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DEL.ICIO.USBlue skies, please go away
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s not just the gray sky over the ATL that has Off the Ball even glummer than her usual Mood Indigo. It’s the fact that she can no longer shake off the inevitable cold turkey that will come with the end of the World Cup in just a few days.
Yes, the dream match between Italy and France should be a real treat. As one of OTB’s colleague muses: “Whom do you pick? Both countries have good food, great wine.”
A mouth-watering final, then. But the sentimental journey over the final game of Zinedine Zidane’s career has already begun. This will be sad indeed as ZZ tries to go out on top. OTB has Italy in the Cup pool, but she may be shedding some tears hearing his farewell rendition of “La Marseillaise.”
Italy has its own reasons for not wanting the Cup to end. Mainly, the lousy situation back on the home front, where Serie A powerhouse Juventus, at the center of appalling match-fixing allegations, is willing to accept demotion to the second division as punishment.
Juventus is loaded with players on both sidelines of this final: Italy’s Buffon, Cannavaro, Camoranesi, Zambrotta and Del Piero; France’s Thuram, Vieira and Trezeguet. There are plenty others on Cup teams, such as Czech Pavel Nedved and Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. What a horrific comedown for the Yankees of Italy. AC Milan (the Red Sox), Fiorentina (the Cubs) and Lazio (the Dodgers) also have been recommended for the drop by an Italian prosecutor, although he wants them sent to the third division. Will these guys bail if their teams are sent down?
Can you imagine Jeter, Schilling and Nomar playing Class AA ball? Carrying their own luggage? Riding the bus between Durham and Asheville? Breathing through their eyeballs? It would be a miracle!
Oh, scusi for the baseball reference, but OTB is just a bit piqued after reading some of the inside dope on how Dave O’Brien became ESPN’s lead Cup announcer.
It’s less that O’Brien is mainly a baseball guy than the fact that ESPN suits insisted upon Americans behind the mike and not those broguish charmers from the British Isles. Here’s an excerpt that has OTB just a bit peeved:
Executives at Soccer United Marketing, which is paying U.S. rights, “believed lead play-by-play duties would go to ESPN veteran (and Atlanta Thrashers announcer) JP Dellacamera , who had called five World Cups. Instead, ESPN gave the job — including all U.S. games and the championship final — to Mr. O’Brien, who joined the network in 2002 and is best known as a Major League Baseball announcer. Mr. Dellacamera says he was disappointed but accepted the No. 2 play-by-play slot in Germany.
“The soccer executives opposed the appointment of Mr. O’Brien. Their argument: Using an announcer unfamiliar with the sport might not help ratings but certainly could hurt them. ‘Would you ever put a guy who had never called a sport before … in the World Series, the Super Bowl or the Olympics?’ a senior U.S. soccer executive says. ‘Never.’ “
O’Brien actually hasn’t been that bad, given his lack of a soccer background. But here’s the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader of Sports making absurd demands for coverage of the world’s biggest sporting event. Yes, it is important to appeal to more than the soccer junkies during this tournament. But the bland, hyper-chattery, personality- and trivia-driven nature of ESPN’s coverage (Country: The Netherlands. Language: Dutch. Form of Government: Monarchy.) ought to be unbearable even for novices.
Because we’re used to these banalities for the World Series, Super Bowl and Final Four, it’s okay for the World Cup? How about giving your baseball- and gridiron-besotted viewers a taste of something else for a change? Go ahead — try it, they might like it!
All this is to come back to the subject of withdrawal, and to what awaits us in the States come Monday. It’s not my aim to kick around MLS. In fact, OTB rather enjoyed the Revolution-Red Bulls game last week. But here’s one soccer blogger who’s hanging up his cleats, and offers as strong a condemnation of MLS as I’ve read in a while. It’s not about the lack of talent, but the obsession with putting lipstick on a pig, then trying to make it fly:
“Rather than making a serious effort to improve the standard of play, MLS brass have chosen instead to redouble their efforts to dupe credulous people into believing that their existing standard of play is light-years better than it actually is… .
“To be perfectly honest, that’s what has made MLS intolerable to me. They’re not even making a noteworthy effort to improve the quality of their product; instead, they’re just trying to convince everyone that their product is far better than it really is…
“After all the columns I’ve written in hopes of helping American soccer get a little bit better, perhaps some of you can understand why it might upset and frustrate me that MLS brass, like their pet pseudo-star Donovan, are more than happy to settle for abject mediocrity.”
(hat tip: The Soccer Daily)
There’s plenty more in that diatribe, including the growing refrain urging the Yanks to play more often in the bi-annual Copa America, a terrific tourney that the U.S. Soccer Federation dodges because the event runs during MLS season.
By contrast, the hard partying and fast times of the Cosmos is the subject of some newly dispensed nostalgia. They weren’t bound to last, and their likes won’t be seen on these shores again, even if Beckham and Ronaldo and others come here to finish out their careers. Global soccer is too corporate, reeks too much of slick marketing to give us the likes of Giorgio Chinaglia. There simply are none.
Just another reason to make OTB feel blue, aside from the aftermath of Les Bleus vs. the Azzurri. Mood Indigo, indeed.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Horn Guy Dos
July 6, 2006 11:29 PM | Link to this
I think Mr. Snowden’s comments hit the nail right on the head.
The only positive thing I can say about MLS right now is the way Chivas USA is playing. After abandoning the whole “all Latino” idea, they’re actually playing wonderfully crafted football and are very entertaining to watch.
Apart from that, who wants to see a Crew-Red Bull or Wizards-Galaxy game?
And to think, they just keep adding more and more teams (Toronto? Yikes…) to water down the talent pool.
That being said, does Atlanta REALLY want to join this sinking ship?
By Michael CM1
July 7, 2006 12:06 AM | Link to this
Nobody has wanted to see a Crew game since McBride left. Nobody has ever wanted to see the Red Bulls play (not even their own players). I would actually watch Wiz(ards)-Galaxy because of Wolff and Donovan. KC’s keeper is pretty good too.
This year in MLS, it’s DC United’s party and everybody else is along for the ride. Chivas is better but I think they’re enhanced a lot by how bad the Galaxy are. But anyways, I heard that DC is planning on playing Freddy Adu’s mom at center back just to give the other teams a shot. Oughta be interesting.
By Chris
July 7, 2006 8:50 AM | Link to this
The MLS Cup Galaxy vs Revolution was hard to sit through last season. Everytime the Galaxy made a run a Revolution player would throw them to the ground. There was no flow to the game. The MLS is in a tough position. I would recommend when they bring in foreign players go for quality not just name recognition. Tiago in Chicago is a great midfield player and he brought lots of quality to the Fire playoff games I watched last year. After the on the fence soccer fan watches the World Cup and then they catch a MLS game I think they will be able to tell the immense quality drop off and be turned off. The MLS is in a rough position I think getting soccer specific stadiums is a huge step. The Toronto team will be playing in the Canadian National stadium that will be hosting the Youth Championship next year. I think Toronto is a good league pickup. The only way that the quality of play will really increase in the MLS is rather simple $$$. The soccer specific stadiums should allow clubs to have a chance at being profitable. I don’t think the MLS is a sinking ship. 100’s of millions have been invested in stadiums. The team that have them are able to break even and turn profits. After all of the soccer specific stadiums are built the next big step will be a real TV contract. Once the salary cap can be driven by television revenue the player quality will increase even more quickly.
As far is the television coverage of the World Cup is concerned I think the quality has increased as the tournament has proceeded. The ratings are great and in the end that is what is important. The 2014 World Cup will be in the Western Hemisphere, most likely Brazil and by that time coverage should generate major sports interest. I am thinking 2018 will be in Australia.
For Sundays match all hail Zidane a true master of the game and I personally admire the Italian cunning. FYI American Soccer Federation. Serie A will be having a fire sale shortly, feel free to make some purchases. The MLS needs a team in Orlando. Ajax was considering it. Almost everyone in Europe makes at least one trip to Disney World in their lives. We could get some good European players down there. Disney owns ESPN and ABC great coverage, they could play in Epcot in the international area. After every game fireworks and lasers over the lake. Ajax would love it they could add some more canals and have the Holland exhibit with a European stadium. Take the monorail to the game or a canal.
By Chris
July 7, 2006 11:04 AM | Link to this
from U.S. Soccer chief Sunil Gulati
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/grant_wahl/07/07/gulati.qa/index.html
SI.com: When mainstream U.S. sports fans want to know where U.S. Soccer goes from here, what do you want to say to them?
Gulati: We’re going South. To South Africa. It’s only four years away, and if our performance on the field of play can match everything else that’s happened in the U.S. around this World Cup — in terms of spectator, media and television interest — then we’ll be a lot closer to where we want to be.
By Chris
July 7, 2006 11:53 AM | Link to this
Dear New York Red Bulls,
Sign Nedved he wants out of Juve when they drop. His work rate and skills will bring much to your club and the MLS as a whole. You need to generate some franchise luv quickly to keep your stadium hopes alive.