Media Coverage of MLS Cup/Revs this week

Have seen and heard some coverage this week on radio and TV and thought I would post it all in this thread. Obviously Tony and others continue to post the Revs News threads daily. Usually we all post primarily on print coverage in those threads. I thought I would start this thread as a central location for TV/Radio coverage.

I will post links to related threads here as well.

Moderators - if you would rather merge the threads, by all means do.

I'll make a few posts to start as a couple items are lengthy. (sorry)

First...Sports Xtra with Gene Lavanchy on WHDH Ch 7 - Sunday 10/13 at 11:30-ish - Twellman, Heaps

I missed the intro, but this is mostly direct quotes. I have used elipses (SP? - the "...") where people started talking over each other or trailed off or paused etc. I watched the tape several times to get it down as best I could before my VCR started to wig out from pausing too much. Apologies to Taylor, Jay and Gene if I got something wrong. I can check the tape again later, but wanted to pass along the info for those that missed it.

TT: "The fans have been around for 7 years and they finally get to enjoy a final so hopefully they show up, they’re rowdy and they make it interesting for the LA Galaxy.”

GL: (To Taylor) "I’ll ask about your situation in a moment, but first overall you guys really played well down the stretch when you needed to. That’s carried over. What flipped the switch for you to turn things around, not that it was that easy.”

JH: "I think it was a gradual progression as we went forward. We were still losing games but we felt that we were in those games. I think Steve Nicol stayed with the same lineup. We started to get confident with each other and it was just those hit or miss situations were starting to go our way and I think we just kinda carried it and got confident at the exact right time.”

GL: "And your goaltender’s been terrific. Adin Brown’s been sensational so its always nice to know you have that last line of defense there."

TT: "It’s always nice to have your goalie standing on his head in games. He’s been big time."

GL: "Whats your situation now Taylor? I know everyone’s wondering are you going to be good to go next week. What tests are you gonna have? What’s your feeling right now? You do have 7 days here."

TT: "Yeah basically it’s just a Grade 1 sprain of the MCL and we’re hoping that it heals sooner rather than the 14 day diagnosis. But you know I’m just praying and I’ll be there. (smiles)"

GL: "I imagine it would take a whole lot to take you out of this thing. You played to get here. (Taylor agrees) Jay I wanna ask you also…You were playing in Columbus. The little head butt incident there. Bruins fans were loving this. Hoping maybe you know “Can he skate?” What exactly was going on there because I know for you it cost you the next game as well but fortunately everyone was able to pull though which speaks volumes about the team too."

JH: "Exactly. It was a pretty heat of the moment situation where I felt like I was trying to get him away from me a little bit, stand my ground and it went a little too far. You know. I never meant any malicious intent but"…"he went down I never meant to hurt him." "I didn’t even know I hit him…but it looked pretty bad on the tape."

TT: "I gave him a 9 ½ on the dive. He embellished it pretty good."

GL: "I also wanna talk, and this isn’t really your situation to comment about but you know a lot of us average American sports fans look at MLS and there is a great situation for you guys to get into and you're in the playoffs…but the playoff format seems a little confusing. Fans pay money to go see a game and it ends in a 0-0 tie and usually…and I think this country was founded in fact on people going to a playoff game and leaving knowing there was a definite winner and a definite loser. Do you guys get into the playoff format at all? Does that bother you as much as it does some fans or do you even think it works in some ways?"

TT: "I think it bothers us but obviously the MLS is trying to experiment and trying to Americanize the sport a little bit and obviously, you know, this one may have to change. You know, it’s confusing enough where the players don’t understand it as well so you just play the game and move on."

GL: "So you guys are like “Did we get in?”

JH, TT: "Yeah (laughing)"

JH: "I think that happened during the night where a couple guys celebrated before they knew we had to play an overtime."

GL: "Because you got the tie to advance to the Championship. It’s like 'We tied!'"

JH: "Yeah, Even when I first came into the league it was different where you would play a shootout afterward. You would play the tie…"

GL: "Would that bother you…you think in the playoffs…does it hurt the integrity of the game to decide it on penalty kicks when you guys would have done that had Columbus won and you went scoreless in the mini game?"

JH: "Coming down to finals, the final game of the series, you do that…the reason they don’t wanna do that in a situation…if you play a situation where we played at home a 0-0 tie, play a great game or they play us on the road and its tough to win on the road sometimes…teams play for a tie on the road sometimes and if you don’t get a point out of that and go in a shootout, anything can happen in shootouts. It doesn’t determine how you played the game."

GL: "I still think in the playoffs…"

JH: "I agree with you. I think in the playoffs you need to come and know what your situation is at the end of the night."

GL: "I think you guys in this situation, you might be able to affect change because of your popularity and the fact that this is gonna be a big deal next week. Maybe this is something we will see changes in. That’s down the road….what are your feelings on the Galaxy? What can you tell us because the bandwagon effect is gonna be huge, it’s in Foxboro, national television, the Patriots are off…the stage is yours."

TT: "LA is big time. They deserve to be here. It’s the style team against the grit team and obviously us being the grit team. But LA’s big time. They got the leading goal scorer in the league. They’ve got a great defense. It’s gonna be an exciting game. Two completely different styles and it’s gonna be fun to watch."

GL: "Anybody who’s on the fence…what would you tell ‘em? Jump on board now? If you’re not gonna get on board now…when are you gonna get on board?"

TT: "Definitely. This has definitely been a story book year for us but as Jay said, there’s one more game and we gotta take care of business."

GL: "We talked about playing in front of the home crowd. That’s gotta be an advantage for you. The 12th man if you will…the added boost…they’ve been there all year."

JH: "Yeah, that’s what we’re hoping for. We know there are so many people that come every game but that’s what we need that kind of rollover effect and just get a bunch of people there that are gonna support us and we’re gonna do our best out there so it’s good to see that."

GL: "Just concentrate on what you have to do this week and game plan…don’t be looking toward the parade. (all laugh) Thanks very much guys…we appreciate it. Congratulations on a great season and hopefully we see you in here next Sunday night…have the trophy here…thank you very much guys, we appreciate it."


They were on for about 5 minutes that I caught. FWIW Gene Lavanchy seemed geniuinely interested and well prepared for the interview.

More to follow...

 

As I said in the Sports Xtra post...mostly direct quotes...I have used elipses (SP? - the "...") where people started talking over each other or trailed off or paused etc. I watched the tape several times to get it down as best I could before my VCR started to wig out from pausing too much. Apologies to Taylor, Jay and Bob if I got something wrong. I can check the tape again later, but wanted to pass along the info for those that missed it.


SPORTS FINAL W/ Bob Lobel Ch4 WBZ Sunday 10/13

Bob Ryan from the Boston Globe (?) was on. Bob Lobel mentioned they would air the Revs interview coming up.

Ryan: “I wouldn’t go if it was in my front yard. But I’m happy for the Krafts. They invested a lot of money in this project and it’s nice for it to come to fruition.” “I’d go if it was Man U.”

Lobel says soccer would surpass hockey (in U.S.) at some point.
Ryan says “No it won’t…all these kids playing soccer…why aren’t they going to games as adults?”

This prompts Lobel to “take back what I said” probably mostly because this argument could have gone on and on and they needed to take a commercial break.

On to Taylor/Heaps interview...

BL:"...2 guys that did not play in the final game. Did not play in the tying final game that put them in the Championship game next Sunday..."

Blah blah blah…introduces Jay and TT…Jay “A New Englander from Nashua and Longmeadow…

BL: “I’m gonna start with Jay. OK Taylor? Because he didn’t play either but not for the same reason. You were hurt. You didn’t play because you got red-carded. What was that all about?"

JH: "Not my greatest moment I would say. It was one of those where I just came of scoring a goal and I was on cloud 9 and he and I were getting at it…I was trying to position him back and barely touched him…(etc. Basically what he said in Ch 7 interview)"

TT: "I gave him a 9 ½ on the dive though. Obviously Jay went in but Garcia embellished it a lot……"

TT: "Its over with and Jay will be in the final and that’s the most important thing for sure."

BL: "It is (stammering looking for words) ...The problem with selling the sport…and Taylor and I have had a ½ hour to talk about this…its like soccer for dummies…we talked about the whole 3 games, 5 points…"

TT: "None of us can figure it out so I don’t know how you guys could."

BL: "Lets talk about your injury and obviously its pretty important being the league leading scorer to be in the lineup Sunday."

TT: "It's unfortunate I had to miss the last game but it's part of being a professional is dealing with injuries and I’m praying right now that my knee heals up quickly."

Says its an MCL sprain and if he has to wear a brace/sleeve then he will but hopes not to.

BL: "If you do put a sleeve on does that invite target practice for the opposition – they know about it anyway."

Taylor defers to Jay because “he’s a defender”

JH: "I think there’s a mutual respect among soccer players. To be honest with you if you see a player that’s hurt you don’t really wanna go at it too much. You do know its there…you can force them that direction"…etc. etc.

Continues…
JH: "Taylor’s been so tremendous up top for us and he hasn’t gotten the protection that other forwads get. I mean these referees have been protecting players…we had a series against Chicago where if you breathed on a player from the other team, they would fall down. There would be a card."

BL: "Is that good or bad?"

JH: "Bad. Saying they are not protecting him. He’s a player that just gets knocked and knocked and knocked and he finally got hurt. Its something they need to look at."

BL: Says he talked to Taylor earlier about where MLS fits in in the world picture. "Where does MLS rank in the world in terms of competition. Taylor and I talked about the top 10..Jay would you agree? Top 5 being…England…" (trailed off searching for another league to name or help from Taylor)

TT: "England, Spain, France all the European union."

JH: "Yeah we’re coming into our own in terms of the kind of players we’re gonna have…US is athletic…" (Talked about US athletes being skilled...jumping higher etc.)

JH: "What we need to do is take some of those athletes that play football, baseball, basketball and kind of transcend that and make them soccer players."

BL: "Jay isn’t this a reason – aren’t there so many more things available to the American student in terms of sports that unlike the rest of the world, its so hard to get you to specialize in one thing. Lacrosse, soccer, baseball, you’ve got all these things available and kids want to play them all."

TT: "I think that’s the good part about being an American too though. You get to experience them all."

JH: "You're talking to 2 of us that we both played 2 sports in college. He played baseball and soccer and I played basketball and soccer. So I mean you can still make it and like you’re saying its there for us and it makes us more of a unique athlete. At the same time aspects of the game that would be very different…by playing basketball you can see things differently and bring that over."

BL: "The question is, how do you sell this sport? Everyone talks about scoring, scoring, scoring. On the other hand, he (Taylor) was at the football game today and said that’s the slowest I’ve ever seen in my life."

TT: "You had to call a time out in order to call a time out…that sport’s unbelievable. You know it’s a 4 hour day."

BL: "It’s interesting that he would say that. I wanna jump quickly to the significance of Sunday’s game. One game. We’re not talking about 5 points, 3 different games a tie you’re in…One game. What happens if you guys tie?"

JH: "It goes into overtime, then shootouts. That game itself determines who the champion is…pretty sure it goes to overtime, additional overtime and then shootouts."

BL: "Overtime is sudden death?"

TT: "I’m assuming. We don’t even understand the 5 points…"

BL: "Well that’s fair. I don’t feel alone then. Its not soccer for dummies for sportscasters."

JH: "I think it’s everchanging. It was similar last year. Even the year before and my rookie year we weren’t sure if it was aggregate or 2 games or 3 games…"

BL: "What's the significance, obviously it’s a championship, but 7 years when you guys as a franchise have been trying to build a following, trying to have a regular group and add to that…"

TT: "I think it’s huge for the fans. They’ve been around through a lot of losing seasons and this is only my first but to finally get to the final and host the final is huge and hopefully we can bring home a winner because the fans deserve it and so do the Kraft family as well."

BL: "What do you think Jay…I mean how…what's the best way to sell this sport here?"

JH: "I think it’s little by little. In this area it’s going to be something like this where the home team makes it to the final and you know, 20,000 kids get to see their home team play and just feel the excitement and just take away that moment and share that moment with someone else and then as they get older pass it on. I mean we’re not naïve saying that soccer is gonna be the NBA in 5 years. We understand its going to be a long road. 15-20 years maybe. Most likely not in our playing career but hopefully we can sit back on the couch on our hobbled knees and say 'hey that was something we were a part of.' We understand it and that’s why we do different appearances and try to promote the game itself."

BL: "This has been a remarkable run that you guys even got into the finals and I’m sure your goaltender has been a huge part of that."

TT: "Adin Brown’s been big time. He’s still standing on his head when he’s in his apartment. The biggest thing is Adin’s shows up for us and done really well for us and we need that because it builds confidence and it spreads throughout the team."

BL: "What kind of advantage is it playing the Championship at home?"

JH: "It is. And hopefully the fans will all be there and if they create the environment it will be that much more exciting and hopefully we fill that place up."

BL: "(to Jay) Stay out of trouble. You have to stay out of trouble. Taylor, hope you get back out."

TT: "Me too."

BL: "2 guys that didn’t play but they made it out. Good luck. Next Sunday maybe we’ll be at your celebration party."

TT,JH: "You’re invited."

 

WHDH CH 7 Tuesday 10/15 11 PM news:

Anchor Randy Price teased with “they’re New England’s hottest soccer players, but don’t worry about massaging their egos.”

Showed clips of the day at the hotel/spa. Massage, whirlpool etc. Gene Lavanchy says it’s supposed to help the team “unwind before they start to prepare for the biggest game in franchise history.”

Interviewed Adin Brown who said the guys are excited. “I think we’ve already sold somewhere around 28-30,000”


107.3 FM WAAF Wednesday morning 10/16:

Former Bruin L.B. (Lyndon Byers) does sports for the Hillman morning show. Interviewed Adin Brown. (I caught it mid interview)

They asked why the goalie wears a different shirt and why the league chooses it. Adin says the purple one often gets him chants of "Barney."

A caller asked Adin "what did you say to your teammate when he knocked the ball into his own net?"

Adin says: "Can't say much to him, he's saved my butt many times." Said they did give him "crap" later "nice finish" etc. but that he pats him on the back and says it's ok.

Mike Hsu (pronounced Shoo - I think this is how he spells it though) - explains the head butt incident. L.B. said he loved it. Adin says "yeah, he owes us for being down a man for 60 minutes." (FYI Mike seems to be the one that knows the most about soccer and seems genuinely interested whenever I hear the show and the topic comes up...Revs, World Cup)

Hillman (Greg Hill) mentioned that they announced the match at the Patriots/Green Bay game. Said they announced the parking lots would open at 10:30 AM several times. Said it seemed like they would say that and then the announcer would say (voice rising) "Another Green Bay first down!" As if he was trying to get people psyched up for the Revs match and coming out to the tailgate etc.

L.B. said he's going and tailgating and that they have "like 30,000" sold.

Hillman says "really?"

L.B. Says "yeah. They average like 25(,000)."


WEEI 850AM Wednesday morning 10/16:

Heard an intro for the Dale and Neumie (sp?) show. Said (paraphrasing) "Early in the season Patriots fans are jumping off the slow moving bandwagon...we bash soccer a lot...but now everyone's a Revs fan" (this was a produced promo not Dale or Bob speaking)


Loving all this coverage. Keep it coming!

 

Here are those previous media/marketing related threads...Sorry, don't know how to make it just the title that you click on...moderators - feel free!


(Revolution) Radio, Live Transmission
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=19080

Revs comment in B's broadcast last night
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=19217

Revs Marketing: "Show Your Rev, White and Blue!"
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=19415

Revs MLS Cup Marketing Plan...
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=18998

Marjor Kudos to WHDH
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=18959

channel #5: Tyler Twellman
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=18926

 

True. I would like to dig up the Man U quote next year if in fact Man U plays in Gillette as the rumor goes...or maybe he wouldn't go unless it was Man U playing for a Championship? Does he root for the Yankees too?

 

Was that the "You're either a sports fan or you're not" piece? I remember it. And I think I kept a copy of it, but don't remember who wrote it. I did enjoy it though.

Maybe he isn't impressed with MLS. MLS had a lot to do with how the US did at the World Cup. It will have a lot to do with future Cups as well. As will the US National Team youth programs etc. As more players find more opportunities to pursue a pro career, the strength of US soccer will grow, we will see many entertaining matches, etc...As everything grows, so too will MLS. Maybe then he won't be so uninterested in the MLS Cup. And maybe then we all won't hear so many "No one goes to the games" comments (among other negative ones) that hurt the image of the league. (Not that it's perfect)

Enough of that from me for now.

 

From MLSnet.com...TV info...Ty will be there, but with JP Dellacamera

http://www.mlsnet.com/content/02/mls1016tv.html

 

You're welcome.


Ch7 WHDH Wednesday 10/16 11PM

Gene Lavanchy talked about Nicol getting Coach of the Year and said "Sunday the Revs hope to be team of the year."

Interviews with Brown and Nicol.

Nicol: "...We're making our own luck now."


Ch 4 WBZ Wed 10/16 11PM

Bob Lobel says "They're expecting (or maybe he said talking) 40,000 people. I know you're thinking 'what?'" Later says "It would be remarkable."

Brown interview...Adin says "couldn't be more exciting...it's my first final." "The Cinderella story's not over yet. We still gotta win to complete it."