Whew! Got Cut of the Day repaired! Still not sure how I broke it, but it's working again...#1 - I've dropped a new Random Thoughts at S365, full of European knockout and USMNT talk. And this is the Jed Zayner post featuring Guille Schelotto I am referring to - do go check out his blog.
#2 - IK Start defender Clarence Goodson has been allowed to join USMNT camp.
#3 - Meanwhile, as you probably know, AGF midfielder Benny Feilhaber had a scan on his injured ankle today. I am waiting to hear the results and will pass them along when I do. I'm thinking this could shelve him a couple few weeks, folks.
I know, I know... breathe.
Just to lift your spirits back up: Jermaine Jones has begun training with the ball.
#4 - I've a few Sounders notes for you today:
- Blaise N'Kufo says he's not decided on MLS yet
- Seattle wisely makes JK Hurtado's move permanent
- Guess who's in camp? Well if it isn't Jeff Parke!
#5 - My hometown Globe-Democrat talks to St. Louis boy Chris Klein, one of the key figures in collective bargaining agreement negotiations for the players. One may recall from Grant Wahl's Beckham Experiment that Klein does personal financial planning for several MLS players.
#6 - The BBC says Leeds United are trying to bend the rules to sign Toronto FC trialist Paul Dickov. I say we let Mike Grella decide if they can.
#7 - A couple of U.S. soccer bubble media news bits: Houston ace Glenn Davis has revealed that he no longer works for the Chronicle (boo!) and NSC pal Jonah Freedman has left Sports Illustrated to take over the new MLS site set in the works (yay!).
#8 - There may be Prem changes afoot. Times ace Matt Dickinson would like the proposed Champions League playoff (such as you'd find in the Eredivisie) to come to England, while The Times reports the English government is pressuring the league to get its financial act together by policy from the top.
- Greg Seltzer
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6 comments:
There have been four (by my count) significant soccer writer "changes" in the past few weeks. Is this a trend due to the economy? Or just coincidental? Or neither? Or do you even know? Help me!
I won't drop the names in order to protect ol' Greg, but I'm sure everyone knows them anyway.
I figured the high profile columnist moves had to do with some big soccer tournament that's happening this summer.
Glenn Davis should go about a week before he gets another job. That guy is fantastic, knows his stuff, and I loved him over here in Seattle.
The Prem needs to get its act together and make its product available via the interwebs. MLS is doing a great job at this and the PL could follow that example. How many people over North America and Asia would be willing to get a yearly account or pay a fee for specific PL matches? The PL is losing revenue to illegal streams, and people that want to view their product legally cannot even buy it. Absolute stupidity.
Joshua, that would be fabulous but I bet the broadcasters that have rights to the games wouldn't be too pleased...or at least the parent cable companies wouldn't like it. I would gladly pay for a yearly account to access a particular league, or even a particular cable channel, but that's not how cable companies make their money. The only reason MLS makes so many games available online is that all those games are not being shown anywhere else.
http://ilp.nba.com/ja/Default.aspx
Now check that out. That is exactly what I would like to see if I was an NBA fan in China. Why can't the PL do something like that? I would serious like to know if there are restrictions or if they are just hopelessly ignorant of potential revenue streams much like Liverpool from 1998-2008.
The NBA, NFL, MLB, and MLS have TV contracts and international agreements similar to the PL, but they also have games available live and on-demand for a fee online. I find it hard to believe TV contracts and cable companies are the sole reason based on the NBA(LeaguePass) and MLB(mlb.tv) and NFL(GamePass) and MLS(DirectKick) all having some pay to watch system that allows their users to watch ANY game they want. In fact, I was surprised the NBA broadband pass didn't cost more. If the PL isn't working on this, they are useless sissy ninnies.
I've heard similar complaints about availability of matches from our English friends and I find it idiotic that the PL does not provide univeral access to their product for a fair and reasonable charge. If the PL doesn't realize the social media mechanism is changing and leaning toward the internet, I wonder about their ability to run a successful league longer than 20 years.
*And every once in awhile a team flys off this out of control merry-go-round. Bye, bye Leeds. Bye-bye Reading. See ya later Portsmouth. Welcome to your virtual tour Notts County, Glad you could stick around for so long, Birmingham.*
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