Life in the pressbox - Recent posts
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There are times when covering soccer is not all that fun. Ridiculously tight deadlines, dealing
with uncooperative people, dull matches... been there, done that.
But there are also times when soccer is superb. Now is one of those times.
I'm writing this post from a hotel in Morelia, Mexico, where I've traveled to for the Galaxy's
Champions League match against Morelia.
There are times when covering soccer is not all that fun. Ridiculously tight deadlines, dealing
with uncooperative people, dull matches... been there, done that.
But there are also times when soccer is superb. Now is one of those times.
I'm writing this post from a hotel in Morelia, Mexico, where I've traveled to for the Galaxy's
Champions League match against Morelia.
Grahame Jones has retired from the LA Times and sent a final email to the staff.
I didn't have the privilege to work with Jones at the paper (the late, great Jim Murray did), but
Grahame nevertheless always made me feel like a co-worker and fellow soccer writer the moment I
stepped into the pressbox in 2004.
Grahame Jones has retired from the LA Times and sent a final email to the staff.
I didn't have the privilege to work with Jones at the paper (the late, great Jim Murray did), but
Grahame nevertheless always made me feel like a co-worker and fellow soccer writer the moment I
stepped into the pressbox in 2004.
In my life - outside of family - there are three people who have influenced me the most, whom I can
point to as being a true role model for me. One was Paul Oberjuerge, my former editor at The San
Bernardino Sun, who gave me my start in journalism and allowed me to cover soccer back in 1998. The
other was a trainer I had at my local gym, whom you will hear about soon enough.
In my life - outside of family - there are three people who have influenced me the most, whom I can
point to as being a true role model for me. One was Paul Oberjuerge, my former editor at The San
Bernardino Sun, who gave me my start in journalism and allowed me to cover soccer back in 1998. The
other was a trainer I had at my local gym, whom you will hear about soon enough.
Last night I got to thinking about how collaborative the work of sports journalism often is.
Frankly, that's what makes it fun, and I thought I'd take the time to acknowledge some of the
people who assist in making sure reporters get the stories they need, with last night as a specific
example. Stats people, interns who hand out meal tickets, roster and stat sheets, the catering crew
and the cleaning crew, all the operations staff, heck, even security, are all part of making an
event go smoothly.
As usual with anything LA, Carmageddon has been overblown. I got here to the stadium so early for
the Real Madrid - Galaxy match up that they wouldn't even let me in for half an hour. Luis
disagrees, but I like the LA Coliseum. Yes, it's a crumbling concrete heap, but that gives it
something of a more authentic feel - isn't the real Coliseum a ruin as well?
I've realized from a few emails that some readers may not know that I no longer work for Goal.com.
I quit over a month ago. I wish my friends there the best of luck, but I didn't want to be there
any more. Unfortunately, I didn't really didn't have another soccer writing job lined up, so I've
gone back to teaching.
My latest piece for SI.com is up, and while I worked hard to both confirm the story and verify
facts with US Soccer itself, I was accused by some in the organization of "tabloid journalism".
Never mind that what Michael Bradley said was done publicly, even though it was a small group of
people.
On Saturday, I was all ready to go. The Rose Bowl, site of the Gold Cup final, would host
90,000-plus fans and I'd be there to give as much of a full account as possible. With A.C. blogging
away even before we got to the stadium, I was also set on providing my own inside info, complete
with pictures and descriptions.
On Saturday, I was all ready to go. The Rose Bowl, site of the Gold Cup final, would host
90,000-plus fans and I'd be there to give as much of a full account as possible. With A.C. blogging
away even before we got to the stadium, I was also set on providing my own inside info, complete
with pictures and descriptions.
I was trying to figure out why Tim Howard sincerely believed that the Gold Cup post-game ceremony
had been conducted entirely in Spanish, and why so many English-speaking reporters didn't remember
that the master of ceremonies of the trophy presentation, Fernando Fiore, had in fact spoken both
Spanish and English throughout.
The post below - well, it was originally supposed to be an article, but none of the places I'm
writing for right now wanted to publish it. Not that they didn't like it, but rather, the idea was
that the article was too strongly anti-CONCACAF at a delicate time - right before the Gold Cup.
So I'm publishing the article in the one place I can, for the faithful Sideline Views readers.
