Posted by Creaven on August 31, 2010 under Media, USMNT | 
Let me be clear: The person responsible for Bob Bradley getting a four-year contract extension is the president of the United States Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati. In the end, it was his decision and he deserves the majority of praise or scorn depending on the results.
That being said, the small, yet influential United States soccer press corp are, at least, somewhat responsible for Bradley getting a second chance. In the face of significant evidence, no one with a large platform came out and said what seemed obvious to me and others — Bradley didn’t deserve to stay on for four more years. Strangely, no one among the U.S. soccer media elite stood up and took this stand. If Gulati really wanted to keep Bradley, he should have had to explain his decision to a hostile media. But instead of being under pressure to show Bradley the door, Gulati was, amazingly, under pressure to keep Bradley. Maybe Gulati would have made the same decision no matter what the media said, but he definitely kept him when media said he should.
Why did the media give Bradley a pass?
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Posted by Creaven on May 31, 2010 under Media, Miscellaneous |
I knew ESPN was going to hype the United States-England match as much as humanly possible, but I didn’t think they were going to go to the mattresses. I was wrong.
For a company that usually shies away from any kind of political controversy whatsoever, ESPN is taking a considerable risk with it’s new World Cup ad, “Glory.”
If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is…
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Posted by Creaven on May 27, 2010 under Media, Miscellaneous |
Sometimes you just know when something is special.
Maybe you’re not into classical music, but you know you’re listening to something extraordinary when you hear Bach’s Goldberg Variations. You might not be a movie buff, but it doesn’t take a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to know The Godfather is cinema at its finest. Some people could care less about art, but it doesn’t mean they’re still not enthralled by the painting Las Meninas.
Even if you press the mute button during commercial breaks and even if you have never seen a soccer match in your life, Nike’s 2010 World Cup commercial can still give you goosebumps.
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Tags: Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro, Franck Ribery, Kobe Bryant, Landon Donovan, Roger Federer, Ronaldinho, Theo Walcott, Thiago Silva, Tim Howard, Wayne Rooney
Posted by Creaven on July 2, 2009 under England, Media |
You’re at a party and the discussion turns to world events. Some dude, usually wearing a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and Sarah Palin glasses, says, “I get all my news from the BBC.” It’s his way of saying, “I’m an intellectual and the American press is for idiots.”
If that story sounds eerily familiar, it should. According to a British university research study, 36 percent of traffic on British news sites come form the United States. I’m not sure if Americans find the British accent “smart sounding” or if Jon Stewart has soured an entire generation off American media, but, whatever the reason, many Americans believe they can find more substantive and quality journalism across the pond than they can at home. It’s not true.
It’s not that the American media is particularly good (I would argue it’s particularly poor), but there are at least certain basic rules that must be followed. For example, you can’t copy someones work; there are copyright and intellectual property laws. In Britain, these laws are much weaker and on occasion — like the recent story about Landon Donovan calling out David Beckham — sometimes ignored.
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Posted by Creaven on June 10, 2009 under England, Media, Premier League |
About a year ago, soccer highlights started popping up mysteriously at the end of ESPN’s SportsCenter. Soon, almost every night, one of ESPN’s “Top Ten” plays was a soccer highlight from somewhere in the world. I found it odd because they were showing highlights that 99 percent of its audience could care less about, but it was clear what ESPN was doing. It would only be a matter of time before ESPN went global and The Worldwide Leader was bracing its American audience for the future.
Now, the future might be around the corner.
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Let me be clear: The person responsible for Bob Bradley getting a four-year contract extension is the president of the United States Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati. In the end, it was his decision and he deserves the majority of praise or scorn depending on the results.