Local media offers hypocritical coverage of MLS All-Star game

A thunderstorm sent players and spectators scrambling for cover at RFK Statdium in Washington, DC. Note those pesky and conspicuous sponsor logos.

Commentary by Mike Mierau
August 4, 2002

After returning from a wonderful, soccer-filled weekend in Washington, DC, I picked up the local Sunday paper to see what sort of coverage had been given the MLS All-Star game. I was pleasantly surprised to find a terrific picture of match MVP Marco Etcheverry (although they spelled his first name "Mark") on page two of the sports section along with a good-sized story. At first I thought perhaps the success of the US in the World Cup was showing its affect by opening a few eyes at the Herald Palladium. But it was the predictable headline and story lead that clearly established that paper's negative, unbalanced and hypocritical view of soccer.

The headline read, "All-Stars cut for halftime show."

Just below, in smaller, bold typeset, another headline read, "ABC makes sure sponsor honored at intermission."

The story, written by Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, led with, "Well, they got the halftime show in."

Don Garber discusses his decision to shorten the first half of the All-Star game at the post-game press conference at RFK Stadium.
Mr. Blum was referring to the decision made by MLS Commissioner Don Garber to shorten the first half of play from the normal 45 minutes down to 30 minutes. According to Mr. Garber, it was his decision to do so and not ABC's, as the headline inaccurately suggests.

"Weather reports were coming that were forecasting rain, lightning and thunderstorms," said Garber. "We knew we were going to have to make some tough decisions during the game. Certainly, nobody could have predicted what happened today with the weather. There were a lot of decisions which needed to be made quickly to ensure the safety of our spectators, which is first and foremost, along with the safety of our top players. We wanted to also ensure the people who came out to the game saw a good soccer game and a good halftime show. We felt we had an exciting day for all of those people involved. Everyone walked away happy. They were all pretty wet, but they saw some good soccer and saw a very good game."

The halftime show
The now infamous, halftime show
Television was indeed involved in Garber's decision. "We knew that we had a very limited period of time that we needed to get everything in while we had fans standing in the aisles and while we were trying to keep a television audience", he said. "So shortening the first half was a decision we felt was the right one in order to have a complete second half, a good halftime show and a field which needed to drain and needed the time to be safe for our players."

The Palladium went on to implicitly berate the MLS for having a sponsor. Wrote Blum, "The game's title sponsor was conspicuous during the halftime show - its logo was pasted across two inflatable bottles, the stage in the middle of the field and the headbands of dancers."

Hello? I don't see many advertisements in the Palladium that forbid display of the sponsor's logo. Why would one find fault with MLS or Pepsi for wanting to clearly tie the Pepsi product with MLS? It's called return on investment.

Even more hypocritical for a publication driven by advertising dollars, was this over-simplification: "Major League Soccer eliminated the final 15 minutes of the first half of its All-Star game for a concert by pop singer Paulina Rubio."

Why is this hypocritical one might ask? Well, it is a fact of a journalist's life that every day, and on nearly every newspaper page, editorial decisions to cut written content in favor of advertising space are on display. So to deride the MLS for ensuring that their sponsors are treated in good faith is absurd.

And let's not forget another important aspect of the match, which apparently meets specific editorial requirements for coverage of soccer in the USA. If there is any sort of crowd misbehavior, it must be included prominently. True to form, Mr. Blum (or Palladium editors) left out descriptions of the soccer played this day in favor of this elbow to the rib cage of the die-hard soccer fan: "Despite warnings to take cover, about a dozen fans ran out on the field, and one was led off in handcuffs after he mooned the crowd."

That's good copy.

There was nothing said of the level of play, despite the soggy field conditions and the MLS vs. National Team format. All the writer needed to do was quote the coaches.

"I think it shows the quality of the players that they can adapt to anything that's thrown at them," said MLS All-Star and San Jose head coach Frank Yallop. "They played ever so well on a difficult field. They didn't stop in trying to play the right way and trying to entertain and go forward. Every one of those players is world class."

Said National Team head coach Bruce Arena, "It was difficult but I'm happy we were able to at least give the fans some good soccer, some good goals and some good scoring chances. We were pleased with the afternoon."

"I think for this year it was right with the World Cup", said Arena. "I think next year should be a different format. Personally, I would love to see an MLS All-Star team play a quality club team from around the world. It would be great to see the MLS All-Stars against Real Madrid or Manchester United for example. I think that would be great as well but I don't know what their plans are. I think this was a nice twist."

"I think weekends like this show how far the game has come in this country," said National Team assistant and Chicago Fire head coach Bob Bradley. "It's nice to see the way the league and the national team joined together at this event because I think both are very important to one another. I think the spirit of the game was good. It was more competitive than recent All-Star games. You want to have a good demonstration of soccer and not just a game that turns into a three-ring circus. I've seen FIFA All-Star games over the years and although I see players that are fun to watch, it can drop to a level of just horsin' around and I think we had gotten dangerously close to crossing the line the last few years. So I thought it (this year's match) was a nice thing to see."

I guess I should just give up on my local paper. Their attitude toward our sport is largely why mysoccer.com exists. But, I keep waiting for the light to come on. That they will see soccer as important to their readers and advertisers. As many of us have heard before, it's a marathon not a sprint. I should consider a Mark Etcheverry photo on page two a small victory. Maybe next year they will actually devote some content to describing the game. In the meantime, I think I'll buy more Pepsi.

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