Dave O'Brien, while calling the England-Portugal World Cup quarterfinal match commented on the 79% market-share viewership in England for their previous World Cup match. Color commentator Marcelo Balboa, without apparent irony, said that "this is where US soccer is trying to get to...where we need to grow as a sport."
Soccer fan though I am, this naïve and quixotic comment had me doing a spit-take with my Ovaltine.
Kottke notes the New Yorker report on the early exit from the World Cup by the US and ponders what the US soccer team might be like if current NBA players like Allen Iverson had grown up playing soccer instead of basketball.
The US might actually live up to their 5th-place FIFA ranking.
So the US fails to advance to the second round of the World Cup. Perhaps a repeat of their exciting 2002 run was too much to ask, but I still can't help feeling bitter disappointment at their early exit.
They had a tough group. They got screwed over by the referees. Whatever.
Basically, only half the team showed up. The two players who showed so much promise in 2002 failed rise to the occassion. Landon Donovan and Damarcus Beasley were sluggish and disoriented. Bruce Arena deserves a huge chunk of the blame, though. His choice to go with Brian McBride as the lone striker was bizarre. McBride put forth a yeoman effort, but he's no speedster and the his hard work to win balls in the air was wasted due to the lack of support. I just heard the statistic of the tournament for the US team: 4 shots on goal in all of their 1st round games combined.
Oh, and can I tell you how awful the ESPN/ABC announcers are? Marcelo Balboa drives me nuts and Dave O'Brian means well, but he's just not knowledgable about the game. Adrian Healy and Tommy Smyth are the announcers to listen to. Them or the guys on Telemundo.
So I'm all bummed after checking TV listings and noting that the World Cup will not be broadcast in anything close to prime time here in the States. That means that unless I can remember how to set up the VCR,1 I'll be missing some of the first round games due to the 2006 Rochester International Jazz Festival.
But that's not so bad. I can certainly sacrifice a few world class soccer games on tv in the interest of seeing world class jazz in person.
I hope to share the jazz fest experience with others this year. Per prior arrangement, I'll be looking forward to catching some shows with fellow bloggers; brother Ted may be able to swing into town for a show or two; I'll even try to get Kari and Ben out for some free shows over the weekend; plus also, I may get Jane to come out to a free show or two (even though she blames me for the fact that the Sabres aren't playing for the Stanley Cup).
On tap for tomorrow night: