July 18, 2007
With the news that the San Jose Earthquakes will be back in MLS in 2008 and the fact that they are already looking for a PR/Communications Coordinator, I may have to update my resume, throw everything in the back of our van, and as the saying goes, "Head west old man, head west".
I mean, let's look at the requirements for the job:
- Plan and implement a fiscally responsible budget with integrity - All I need to do is follow the Soccer Sam plan and get people to work for free. How hard can that be?
- Work directly with senior management on a strategic communication plan - As long as I stay away from the low bar set by franchises such as the NY Red Bulls, I should be fine.
- Write press releases, talking points, Q & As, managing press events, media tours, radio media tours, and video news releases. - Copy and paste is my friend!
- Create relationships with various organizations throughout the community to expand and develop the Earthquakes networking base. - How hard can schmoozing local companies, soccer clubs, and civic groups be, really? I mean, everyone in the US wants to buddy up to an MLS team, right?
- Work with Promotions/Events to help manage, schedule, and develop promotion plans for the Earthquakes Street Team. - A street team for a soccer team? Who would have thought of such a thing? Oh yeah, the Vancouver Whitecaps have one. Perhaps I could steal some ideas from them......
- Advise ownership and senior management on crisis management. - My answer to crisis management: free beer!
- Work with athletes on media training and community involvement. - I can do that. Just one question though, who's going to train the trainer?
- Reports to the Director of Business Development. - I'm going to have to report to someone? On second thought................
Seriously though, this news has some good things to it (restores MLS to an even number of teams and evens out the East-West imbalance) and some bad things (adds another team with "stadium issues").
This could also end up being the final nail in the coffin for the USL 1st Division's California Victory. Not only is the expansion team hurting in the standings and at the box office, it's owner has shed his stake in Spanish club Alavés, and now this. I wouldn't bet a lot of money on California being in the USL 1st Division in 2008 at this point.
MLS All-Stars vs Celtic tomorrow night
Steve Nicol has unveiled his starting XI for tomorrow night's game. Not surprisingly, three members of Steve's New England Revolution, Matt Reis, Michael Parkhurst, and Shalrie Joseph, will be starting against Celtic.
The most interesting storyline to me will be Shalrie Joseph going up against the club that tried to buy his rights last year and had their advances blocked by the Revs and MLS. Joseph is still an unhappy camper and would welcome a trade. Although, he's been a true professional this season and been the stalwart in the midfield that the Revs have always known and certainly covet.
And it will be interesting to see if Celtic's claims that they will take this match very seriously will come true or not. My guess is that Celtic doesn't want to deal with the snide comments that will come their way should they fall to the MLS All-Stars like Chelsea did last year.
Other News & Notes:
- MLS commissioner Don Garber is yet again throwing the Rochester name out there in general expansion talk. But since there were 14 other cities named, I wouldn't get my hopes up.
- Michael Lewis has a nice post-mortum on the US-Austria U-20 World Cup Quarterfinal. And while you can always look to the next tournament, I have serious doubts that the 2009 US U-20 squad will look as good on paper as the 2007 edition. And that's why this slip up hurts so much for me.
- US Soccer.com has a cool Q&A with the US U-18 team captain Greg Folk about how things are going at the Pan Am Games.
- Speaking of the Pan Am Games, it annoys me a lot that John Ball is the only member of the US Futsal team that is currently in the midst of the USL 1st Division season. Granted, only Portland's Andrew Gregor left in midseason to take part in the pre-Pan Am Games camp in Spain, but it's still annoying. Although, it is a great honor for John.
- Jarrett Campbell of TriSoccerFan.com has a cool blog entry chronicling his night at a California Victory-Atlanta Silverbacks game while he was on the west coast. It makes me wonder, if a Rhinos fan takes in a Montreal-Carolina game, who should they root for?
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
