Tuesday, November 06, 2007

The Tuesday Rant

A few things shaking about my mind this dreary Tuesday morning:

*I love Espnsoccernet. It is crack to the common soccer junkie. The red ballons, purple horseshoes, blue moons to Lucky the Leprechaun, if you will. With the MLS season winding down, this joyous website has become increasingly well-read between case reports and letters at the office. But after viewing non-soccer articles on espn.com that allow for comments, why can't the same be done for all Soccernet articles as well? What, soccer fans don't have an opinion to express? (A soccer fan without an opinion is like hotel heiress without a sex tape). C'mon espn.com - step up!

*The 2007 New England Soccer Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are taking place on November 18th at noon. That's all swell and nice - until you consider that MLS Cup begins at the same exact time. As a supporter of any local grassroots effort to promote the sport, I attended last year's ceremony -a wonderful affair - and wrote a piece on the proceedings for Revsnet.com just to make the organization more visible.

But this year, how do you schedule the ceremony at the exact same time as the MLS Cup, American soccer's highest profile event? I know that the gentlemen on the NESHOF board are well-intentioned, but guys: do you not want media attention for this event? I'd be happy to attend and do a piece on it, but if the Revolution makes it to the MLS Cup Finals, I, as much as any local soccer media member, would be hard-pressed to go and do a piece on it.

To an extent, I blame myself, as I attended NESHOF meetings earlier this year. As the unofficial "MLS liaison” I should have spoken up when these discussions came up. Alas, I didn't (I honestly don't recall if said discussions even came up while I was there). I any event, the reservations are booked, tickets printed, and suits dry cleaned.

*Without college soccer, there's an enormous void within the free hours afforded during my workweek. The early evenings spent at the alma mater to watch the Rhode Island College men’s and women’s teams compete have sadly passed. While it’s hard rival the fervor of watching clubs you actually have a stake in, I have allowed Champions League matches to fill the vacancy. Today, it'll be Liverpool and Besiktas at 2:30pm on espn2, with tomorrow's Manchester United and FC Dynamo Kyiv highlighting the afternoon. Granted, it isn't the same - but it will have to do.

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