Tuesday, May 27, 2008

On either side of the Atlantic

You never realize just how much work someone puts into something until you try and do it for yourself. Having said that, my ambitious effort to try and give you a bit of what Bruce provides went by the wayside. I will try and provide a few links and some sort of insight or something.

Some of the topics of the day...

US-ENGLAND

Yes, it's almost here. The United States will play England in London's Wembley Stadium for the first time since 1994. Anyone remember that game? I actually watched it recently. For some reason, it was on Fox Soccer Channel some time last year. I don't remember the game when it happened, but I watched the classic version. Two things I took away from that match - 1) There was a lot of space from the edge of the field to the stands, like way too much space; 2) The US uniforms were hideous.

Here's an actual match report from that game via the New York Times.

Also, here's the English FA's look back at their American past. This is actually part of their coverage for the previous US-England game, in Chicago a few years back.

As for Wednesday's game, US Soccer has plenty of coverage, including a Studio 90 from England.

Jeff Carlisle of ESPN also chimes in with a match preview.

Here's an updated roster for the game as Frankie Hejduk has been called in for the match. Hejduk is having a fine season but there is some sort of backlash every time he's called in. Yes, he's older but he can still contribute both on and off the field.

Who would you start? Me... Howard, Pearce, Bocanegra, DeMerit, Cherundolo, Lewis, Bradley, Clark, Adu, Donovan, Dempsey. I'm not much of an Onyewu fan...

MLS CLUBS

There will actually be a pair of games on Tuesday featuring MLS clubs.

The LA Galaxy will host Colorado in a US Open Cup play-in match. Both teams finished out of the playoffs a year ago and thus need to qualify for the US Open Cup. This game won't be on television and I believe the only radio broadcast will be in Spanish. Just a note to readers, check out my blog Sideline Views as we'll provide plenty of coverage for the game there, including a running blog, post-game audio and video highlights. They might be grainy and shaky but I'll try and get highlights of the goals and maybe some game action as well. The game starts at 7:30 pm PT.

As for the traditional media, here is a match preview from Scott Wolf of the LA news group.

Greg Daurio looks at the match for MLSnet.com.

And this is from yours truly for The Press-Enterprise. It's not a straight match preview but rather a look at the club's overall challenges without Landon Donovan and David Beckham for the upcoming season.

Another match of interest will take place in Montreal as Toronto FC will play the Montreal Impact of the USL First Division. The match is part of a series of games that also includes the Vancouver Whitecaps. One team will represent Canada in the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League, and this is how that team will be determined.

Mark Masters of the National Post takes a look at the game.

Also, Larry Millson of the Globe and Mail writes about Toronto FC's important match.

LATE ADD: Looks like I missed a match today, but come on, it's Columbus-Real Salt Lake. I'm sure you can forgive me for overlooking that massive encounter.

The Salt Lake Tribune previews the match and tells us that the game doesn't count in the regular season standings. Thanks. Probably some editor there was like 'What's this game for again? The Open Cup? Well, you might want to put in there that the game doesn't count in the standings.' Next, they'll tell us that the game will feature goalposts, one ball and 11 players on each side, just so the readers are clear on that. Thanks again for dumbing down the coverage.

James Edward of the Deseret News previews the match as well. No mention from James about the significance of the match on the regular season. I suppose the reader will have to figure out on their own that a US Open Cup play-in game is different than the Major League Soccer regular season.

Meanwhile, Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch looks at the game from the hosts' point-of-view.

Okay, well, there you go. Just a sampling of what is out there. There will be more guest bloggers here throughout the upcoming days so keep an eye out for more posts.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the heads up on the Open Cup action. I thought it was today and went to the Rapids website - there is NOTHING about the match on their site. NOTHING. I understand teams playing reserves and not giving too much thought to the very early rounds, but what is the deal with that? Seems some fans might care. Just more proof that MLS fans need to turn to LB and others when they want actual news.

9:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Listen, I've played and been a soccer fan my whole life, so I know the difference between a U.S. Open game and a league game, but there are a lot of Americans and quite a few soccer fans who don't. Why do you get on a journalist who explains the difference and tries to educate the wider public? People like you decry that soccer doesn't have wider appeal, and then slam coverage that tries to appeal to the greater sporting public. Get off your snobby horse!

4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"LATE ADD: Looks like I missed a match today, but come on, it's Columbus-Real Salt Lake. I'm sure you can forgive me for overlooking that massive encounter."
-----------

It's ironic how you whine and fuss that sports pages of newspapers don't pay enough attention to soccer, then you turn up YOUR NOSE at mentioning a game between Columbus & Real Salt Lake.

I agree with the commenter above---don't be a f*ckin' snob---it's just not attractive.
:)

12:23 PM  

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