Is it just me or is anyone else actually a little pissed off by all the media jumping on the bandwagon over this. I don't mean interviews, TV time etc.. But theres that show on ESPN where they have the 4 sports reporters talking sports... And listening to the guys, they try to sound like they have been Nats fans for years... They hear what the true analysts say and then repeat it like they have a clue what they are talking about. They make it sound like its a huge Injustice that soccer hasn't had more media in the past when they are the reporters who could have given them the spot light in the past but chose not to for what ever reason. Don't get me wrong I love all the attention surrounding our team its just the reporters who climb out of the wood work more and more as this thing progresses to try to stake there claim on it all the while trying to sound like they have been die hard supporters since day one when in reality two weeks ago they didn't even know who Landon Donovan was.
If Woody Paige pretended to be Landon Donovan's long lost father, it wouldn't bother me at all. As long as they're talking about the team and the game.
We will take the exposure from any source. That is what we wanted all along - even if they sound like they were in all the time - let MLB and the NFL squirm.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-0625-plaschke-20100625,0,1745272.column?track=rss Right on que this article from Bill Plaschke, frequent ESPN Around the Horn guy, I think he takes the FIFA rankings a little too seriously, and doesn't quite understand that our team is a little undertalented in the bigger picture.
It's a logical extension of this being "the new thing." You were here before them. You know that. We'll know the difference between you and them. Isn't that kinda sorta what we'd wanted in the first place (though we certainly didn't want the flavor of plastic, but that's the flavor it generally comes in)? We all know soccer just ain't growing without media. And now they're here.
I love the media attention dont get me wrong. I just cant stand the "fake" media.. Those guys who are 100% soccer purists yet we all know as soon as the world cup is over not another world will be uttered for the next 4 years.
Indeed. One thing that it would be good to explain to these guys is that the most solid ranking system in soccer is this one: the number 7. The total number of teams ever to hoist that golden trophy. Only one new member in recent decades, and one of those hasn't lifted it in 60 years and probably never will again. Becoming a member of that club is possibly the most difficult feat (certainly one of the most difficult) to achieve in all of sport, and represents a TREMENDOUS achievement. I personally think we will hoist that trophy at some point in my lifetime (and I'm in my 30s, by the way) but it ain't going to happen overnight, and it ain't going to be as simple as us "demanding" a good coach and a good performance from players. That's how you become Mexico (a good team that will probably rise a bit more in stature, but will probably never hoist that Cup in my lifetime). The groundwork that needs to be laid takes years, decades even. The good news is that much of that groundwork has already been laid, and our league and our players and coaches are continuing to lay it as we speak. And Landon added a pretty big flagstone yesterday with that goal of his.
It's a bit annoying but there's no reason to make a big fuss about it. Everybody has to "get on the bandwagon" sometime and these people shouldn't be treated with scorn. You can't be a hardcore fan until you have a passing interest. This is a moment of unprecedented enthusiasm for the NT. The "self-loathing American soccer inferiority complex" is at an all-time low. The mainstream sports media isn't going to learn everything about soccer overnight, but even this most curmudgeonly corner of the American sports world is excited. Why rain on the parade?
Like i said I just dont like fake. There are reporters that have come out and said they didnt care about US soccer until this current WC cycle, My hats off to them for having the balls to come out and say that. At least they arent trying to pull the wool over anyones eyes. I kinda attribute it to a dive in the box.. Aka De Rossi/Azzurri.. And i hate him so might as well hate Reporters for the same stunts
What is it about the World Cup that makes US soccer fans whiny? It's like the full moon. We complain about not enough media coverage constantly, and then complain when an event DOES get coverage? We either want the exposure and coverage or you don't. Expecting the media to give some sort of a mea culpa to soothe your bruised ego is simply ridiculous. Good gracious.
While I don't mind people that avoid soccer and are talking about it: i.e. Mike/Mike, I hate the idiots who disparaged it and now are "in love with it." The Sports Reporters have thrown soccer under the bus multiple times and deserve no right to even talk about it. Go back to talking about the Pre-All-Star break standings or where Lebron is going. At least Jim Rome, while evil, is honest. He admits that he's not gung ho about soccer, but is willing to talk about it, unlike the farces that are the Sports Reporters.
Its like when the indie-band makes it. "REM hasn't done anything good since they signed with that big label." I don't mind that they are talking about it. Rome just had a good interview with Lalas, but I hate it when they bring their own conditions. Again, Rome puts his spin on it that "soccer fan will call this the defining moment when all Americans finally get it about soccer." No, I won't, I expect you all to go away on or about July 12th. The worst are the sportscasters who want to come to soccer but with their own conditions, ie instant replay, or stoppage time.
Why? Seriously, why in the hell should that bother you? Aren't people here incessantly clamoring that we need to "convert" people to having a love for the game? Then it happens and people are upset that former soccer haters dare to say a good word about it. I'm sorry, but there is way too much provincialism amongst the fans here. We want it to succeed, but we want it to succeed how and when WE decide. It simply doesn't work that way. People become attached to things (in this case soccer) for the reasons that THEY decide, and on their own personal timeline, not on someone elses who thinks they have ownership in a darn game. The hand-wringing here is beyond silly.