Galaxy Fans, Ever Wonder Why You’re Told Nothing?

By: Laurie | January 24th, 2008

Some of you may have seen that SoCal soccer reporter Andrea Canales has a Sideline Views blog post up discussing her frustration with MLS, and particularly with the Galaxy, for their near-complete refusal to give out any information on the team. Or, in other words, for not allowing reporters to actually report.

“It’s annoying when news about the team breaks on the East Coast because every question I’ve asked about the topic here results in a denial. If a trade gets to MLS headquarters in New York and someone is going to leak it there, for heaven’s sake, admit that transfer to me, Luis, Grahame, Billy or Jaime first, so publicity for the team shows up where the team actually plays.

Instead, it’s become harder to get any information from the Galaxy, especially since Beckham arrived. The trades are also killing the local reporters and their sources. Reporters talk to players and develop a trust there, but it takes time, and that’s blown away when players leave. New players are often so nervous about making a good impression that they’ll say essentially nothing for a long time. Same thing with new coaching staff.”

(By “trades” I’m guessing specifically Chris Albright? What do you think?)

Other interesting points, taken from the comments of the Sideline Views post, which really struck home:

Hey AC as a fan it did feel strange that Ives and that other DC reporter and even sky/bbc had more details than the local LA guys!

And then this:

It sounds like Ives and Goff are the league plants. They get watered first. Our guy in Chicago, Luis Arroyave, is a terrific writer but he usually isn’t given the information first – or can’t get the verification he needs to publish the news he uncovers.

Meanwhile, the leaks somehow always seem to find their way to Ives or Goff. It’s just a reminder of how small minded (controlling) USSF & MLS are in their “effort” to extend soccer media coverage in the USA. The dependable pets get the crumbs; others are left to scramble.

I know I’ve always wondered why Ives and Goff break all the west coast news first. Nothing against Ives and Goff, of course. Without them we’d REALLY have nothing. But wouldn’t it seem that MLS would want info coming from the local people who have the ability to make the fans (and potential fans) actually care?

If any of you follow US Soccer Players, you’ll remember that they stopped covering MLS for the reasons discussed in Sideline Views. They started up coverage again just last week after being assured that MLS was working to improve media relations. The frustrations in Sideline Views show that the league is not there yet.

Andrea closes with the following:

The media aren’t the enemy. We’re trying to cover the sport that so many involved with say needs more coverage, and instead of assistance, we’re dealing with a lot of resistance. It doesn’t really make sense. Agents and organizations such as U.S. Soccer and MLS and the individual teams need to think about how much they want to control their players and club information versus how much they want the public to even know who they are.

Makes sense to me. Why is that so hard for MLS (and particularly the Galaxy) to understand?