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ESPN has no full-time soccer writer

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by Deji McGever, Dec 4, 2001.

  1. Deji McGever

    Deji McGever יליד טקסני

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    My buddy sent hate mail to ESPN. It went like this:

    How can you stomach writing about Soccer for an organization that is so blatantly anti-soccer it defies all reason? This last ESPN atrocity against the beautiful game defies all reason. I mean, I really, REALLY don't see how airing old NFL footage and some lame story about a Basketball player makes ESPN any more of a "Sports" channel, and I don't possibly see how you can rake in any more viewers. Could you at least admit in your next Boot Room, among all your weird, anachronistic 80's references, that the heads of programming at ESPN are a bunch of castrated rotoheads who only care about the bottom line and don't care about developing dollars? FoxSports gets it, why can't ESPN? "Reality" based melodrama and sap is only going to send ESPN right down the toilet bowl. Once MTV stopped showing "Music" and started showing "Crap", it made short-terms bucks but now, MTV is now a regular company listed on ****edCompany.com. When ESPN stops showing "Sports" and starts showing "Crap" (I mean, to pre-empt a CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GAME?), your network will resemble something of a botched, third-trimester abortion.

    BTW--You had better learn how to say "You want fries with that?", because your bosses aren't very appreciateive of the world's game, and may not be too appreciative of paying you to write for 'em. I'm not mocking you, but if I were you I'd learn spanish and start posting my resume at Univision.


    And the guy writes back:
    yeah, good thing for me i make my living writing about baseball and do the
    soccer for fun.

    thanks for the note,
    Jeff Bradley




    Don't you think that's pretty lame? ESPN has no fulltime soccer guy? It's so depressing I think I'm going to go looking for that video clip of Jim Rome getting beat up to cheer me up.


    --Deji
     
  2. davo

    davo Contributing Member

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    I don't think it is lame at all. ESPN have apparently determined that there is not enough demand for Soccer to warrant a full time writer or televised coverage. If you want to watch it on TV, go get Fox Sports World, and go to real online Soccer site - there are hundreds. Why would you or your friend want to hear what a disinterested sports network has to say about Soccer anyway? Just because it is blindly followed elsewhere in the world does not mean it is entitled to coverage here.

    Your friend was exceedingly lucky to get a response - his letter is disgraceful and I find it offensive. Sending a letter like that does nothing but help to perpetuate the belief in America that Soccer is marred by hooligan fans.

    Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate soccer, and if offered a good game to watch, I will watch it. However, I much prefer the variety of sports available in the USA and on ESPN than the complete saturation of Soccer you get in Europe and Africa.
     
  3. Francis3

    Francis3 Member

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    America is the only country that hardly anyone cares for Soccer. That is why espn doesnt care. Also because Americans suck at soccer is another reason. ;)

    SOCCER IS THE MOST PLAYED SPORT IN THE WORLD.
     
  4. SmeggySmeg

    SmeggySmeg Contributing Member

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  5. Coach AI

    Coach AI Contributing Member

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    There just isn't enough of a demand for ESPN to warrant a full-time writer. I mean you really can't cut it any other way; just because they don't have the viewership to warrant another paycheck doesn't mean they are part of some sort of worldwide conspiracy to ignore soccer. :rolleyes:

    I've covered high school soccer before; it's pretty fun to follow when you've got two good teams against each other. Two bad teams, and it's almost intolerable.

    But for the life of me, I'll never understand why soccer fans are some of the most volatile out there. Even at the Texas high school level, some of the worst fans I've come across have been at soccer games. :confused:
     
  6. Caddman

    Caddman Contributing Member

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    I doubt Jeff Bradley was offended. ABC/ESPN will be covering the World Cup, and I'm sure their announcing teams will suck other than Mike Hill/Eddie Mighten. I was pissed when expecting to see Arsenal/Juventus I instead saw some ESPN Classic piece. If they don't want to cover the sport, why not let Fox have the CL and WC games as well? And do we really think that baseball and NFL and college football aren't oversaturated here in the states?
     
  7. Sane

    Sane Member

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    You guys need to watch real soccer.

    Mainly 3 countries create the hooliganism, and those are:

    Argentina
    England
    Germany


    Noticed how none of these guys have won a World Cup this last decade?


    I'm an Iran fan. Everytime there's a game, we pack the 120,000 seating Azadi stadium with 140,000. The largest amount of violence ever shown? Water bottles thrown by the crowd. Not even onto the pitch. On the sides. NO ONE got hurt.


    the best fans in the world

    Iran :D
    Nippon (Japan)
    Brazil
    Argentina (when they're winnning)




    BTW, the only place there is no interest in soccer is the States. I don't know how a country that big can be so uninterested in soccer. Probably because they're hopeless (I'm laughing too, but not for the same reason an American would laugh ;) ) so they turn to places where they're more dominant.


    Too bad about where the States got drawn in the World Cup huh?
     
  8. PhiSlammaJamma

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    When we win the world Cup this year you will eat your words.
     
  9. mr_oily

    mr_oily Member

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    I was gonna say, sometimes, when I'm watching the Mexican stations, the matches just seem so much better for some reason, even something like Necaxa vs. Aguas Calientes or something...I dunno why:(

    Also, Americans don't really give **** about it too!
    Thats part was very true too. :)
     
  10. Deji McGever

    Deji McGever יליד טקסני

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    Caddman:
    That's what prompted my friend to write the letter...

    Francis3:
    I would have to disagree on both accounts. I've only been a serious fan for maybe 5 years, and I've been going to US National Team games in LA during that time. The pro-US crowd has gone from being 1/10th of the Rose Bowl to half for games against the likes of Mexico or Brazil. And I've seen the US win against both. Five years ago I would have been afraid for my life, and was subject to being spit on, doused with half-drank cokes, and subjected to boos during the National Anthem so loud I couldn't hear it. I have been spared the infamous "urine bombs." All of that has really changed, both because the US crowd is much bigger, and team is more respectable, the oppossing fans tend to be more respectful. And now, just as then, US fans are very loyal, and loud. I wish to god the crowd in the Compaq Center had 1/100th of the entusiasm of US Nat'l team supporters.

    As far as the US sucking:
    http://www.fifa.com/rank/index_E.html
    1 France 811 1 0 2 1
    2 Argentina 798 3 1 3 1
    3 Brazil 797 2 -1 1 -2
    4 Portugal 741 4 0 6 2
    5 Colombia 736 8 3 15 10
    6 Italy 735 4 -2 4 -2
    7 Spain 731 6 -1 7 0
    8 Netherlands 722 7 -1 8 0
    9 Mexico 713 11 2 12 3
    10 England 712 9 -1 17 7
    11 Germany 710 14 3 11 0
    12 Yugoslavia 709 11 -1 9 -3
    13 Czech Republic 699 10 -3 4 -9
    14 Paraguay 694 13 -1 9 -5
    15 Romania 687 15 0 13 -2
    16 Sweden 676 18 2 22 6
    17 Denmark 675 17 0 22 5
    18 Ireland Republic 672 20 2 31 13
    19 Croatia 671 16 -3 18 -1
    20 Belgium 666 33 13 27 7
    20 United States 666 19 -1 16 -4
    22 Russia 664 21 -1 21 -1
    23 Turkey 660 34 11 30 7
    24 Uruguay 656 23 -1 32 8
    25 Norway 654 22 -3 14 -11
    26 Honduras 650 24 -2 46 20
    27 Slovenia 648 26 -1 35 8
    28 Tunisia 647 25 -3 26 -2
    29 Iran 640 35 6 36 7
    30 Saudi Arabia 632 30 0 36 6
    31 Costa Rica 629 29 -2 60 29
    31 Trinidad & Tobago 629 31 0 29 -2
    33 Poland 628 28 -5 43 10
    34 South Africa 625 32 -2 20 -14
    35 Japan 623 26 -9 38 3
    36 Morocco 620 36 0 28 -8
    37 Ecuador 610 38 1 53 16
    38 Cameroon 609 38 0 39 1
    39 Chile 608 37 -2 19 -20
    40 Nigeria 602 42 2 52 12

    We are tied for 20th in the world out of 203 teams, making us way better than many teams that qualified for the World Cup. True, 20th is far from 1st, but it hardly qualifies as bad. We would actually be higher but we have been playing without our best players for quite a while due to injury.

    Rockkit:

    Apparently, they thought it was good enough to secure the rights to a Champion League match and then show a Classic ESPN piece. I think that sort of thing can expect hate mail! DirectTV did that a few months ago during a a crucial US World Cup qualifier. They showed the first hour of the game, and then all of the sudden, showed an hour of self-promotion for the NFL Game Plan. Luckily I saw the end of the match, because stoppage time ran long. I called DirecTV pretty upset and they acted like I was completely insane. A bunch of US fans wrote a bunch of nasty letters with the just complaint that they bought sattelite dishes just so they COULD watch soccer because the coverage was so poor and DirecTV interrupts a US National Team game for Paid Advertising in the middle of the day! I don't know if it's a worldwide conspiracy, but both the fans who have no other way to watch the games, and the corporate sponsors (GM, Hyundai, Budweiser) aren't too pleased when networks do this. How would you expect them to react? What if TNT pulled the plug on a Rockets game to show re-runs of "What's Happening"? You'd be pretty mad too , wouldn't you? My friend is upset that their effort at coverage is kind of half-assed. He wants them to do it right or not at all.


    Sane:

    I couldn't agree more.

    I've seen all of these play in person except Iran. I didn't see the Japanese national team but I saw the Emperor's Cup last January in Japan. The fans are loud and excited, but they not only don't make a mess, they stay after the match and pick up trash. It's true.

    Brazil fans are fun, and they are as good of winners are they are losers. Whenever they come to LA to play a friendly there are always cool parties afterwards too (read: Edmundo).

    Argentina fans are kinda crazy, but you have to love them. It's not like a crazy with an angry drunkeness like Germans and English, more like a love for their team. I am making a Cd-video of the Maradonna tribute game if you want to see what I mean.

    Don't underestimate Mexico and El Salvador. It's even worse when they play each other. I've seen it. It isn't pretty. I've added words to my Spanish vocabulary that shocked my stepmother (who is from Mexico).


    PhiSlammaJamma:
    We are underrated, but I don't think we are going to beat Argentina or anything :). I do think we can get out of our group (but we won''t win it). And if that happens we will most likely have to play Italy (who is way over-rated IMHO, but will probably still beat us full strength). I think Portugal is one of the best teams in the whole WC.


    Mr_Oily:

    I know why. That's because Univision and Galavision have top-notch commentators (many are from Argentina -- including Andre Cantor). The US hasn't exactly cultivated a Red Barber of soccer yet. If they did, it might draw more casual fans. I find Brit announcers easier to listen to b/c they are much more fun. Americans still struggle with idioms and have yet to invent color to describe soccer, Comparing American soccer announcers to Brit or Us Spanish language ones is like comparing Hot Rod Hunley to Calvin Murphy or Chick Hearn or Charles Barkley.

    Good announcing really makes the game better.


    If any of you guys live in LA or Miami you should go the Gold Cup and see a US game in person. I swear there is nothing in the world like it. I never liked soccer until an ex-roomate of mine turned me on to it. It's a great thing to find you were completely wrong about something and get great enjoyment from something new. Come to think of it. The same fanatical friend who sent the letter to ESPN and goes to all the LA Galaxy games got turned on to soccer by...me.

    So there it is. I guess even if you hate soccer you can be happy I saved him from being a Laker fan. And don't you dare call him fair weather :cool:
    --Deji
     
  11. Rickem

    Rickem Member

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    Hey guys, did ya'll happen to catch that clip on Leno last night?

    my goodness, how can you possibly watch soccer after that??!?!
     
  12. SmeggySmeg

    SmeggySmeg Contributing Member

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    if you guys get a FT soccer writer just for the American Soccer league, i want a full time writer on their for Aussie Rules footy :D
     
  13. Francis3

    Francis3 Member

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    Hey Sane , You jendeh. Kos Kesh!
     
  14. DEANBCURTIS

    DEANBCURTIS Member

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    And the problem is? ;)
     
  15. mr_oily

    mr_oily Member

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    If you're ever in Houston, you should go to this little plcae here called the Gold Cup!
    Man, I had the best time there once!:cool:
     
  16. davo

    davo Contributing Member

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    LOL - just what I was thinking when I read that :)

    Deji, Preempted coverage sucks. As an Aussie Rules fan in the USA, at least I can sympathise with you on that particular issue.
     
  17. Coach AI

    Coach AI Contributing Member

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    I understand what you're saying, but you are making a few points that illustrate what I'm talking about. The DirectTV thing is the wrong thing to do, I agree - if you are going to show something don't cut it off in the middle. But as far as 'right or not at all' - I guarantee you if ESPN didn't show anything soccer on any of their networks, they'd get the same kind of hate mail for ignoring it all together. Then, when they do show something, they get hate mail for that.

    It just doesn't have the kind of support here. ESPN is about money and resources, so you can't expect them to direct those things to something they won't get the backing from. I know there are lots of fans - but I also don't think that a station would miss out on the chance to rake in significant amounts of cash and viewership. So the demand just isn't there. What's worse, the guy (Bradley) apparently did whatever he coverage he did simply because he is a fan - then got bashed for that.
     
  18. 4chuckie

    4chuckie Member

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    Wanted: Full time soccer writer for ESPN. Requirements include knowledge of soccer and preferably soccer experience. No writing or speaking skills are necessary because noone will ever read/hear you. Other requirements include signing a waiver that if soccer fans goes nuts and starts a stampede that your family cannot hold ESPN responsible. Finally we will not be responsible for Soccer Players getting excited and biting you after a goal.
     

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