The guy acts like the ass that nobody wants to be. His ignorant rants about soccer - signal what a spors fan should not be. I see this everywhere I go. We have taken one giant leap thanks to MLS and the 02 WC. Bashing is out of favor - and those that do - are looked at like idiots. Does this mean MLS will be #2 in 10 years? No way - but at least the respect is there. From here on out - I anticipate a much even playing field.
Almost every sports fan I know thinks Rome is a classless idiot. I agree that his rants only help our cause.
Well you and your friends aside, and I'm sure they are a bunch of overachieving pillars of society, he's pretty well respected by just about everyone in sports. Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Jim Lampley are all sports commentators at the top of their profession and are regular contributors to his show. The list of who's who concerning his guests would go on and on...just about every major professional athlete that there is comes on to his show. He has even had soccer player on his show. Alexi and Cello IIRC, and you know he loves some Clint. He even mentioned his name on the program yesterday He's just riling up soccerfan and it's almost as funny to watch people chime in on these threads as it is to hear him on the show.
The man is a behind-closed-doors soccer fannatic. Just smile when you see him bashing soccer and know that deep down he dying to come out of the closet.
You're kidding, right? He's a side show freak. He's 'respected' in the sense that people acknowledge he's good at being a side show freak, but everyone knows he is to sports talk what Don King is to sports. Soccer fans (it's two words, actually) are as a rule oversensitive people, and Rome is doing it not because he believes it, nor even because the bulk of his listeners believe it, but because pressing people's buttons makes for entertaining radio (at a perverse, Jerry Springer kind of level). But it's really not hard to press most people's buttons, either. Try this sociology experiment. Walk down a busy street one day and say "hello" to everyone you meet, looking them right in the eye. Then, a week later, repeat the procedure, except with the words, "f-ck you," again looking them in the eye. Then the next week, just slap each of them in the face. Do you think the level of reaction you'd get to each gesture would proceed in descending or ascending order? Rome's talent is that he's good at producing a radio show, keeping it tight fast paced, and his voice and elocution are sharp. He'd have been an excellent local news sports guy. If pressing people's buttons is a talent, it's one half the population possesses. As to whether it's good for soccer, it probably is. Second rule of PR, any PR is good PR, as long as you spell my name right ( rule that bows only to the classic 'perception is reality.' If you accepted that Rome was making people think those things about soccer literally, then it'd hurt. But that sounds a little far-fetched, given the way he presents it). Though it would have been nice had he ragged on the Cup before it had happened. But you can't get everything you want.
fixed it for you. Because I had to fix it for you, you obviously don't know enough about the show to comment on it with any expertise. IT'S A JOKE! HE'S A COMEDIAN! As to your "Are you serious?" The guy has had everyone who is anyone in sports on his show (again, you wouldn't know). You can chalk that up to whatever reason you want. Are you serious?!?! Man, I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for quite a while. Segroves, were you aware of this???
soccer is good for Jim Rome. I, for one, would never have heard of the guy except that people here are always posting about how annoying he is.
To use an British phrase: larf! Well respected by everyone in sports? Hahaha. I needed a good laugh. The first few times I watched his show, I could not sit through 30 minutes. And that was on topics that did NOT involve soccer bashing (or soccer) at all! His shtick is so boring, so common, so predictable, that I don't waste my time on him regardless of what sport he's talking about. He talks loud, tries to be outrageous and pretends to be an expert on whatever he rants about. Yapping heads like him are a dime a dozen. If his rants (about soccer or any other sport/issue) were at least interesting or creative, I might pay attention. He's not annoying or agitating, just irrelevant. No one in their right mind would consider Rome in the same class as Al Michaels or Bob Costas. Especially since "class" is something the latter two have.
Although I do agree that Rome is good for soccer. During fund drives, my local public radio station sometimes reads letters whining about "how biased NPR and [the local station] supposedly are" and "how they won't give a dime to this worthless station." Few things cause the phones to ring off the hooks as much as them reading these letters. As I've said a million times, Rome is irrelevant in terms of the sports media establishment. He preaches to the converted. he doesn't convince anyone. American soccer fans need to be less hypersensitive about him. Brush him off like a pesky fly rather than give him the attention yapping heads like him crave (and need for ratings).
I guess the most listened to sports talk show host, and the third most listened to over all is irrelevant.[/ Except maybe those two guys themselves who come on the show regularly. I guess that's why his guests include: Basketball Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Jason Williams (white choc), Karl Malone, Jalen Rose, Kobe Bryant, Vlade Divacs Football Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Bo Jackson, Steve Spurrier, Bobby Bowden, Darryl Green Hockey Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Jeremy Roenick, Mark Messier Baseball Greg Maddux, Curt Shilling, John Kruk, Tom Glavine Journalists / Sports Guys Al Michaels, Bob Costas, David Halberstam, Jim Lampley, John Feinstein, Joe Buck, George Will Irrelevant though.
I think half the people who listen to him here on bigsoccer just to hear what his latest rant about the sport is . Then they run as quickly as they can to their PC to write it here . Who really cares what a class C sportsguy has to say ?
Respect has nothing to do with why Rome gets the guests he does. The guests go on his show because of the large audience he has. If a cross-eyed monkey had that audience, then Costas and Michaels would go talk to the cross-eyed monkey. When the dittoheads (or parrotheads, or whatever the *************** they're called) go elsewhere for their loudmouthed sports entertainment, the guests will dry up. And, eventually, they will go elsewhere.
Rome ain't going anywhere. He is a part of the sports landscape and will be for a while. He is good. Period. He is funny as well. He is one of the best interviewers of athletes that I have seen. He gets athletes to feel way to relaxed and then they say things that they know they shouldn't say. That being said, I listen to Jim Rome as a soccer fan, for the day that Soccer becomes NECKAR. When the Jungle was relatively young (about 7 years ago?) Jim despised Neckar. He said the sport was stupid just to watch people drive around in circles all day long. Then, NECKAR starts getting a big following, big crowds, TV ratings etc. All of suddent it is today on the Jungle, Jeff Gordon." And then he pretends like he always supported the sport. I am waiting for Soccer to get big enough so that he has Landon or Clint on the show and he pretends like he as been a pimp for soccer all along. In my mind Mathis ought to go on the show and run it at Jim for a bit. He is probably the only USMNT player that I think could run the requisite amount of smack. That is one of the reasons why I listen. Oh yeah, and the "clones" are hysterical.
Er, you 'fixed my post'? You used my own word. I said soccer fans (it's two words, by the way) were oversensitive. What exactly did you 'fix'? Did I say Rome was being literal? Or do you not know what the word 'far-fetched' means? I've read his opinions on rooting for the US to lose. I know he's not being literal. Did I say he believed what he was saying? No, in fact I expressed dubiousness at it. Did I ever call him a social commentarist? No, I called him an entertainer, which is essentially what you called him yourself. The only thing you're missing here is that it's low entertainment. Some people find Tom Green funny, but as a rule, even those people do not 'respect' him. I see only two possibilities here (not mutually exclusive). Either you didn't understand my response, or you consider any form of attention to qualify as 'respect.' You make a lot of assumptions as to what I would or would not know. You do so in order to avoid making an earnest attempt to understand what I'm saying. I'll just let this statement, ironic on more levels than you intended, speak for itself.
Re: Re: Jim Rome is GOOD for Soccer If Jim Rome was as respected as Al Michaels and Bob Costas, he wouldnt be working for Fox Sports Net, period.
As I said, you wouldn't know what I corrected. Since you don't know that "Soccerfan" is exactly what I wanted to say, I KNOW that you don't listen to Jim Rome enough to make any relevant opinion about him without regurgitating what others say about him. You're right, popularity doesn't equal respect so as far as him being respected, I can only go by what the guests on the show say about him, the thousands of people who come to see him in the cities that his radio show visits. And the caliber of his guests. I do understand what your saying: YOU don't like him, and you don't understand why other people do, because YOU think it is low humor. I think Tom Green is stupid as hell (low humor) but Chris Farley was funny as all hell (low humor?). It's all personal taste, but coming on here saying he's irrelevant, or stupid, without even really knowing what you're commenting on is i guess your turn at Irony.