We talk a lot about soccer today. The latest FIFA World Rankings came out today and the US is ranked 18th. At the Sporting Blog, I write about how this can be a good thing for the USMNT. Nick and I discuss that, and the expectations of a team that is lower in the rankings, compared to what the USMNT had to face going into the 2006 World Cup with a top-five ranking. This team is better than that, so has the world gotten better? Likely, the ranking is low because of the mediocre play of the B and C squads, but will the lowered ranking hurt the interest in America? Will it maybe give a little boost if the team does well? Or does it matter at all?
We also talk about the report from BigSoccer.com that has JP Dellacamera out of the booth for ESPN and headed to radio in lieu of a slew of European imports, most notably Martin Tyler. Some at Big Soccer are upset, suggesting if ESPN wants to prove they take soccer in America seriously, they should have an American in the booth. But wouldn’t you rather have Marv Albert calling a game than, say, Kevin Harlan? And isn’t Tyler the soccer equivalent of Albert? Besides, doesn’t everything just sound better with a British accent?
Snow today has everything a bit behind, so to make up time, this is what we discuss today.
• The MLS Labor situation. Read more about that here.
• Whitlock vs. Daulerio. We talk about how many of us try to make a story about us. Self-promotion is how we survive in this business. But Whitlock has seemed to take it to a whole new level. We talk about that, his decision to use the blog world as puppets to do his bidding, and how Daulerio really doesn’t seem to care what people think of him. Which, frankly, makes it hard to get over on the guy. Whitlock clearly cares what people think of him, no matter what he says or writes.
But mostly, Whitlock’s job is to get you to pay attention to Whitlock. He always succeeds, but it doesn’t make it right that he does it or how he does it.
• The Olympics are coming to a close. Will you miss them, or will you be happy to get back to normal viewing habits? What will NBC’s fallout be? Will ESPN really get the Olympics and put things on live? And will we care about curling next week?
If ESPN really wants the Olympics, and wants to prove it’s about the sports, they should buy up the American TV rights to all these events — handball, curling, archery, etc — and put them on a specific Olympic-themed ESPN360 channel, giving us maybe 3-4 hours a week on one of their networks for a “Wide World of Sports” themed show. Let’s hope it happens.
• Congrats to Rovitz for winning the Blogs with Stones Curling Championship. Matt Suss– got the silver and cknoblockhead got the bronze. Great even, and we’ll do it again soon.
We throw a lot at you on this show. First, Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus joins the show to talk about, what else, FOOTBALL!
Carroll is an Indianapolis guy, so I wanted to get his take on the scene in Indy. Is it the euphoria like in New Orleans or more of a “been there done that” after winning a Super Bowl not too long ago?
We discuss the depth of the Colts and how losing Dwight Freeney may not be that big a deal. Oh, and we talk about Freeney’s ankle in a conversation that may or may not make sense after reports that he might have torn ligaments and not just a sprain.
But, it wouldn’t be right to have Carroll on and not talk a little baseball. We discuss the PECOTA rankings and try to figure out if throwing a dart against a wall is more or less accurate than their division winners. Note, I will not be betting any houses against the Yankees making the playoffs.
We also talk about the state of the labor unions in the major sports. Could we see a 2011 without any professional sports? Not likely, but it is, in a way, possible.
