Shame on the Media, Go USA!!

Congratulations to the USA soccer team, for their 2-1 victory of Mexico yesterday. I was not able to watch the game in English, because no basic cable (Comcast, Houston, TX) channel carried the game.


(Above is a 1:48 video of the winning goal and this is the whole second half)

I find this fact sad--depressingly so--and a grave error by Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, and every other media mogul who had a chance to broadcast this game but did not.

SHAME ON YOU.

The semifinals and final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup were played at Soldier Field in Chicago. I was in Chicago from Thursday through Sunday for the American Medical Association's Annual Meeting (Medical Student Section). Unfortunately, I was not able to join Sam's Army in the stands because America played against Canada in the early game, and I did not get out of my meetings in time. To add insult to injury, my flight left Sunday morning, so I could not stay and go to the final, either.

I arrived home hoping to catch it on TV, and instead I find only Univision broadcasting the game. Boy, was I disappointed. I love watching soccer on the Spanish Channel because of the awesome announcers, so watching it in Spanish didn't bother me, but rather that no English language channel covered it.

If there are enough viewers and ratings to justify broadcasting Major League Soccer matches, surely there's at least that many people willing to watch the USA in the final of the Gold Cup?

Let's give props to the USA team--often regarded as a weak side, they are now 10-0-1 on the pitch under new coach Bob Bradley. Although we are not bringing all our veteran starters to South America for the Copa America, I think we'll still put in a good showing. American soccer is steadily improving, and deserves our support, and we deserve the opportunity to support it.

Put our team on the air, ESPN!