British Expatriate Network

I was wondering what sort of coverage the local sports media are giving the World Cup around the country, and if they do are they as negative as the local sports radio talk show hosts here in western New York state, and what coverage the national media has given to the world cup and its national team.The local talk radio station here WNSA (which is owned by Adelpia the telecommunications company who are in the midst of a Enronesque tailspin to bankruptcy)have been really slagging off the world cup, the football teams, (including the US team)the fans and just the sport in general.The attitude here is that its a sport where little boys in shorts kick a ball around and the sport is considered boring, with no tactics and no one really cares how far the national team goes in the competition; and from what Ive read and seen of the national press and TV stations they have the same kind of sentiments. Its a pity that I never had the chance to post this yesterday because you could have heard some of the local crap what was being said yesterday!! You can listen to our local radio station on the web try this link-
http//www.wnsafm.com/index.shtml
If you want to hear some trash talk listen to Jim Brinson at 12 till 2!!!
I think half the problem here is that Buffalo is a small market, and its a hockey and football city and there is a lot of interest in those sports with maybe a bit of baseball and basketball too, and if you stray away from from those sports people here dont want to listen to 'other sports'.
Does anyone else here find this sentiment with their local media?

For a Canadian perspective on sports check out our national broadcaster.
http//www.cbc.ca/sports/

The Ticket sports radio station in Dallas is slowly coming around. When the World Cup started, they would have a 30 second summary of the tournament every now and then. They're now having whole segments devoted to it and some, if not all, of their hosts are showing increasing signs of interest in it. There are a couple of bars in Dallas that are showing the games live and apparently they are getting pretty wild on US game days. Some of the fellas from the ticket have been going to the bars to watch the games and then talking very favourably about them on the radio.

So here in Dallas the media is not unfavourable at all. http//www.theticket.com

_________________
Laurence
One World, One Life, One Love

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by Laurence on 2002-06-18 1245 ]</font>

The media in Oregon regard it as a little sideshow and take a slight interest as the US have progressed.

Some of the people I work with are aware of what is happening in the World Cup but they are few and far between. Most just ask me when they see me but are still happy when they hear the US are progressing.

Soccer is still regarded as a side-show but I think those days are numbered. As the Latino population increases in this country, the balance will shift and I hear that baseball viewers are dropping, and just about everyone was bored of the NBA Finals before it finished.

I doubt the MLS is the answer though - I think the Latinos or Europeans could probably organise a far better league - but that's just my opinion.

I'm not so sure - 4 or 8 years ago a strong US national team in the world cup with half the players coming from the mls was unthinkable. Now the mls is firmly established (avg crowds are about 16,000 which is ok). You can see from the current US team that some very good young players are starting to emerge.

Some people who like traditional american sports are alarmed because of dropping viewing / attendance figures and the popularity of grass roots soccer. With such as enormous base to begin with I think soccer will just become more and more popular.

The same lousy coverage here in CA.
To get results I have to go on the Web - its really hit and miss on TV or radio. If I'm lucky there's a mention at the end of the sports segment but not often. roll

More and more kids are playing soccer here than ever before but I suspect they move onto the "real" sports ie. the big bucks payers as they get older. Until that changes and TV gets with it, soccer will never be as popular as the other stuff.

The reason why soccer will never be as popular here is mainly due in part to the problems with advertising..

Ever noticed (or been to a baseball/hockey/football game) and it just stops for tv ad's...

Can't do that for soccer...

Also, it's too complicated to understand fully. To much finesse.

Similarly, F1 vs Nascar....

Andrew smile

Even thou the MLS is getting average gates of 16thou its not out of the woods yet ,last season it canned 2 teams in Florida making it 2 div of 5 instead of 3 at 4 .
My thinking was the same as yours that the latino population will insure its servival yet Florida with a large latino population lost 2 teams .

But i agree more and more kids are playing soccer(football) and as the viewing munbers continue to decrease in Baseball, and Basketball ,the MLS will have a chance to fill the void .

The probelm at the present time is the league is having a job keeping its star playes and unable to pay the price of inticing top european /south american players to play here .

One example of that is Tony Sannah one of our brightest and talented stars but DC united lost him to FC Nuremberg , with a litte more influx of world class players the MLS should provide a real alternative to endless viewing hrs devoted to baseball , hockey , basketball etc ....

John, I understand what you are saying, but if American players are being taken to other countries for the regular soccer season, surely it is giving them the experience necessary to do well in the world cup. As I thought, they have to come back and play for America, they can't play for another country unless they are citizens there?

As far as coverage is concerned, it is the same here. We don't get much, occasionally a snippet at the end of the sports news. If you are lucky 30 seconds! Last night on NBC New York, they talked about the success of the US soccer team and went round NY to find people who knew anything about it. The general public didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Then they showed you what the response to the world cup is around the world regarding the crowds and the Kings and Queens watching etc.

From a Mums point of view, I think soccer is going to take off big style in the next few years. Why? Because a lot of mums don't like their kids playing American Football (too rough), basketball (all black) and that only leaves baseball. Mums are getting more and more of a say in what their boys are going to do in life and I think this will help the game of soccer here. There are a lot of soccer clubs round here and they are very popular with the kids and parents.

The other thing that is going to help is sports scholorships. As I understand it they are very hard to come by but there are more and more soccer ones coming about, so it will be easier for you to get a soccer scholorship than a football one, purely because of the demand for them. For people who want their children to get a sports scholorship, they will look into the soccer ones too and if they have any brains will realise they will be easier to get. Just a thought on what I have heard from other parents around here.

Well, a significant amount of space on the front page of the New York Times was given to reporting the win over Mexico, and it was the lead item in their Sports section ...

Are all the mums you know members of the KKK?

Hate to burst yer bubble here Ben but there are a lot of black people in baseball...

Andrew :smile:

They're still a minority in Baseball though Andrew surely?

What with white men not being able to jump, Ben's non-scientific statement is believable.

When I was coaching kid's soccer, the parents were like Ben said - preferring their kids to play soccer because they believed there was less risk of injuries.

I've seen reports from pro-Gridiron camps though that point to head injuries and concussions from soccer. Those don't happen often though and I've not heard of any in kid's soccer although I can imagine it is a definite possibility.

Soccer will always have a dificult time taking off in the U.S. because it cannot generate enough ad dollars,if they took a break every 10 minutes then the big bucks would be all over it.U.S. popular sports all function with a built in cash generating provision i.e. Football,Basketball and Baseball.

Captmar

OK, Andrew, very funny :lol: But like Pilgrim pointed out, you don't get as many black players in baseball and you only get a few white players in basektball.

My non scientific method is listening to what parents say. Yes, they allow their youngsters to play basketball during the winter (mine all play), but it is only for fun, not to be taken seriously. As a few have commented who would like to see their kids get a sports scholorship, their kids are the wrong colour! And, no, I am not joking. They really do say that.

I'm not so sure that money will be the real road block to footie being world class here. They have the MLS and the college game, not an enviroment to breed real talent. Owen would not be the player he is today without his vast experience for his age, not something an American can get here. Playing on their own, with little foreign influence will never let the game develop. Leaving school for the MLS they are already past their prime in a game that needs young exciting talent.

The US has good players, all spread around poor teams in an bland leauge. Maybe spreading a few players around the world in hope the MLS will be there when they return, just to add styles and skills needed to develop the game here.

Oh and the US loves a winner, dont go thinking they won't tune in if they make the final grin