Since I'm sure the revs are getting a good deal of press right now. I was wondering what the reaction of the mainstream sports sports media in New England has been to it. Has it been positive or bashing?
I'd say the coverage has been mostly positive, and there's certainly been a good amount of it, but there has been some uninformed statements and laughs, but they are usually from the same, tired old reporters who are slowly but surely being pushed aside because of their irrelevance.
I know Bob Ryan and Will Mcdonough are up there. I'm sure they probably gotten their shots in knowing those old bags.
Re: Re: Has there been soccer bashing in New England? Bob Ryan has actually been rather positive about soccer in the past. He's not a fan per se, but at least he understands the significance of the World Cup. He hasn't written about the Revs, and I haven't heard much from him. Will McDonough is a hack who writes according to his own agenda or that of his cronies (Parcells, John harrington, et al). He has bashed the relatively low attendance in the playoffs to this point. We'll see what he says this weekend when we pack 50,000+ into the Razor.
NPR sucks. They would say, "Next sport, Red Sox blab blab blab. Now, All Thing Considered..." even on the day Revs won the quarter final game.
Boston has as strong a concentration of bashers as anywhere in the country. Even Ryan, who has been caught saying semi positive things about the WC, was just quoted as saying he would not attend the MLS Final if it was in his yard. He would go if Man U was playing. He is probably the worst kind of basher. Clueless and a snob all roll into one. As for the people who are the harshest bashers, no one can top Callahan and Shaunessey and their radio cohort Barnicle. Most of the the sports radio crew bash soccer as well. Andy
That's actually the funniest bash I've ever heard. It's like I said about that craphola Dogma. If you're going to criticize the Church, at least be creative. And biggyv please, call it Shaver Stadium.
Is Barnicle that old crab thats on hardball and Imus every now and then. If he bashes soccer than thats a plus for us. He's the type of fossil that probably reads every baseball boxscore.
Yes he is but I think he looks older than he is. He was the guy fired from the Boston Globe in some sort of plagerism deal (not sure of the details). He now has a radio show where he regularly has on his sports writer friends and rarely does a moment go by that he does not bash soccer. Unfortunately his shown seems to have found a niche in the ratings. Andy
Actually, NPR generally does a better, more fair job on soccer than nearly any other so-called mainstream media outlet. They cover soccer about as much as ESPN, and they're a public affairs station!
thats pretty funny how this old fart goes on hardball and acts like this expert on foreign affairs, meanwhile, he bashes the world's game. What a joke this guy is.
Last night Sean McDonough on 1510, who normally seems like a pretty reasoned alternative to the yahoos on 'EEI, was trashing the Revs because, apparently, Steve Nicol wouldn't allow his players to come over to the station last night to be on the show. Unfortunately that seems to epitomize the small-mindedness in the sports journalism world (or at least Boston). If you don't kiss my a**, you get trashed on the show. I guess Sean (and guest Ron Borges, who was much worse) couldn't fathom the team focusing on winning the damn game instead of capitalizing on the opportunity for free publicity. (Gee Sean, suddenly you WANT the Revs, when the only attention you've given them all season has been snide, junvenile attempts at humor?).
The guy who hosts NPR's national sports show on Saturdays gives soccer a good bit of attention. I believe it's called Only A Game.
Bill Littlefield. He is (was) pretty clueless about it, though. I met him once and had to explain what MLS was.
Shaunessey and Barnicle are the worst type of journalists out there and the pinacle of whats wrong with people in boston. They convince people that they are this high minded, educated, but down to earth types. But, in actuality all they are is close minded, hypocrit, snobs. The quintiscential Newton Democrats... totally disconnected with real people and real life, all the while thinking they have this new england workman sensability. Shaunessey's negativity, brought on by being one of the most bitter self loathing people on the face of the earth, is quickly pushing him to the side of journalistic oppinion. As for that fat lying bastard Barnicle, this is the same man thatd write about an American Legion baseball game with the gusto of reporting on the World Series, but bashes soccer and the World Cup. It's more than soccer though, anyhing their small scope deems unworthy is swept under the rug...just typical Bostonian bs hypocrisy.
It's a mistake to fault Bill Littlefield - He has definately made the effort and given MLS decent exposure on his show. One of the best was when he reported how MLS preseason was superior to Baseball's preseason cause in MLS teams travel to Brazil/Portugal/Italy etc when Baseball is stuck in Florida... I believe he has also been involved with WBUR/NPR Rev promotions from time to time as well. I'm not sure but they may not have happened at all if not for him.
Im in 8th grade, and a few of my friends at the beginning of the school yr hated soccer to death, i was ridiculed and called a "foot fairy" but... i noticed at the end of the playoffs people were asking me when games were, and today like 7 people asked for viewing information of the mls cup in my town. Indeed soccer is growing.
Of course you are right; I didn't mean to put him down. I was just amazed that about 2 years ago when I met him, he didn't know anything about US domestic soccer.
NPR (Bill Littlefield, Littlepitch when he covers soccer) had a segment on the Revs w/interview with 'I like Gold' Harris. Nice history of Wolde's gold teeth, starting from a Cricket accident...
I remember him saying once that he's a latecomer soccer fan. He probably got into soccer by watching leagues from overseas, which would probably explain the lack of MLS knowledge. Honestly, I haven't listened to the show very many times (I tend to sleep in on saturday), but there's been a soccer story almost every time I have tuned in. Coincidence I guess. I remember he did a story about a Serie A team (Chievo maybe?) and followed their progress in later shows.
And earlier in the season, I heard him refer to the Revs as 'his'. The guy is a great ambassador now, and a real fan.