Tag Archives: This Is American Soccer

NBC Olympic Soccer Coverage

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I’m getting my fix via the internet, not only in the game broadcast but the highlights obviously. Like this one – Men’s Goals of the Day – August 7th or this one – Women’s Goals of the Day – August 6th.

If you are interested in a look behind the curtain, then Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer has the story as he interviews Michael Cohen, who overseas the production of Olympic soccer on the networks and cable channels and heads up the NBC Olympic soccer channel. Adam and Michael talk about his background and the changes he feels America is bringing to soccer coverage.

When the ball is on the field we wanted to be on the field. But when that ball is out of bounds, we want to bring those faces home because its all about branding these people as stars, whether they are MLS players or Messi, or Zidane. The idea is to get these people with their jerseys and their faces and the logos on the jerseys, according to my sponsorship people, home. So when the ball went out we’d cut low.

On a related note, you may have noticed my new sponsor banner at the top of the page. My college soccer coverage this season of the Panther’s and other regional teams will focus on video this year. My focus has always been field coverage, in part because my favorite view of the game has always been from the endline, a holdover from my playing days I’m certain. Do you enjoy the angle I offer, or should I move to the center line and up into the stands?

US Women Olympic Update

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I’ve been pretty good at ignoring the US Women’s National team since their melt down in the World Cup last year. But the games begin a week from Wednesday and there is plenty of news to share, some of it quite good.

The final game against Brazil two weeks ago, when Abby Wambach went down with a broken leg, was an entertaining match. I especially enjoyed watching Carli Lloyd as she ran the midfield. Now I’ve got even more reasons to cheer on this young woman – Soccer teammate stood with Solo through all the World Cup drama

“I really hate drama,” said Carli Lloyd of Delran, N.J. “It’s draining; it’s mentally draining. It’s a waste of time. Hope and I have gone way back. I played with her, I guess, for four years on the under-21s. I was a little bit intimidated by her at first, but we grew closer. Everybody makes mistakes in their life. I just knew she was a great person.”

So Lloyd chose to remember more than some ill-chosen words.

It was a difficult time for Hope Solo. Grant Wahl from Sports Illustrated covers her Hard Return.

Apparently the Women’s team has had the benefit of a sports psychologist for some time. The KC Star had a story recently about Olympians increasingly rely on mental skills coaches

“What I try to get across to the athletes is that psychological skills are just like physical skills,” Hacker said. “They can be identified; they can be improved with practice. It’s not something you have or you don’t.”

I’ll leave you with Adam Spangler’s take – the olympics mean something

We start with the ladies because there is no doubt we are seeing the best players the world has to offer. The guys can’t say that. The ladies will, however, be missing arguably the world’s best player.

Since Abby Wambach went down with a broken leg there has been widespread discussion about what it means for the team. Looking to put the Hope Solo debacle behind them once and for all this tournament, more attention has been placed on removing Abby’s personality than her skills. Perhaps the last queen bee in a line that stretches to the Hall of Fame, Wambach’s absence some say could allow the team to finally move on with their new coach and look to a future where possession soccer reigns over the constant push to find the feet of the stalwart striker.

Am I being too harsh? Feel free to share. In the meantime, if you’re a fan of the women’s game, I highly recommend Women’s Soccer USA, whose tagline is “Coverage of women’s soccer in the US. If it’s not here…it’s not important…” and she delivers regularly.