In the biggest joke coverage of the year, the Tribune blows off the Nowak trade with a one sentence paragraph at the end of the Jan. 3 Razov rehabilitation story. It's not like there is more story there when the team capitain and most popular Fire player and the key to the Fire's success since inception was victim to the salary cap.
Actually I expected a little more, even from the Trib. Better coverage was devoted to the Kovalenko trade. I think it came down to the editor saying, "I'm giving enough space to soccer already with the Razov rehab story." Maybe the beat writer needed to reassess which story should have had the top priority.
of all the chicago papers... i believe there was one nowak article but honestly... what did you expect was going to happen? think about it... -soccer hasn't been any of the papers' biggest concern or ever close to it -this is an aging player that was (honestly) aging when we got him (but damn could he play) -he ain't american... if this had been beasley moving... trust me, there would have been articles... now that said... how many of you actually bothered to write a letter, make a phone call or even send off an email about this? i'm going to bet that most of you didn't... which would make me wonder why this should be big enough news for them to cover if you aren't going to express to them that it is news... they make money off of being marketable... if soccer ain't drawing in the readers... they aren't going to care
Not being from Chicago, are there any Polish publications? I'm sure there was probably coverage there.
I did...and have I did, I got response from Dave Juday at the AM100, who did tlak about it on the radio. My local paper NW Herald had it, and so did the Daily Herald. I could give rats arse about the Trib, as I don't read it. I haven't looked in the Times yet. But Jim, you knew I would send a complaint anyway, I'm sure your question wasn't for me ;-)
How about the paper(s) in the team's home town? http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/sunpub/naper/ I'm sure the Chicago papers are more concerned about covering teams that are actually in Chicago. When you present yourself as a minor league operation, the media treats you like one.
If you're referring to the stadium, I don't recall the Tribune treating us terribly well when we were pretending we had the budget of the Bears either.
I think it has been speculated here in this forum before that the Tribune editor has a plain dislike for the sport. The story on Razov' rehab over losing one of the biggest sports figures ever to play in chicago was such a joke I didn't even think about responding. However, I may have to drop a (nonread) letter to the editors to tell them about their ignorance of what happened this past week with the club. BIll
My Letter to the Tribune (I know that this will do nothing to get them to think about their coverage, but I needed to rant.) To the Editors of the Chicago Tribune, I am writing to you, rather to your Sports Editor, to protest the continued problems that I have had with your coverage of the Chicago Fire. First of all, I am not going to come off as someone who is demanding more coverage. I understand that your paper has only a limited amount of space to cover all sports, and the Fire are not on the same level as the Cubs or Bears. That being said, your editors in your sports department continue to show total ignorance about the sport rather than put someone on your beat who really takes the time to learn about the club. The latest evidence was on Saturday, where your sports page did an article about Fire forward Ante Razov and his rehabilitation over injuries from last season. That was fine that you published that article, but at the very end of he article you casually posted the news that Peter Nowak had been traded to New England. To soccer fans here in Chicago, Nowak is on the same level of Jordan, Payton and Sosa. He was the heart and soul of the Fire, holding the captaincy of the club since their first match in 1998. In addition, Nowak has become a solid member of the Chicago community. Since moving to Chicago from Europe, Nowak has received his green card, has been taking classes at the Business School at Northwestern and is the president of a local bank. On top of it, he has been a major force in the Fireworks For Kids Foundation, the Fire's charity arm, which raises dollars to help disadvantaged kids. I only wish that members of the Cubs would show even a tenth of the commitment to the community that Nowak has. Again, I am not asking or demanding that the Tribune increase their Fire coverage. That only comes through time as the team increases their attendance, continues to stay in business and eventually builds its own stadium in the area. I think that soccer fans demand quality coverage from this paper. I don't think is a unrealistic demand. Thank you for your time.
and you're all for keeping the debate going that things are minor league... ever counted all the cities in this countries that don't have their pro teams actually playing in the city? i'd wager it's around 50-50... maybe more that aren't in the city i've never heard the ny jets or gaints called minor league for playing in new jersey you play where you play and you call home what you call home we play in naperville, our home is chicago nothing minor league about that... just how it goes but please, continue to back any notion you can as to why there shouldn't be coverage of the fire in chicago papers... we need all the help we can get with that one
Re: I did...and have i can't remember at the moment, but was it a wire piece? i know the sun-times had someone do a piece, the south-town picked up the fire press release, and i know i read something from the herald... i just can't remember what ah well and i'm sorry, i'm a doubting thomas
Chicago's a bit different animal...the jets and giants have played out of NY for so long no one even remembers or cares, and in any case, it's just over the river....plus the Jets are trying to get back into the city. I said before being in naperville would hurt our city media coverage considerably, and though, indeed, it was meager before (but acceptable, as far as I am concerned) since the move it has become near-zilch. I so wich I had figures, but unless you're paying online subscribers it's tough to get hands on those kind of numbers.
Who gives a f@*$!!! I don't care anymore about how much the FIRE are in the news. It is like when some slut insults your wife. Does it hurt? No! Because the Tribune etc. are a bunch of sluts! Thanks for everything Peter. You are the best! Peter Nowak in 2003 Games=15 Goals=2 Ass.=6 He will miss games after hurting himself during his first game v. Dema.
I don't object to playing outside the city limits. What I object to is playing in a crappy Junior College football stadium with an unsuitable surface, riding school buses as shuttles from the parking lot, and not having signage directing you to the lot from the major roads. Having a rural town fair feel to the entire gameday experience feels very AA-baseball. That is minor league. Trying to play politics with the local politicians to get a stadium built in Arlington and being exposed as total amateurs in that side of the operation is minor league. Failing to anticipate salary cap issues (which are not so different from salary cap issues that have come about in the past) and having to give away your captain for a conditional draft pick in the season after next in desperation is minor league. Dallas may be playing in a suburban high school - that's a further step back (though they may have on-site parking). "Major" League Soccer's name is becoming quite ironic. I went to one game in Naperville last year and I was in shock and embarrassed at the whole experience. I really need to see this stadium in L.A. to get my faith back in MLS. I'm hoping the league is here to stay, but I'm not sure I like where it's evolved to. Listen, I'm fine with AA-baseball if you sell it to me as AA-baseball, just as I'm fine with A-League Soccer if you sell it to me as A-League Soccer. But don't try to sell me minor league soccer by telling me it's Major League Soccer. That's insulting. I think that's one of the areas where the league has really hurt itself - telling people it's "Major League" when it's not. Don't oversell - it gets people expecting to see Beckham when the best you can give them is Marsch. If people expect more than you can deliver, you can't win.
For what it's worth, I was at a bar with Terry Armour from the Trib tonight, and gave him a fairly polite earful about the Nowak story, the Fire, and soccer in general. He's not in Sports over there anymore, but he said he'd convey my arguments to the proper authorities. He might have been blowing smoke up my ass, but then again, maybe not. Later, COZ
I don't see how it is oversold at it...it's sold as what it is: the top level in this country. But, as long as the Fire are in it, I guess they can call it the Tupperware Union of America if they want.