I hate Eric Wynalda. There I said it. Having just finished watching ESPN's MLS Primetime Thursday game between my Red Bulls and Chivas USA, I can honestly say that there is nothing worse than watching your team lose while having to listen to this guy.
He is supposed to give color commentary on the games, but more often than not he tells lame stories that have nothing to do with the game or makes useless comments like "wow Juan Pablo Angel is pure class" - not really sure how that enhances the viewing experience. The one gets the impression that Wynalda, in an attempt to entertain and excite us, is trying too hard to be the Jim Rome of soccer broadcasting. (Yes I know that its an odd comparison given Rome's professed hatred of soccer and Wynalda's professed hatred of Rome, but life is full of ironies.)
The result is annoying and obnoxious for all at home and is probably turning away any would be fans who are curious enough about the MLS to check out a game. Perhaps Wynalda would be better suited hosting a soccer talk show where his "shock jock" comments would be more at home.
I don't even understand why we need Eric Wynalda; after all Tommy Smyth also provides color commentary and he is far more insightful and far less annoying. To be honest I think sports broadcasting has become too dependent on color commentary when the real focus should be on giving a good play by play call of the game. If color guys wanna chime in when the ball goes out of play or the goalkeeper is getting ready to take a goal kick thats fine, BUT IF THE BALL IS IN PLAY THEN THE COLOR COMMENTATOR SHOULD NOT BE TALKING.
Why television sports broadcasting has gone in this direction I don't know. Perhaps they think that people will find sports too boring without lame anecdote after lame anecdote for 90 minutes. While I can not speak for the masses, I do know that for my money when I'm watching a game the only thing I wanna hear about is the game. You can imagine then how unbearable it was for me listening to Wynalda go on and on about whether David Beckham's shoe was on or off in a game where he spent less time than any other player on the pitch and yet some how had his name mentioned more than everyone else's combined.
I could go on and on but I'm gonna stop the same why I started.
I hate Eric Wynalda.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Bad Officiating / Superliga debut
Last night the Superliga debuted with two games. First there was a 1-1 tie between FC Dallas and Chivas Guadalajara followed by 2-1 victory by the LA Galaxy over CF Pachuca. But before I give my reactions to Superliga I want to address a growing problem in the MLS: Refereeing.
During the FC Dallas / Chivas Guadalajara game, Chivas player Antonio Olvera, clearly knocked the ball down with his hand and then put in the back of the net to tie the game. Unfortunately for Dallas the obvious hand ball was not called and the goal stood robbing Dallas of a victory. Of course the bad officiating didn't stop there. Minutes later Drew Moor was elbowed by Hector Reynoso, and when no call came, Moor took things into his own hands and struck back at Reynoso. Next things exploded. Players from both teams ran towards the two and started to push and shout at each other. While the near brawl answered any questions about whether teams were taking the tournament seriously, it showed what happens when refs are unable to correctly call the game - the beautiful game turns ugly.
This of course wasn't the first time this has happened. In fact it was only last Sunday during a game between the Kansas City Wizards and the Colorado Rapids that terrible reffing caused the game to turn violent and allowed the Colorado Rapids to steal a tie from what should have been a decisive Wizards victory. If you think about what any game is in its bare bones form it is essentially a list of rules. When the officials fail to properly enforce these rules and protect the safety of the players, the game breaks down and players take things into their own hands in order to ensure victory as well as safety. It is critical that referees correctly call the game, and while it is unrealistic to expect them to make every call right, it shouldn't be unrealistic to expect that a player who elbows another players throat be sent off or that a goal created by a hand ball be waived off. As I said before, failure to do so sends the message to the players that dirty play and cheating are allowed. The result is we all lose.
As for the Superliga itself, it was surprisingly good except for the no call on a hand ball and the ensuing brawling shortly afterwards during the Dallas / Guadalajara game. The tournament got started with FC Dallas taking on Chivas of Guadalajara. Both teams played extremely hard and you could tell that the Superliga wasn't going to be a friendly exhibition type tournament. Whats even better was that the MLS side, FC Dallas, wasn't dominated by the Mexican superclub; in fact I thought Dallas was the better team overall. Juan Toja paired up with Brazilian newcomer Ricardinho led the Dallas attack. However, it was Arturo Alvarez scoring off a ball from Carlos Ruiz that gave Dallas their first and only goal. As was mentioned before, Chivas socred 10 minutes later when Antonio Olvera brought the ball down with his hand and then blasted into the net. Final result 1-1.
I'd watch Ricardinho closely. He could turn into a mid season sensation for FC Dallas.
Next up was what should have a sleeper of a game when the struggling LA Galaxy (who were without their most famous player) took on reigning Mexican champions and tournament favorites Pachuca. The game started off as most expected it to; with Pachuca completely dominating the Galaxy in their own end. Slowly through the first half the Galaxy began playing better and were able to generate a few chances only to have Pachuca come back stronger and push the MLS side back on defense to close the first half. 5 minutes into the first half something incredible happened. Landon Donovan played a great cross to Alan Gordon who then put the Galaxy up 1-0. The Galaxy would keep the lead for almost 30 minutes until Pachuca player Rafael Marquez Lugo was able to sneak the ball the just past Joe Cannon to tie the game. No doubt Cannon would like to have that one back. Fortunately for him the stars aligned for the Galaxy when Landon Donovan slipped the ball inside the box to Cobi Jones, who after some serious maneuvering, shot the ball back towards Landon Donovan to deflect it into the net. Final score 2-1 Galaxy.
To be fair it was clear that Pachuca was the better team, but as it would happen Galaxy Goalkeeper Joe Cannon was the best player, making 6 of 7 saves to keep his team in the game. Abel Xavier also had a great game on the defensive side for the Galaxy. Props go out to Landon Donovan, who rebounded from his terrible performance against Chelsea, Kyle Martino, Cobi Jones, and Alan Gordon. The bag of the game has to go to Carlos Pavon who missed two key chances for the Galaxy; the first a missed header on an open net and then on a spectacular breakaway which saw Pavon kick the ball about 4 yards wide of the net.
During the FC Dallas / Chivas Guadalajara game, Chivas player Antonio Olvera, clearly knocked the ball down with his hand and then put in the back of the net to tie the game. Unfortunately for Dallas the obvious hand ball was not called and the goal stood robbing Dallas of a victory. Of course the bad officiating didn't stop there. Minutes later Drew Moor was elbowed by Hector Reynoso, and when no call came, Moor took things into his own hands and struck back at Reynoso. Next things exploded. Players from both teams ran towards the two and started to push and shout at each other. While the near brawl answered any questions about whether teams were taking the tournament seriously, it showed what happens when refs are unable to correctly call the game - the beautiful game turns ugly.
This of course wasn't the first time this has happened. In fact it was only last Sunday during a game between the Kansas City Wizards and the Colorado Rapids that terrible reffing caused the game to turn violent and allowed the Colorado Rapids to steal a tie from what should have been a decisive Wizards victory. If you think about what any game is in its bare bones form it is essentially a list of rules. When the officials fail to properly enforce these rules and protect the safety of the players, the game breaks down and players take things into their own hands in order to ensure victory as well as safety. It is critical that referees correctly call the game, and while it is unrealistic to expect them to make every call right, it shouldn't be unrealistic to expect that a player who elbows another players throat be sent off or that a goal created by a hand ball be waived off. As I said before, failure to do so sends the message to the players that dirty play and cheating are allowed. The result is we all lose.As for the Superliga itself, it was surprisingly good except for the no call on a hand ball and the ensuing brawling shortly afterwards during the Dallas / Guadalajara game. The tournament got started with FC Dallas taking on Chivas of Guadalajara. Both teams played extremely hard and you could tell that the Superliga wasn't going to be a friendly exhibition type tournament. Whats even better was that the MLS side, FC Dallas, wasn't dominated by the Mexican superclub; in fact I thought Dallas was the better team overall. Juan Toja paired up with Brazilian newcomer Ricardinho led the Dallas attack. However, it was Arturo Alvarez scoring off a ball from Carlos Ruiz that gave Dallas their first and only goal. As was mentioned before, Chivas socred 10 minutes later when Antonio Olvera brought the ball down with his hand and then blasted into the net. Final result 1-1.
I'd watch Ricardinho closely. He could turn into a mid season sensation for FC Dallas.
Next up was what should have a sleeper of a game when the struggling LA Galaxy (who were without their most famous player) took on reigning Mexican champions and tournament favorites Pachuca. The game started off as most expected it to; with Pachuca completely dominating the Galaxy in their own end. Slowly through the first half the Galaxy began playing better and were able to generate a few chances only to have Pachuca come back stronger and push the MLS side back on defense to close the first half. 5 minutes into the first half something incredible happened. Landon Donovan played a great cross to Alan Gordon who then put the Galaxy up 1-0. The Galaxy would keep the lead for almost 30 minutes until Pachuca player Rafael Marquez Lugo was able to sneak the ball the just past Joe Cannon to tie the game. No doubt Cannon would like to have that one back. Fortunately for him the stars aligned for the Galaxy when Landon Donovan slipped the ball inside the box to Cobi Jones, who after some serious maneuvering, shot the ball back towards Landon Donovan to deflect it into the net. Final score 2-1 Galaxy.To be fair it was clear that Pachuca was the better team, but as it would happen Galaxy Goalkeeper Joe Cannon was the best player, making 6 of 7 saves to keep his team in the game. Abel Xavier also had a great game on the defensive side for the Galaxy. Props go out to Landon Donovan, who rebounded from his terrible performance against Chelsea, Kyle Martino, Cobi Jones, and Alan Gordon. The bag of the game has to go to Carlos Pavon who missed two key chances for the Galaxy; the first a missed header on an open net and then on a spectacular breakaway which saw Pavon kick the ball about 4 yards wide of the net.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Superliga to start tonight
The first two games of the Superliga are set to start tonight. Chivas will take on FC Dallas at 9pm followed by Pachuca versus the L.A. Galaxy sans Beckham (maybe he will dress just so we can cut to the "Beckham cam" every minute to see if his shoes are on or off) at 11pm.This is the first time this tournament has taken place and it will be interesting to see how successful it is. Of course success for the MLS doesn't mean beating the Mexican clubs. Despite the large "futbol" loving, Hispanic population in the United States, the MLS has not been successful in converting them into fans of the US domestic league, they instead they have chosen to follow clubs back in Mexico. Thus the Superliga. The MLS thinks that by pairing up the top 4 teams in Mexican football with the top 4 teams in the MLS that they will be able to attract what could potentially be a gold mine demographic for them.
As for predictions - all bets are off. Will the pre season Mexican teams be fit enough to take on mid season MLS teams? Will the Mexican teams completely embarrass the MLS teams? Will the any of teams take the tournament seriously? Since this is the first time anything like this has ever taken place its so hard to predict how it will go.
If anyone is interested in watching, www.mlsnet.com is streaming the games on their website tonight.
Less Beckham, More Soccer
Mike Biglin has written a great article which expresses perfectly what I've been saying for the past two weeks; That the MLS is missing a great opportunity to promote the league by being too Beckham centric. Beckham was brought in to be a vehicle to promote the league, but more and more it seems like the league has become a vehicle to promote Beckham. If the MLS doesnt turn things around fast then the whole Beckham deal will be waste in the long run and the league will have wasted its best press in history.read the article here:
http://sports.bostonherald
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