This past Friday on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher had on Alan Brinkley, author of The Publisher, a book chronicling the life of Time Inc.’s founder, Henry Luce. Part of Maher’s conversation with Brinkley focused on how the current issue of Time’s 100 Most Influential People is a testament to the decaying state of the magazine business. (more…)
In Part I, I discussed how our collective focus on breaking news, scores and game analysis relegates important issues to the sidelines, thereby impacting our U.S. player pool. In Part II, I turn to a reason why we may behave the way we do. It’s the politics; the one area major online sports outlets treat like kryptonite.
Every four years when the World Cup rolls around, you’re guaranteed to come across countless versions of the “who gets a seat on the plane/bus/boat to [insert World Cup host country]” game. In the United States, the game typically involves an analysis of players who are yet to secure a ticket on the relevant mode of transportation, and often an analysis of where the U.S. team lacks depth. Now trust me, I love Seats on a Plane as much as the next man, but surely there must be more if the goal is to critically assess our talent.
All of these Seats on a Plane discussions have led me to a deeper truth. We love pointing out weaknesses, but rarely do we pay much attention to how to fix these weaknesses. (more…)
Mainstream media outlets in the United States struggle with their portrayal of soccer. Many of these outlets suffer from what I call Palinitis, a chronic sickness characterized by a lack of curiosity, an unwillingness to read, and an eagerness to succumb to humanity’s baser instincts to sell something. This should worry soccer fans.
Luckily, fans of the major American sports are beneficiaries of robust online coverage. Countless full-time journalists, commentators, academics, and bloggers dissect the day’s NFL, NBA, and MLB news. Although new voices covering these leagues are always welcome, the online market for major U.S. sports is arguably already saturated. (more…)
And there it was. Breaking News: Togo Team Bus Attacked By Angolan Rebels.
Response: Angola is a dangerous country and therefore should not be hosting the African Cup of Nations (CAN).
Of all the cogent arguments detailing why Angola should not host the ACN, this might be the worst. It reeks of a double standard and a level of ignorance that the media is complicit in maintaining.
Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com fame has crossed over into football. A few days ago, Mr. Silver in conjunction with ESPN released the Soccer Power Index on ESPN.com. According to Silver, “the SPI rating is designed to provide the best possible objective representation of a team’s overall skill level. In particular, the SPI ratings are intended to be forward-looking: They measure a team’s relative likelihood of victory if a competitive match were to be held tomorrow.”
Translation: If you bet, you’ve got a new index to help you justify why you make your next incorrect bet.
If you love perms or Didier Drogba, you’ll love the Les Éléphants shirt …
Spain is trying to conquer the world again. This time, they might succeed.
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Football for Change is a feature in which Nutmeg Radio highlights work being done by organizations across the globe using soccer to promote development.
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