Soccer Espn

When lightning struck at EURO 2008, most broadcasters around the world didn't have a backup plan to bring viewers details of the game. As this video clip shows, though, the BBC, had radio presenters in the stadium, so they could at least tell you what was happening. ESPN wasn't quite so lucky, though they're not nearly as angry about it as German broadcaster ZDF, who also had no one at the stadium and is threatening to sue UEFA over what they call "the most annoying balls-up imaginable." (Uh, guys? That might be the wrong part of the anatomy you're using.)

UEFA plans to use backup diesel generators to make sure this doesn't happen during the final. As for the outage itself, I prefer The Run of Play's romantic take on the situation: "Can you think of a more dramatic way for the mythic to anoint these three weeks than for a thunderbolt to fall on them from above?"

(H/T: 101 Great Goals)

Over at Salon, King Kaufman called out ESPN for its handling of today's weather-related technical difficulties during the EURO 2008 semifinal between Germany and Turkey. In this column, Kaufman claimed that ESPN was somehow being dishonest because studio lead Rece Davis never made it clear that Derek Rae and Andy Gray were calling the game from a studio in Bristol, rather than from St. Jakob Park itself, and when the signal went out, the network had no way to describe what was happening.

As someone who has watched this competition from the start, I have to ask -- at what point did ESPN not make it perfectly clear that its announcers were all in Bristol?

When Tommy Smyth calls a game, then sits next to Andy Gray at the studio desk 15 minutes later, it should be fairly obvious to everyone what's going on. I recall at several points during the group stage when either Davis or Rob Stone came right out and said that Gray was about to move from the desk to the booth to call the next match.

What's more, this is not unusual for international soccer broadcasts in America. In fact, it's practically standard procedure.

We've completed the first round of Group Stage matches at EURO 2008, and while numerous stories have developed -- the subpar performances by France and Italy, the rise of David Villa, the hard luck of the hosts, etc. -- the biggest topic of conversation continues to be Ruud van Nistelrooy's opening goal against Italy, and whether he was offside or not. Even after replays confirmed that van Nistelrooy onside, ESPN's Julie Foudy and Tommy Smyth were still debating it.

This is where ESPN should borrow a page from the NFL Network's playbook. When ever a questionable play happens in that league, NFL Network brings out Mike Pereira, the league's head of officiating, to break down plays and point to the spot in the rulebook that justified the referee's call.

That's what UEFA needed here -- someone to go on camera and point out why Ruud's goal way legal. As Jarrett Campbell of Triangle Soccer Fanatics points out, the laws of the game are pretty clear:

"A defender who leaves the field during the course of play and does not immediately return must still be considered in determining where the second to last defender is for the purpose of judging which attackers are in an offside position. Such a defender is considered to be on the touch line or goal line closest to his or her off-field position. A defender who leaves the field with the referee's permission (and who thus requires the referee's permission to return) is not included in determining offside position."

How excited does ESPN want you to get over EURO 2008? Try this: this week and next, ESPN Classic is airing European Football Championship matches from the past four decades. The match replays will air every weeknight at 7:00 PM Eastern, and the full schedule is here.

So if you never got to see current UEFA president Michel Platini score the free kick that won France its first major trophy in 1984, here's your chance. I can already sense just how thrilled most FanHouse readers must be at that.

Interestingly enough, today's England v. USA friendly is also airing on ESPN Classic. Several EURO 2008 matches will be shown on ESPN Classic, too, as well as a EURO 2008 preview show hosted by James Richardson of The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast. Perhaps this gives just a bit more credence to those rumors that the Worldwide Leader wants to convert ESPN Classic into something else. Will we see an ESPN Soccer Channel soon after this?

About a year and a half ago, ESPN announced that it was shutting down production on original programming for ESPN Classic. Since then, the network has shown everything from old American Gladiators reruns to run-off programming from the other ESPN networks, and everyone has been scratching their head wondering what would happen to ESPN Classic.

ESPN Soccernet columnist Ives Galarcep, who keeps his own blog at SoccerByIves.net, may have leaked the Worldwide Leader's plans for its least-watched channel.

The word I just got from a source at ESPN is that ... ESPN has big plans for expanding ESPN Classic into potentially an ESPN3, with the English Premier League as one of the station's marquee draws. That whole scenario may wind up being wishful thinking but what is clear is the ESPN is interested in the EPL rights.

ESPN has taken plenty of interest in European soccer lately. Look no further than its heavy promotion of Wednesday's Champions League final during SportsCenter and NBA Playoff games, not to mention its big plans for EURO 2008. The WWL is expected to bid on the Premier League TV rights starting with the 2009-2010 season, and it need a place to show those games. Why not put them on the channel it's not using very much?

When Cuba's under-23 national soccer team traveled to Florida two weeks ago, seven players defected.

In the United States, media coverage of athletes who defect is almost always favorable: We Americans view Cuban athletes who come here as heroes seeking freedom. But Andrew Hush wrote a column for ESPNsoccernet that took a decidedly different approach. Hush wrote:

The events of the past few days have raised a number of questions. The most obvious one concerns security around the Cuban team. Of course, 24-hour surveillance is neither possible nor preferred - these are free men after all - but their escape seems to have been accomplished with minimum effort. The team bus was given a police escort to and from the stadium for the match against the USA, but it is believed that little extra security was in place at the hotel.

Furthermore, the decision to place Cuba in Florida for its qualifying group matches is also, in hindsight, questionable. Although the examples of Martinez, Delgado and Galindo suggest that defection is possible wherever you may be in the USA, these are a young group of men that may have had second thoughts about the choice they made had they been in a less familiar environment. It is no surprise that their rumoured destination while they seek to establish themselves is Miami, a city whose population is one third Cuban.

Consideration must also be given to the players and coaches left behind. The fact is that Cuba's draw with the USA was a result that greatly enhanced the nation's chance of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. Though the defectors have their reasons for doing what they did, the fact is that they have betrayed the players with whom they boarded the plane to America.