flickr
videos
community photos
friends of tias
categories
contact
Feel free to contact me for anything related to TIAS, your information will not be shared with anyone.
designated players
things are looking up (redacted)
GRANDPA JOE: You’re a crook! You’re a cheat and a swindler! That’s what you are. How can you do a thing like this? Build up a little boy’s hopes and then smash all his dreams to pieces. You’re an inhuman monster!
WILLY WONKA: Well, Instead, Brazil will come to play the US MNT at Chicago’s Soldier Field that same day.
GRANDPA JOE: Oh, OK. Charlie, give the man back his gobstopper. Ronaldinho will be there, right?
USSF has yet to officially announce it, but Steve Goff is reporting that the USA-Mexico match on September 9th in Mexico City is cancelled, replaced by a friendly against Brazil. Announcement coming soon, with the intriguing question: Was there a PR scramble by USSF to get Brazil to step in and save what little face USSF has left? Even though reports are blaming Mexican TV rights for much of the problem, let’s see if a reporter asks that question and how Sunil will answer it.
photograph explained: I was looking for a photo to illustrate this post. A search for Soldier Field turned up this ski-jumping insanity from the 1950’s that I just couldn’t resist. Midwesterners are really hard pressed for some hills.
Ric
on Aug 13th, 2007 - 3:57pm
“Announcement coming soon, with the intriguing question: Was there a PR scramble by USSF to get Brazil to step in and save what little face USSF has left? Even though reports are blaming Mexican TV rights for much of the problem, let’s see if a reporter asks that question and how Sunil will answer it.”
Yeabuhwha?
What question are you asking? If the US needed to scramble and get Brazil to save them when the Mexico game was cancelled? Isnt this jumping to conclusions, especially in light of what the reports are already saying? Besides, Brazil was already making the trip up here, playing Mexico in Foxboro (hm. Maybe a Mexico City-Boston trip over three days was too much for El Tri?). It’d be natural for them to want to add another game, and make the trip worthwhile.
It seems silly to try and pin this on the USSF, until we get more word as to the hang up over the Azteca game.
steven
on Aug 13th, 2007 - 4:52pm
who does Ric work for? hmmmm. USSF got lucky that Brazil was around that week and stepped up.
Too, i dont think Adam is pointing the finger as much as exhibiting the suspicious curiousity that all US soccer fans should have at this point.
Goff quoted the reasons as being “contractual and financial considerations.” That, to me, has SUM, or some other group like it, written all over it.
USSF will do its usual thing and say nothing. and while clearly the cancellation likely is not all USSF’s fault (they aren’t the only greedy soccer businessmen), but no way are they exempt. given the recent history, the media should be scrutinizing the heck out of USSF. we (and more so the players) deserve so much better than they have delivered.
Ric
on Aug 15th, 2007 - 6:40am
Mark Ziegler says:
“The official reason for the cancellation was “contractual and financial considerations,” but several insiders indicated that was code for a disagreement over Spanish-language television rights for the U.S. broadcast of the match. Mexico is in the midst of a multiyear deal with Telemundo; U.S. Soccer is aligned with rival Univision.
In the Aug. 1 release announcing the game, U.S. Soccer said Univision would carry the Spanish-language telecast. Telemundo protested, the Mexican federation couldn’t sort it out and the game was abandoned.”
I’m still having difficulty with seeing what the USSF did wrong here, besides have an agreement with a different TV station than Mexico.
leave a comment items marked with * are required