trash these days, save Goff. I mean, can they feature Krauthammer, Will, and Gerson more in the oped section? Pretty please?? And don't even get me started on the Sports dept. And, of course, Mr. Fisher.
Even that's a slippery slope. United outdrew the Caps in average attendance in the couple of years after our last MLS Cup, and our TV ratings are better than the Wiz and much better than the Nats. "Big Four" really just means "the four sports me and my old-fart buddies* on the sports desk grew up with and are comfortable covering." * I exempt Goff, but not Mike Wise, whose last attempt at a print column addressing soccer called for the firing/resignation of St. Piotr Nowak of Pabianice.
It's not like the columnist is lying - all the sports editorials and junk will now be about the Nats, until the Redskins start two a days...
i think its down to the big 3 sports hockey has a deal with the tv network versus...thats all the proof people need that its fallen on hard times
Do you know how many people read the Nats coverage in the Washington post? About as many as attend their games. Who gives a shit?
It seems that most of the Nats fans are at the sports desk of the Post. They have the largest block of fans in that office any where and that's why the Nats get covered and it's also why the Nats are here at all. The hypocrisy running through that paper is incredible. According to the Post, DC United was lined up for "sweetheart" deal in PG County and that's bad, but the Nats and their almost $1 Billion give-away? That's economic development.
I didn't know anyone was still making that argument after what we have seen with the Caps the past year and a half. The VS deal came for a variety of reasons. There is no telling how long they will remain on the channel and how much the channel's footprint will continue to grow. The deal was part of re-building after the lockout and the cap will be adjusted soon. Despite Phoenix, the NHL has a lot of money and a strong foothold in many regions. NHL is legitimately part of the Big 4 as much as NBA, MLB or NFL who all have their own faults as far as representation and recognition.
You know the whole thing is pretty funny. The best part is thinking that if the Nat's keep up the good work, management might decide to leave town and we will have a "new to us" stadium on the Anacostia.
having people rock the red and grow playoff beards for a few weeks is one thing being on par with the nfl and mlb is another we can agree to disagree. thats fine
I have no problems disagreeing and I think we will, but I'm just not sure what we are using to measure popular success to reach par. Most arguments include average attendance, total attendance, sponsor revenue, television ratings, merchandising, etc. and I'm not sure where you expect the NHL to be. While a network NBA game is becoming a rarity, NBA ratings during the regular season are nowhere near their playoff ratings nationally, but they are still bringing in plenty of money as are the NFL and MLB.
In reality, there's a big one: the NFL. No one even comes close after that. The rest are all fighting for scraps from the diverse American sports-watching public.
First, when one says "Big 4," one is talking about leagues, not specific franchises. And on that broader point, he's right. Not only is the NBA National TV deal much bigger than the NHL's, but there are only a relative handful of NHL teams that have local deals that are money spinners, where most NBA teams have them. Actually, it's mostly the other way around. The lockout was mostly about coming declining television revenues. ESPN's contract was up, and it was clear that, due to the fact that ratings have never justified it, they had no intention of renewing it at anywhere near the current price. This is the reason they didn't break--they didn't just want more control over salaries, they needed it, and the damage to the league of the lockout was worth it to them. Ultimately, it's completely arbitrary. The NHL is far ahead of MLS in revenue, franchise value, etc--but it's very nearly as far behind everyone above them, so you could as easily say Big 3 as Big 4. And frankly it hardly stops there. Among the alleged Big 3, the NBA lags MLB and the NFL significantly in every respect. And even at Big 2, while MLB's revenue numbers are strong and there are a handful of franchises that have nothing to be jealous of from the NFL, in the greater number of towns it's more about a nice day out, gorgeous architechture and a relatively cheap ticket than about sport. When the rubber meets the road the NFL pretty much always wins a popularity contest. So it's basically all arbitrary. It's just that in context, especially after that mealy-mouthed clarification, it looks like the author is bending over backwards to treat DC United like it does not exist. I'd rather be insulted by an author who specifically said we "don't count," rather than just letting it be the casual assumption. At least the former way, your sheer existence is acknowledged.
and that's before even mentioning "amateur" sports. I'm glad I hit refresh so I didn't miss your post. I think the quoted portions are pretty much what I wanted to say, but may not have.
In terms of media coverage, I think Maryland basketball is probably number 2 around here after the Redskins.
Post coverage of college sports has diminished over the past few years. I don't feel Hoya coverage has dropped more than anything else though. They lost some to the Terps since about 2000, but still get quite a bit of coverage and more than other locals. There is no way I would say they get shit though.
Difference of opinion I guess. Even when they made their Sweet 16 and Final 4 runs they weren't hyped to the max like Maryland was after winning a first round game. No sweat though, as a life long Hoya fan I've come to accept it.
Why do we keep starting these threads? Why must we bitch and moan when some writer doesn't put in United when listing local champions or MVPs? Look, MLS is not popular in America, it is not in the mainstream, and we need to be realistic and realize that for the time being a large majority of people just don't give a shit. This won't change if 20 of us make smart ass comments in the comments section, it will only make us look more like snarky dorks. It's ok, soccer will get more and more popular in this country, these articles won't stop that. So please, next time you see someone forget to mention United in some stupid article or blog, just take a deep breath and remember that you can get a great seat to a United game for less than it costs to park at fedex