I am really, really liking Waldo's input for MLS. Love him or hate him, he's been there -- World Cups, Europe, MLS -- and his opinion means more to me than those of commentators who have no real experience.
I would like to shake Wynalda's hand one day, for what he has accomplished on the field and now for what he is doing off the field. He does what so few in his position have been able to do: provoke thought.
and tell it like it is. To me that is refreshing from anouncers of the past that always wanted to sugarcoat things.
I just liked that he gave an honest look at the critcism he got and too some of it. Is he the only one that can actually understand and plead guilty to the "less is more" approach to doing a broadcast? Chirs Stone just recently got the same thing during an online chat recently and simply said, "I am who I am and I'm going to continue being me."
I think our fans have complained because they’ve always wanted our soccer to be better and they know what better is. That says it all.
Great article in deed!!! But he commented on every team that's playing this weekend except the Galaxy. I wonder why!!!
To me, the article was all about on-field and in-booth accountability, which is ultimately the real measure of professionalism in both respects. Losing or playing poorly the first week isn't the end of the world, but on the other hand, professionals must be accountable for their play--Donovan, Ekelund et. al. let 1/30th of their season slip away last week without displaying enough quality on the field. That's a fair criticism, one that should be made, and one that we as fans have the right to make. It isn't a personal attack, it's strictly a professional assessment of what went on on the field. Part of building our traditions in MLS is holding players and coaches (and announcers) responsible for everything that goes on on gameday. That's how a knowledgable fan base is developed. The problem with the old MLS is that there wasn't accountability every single game. I think it was Bocanegra that said about the EPL (as opposed to MLS) that you can't lose focus or take a play off, you can't relax. For financial reasons, I know MLS won't be the equivalent of the EPL any time soon, but I still want a league where you can't relax, you can't take a play off, or have a bad game without hearing about it afterwards. The pressure of high expectations should be there each and every weekend. That's how we really get better as a league.
Good stuff as always from Eric. When you think that he is still a relative newbie at this stuff (announcing, writing etc), he is off to a great start, especially seeing that he is interested in understanding what he does wrong. Eric has already learned that what the fans think IS important. Ty never learned that lesson and he was in the business for a decade. We are truely blessed that MLS hung around long enough for the original group of players that put the US on the map so to speak (Ramos, Harkes, Balboa, Waldo etc) are all starting to seed into new and divergent positions. Andy
The Brimstone Cup is one good example -- though, unfortunately, MLS put a slight damper on it by moving Dallas and Chicago to different conferences.