Friday, April 3, 2009

Match of the Day: Major League Soccer Style

Welcome Back
Well hello everyone. I’m sure you missed me. I’ve finally moved all my possessions from one end of Kansas to the next and saddled myself with more debt. I’m all about helping the economy. Regular updates will start up again, expect more great Advantage Played features every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I’m still trying to figure out how to cover the regular season. I’ve got the off season down pat, (I just do whatever I want) but I’m struggling a little to give my updates some form of consistency and that coincides with the happenings on the field.

I just have a small update for you today but things are headed back to normal.

Match of the Day: MLS Style
Match of da day logo
I’m not a huge fan of the English Premiere League. There I said it. But just because I don’t ever watch full games doesn’t mean I hate seeing all the actions, goals, and how the American players are fairing. I don’t have the time or willpower to watch endless EPL matches, but I still want to know how it all turns out. For that, and my twitter followers will know this, I watch Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2.

For those not in the know, and if you follow me you’ll get tweets to the torrents, Match of the Day is an hour long review show that covers Saturday’s and Sunday’s matches respectively. The commentators do their very best to look absolutely bored, but once in a while they throw out some good analysis. Best of all the matches are well edited, shown in high quality, and have those great English announcers.

I don’t have time to watch the full games, but I sure have time for the review show. So why doesn’t Major League Soccer have an equal?

MLS Needs a Match of the Day

Match of the Day allows both casual fans and rabid followers to get their kicks. It covers all the games, highlights outstanding performances, and generally wraps everything up in one slick comprehensive package.

Sure you can go to MLSNet.com now and watch highlights. You can get commentary. There is some minor analysis. But what it really needs is an hour long review show that really drives to the heart of the matter.

Nominations
I hereby nominate Shep and Greg from Extra Time to move their format from three minute segments to one hour long review show. MLS get your ass in gear, sign these guys, and get an hour long spot on ESPN2 or ESPN Classic in a spot usually reserved for professional bowling.

I don’t care if they run it at 2am, the magic of the internet means it will be widely available. With a show that people are eager to watch, MLS will draw in new fans from around the world.

And that’s awesome.

1 comment:

US will win the World Cup - eventually! said...

There is a lot of football played on a weekend. I follow the EPL and will watch certain teams and games, but the end of weekend EPL Review Show is where it's at for me - they do a pretty good job not only showing the critical game moments but also giving you a feel for the game. It's an hour long show that saves one (10 games x 90 min) 15 hours a weekend.

It would be great to have an MLS weekend review show like that - I would watch it religiously.

That said, one does get a different feel for the game by watching the full 90 minutes, though sometimes the difference is an unintentional nap. ;-)