When I said "soccer" I referred to everything it stands for in the ESPN world, which is, nothing but an opportunity to make money off this sports. Regardless, what I can't stand is ESPN's arrogance. Constantly trying to teach me the value of set-pieces, off-sides rule, etc, and then telling me about my teams chances ( Paraguay ) against a powerhouse like Spain. Believe me I'm not bitter about the result of that game or Chris Jones' idea of a witty article. However everything seems forced and for the purpose of profit and they (espn) thinks we're not aware of this, the elements of care and passion are missing and they just seem so smug.
I think they have done a good job promting futbol. Yes they are doing it for the money why else does any Sports News Channel promote a sport. I'm damn sure it's not for free. In past years the World Cup was a bleep on the American Sports Radar but this years World Cup the attention has increased and why, because it's a constant on the BIGGEST Sports Channel in the US market. I've seen packed bars when the USA national team played all four of their matches which in the past wasn't the case. And of course you'll have guys like Jim Rome talk trash about the sport on ESPN but he's a news reporter thats what they do. They have trashed every thing from individual stars to historic sports franchises. It's all opinion and it will just stir up the discussion in the bars, barber shops, offices and dinner tables. And thats how you grow a sport by making it a common topic in the mind of the average sports fan.
Um, I do watch Univision, I can't fathom watching a world cup game on Espn, its funny because my caucasian friends watch univision as well, they all know espn sucks. I'm sure pretty sure the average american soccer fan will realize that eventually.
Italy: Calcio Some parts of Ireland and Australia: Soccer [as Football there refers to Gaelic and Aussie Rules respectively
What problem? ESPN is covering the World Cup and in general there is un-precedented access/coverage for the sport in the United States for this one. They've brought in some decent pundits, commentators (wasn't Julie Foudy or something like that commentating games last time?) and have actually made an effort to engage the fans. If you don't like ESPN, then there is also Univision that was offering to show the matches in Spanish. Want more shows on the games? There are podcasts, streams, there are football specific channels in the US like GolTV, Fox Soccer, etc. etc. Better still, I like what I've seen of the American 'pundits'. Lalas, Harkes, Wynalda, Sullivan get slagged and I don't think it's fair, and I think it's kind of a knee-jerk reaction; nobody's harsher on them than their own country-men. I think they've brought up many good points and offer a new perspective. I don't care what a Jim Rome would think of the sport in the US. You know he thinks the sport is garbage, so that's all you need to know, right? Same with some of the other ESPN programs. They don't know the sport, don't care to know it, so therefor why care to know their opinion of it? The PTI show people don't care about it either, and therefor have absolutely nothing to offer. But if you want to know about LeBron James or Peyton Manning, it's a decent show. ESPN isn't perfect and it never will be. And OF COURSE they want to make money... which is why they try to be more broad. Is it some type of problem that the United States has a lot of fans that like a lot of different sports? Is ESPN now somehow evil for trying to cater to as many fans & non-fans as possible? Most aren't perfect but even if it's not what you like there are some alternatives. Is this really about the Chris Jones piece? The venting guy that isn't even an American? About the word 'soccer', which is English, or the American coverage? A waste of energy to be angry at the word 'soccer'. A lot of the opening anger here is misplaced. I don't even care about the arrogance. I can always ignore them when they explain the rules of a corner kick, card or off-sides.
lol I love it how people can call Paraguay boring but the Netherlands have been one of the most boring teams of the cup but people just say their playing "smart" Or how about the US who are ultra defensive and extremely boring to watch but Mr Jones can't upset his bosses huh. Besides theres nothing much Paraguay could have done when all Spain was doing was passing the ball back and forth, people who are on the Spain bandwagon fail to notice that besides yesterday's game all of their games have been pretty boring, but it's Spain so it's ok. Don't let em get to you Stillmatic people like that are the bandwaggoners of the world, their the ones that only watch every 4 years, don't have a clue about the sport, and will criticize the not so popular teams but droll all over the big teams no matter how crap they play.