What do you think? Do you find it odd that we can't seem to get good information on player comings and goings without going to overseas sources or people like Goff and Ives who monitor them? http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2008/01/guzan-and-bigger-picture.html
Well personally I think this is sort of the job of the journalists. If you look at the other leagues here in America, the journalists get in to the sport, and find all the scoop. That's how we find things out. As Media catches up to MLS we will know so much more. The League shouldn't be the group revealing the comings and goings of players. That would make it very hard for them to negotiate with players in the future. That's just my thoughts. But you don't see NBA teams revealing their negotiations before things are through. You hear about it on SportsCenter. Just give it some time, and there will be many more Goffs, and Ives.
The Grahame Jones / Sunil Gulati example shows that the taciturn nature of the soccer suits in this country is endemic--it's not just MLS. Problem is that the media in this country currently do not provide the kind of pressure that the media in other countries do when it comes to soccer.
Actually after reading the story, I see the point. MLS and US Soccer are pretty secretive towards media, and that will inhibit the writers stories. So, I can see this point.
Your first post still makes a good point, though. I think it's a two-way street: as the soccer media here become more established, the less room these guys will have to maintain "secrets."
The way the league is growing is just like how the globalized economy is growing these days. You know its growing but you never realize how fast everything is growing until it hits you in the face when you realize that the MLS is taking away quality players from Europe just like newly modernized countries are taking away jobs form the American people. I am thinking this is good for MLS too be secretive which means that they always set expectations low and exceed them tremendously! [everyone should surf the web!]
Not only that but, these are writers who are often fans of the sport or otherwise invested in it. If they are complaining then consider the average sports writer who couldn't care less one way or the other about soccer? And we wonder why MLS and soccer in general doesn't get the kinda of coverage we feel it deserves. All of this will inhibit the growth of the league. So I say to Don Garber: You can sign players. You can build stadiums. You can run competitions. But if you can not help people make an emotional connection to the players and the team then you will constantly be battling to fill those stadiums. I suspect much of this is a hold over from when MLS really was a minor league in the country aimed at kids. The idea being, "we don't want the kids to know their favorite player *may* be leaving." and "We don't want to report anything that reflects negatively on our players." Well we've grown up Don. We're adults now. We understand the transfer market. We understand sometimes players get into trouble. We are your fans. We are adults. We can take it.
What's that one guy's name? Oh yeah, Juan Pablo Angel... that's right. But you are right, there are zero quality players in MLS that came from Europe.... And before you try to correct me, I understand JPA isn't European, but he played in Europe prior. Here's the thing, we are now competing with Euro Clubs for players. Andy Iro snubbed Europe and decided to take on MLS. Eddie Johnson waited a full year, deciding against Derby (I know, not exactly ManU) another Euro Club for KC Wizards... Before you jump on our case, there's a lot more momentum for MLS than ever before, and you see it's ripple effect across the world. Thanks David Beckham!
Angel hardly set anyone on fire in Europe, decent enough player though... But right, so we can expect MLS teams to sign a national player in his early 20´s, that plays for some major country anytime soon..? Despite the fact that there will be an enourmous competition for a player like that? No, and it wouldn´t make sense to sign players that are earning $5-$10m a year in Europe even if MLS could avoid having to pay a transfer fee (which would be HUGE) because that´s money down the drain. There is simply no way to get that kind of money back even if you got a player like say Luca Modric or Podolski. Beckham was a brand in itself and enormously marketable in a way these youngsters ain´t.
I thought the league was actually pretty good in revealing information to us. I feel like whenever there is a rumor about something going to happen, it usually does. I don't really understand what other issues this guy has in his report. Some things just can't be revealed until its happened, such as a trial in England or whatever.
I've always wondered: does the league conduct drug testing? because they certainly don't reveal any bad results. yes, the writer is correct, MLS guards some information and spins some other information a bit.
If her mom would have taught her to cook, she'd be married off by now and not have to troll around MLS locker rooms.
A couple of comments: 1. Maybe Brad Guzan was honoring a condition of his negotiations. There are probably a number of reasons for the player in question not to blab about details at a particular time. This is true of other types of deals. For example, team officials would probably not reveal the most desired location for a stadium until substantially along in the acquisition process. 2. News may break first on the East Coast because the 'work' day starts 3 hours earlier. Sure, L.A. could find out some information at 2:30 AM PT, but how many West Coast viewers are up.
the naked Chilean in the locker room gave the whole scoop to the male east coast writers already.... there was nothing Brad needed to add...