Comments on: The ESPN Empire Strikes Back

By: spencir

spencir — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:45:21 +0000

thats mean at august we can watch La Liga soocer in ESPN ?? na dreally iam soo happy for that coz fox soocer channel they not have La Liga soocer ……..

but ,,, what about GOL tv they will see La Liga soocer wery week?? this it??

and did u know how much coz ESPN too buy it??

thank you soo much brother iam soo happy

By: The Gaffer

The Gaffer — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:52:29 +0000

La LIga will be returning to ESPN in late August/early September and will be alternating broadcasts of the Spanish league each week with GolTV.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

By: spencir

spencir — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:51:06 +0000

Hi Ineed heelp please that mean can iwatch La Liga soocer in ESPN??

coz i have dish net work and icant see chaneel Gol tv . in dish net work!!

anyway one heelp me please???

By: bayou

bayou — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:46:47 +0000

quakesin2kNever,
You bring up a good point. I grew up in Montana and lived in Louisiana for six years before moving to Milwaukee. I’ve never lived in proximity to an MLS team (unless you count the Dynamo and now the Chicago Fire) so it has been hard to establish an affection for the MLS. And because the MLS was so new, there were no family ties to cultivate an affinity for the MLS or a specific team. Unlike the NFL, where my dad was a huge 49ers fan, so I grew up a 49ers fan. I do like that the MLS runs opposite the other leagues, even if FIFA doesn’t and maybe being close to Chicago will light a fire under my ass.

The EPL I started watching back in the early 90’s in the days of the giant satellite dishes that took up a quarter of your backyard. And it took me a few years to establish a real infinity for that league, too. Only the Bundesliga did I immediately get into.

By: quakesin2kNever

quakesin2kNever — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:17:06 +0000

“Look, I don’t mean to be a hater, especially coming onto a MLS talk site…but I do not see how any regular season MLS game matches the skill or intensity of what you see in the EPL or La Liga, and yes, even in “bottom feeder” matches.”

Dude, no one is arguing that MLS is on par with EPL or La Liga. I agree with you. That is a straw man. It does not necessarily follow from that statement that MLS is not worth watching.

I love watching MLS because I recognize a lot of the players from the national team. I also love watching the quakes, my home town team I grew up with. There is an emotional connection there that I just don’t get when I “pick” a favorite team to watch in another league.

You are sounding a lot like a Yankee fan, only wanting to watch the all star teams. That’s fun but there’s also a lot of good young “future star” players in other leagues. I like watching the talent develop. The other leagues are where a lot of those EPL and La Liga players are bred when they are younger, especially like the Dutch league.

By: The Gaffer

The Gaffer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:40:11 +0000

Hmm.. makes you wonder whether Ray Hudson would moonlight for ESPN to commentate La Liga games. Hudson has worked for them in the past. And who else other than Hudson, Phil Schoen and Lindsey Dean have more extensive knowledge of La Liga than those blokes?

Cheers,
The Gaffer

By: kofix5

kofix5 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:33:53 +0000

The glaring difference between ESPN’s coverage and GolTV’s coverage will the quality of the color commentators. Ray Hudson is King. My favorite thing about watching La Liga matches other than their great style is listening to Ray Hudson waxing poetic and making verbose passionate love to his beautiful game.

Will anyone even come close to his virtuosity on ESPN?

By: bayou

bayou — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:01:10 +0000

CA_backpacker,
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I devour EPL games during the season (even going to pubs at 6 in the morning to catch them when they’re not on FSC). I am a Yank. I’m a US supporter, but for the life of me I can’t watch MLS. On top of that, I have the added guilt of being a woman and not being able to stomach the women’s league, either. Both seem sluggish, clumsy, and on the MLS side, I’m seeing more and more theatrics creep in which is what ruined Italian, Argentinian, and Mexican soccer for me.

It’s all about the EPL for me and La Liga comes in second. I will, and enjoy watching, the college games that FSC airs.

By: CA_backpacker

CA_backpacker — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:06:02 +0000

Look, I don’t mean to be a hater, especially coming onto a MLS talk site…but I do not see how any regular season MLS game matches the skill or intensity of what you see in the EPL or La Liga, and yes, even in “bottom feeder” matches. Heck, in Europe, often the matches between teams in the bottom-half of the table are even more exciting because of the potential consequence of getting relagated, something lacking in the US in ANY professional sport, let alone soccer. After watching pretty much every EPL (and some La Liga) game that FSC and Setanta broadcast this season, even the Newcastles’ showed more team class and ability than you see in the MLS. And when the best players in the world still go to England, Spain, Germany, and Italy to play, how can we expect different?

And “Fan”? QFT on your Max Bretos comment, lol…

By: quakesin2kNever

quakesin2kNever — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:58:03 +0000

CA_backpacker:

I believe that is exactly the kind of anglicized soccer snob attitude that Kartik was talking about.

I disagree with the other comments, I love EPL I think it is the best league in the world to watch. However, it is not the only league. I also enjoy watching all the other leagues, especially MLS. Just because it’s not the best doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. Just because PBR isn’t the best beer doesn’t mean it’s not worth drinking.