Another columnist rallies to the cause.

"So where is the problem? Why is soccer still virtually ignored by the mass media?

Simple. Just take a look at who are in charge of the mass media. Look at who decides what will be aired or printed."

Very nice analysis. Thanks for posting it.

I hope this forum develops...

 

What's interesting to me is that despite the groundswell for soccer in this nation and articles like this one, the powers that be in the media still ignore it.

That's the real story if you ask me.

 

There are some contradictions in Kevin Eubanks' (isn't he the host of the Newleywed Game?) analysis. For one, he mentions the 90,000 people at the WWC final, but how many of them ever watched a women's game after that?

And, if the 20-40 crowd played AYSO and made soccer the most-played sport, but didn't create a hard-cord following, then why does he think that the youngsters will?

But to his point about the old-timers controlling the media. He's partially right. Most oldsters cover the three main sports because it's job security. If you're a decent writer in hoops of gridball, you're set for life. On top of that, you get to go to fancy Super Bowls and Final Fours. In soccer, you get, ...um... to DRIVE to MLS Cup if it's withing your time zone. But I do applaud him in trying his hand at the "smaller" sports.

 

Putting footie on par with wrestling still leaves me a bit less than satisfied. Almost every country in the world is nuts about soccer. What countries are nuts about wrestling?

1. Iran (read an article in SI awhile back)
2. ??
3. ??
4. ??

 

For the record, you are thinking of Bob Eubanks.

 

I agree with you, obviously, about the difference in international appeal of the two sports (I would add Russia as well as other parts of the former Soviet Union to Iran). However, If I remember the article correctly, he's comparing the sports as played scholastically and collegiately in the US, where the athletes don't get any sort of credit for their athleticism and dedication. Having watched Lehigh vs. Penn State on TV this weekend and Lehigh vs Pittsburgh live on Monday, I have to agree. Whenever BS chuckleheads start threads about the great athletes soccer loses to the NFL or the NBA, I have to laugh, as several of those guys on the mat would be more useful to a soccer team than the average (or even above-average) football or basketball players.

 

Oooooooh I am so frigging jealous. Forgot to tape the Lehigh-PSU match and am still pissed.

 

Please.

Carlos Bocanegra and Eddie Pope are a rarity -- Division I football recruits who opted for soccer. Their success speaks for itself. Paulo Wanchope was a highly recruited high school basketball player in LA. Jay Heaps went from being a mediocre basketball player to an MLS starter. Why haven't any former wrestlers made their mark?

 

Well, I think FS Pittsburgh will show four more of them this year. Lehigh is relatively weak at the lower weights (I think PSU got off to a 12-0 lead after 3 matches), but 197-pounder John Trenge (sp) is terrific: the first Lehigh wrestler to win at the Midlands in decades.

Beineke: maybe some have. The sport is so under-the-radar here that it's possible that some of the guys in MLS (or on the Iranian national team) wrestled at some point in their lives. I don't know. I do know that they're terrific athletes and that they don't get the credit they deserve for being so because most morons in this country equate athleticism with the size of one's shoe contract and other extra-athletic endorsements.

 

For the record, isn't Kevin Eubanks the guitarist on the Tonight Show?

 

Yes, he is.