It also doesn't show Blanco headbutting the DCU employee off the field. To my way of thinking, that's the real crime here -- dirty play on the field is bad, and we should expect the officials and the league to do a better job of punishing it. But physically attacking someone off the field? I don't understand why Blanco didn't spend the night in a Montgomery County lockup.
Wow. Just wow. I was there and saw it but on film it looks much more sinister. Granted this didn't happen in an MLS sanctioned match but MLS needs to level some pretty heavy fines or penalties for this type of behavior. Cuz other players are gonna look at this and say: Hey, look what we can get away with. And before you know it we're gonna wind up with hockey on grass.
So, a professional athlete and one of the higest-profile players in his sport in this country allegedly assaults civilians and cops and there isn't any media coverage of it? Either this didn't actually happen or there is a pretty big cover-up going on.
Or there is no video coverage and those involved (i.e. the teams and MLS and Mont County Cops) are saying "no comment", which leaves a reporter with little to go on outside of Internet rumor. Now, if witnesses went to the WPost with their version of events, that might help but I doubt it.
Or maybe there is video and MLS, US Soccer and people's attorneys are figuring out how to handle (there certainly are corroberating witnesses who have posted here). K
Paranoid much? "Cover up"? In our culture if there is no video it didn't happen. Sad but true. Do you think Rodney King or any other high profile police brutality case would have made the news if not for the video? (not to pick on cops, just the example that comes to mind) And let's not forget we're talking soccer here. The media gives it very limited coverage anyway. And it was a match not even played in a stadium. All we can hope for is that someone got cell phone video of the incident. If not, there will be very little media attention. And maybe there will be enough eyewitness accounts to force USSF and MLS to do something (not holding my breath).
Hence the term cover-up. If the reporters can't get anyone to tell them what happened, I dont fault them for not reporting anything. But either something happened and it's being kept quiet or nothing much happened.
Do you really think MLS and US Soccer want it made public that one of its highest profile players melted down and assaulted team personnel and cops? If they don't have to disclose that it happened to the public, they won't. MLS is very sensitive to bad publicity and doesn't like to acknowledge when their players screw up. As for the lack of video, while moving pictures would be nice, if there were quotes from witnesses or from team officials admitting something happened and commenting on it, that would at least affirm that something did occur after Blanco was tossed by the ref. While video would be better, it's not essential to getting to the bottom of this. What would be helpful is if MLS/USSF/DCU or the Fire came forward and commented for the record on what happened, or didn't happen. But I'm not holding my breath on that unless some reporter gets some quotes from witnesses and someone from the teams or league or fed has to comment in response to the witness accounts. But since most of this alleged stuff happened where almost everyone there is a team, league or USSF official I'm not holding my breath on witness accounts. Which brings us back to the cover up theory.
Yeah, Goff and Beau are the only two soccer reporters in the US... https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=716550
Nah - too good for him. Let's send him over to the PG County jail, Housing Unit 5. They'll take good care of him.
The Trib did not mention the incident. Blanco is not even written into the brief piece. The Suntimes writes that Burch's retaliation on Blanco came for knocking the ball from Simms hand (which, by the way, it doesn't appear he did).
I agree that MLS will not be eager to publicize the incident. No sports league wants this kind of publicity. It's the media attention that would force their hand and I'm afraid that without video (or at least stills) the media won't give a damn. I'm not disagreeing with you all that much, actually, I just think the term "cover up" implies underhanded or dishonest means to squash something, whereas I would imagine MLS and the Fire are thinking more along the lines of "thanks God this wasn't on TV" and "let's not acknowledge it until we have to." It's not not right, but it's also not surprising. Hopefully they'll have to.
It also claims that Blanco entered after Namoff's goal which pretty much kills any credibility that blurb had.
It's been 12 hours. First and 10 "simmah" take the snap drop back find "down" in the end zone for a touchdown. "Now" I come on and kick the extra point. Simmah to down followed by now, and it's Simmah down now! Not every incident has to be reported, tried and resolved in half a day. It's not freaking Law and Order.
Yeah, the Tribune's online report, sans a byline, was three paragraphs and didn't mention Blanco once. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...go-fire-dc-united-us-open-cup,1,7466439.story Their Fire writer mentioned the game in his blog and said Blanco got tossed but had nothing about the alleged incident. I'm pretty sure he wasn't sent to the game. (ie the Trib didn't pay for him to go.) http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/soccer_redcard/ The Sun-Times also had a report without a byline, slightly longer than the Tribune's. It mentioned Blanco getting ejected but nothing about this alleged incident with the staffers and cops. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/soccer/fire/1046231,CST-SPT-fire09.article Maybe their reporters will follow-up on this and we'll see something on it from Chicago. But I'm still not holding my breath.
If no one pressed charges, the cops aren't likely to talk about it -- especially the Maryland National Capital Park Police cops, who have little incentive to help out a guy from the Post sports desk who they've never talked to before and probably never will again. It's too bad, but that's sort of how covering cops goes.