I'm stuck for a reason, but if I had to offer one I'd say the issue has more to do with a reduction in available column space combined with a lack of hard news. Remember that we're getting into that time of year where both the Red Sox and college basketball are going to eat up any and all available pages. The Magpie
agreed to a certain point. its sad to think that a piece about a suspended high school boys hockey coach in the burbs is news worthy of displacing a regular tuesday professional franchise article in a paper like the globe.
Actually, Dell'Apa was featured in today's Globe, but his focus was on the Merrimack College hockey goalie who was seriously hurt in a collision with a B.C. player over the weekend. Hopefully there will be some news soon, perhaps from our internet scribes at Revsnet or elsewhere. I'm sure that some comments could be picked up from players as to the coming games in Costa Rica, and how they're responding to life back in New England after their extended stay down south in Brazil. The Magpie
I think you might be surprised how much interest there is in h.s. hockey, and the super-8. Coverage of the h.s. tournaments is the a major component of the grass-roots battle between the NY Times subsidiary and the Rupert Murdock mouthpiece.
Murdock doesn't own the Herald anymore, hasnt since '94? not sure about the date. but you're right about the two papers trying to cover high school sports.
I got your Rev news right here! I just spoke with the Rev ticket office and got the following information: 1) Didn't give me a good answer as to why Gus & Frank haven't been writing about the team. Did say that some staffer was off to the airport to pick up a new trialist today. 2) The team leaves 3/15 for Costa Rica. The Rev's are exploring a telecast (PPV?) at either Foxboro or a bar for the match or matches in Costa Rica. 3) There will be a Center Circle prepaid parking discount similar to last year. This mailing along with tickets should go out by the end of the month. 4)If Barcelona drops out of the Juventus match as FDA said was a possibility, the management company that is bringing over all of these teams, Champions World, has plenty of other nice alternatives: Manchester United (booked already), Celtic, Milan, etc. 5) Season ticket sales are ahead of last year. Wouldn't comment on actual figures as stated on line by KC, Columbus, etc. personally, my seat location has improved. Sweet! 6) If you signed up for the "Buy your season tickets and get your picture taken with a Rev" promotion, this will take place in "late sprng / early summer." I asked about a rain date and the reply was, "That hasn't been discussed." I encourage everyone else to call the ticket office and get some more information, 508-543-5001. Regards, "Jimmy Olsen" MrSangster Cub Reporter
Re: I got your Rev news right here! The telecast idea is a good one. Hell we dont even need commentators just videoo is fine with me. By they way for those interested my GF works for Citizens ( and they are a suite owner ). They wanted to host a meeting there. The cost ? - "It's $10k to rent space there, plus security, catering, etc. As suite owners,the rental fee is waived, yet it's still going to be about $15K to host a 4 hour meeting there" So perhaps it's not so cheap to host ANYTHING there And if Champions World has a brain in their head they will get Celtic in here
Re: Re: I got your Rev news right here! yep, and if they're 'really' smart, they'll announce it on St. Patricks Day.
Re: Re: I got your Rev news right here! I think that the $15k is more indicative of how much money the Revs are able to charge, not how expensive it is to host an event. It also puts selling the home game for $25k in the proper light. The Krafts made as much on that deal as they would hosting an offsite business meeting. Or maybe I misread your quote, and you feel that the Revs can barely afford to be in the big Razor because Krafty gouges them... I'd also like to see any type of telecast available. I could even live with having spanish commentators do the broadcast.
i believe my point was that if they are going to charge that much for a meeting for a business partner, that its pretty clear that the Krafts are all about the bottom line realizing this we should try not to get our collective panties in a twist each time they prove this right
Which part should we not get excited about? The part about how they sell off games we've been looking forward to for a while to save a few bucks? The compeitive disadvantage that decision put our team in? Maybe the fact that most of the other teams get more of an impact from their foreign players because they make more of an effort to bring in talent than the Revs? Should we just not care about any of this?
The two biggest factors in lack of media coverage are: 1) The ton of other stuff going on, from high school tourneys to college basketball/college hockey conference tourneys to spring training to playoff drives in the NHL and NBA. The Globe's Pats beat writer did a Holy Cross women's hoop feature today, for cryin' out loud. 2) The Revs aren't doing anything. There's no exhibition matches, no player movement, no daily cuts or demotions to the AHL or Triple A. And the team didn't exactly encourage coverage for the Champions Cup by forfeiting that home game. I know I'd have made a much bigger deal of it in my paper -- but if the organization's not committed to it ... Also, keep in mind that MLS plays once a week for nine months. There are, say, 25-30 players that might come through the team during the course of a season. You can only do so many features on them before the well runs dry. It's not like baseball, where there's a game every day, or football, where you've got twice as many players to choose from. So in a time where there's nothing happening, you can either a) write fluff just for the sake of writing something or b) not write anything.
And which businesses in today's economy aren't? MLS as a whole made a commitment to getting into the black as a top priority a year or two ago. If this enterprise doesn't become a consistently profitable entity (or show appreciation in the value of the franchises), then it will sooner-or-later fold up and go home. Since when is $50-75K a few bucks (particularly when trying to run a lean organization)?
I disagree. It is preseason and things are happening. There is news going on. Coverage is down from the same period last year and has dried up since their return from Brazil. The Rev's are newsworthy: Eastern division champs getting ready for the season, Concacaf tourney in CR, tripleheaders at Foxboro with US nats, plenty of news! The Rev's aren't doing anything? Then why is Revsnet reporting 3 trialists in camp: Yuri Petrov, Abdul Bangara & John Cole. Last night at a "Meet the Rev's" party for local youth soccer programs, both Kante's were there. The inference is that the Rev's did sign Kante the Younger. Have they been signed officially? I agree that they play once a week and shuffle in quite a few trialists. But not to file at least one weekly report 5 weeks before the season opener is wrong. We get plenty of FDA Brazilian fluff pieces. But, isn't it a reporters job to uncover the news?
All teams in the world play about a 9-10 month season, carry between 20 and 35 players and so on, and so on. The difference is in the interest, both at the media outlets themselves as well as with the fan base. While training inside with no matches is a bit of a bore there still should be plenty to write. I mean, I can think of five columns(a week's worth) without even trying. Let's see: Joe Max on UK footie and the differences; Stevie Nicks on Dalglish's kid trying to make it in MLS; Shalrie Joseph on why he came back and what it is like for him; Steve Ralston on how he plans to deal w. double teaming; any nimber of aanon. players on how they feel about two legs in CR. I mean that is just a start. At the same time I suspect that Martins, FDA, et al have works like these in hand, the editors just don't give them space. Let's rachet up the pressure. Final Four? Y A W N ! JIM DOW
more topics There are a million topics: How is pre-season going? How is the team shaping up? Why haven't they been able to secure a #10? What was wrong with the players they brought in ? What did they learn from the Brazil camp? What do they hope to get out of CR? What do they expect to see when they meet Chicago? Proposed lineups? Anyone injured? Rev management happy with the internationals scheduled ( yeah, toss them a gimme once in awhile) for this season? Etc., etc., etc.