Why the Media is Turning Me into a Bitter Old Woman at Age 17
By: Matilda | October 9th, 2009Sorry about the long title, I know it’s a bit obnoxious, but I like it so it’s staying. Also it’s a bit cryptic, so without further ado let me explain. I have dual citizenship and make frequent trips back to the motherland (i.e. England), but I live in America and interact predominantly with Americans. Most people I know personally think football is a girls’ sport, and the few that I know that actually like football are, to be frank, mostly d-bags who support a Big Four team and know absolutely nothing about any other team. So being basically the only person I know (other than my father) who actually knows something about football and its history means I have to revert to other sources to engage in a good footy conversation. These sources are blogs mostly, I get my news from the BBC website, but one of my favorite things in the world is the BBC radio service.
To me listening to the radio is something sacrosanct, it reminds me of my grandparents, of one of my favorite places in the world, and it is mostly a lost art over here in the States. So of course I download several BBC podcasts, including the 5Live Football Daily. Here’s where the bitterness comes in. The podcasts are on average about 20 minutes long, a little longer on Sundays when they do a wrap up of the weekend. Obviously 20 minutes isn’t really enough time to discuss what is happening with every club in the league, but really they could talk about more than just four (and I think we all know the specific four I’m referring to).
The BBC pundits will spend 10 minutes talking about a single sentence that Fergie said, however they don’t seem to be able to find the time to mention the beauty with which Bolton played on Saturday. Or how Gary Cahill has had a killer season yet Joleon Lescott is still beating him out to the England squad. Or really say anything other than a 15 second sound byte stating the result and scorers. Bolton’s not the only club this happens too either, ever club other than the Big Four (and now Manchester City because of their gazillionaire owner) gets snubbed by the BBC pundits.
A specific example of this is how last March, whilst about 8 clubs were in the throes of a relegation battle about 3/4’s of the podcasts released that month were dedicated to the two clubs fighting for the top spot. I’m probably exaggerating a little, but not by much. The vast disparity between the finances of the Larger-Than-Average Five (has a ring to it doesn’t it?) and every other club in England is being reflected in the media. This only reinforces the trend, as the more media attention a club gets, the more supporters it’s likely to recruit (don’t believe me? try to count how many Manchester United fans live outside Manchester), and the more supporters a club has the more it can raise in merchandising and ticket sales. The more money the more top footballers the club can buy, the more it dominates in the league, the more media attention it gets. A self enforcing cycle if there ever was one
So what’s the point of this rather long, only-slightly-Bolton-related rant you may ask? I want to know if other fans feel my pain. Is the media turning you into a bitter, nobody-loves-me-or-will-cater-to-my-interests fan? Do you lie in bed at night listening to your podcast waiting for the 2 second mention of your club? Do you have any idea of what we can do about this?
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Well in Ozzie Land we have the pleasure of being able to watch ESPN Soccernet Press Pass. I don’t think they have ever even mentioned the name of a non-top 4 team. It’s really annoying. Since I follow Chelsea, I have a strong distaste for anything Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal, so I would really like to see some analysis of other teams (and not Man City either all of a sudden). Unfortunately, the way the EPL is going, the rest of the teams are just fodder.
As for what to do about it – no idea. The Guardian’s Blog/Opinion page isn’t too bad.
Posted from
Australia
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I totally feel your pain… as a Spurs supporter, I really do feel like there really is a disproportionate amount of coverage that focuses on the, as you say, “Larger-Than-Average Five”, but on the other hand, a part of me realizes that things like this happen because they are “Larger-Than-Average”
The media, in the end, is still a business, and while I would like to hear about things unrelated to the major teams, most people out there are only interested in what’s happening with their team, and since most of those people are fans of those teams… we get saddled with story after story of Sir Alex calling an official out of shape or Rafa Benitez getting his panties in a bunch because Sir Alex didn’t get in any trouble for calling an official out of shape.
But really, in a way, I kind of like that teams like ours (and this definitely happens more with your team) don’t get as much time in the media as the others, because I think it separates the true football fan from the fake-bandwagon-fan because we have to do a little more work to support the teams we REALLY love.
Also, one easy way that I found to follow my team is to just set up a Google Alert for “Tottenham” and I get lots of news articles and blog entries, and those are usually cool, as well as random news stories from that part of town. The only downside is that when something big happens, the same story usually gets passed around a lot, and that gets annoying.
(By the way, being a Bolton fan in America must be difficult… I stopped wearing any of my Spurs shirt to school because I got sick of having to constantly explain what a “Tottenham” is)
Posted from
United States -
Oh, and one last thing… are there any podcasts out there dedicated to the mid-table teams in the league? Most of the major podcasts just focus on the bigger clubs, as well as the relegation battles, especially if there is an unexpected team that low in the table, like Newcastle last season. I would definitely listen to a 30 minute podcast that spent its time discussing the Boltons, Tottenhams, Sunderlands, and Wigans of the league… (and maybe the teams on the fringe of cracking the top-4, like Aston Villa and Everton too)
Posted from
United States -
“Football Weekly with James Richardson” is a very good podcast. You’ll find it at Guardian’s homepage. They don’t just focus on the big four, instead the host is joined by experts of different areas. There might be a expert on Spanish football, on German football etc. If Pompey (like this week), Bolton or Wigan have been focused on, Guardian will use it in their podcast.
Posted from
United States -
Luka- Have you ever checked out the Soccernet blogs for each individual team? They’re quite good (or at least the Bolton one is), combining opinion with news and stats
Mustafa- I definitely know what you mean about the “true” football fan thing (although I feel like a bitch saying it). The facts that I’m from Bolton, that my family has been supporting Bolton basically since they were founded, and that I had a relative play for the club back in the ’50’s and ’60’s doesn’t hurt the impression that I’m a “truer” fan either. When you support teams like ours you aren’t constantly gratified by beautiful football and wins. I feel that clubs that lack the glamour of Big Four teams represent real football much better. It’s about sticking with your club no matter what (even if your manager is a ginger twat and can’t get results). I think that League One and Two teams and even the dreaded Conference teams are really the heart and soul of football. Big Four teams are for the most part entertainment (of course this is discounting the few Big Four fans who are actually from the respective areas), non-Big Four teams are religion. (And yes it is hard being a Bolton fan over here, thanks for acknowledging that)
In terms of the podcast thing I download the EPL Talk (a blog) football podcast, which is mostly an interview show, but every week they have a wrap up podcast which is generally pretty good about mentioning team other than the Larger-Than-Average Five. http://www.epltalk.com/epl-talk-podcast/Posted from
United States -
On the ‘true fan” thing. Being a Bolton fan in the US is probably easier than being a Wolves fan like me. Hardly into the season and I now have to have the Wolves Wikipedia page bookmarked on every computer I use to show the sod over here that we have won stuff, we were once a force to be reckoned with, and no, we’re not a new team. I meet so many American Manchester United fans here that can;t name a single player aside from Rooney, which I suppose shows the strength of their brand.
I get my football from various sources online, and most of my football news from the BBC (and then for a laugh I love reading the Sun)Posted from
United States
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