A new year has arrived and that means people making all kinds of predictions about what's going to happen in the new year. I was over at Boston.com and was reading one such article written by Bob Ryan. He starts off with the Bruins and goes on to the Celtics, and so on. As I was reading the section on the Celtics I wondered if he'd mention the Revs and didn't think he would. To my surprise, on page 2 he did mention the Revs and did a solid job, giving them a nil chance of winning it all in 2012. You can check out the article here.
I have no idea if Bob Ryan is a fan of soccer or if he hates it. The fact that he included the Revs in his article would seem to indicate that he at least respects the sport and treats it so. The lack of coverage of the Revs by guys like Ryan hurts supporters. The Revs have a couple of beat writers for the Boston Herald and Boson Globe. I read mainly the Globe, which has Frank Dell'Apa, who does a solid job covering the team. The problem with Dell'Apa is that he's the beat writer and columnist all in one. He's the only one at the Globe who covers the Revs. It's a problem because as a beat writer he needs to maintain relationships with the team. He can't just go and write a column bashing someone's play or the coach's decisions. If he does, are they going to take the time to talk to him next time he's around and actually answer his questions seriously? Probably not. As opposed to someone like Ryan who doesn't have any contact with the players or the team but would follow the team closely from a distance and report on the team, good or bad. Can you imagine the type of stuff Ryan would've written about the Fort had he been knowledgeable on the situation. Sure there are blogs like this around the internet that give their opinions on what's going on, but you can't compare the reach of any to something like the Boston Globe/Boston.com. That's why it'd be so huge to have someone like Ryan cover the team on a regular basis, even if it was just once a month to start. Who knows, maybe we're not as far off as we think of having something like that happen.
In some other interesting news, Kevin Garnett has bought a small stake in Roma. KG's a big fan of the game and I'm interested in seeing what kind of a role he take on with the team. Will he be completely hands off or will he play a part in the decision making or promotion of the team. What will happen if Liverpool and Roma play in Europe? Will he and Lebron James have a run in? That would certainly be interesting. Maybe we can get KG to come to the Fort one of these days. Now that would be awesome.
-Andrew
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Andrew,
ReplyDeletevery good point. It is huge that someone like Ryan mentions the Revs not around World Cup time.
however, I doubt we will go beyond the niche in this area. The sportscasters are too old and clinch to the past. And if they want to pretend to be cool, they probably mention the EPL because of local Liverpool ownership.
Even during the mid 2000s hey days, we were barely a beep on the radar. In addition, the knowledge is not there. Even Dell'appa is not that knowledgeable compared to what you can read in other places,
Have to give him props for including the Revs and it's probably because he wanted to given that the Revs don't command much media coverage.
DeleteThat is true about the MLS Cups but the league has come a long way. I think it'd be a little different now. It wouldn't be at the level that Real Salt Lake is covered but it'd be an improvement.
Hopefully we can get some more columnists to cover the team in the near future.
-Andrew
Bob Ryan is one of the few open-minded old school columnists. In fact, I've actually seen him cover the Rebs on a handful of occasions.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the Revs have the misfortune of competing with the Pats, Sox, C's, and B's. It's a crowded landscape. Is it a stretch to say more people want to read about them before they wanna read about the Revs? That's just the way it is. No knock against soccer, but MLS is not as big - yet - as the NHL, MLB, NFL, or NBA.
I think I do recall Ryan writing about the Revs once but I can't remember when or what he wrote about.
DeleteI agree with your point about a crowded market and in the last few years every team has done quite well. However, I think a lot of it comes down to ownership. If the Revs had an ownership group that cared, like Seattle, then interest in the team would be much higher which would mean the media would pay more attention. It wouldn't be at the level of the other major sports but it would certainly be much higher than it is today.
-Andrew
dude, relax with the Roma thing.
ReplyDeletethere is a new american owner who is from around here and this is just a way to promote the KG brand outside the US.
odds are he didnt even buy the 5% and it was given to him in exchnage of using his name in events and press releases.
everyone wins.
im not saying hes not a fan but the business end of it was done like that and anything else liek actually liking soccer is an extra.
>will he be completely hands off or will he play a part in >the decision making or promotion of the team.
Decision making? Are u kidding?
He will put on a jersey, say a few things and maybe vacation
in italy and stop by Roma which is still a city worth seeing before it crumbles....
KG's a big soccer fan, so I doubt he bought a piece of Roma just so he could promote his brand outside the U.S.
DeleteWhy would an owner give 5% to KG for free in exchange for KG promoting Roma? Do you really think people anywhere are going to go out and buy Roma merchandise because KG is part owner of Roma?
He is a fan of the game and bought a 5% stake, so I assume he thinks it's a good investment. It will be very interesting to see how an American owner runs the team.
-Andrew