The conditions surrounding last night’s CONCACAF World Cup qualifier between the United States and Costa Rica were virtually unprecedented.
Oh, it snowed a lot, too.
The exemplar of many US fans’ winter of discontent as spring sprang was this Sporting News article revealing widespread player disenchantment with coach Jurgen Klinsmann‘s methods. (Only a cynic would point out that such a story could have been written any time in the six weeks between qualifiers, but was curiously or methodically timed for maximum page views and promotion of angst.)
Some 22 persons connected to the US team (including “11 current players”) are quoted anonymously in the 5,262-word story. (By the way, if you’ve never done so, you should check out the generally accepted guidelines for why and how journalists should use anonymous sources. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’.) Many question Klinsmann’s training routine, player selection and strategic approach, saying he lacks tactical acumen and his constant lineup changes break cohesion. You know, the complete opposite of the guy who used to coach the team.
Players Who Didn’t Remain Nameless (commonly referred to as “leaders”), including Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley and Herculez Gomez, displayed varying degrees of umbrage. Gomez’s take, that these types of stories prove the game and the team matter to people, is perhaps the most interesting. Call it The Afterbirth of a Soccer Nation, if you will. And it only took a hundred years.
Anyway, there was no real way to discern if the story and the resulting page views rational discussions of it lit a fire under the US team or not (I’m sure most in the crowd of 19,374 would have appreciated one being lit under them), because the Yanks’ 1-0 win was purely about survival. Clint Dempsey (named captain in Bocanegra’s absence) scored the only goal, Brad Guzan (subbing for the injured Tim Howard) made five saves and looked in command, and Bradley and Gomez managed to play in and with the precious snowflakes for 90 minutes.
So less than six months after at least one writer felt the US was in danger of not qualifying for the World Cup (fearmongering being great for page views and all), here they are, second place in the group after two matches, with four home games left. The US’s task is to win all the home games and get one road result – exactly the scenario they faced going into the Hex.
Tuesday’s match at Mexico, while not really a must-win for anybody but Jose Manuel de la Torre after El Tri’s second straight Hex draw, is nonetheless a chance for the US squad to exorcise some demons. A result – or even a good performance – could change the tenor of the stories that get written in the 10+ weeks until the next qualifier at Jamaica, if not the agendas behind them.
We need another player to burn his uniform after being cut.
How dare someone print articles and/or columns that might provoke thought, opinion, reaction, or any other sort of behavior. Shameful.
If that were the agenda, that would be great.
But it wasn’t.
Until that article ran I had no idea the Sporting News covered soccer. I’m still not so sure. I’ll stick to more reputable sources like The Sun.
SN hired Brian about 18 months ago (off top of my head) as its first full-time soccer writer. And yes, I’m sure that getting eyeballs on their product was AT LEAST part of the motivation. As if this is the first time that’s ever been done? As if this doesn’t happen in any sport or politcal publication every freaking day? Every freaking week?
Much ado over nada.
I’m sorry, did you read this, or no?
The timing was only part of the issue. The completely unethical use of anonymous sources was another. The agenda was another.
God, I swore I wrote this in English, but maybe not.
For those of you who didn’t like Sporting News soccer coverage, you’re in luck. SN fired about a dozen of its staffers today, including the guy who wrote the article that Kenn takes issue with above. So I guess we don’t have to worry about those page views any longer, right fellas?
Just because something happens a lot is not sufficient reason to give it a pass.