Media improvement...

It seems like Dylan Hernandez at the Mercury News has been cranking out 1 or 2 articles a week. All the more impressive considering that it's the off-season. Has that ever happened before? Not that I can recall.

John Shrader has always been good about talking up the eQuakes. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for that.

Maybe Club Quake or some group of fans can inaugurate some sort of media coverage award that we can use to acknowledge the contribution of members of the media towards teh growth and success of the Earthquakes. That might be a nice way of recognizing and supporting such efforts.

I think we have two nominees so far...

 

I've been talking the Quakes up at school, and actually, a lot of the casual sports/soccer fans at school are interested in going to some games, which is, of course, a good sign for attendance figures next season. Many of them knew about the Quakes beforehand and did express interest in going to games...

 

It's amazing what having a good team will do....

Sean

 

I'm coaching at my old high school, St. Ignatius, and I've seen a few students wearing Quakes gear (I admit, they were all girls wearing Donovan shirts), which is pretty interesting considering the school is in San Francisco and we draw kids from all over the Bay Area.

With the season wrapping up, I'm going to try and acquire some Quakes flyers to hand out to the kids.

 

Slowly...it's building.

I've had some water-cooler conversation in the last week regarding the club. One of our supervisors is about to shell out for season tickets. Another guy in the office is starting to get excited about the team.

One single event sparked this enthusiasm...the re-signing of Ronnie Ekelund.

Slowly but surely, we're bringing around the "traditional" world soccer fan (the two guys in my office I speak of are of Turkish and Danish descent, respectively).

Additional buzz...additional press...this is the kind of slow and steady growth that has a good chance of sticking long-term.

 

Wonder what's going on in a certain office in a complex kitty-corner from yours-- you know the one, a certain catering company run by a certain chef of Turkish descent, as well.

Hey, I'm 8,000 miles away, and I hope all of my old office buddies are talking up the team, too, especially when they don't have guys like me to start them going.

Seriously, though, I'm glad to see the other Europeans in the community coming around to wanting to see the team play. It's been a long, slow process, just as I always thought it would be, but the Quakes are winning some converts, bit by bit...

And it's nice to see some good press as well, too. That always helps.

Cheers,
William

 

i think that is a good idea. Can we also have an award for crappiest news coverage or worst soccer reporter? just a thought.

 

KNBR has stepped it up....Rick Barry and Schrader, like you said, has always been good but now it's more than Schrader, their 20/20 sports reports have reported on The Donovan re-signing, Graziani & Cannon loans, Barrett departure and all draft day activities including the Brian Mullan aquisition....not all were reported by Scrade either, and none were handled tongue-in-cheek or typical Radnich condescending style.

 

Do not mean any harm, but is Cannon on loan?
And I apologize if you were just generalizing.

 

******' Bud Geracie!

Well, I don't think one high-profile Mercury News jackoff gets it. From Bud Geracie's Wake of the Week column Saturday:

The Bay Area hasn't had a world champion from any of its six major sports franchises since the 49ers won the Super Bowl in 1995.

Bunghole.

But I'm not writing some angry letter to the Merc. Johnny Moore (or other Quakes staffers) should write or call, and keep doing it until this stops.

 

I heard Cannon was on a 6(?) month loan....with an option.

 

The Merc!

I do not mind the point where he says that we have not won any world championships, but saying that we are not a major sports franchise in this area is crap. I think he is just upset that the Mercury is losing readers and his old girlfriend left him for a soccer player.
The editors at the Merc are really jerks you know. Dylan Hernandez mentioined that it was weird that the Merc suddenly had space to write about the quakes when everyone was leaving. Last year he could not find any space. I am not complaining about the coverage, just thought it was an interesting comment.

 

Hmmm, I do not know how to put this nicely. You are wrong. He is not on loan. He signed a six month contract with an option.

 

Originally posted by BlueMeanie

Well, I don't think one high-profile Mercury News jackoff gets it. From Bud Geracie's Wake of the Week column Saturday:

The Bay Area hasn't had a world champion from any of its six major sports franchises since the 49ers won the Super Bowl in 1995.

Bunghole.

But I'm not writing some angry letter to the Merc. Johnny Moore (or other Quakes staffers) should write or call, and keep doing it until this stops.

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When discussing American sports, why do the Americans always say "world champions" when they actually mean "national champions" ???

With the exception of soccer, their other sports don't have global championships, right??

 

So if he comes back to MLS, the Quakes still own his rights?

 

Re: Cannon.

I've heard that San Jose will keep his rights, so if he returns, he returns to the Quakes.

 

With the exception of when they first started in 1974, when the Earthquakes got photos and front of sports page coverage after every game, the Merc has a long history of giving soccer fans the middle finger. Mostly started with Mark Purdy in the early 1980s - If memory serves, he even had a photo of a traffic cone with an Earthquakes jersey on it after a particularly embarassing loss. (I've never really taken Purdy seriously, it seems like most of his stuff he writes just to piss people off so he can prove to his editor that people read him.)

Geracie, on the other hand is an enemy of the sport. The worst came right after the World Cup last summer when he said words to the effect of "Now I can go back to ignoring a sport I've hated for years." What a skid mark!!

As for Dylan Hernandez, lest we forget the crap he wrote about the team last year and the decidely pro-Mexican league slant he had on most of his stuff last year. He seems to be getting better, but I'd say the jury's still out on him.

I love the job Shraeder does on KNBR. From reporting on other sports to giving the Earthquakes a mention from time to time, I think he does a pretty good job. And as far as on-air talent goes, he's no Toby Charles, but he's better than most of the idiots at the national level. Did anyone catch Randy Hahn from the Sharks when he filled in for Shraeder? I thought he did a great job and would love to see the two of them team up and put Mr. Doyle gently out to pasture.

 

Hell, I thought Hahn was better than Shrader. He had really done his homework. He's awesome on Sharks broadcasts, too. Unfortunately, both Shrader and Hahn are play-by-play guys. Doyle's there to add his "insights" from experience (and he needs to get better or he should get the boot...).

Re: Dylan Hernandez...he's got a pretty thankless job. He's damned if he doesn't cover the Quakes, yet he's also damned if does cover them but writes something that pisses off the hardcore fans.

 

true and living ded boys comments are true. But it is not considered a loan since MLS only has his rights if he were under contract with them.

A loan is when a team currently owns you but loans you out to play for another team. They still have your rights and you can only play for a team with their permission. Cannon could play for any team outside the MLS.

In this case, we are all right.

 

Actually there hasn't been as much newspaper coverage as I'd expect. I honestly want more. Like an every other day kind of thing.

TRANSFORM
MARI

 

The jerk on Channel 4 News will win it hands down, serially.

 

The jerk on Channel 4 News will win it hands down, serially.