Zeno Group Blog

The Chicago Tribune has a 163-year history as the voice of the Windy City. Yesterday was not one of its brighter days. Swept up in the euphoria surrounding the hometown Blackhawks run to the Stanley Cup, the Trib has been publishing a series of full-page Hawks player posters. On Tuesday the sports section went a different route, mocking Philadelphia Flyers antagonist Chris Pronger by photoshopping the lower half of a female figure skater onto his body and labeling him “Chrissy Pronger.”

Many have blasted the poster as sexist, and while I don’t disagree, I’m more troubled by how far the Tribune’s standards have slipped. I’m not a fan of over-the-top, rah-rah coverage of the home team, but newspapers are struggling and if a poster of Patrick Kane boosts the bottom line, I understand that decision. Still, would “Go Barack Go!” posters have been considered acceptable in support of a local candidate running for President? Why does a different standard apply to the sports section? Obviously the coverage is going to be pro-Blackhawks; that’s simply catering to your audience. But that coverage needs to look like it still comes with some objectivity.    

Openly mocking a professional athlete, however, brings the Trib to an even sorrier place. A newspaper’s role is to report on the games and provide analysis. If they want to needle the opposition, that’s the role of their sports columnists. Suggesting that Pronger “looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane,” is childish and pathetic. What if Pronger were to land on the Blackhawks roster someday? The Tribune will have already poisoned their relationships with him.

In an era when newspapers are struggling to maintain relevance, it’s sad to see one do so by resorting to third grade humor.

The year was 1990 and for the first time in 40 years, the United States soccer team was headed to the World Cup. Most of the nation reacted with a collective shrug of indifference. Soccer was best known in the U.S. as a game played by little kids or dismissed as the cause of rampant hooliganism in Europe. Fast forward to 2010. Those little kids are all grown up and so is America’s passion for “the beautiful game.”

As a lifelong soccer fan (that’s me and my brother at the 2006 World Cup), I’m amazed by the progress the sport has made in this country. Sitting on my desk right now is a “Special Double Issue” World Cup preview magazine. Not World Soccer or Sports Illustrated, but Time, a sure sign that soccer has arrived on mainstream America’s radar.

In 1990, cable network TNT broadcast selected World Cup matches, committing the cardinal sin of breaking away for commercials in the middle of a game. Now every tournament game will air on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 without commercial interruption. While the voice of Bono graces ESPN’s ad campaign, Brad Pitt has signed on to help promote the United States’ bid to host an upcoming World Cup. Perhaps you’ve heard of these guys.

A handful of factors have elevated soccer’s standing in the U.S. The Internet and expanded cable television has brought a global game into our living rooms. The generation that launched America’s youth soccer boom in the early ’80s has come of age, now taking their kids to watch an American pro league that has made solid strides in 14 years. And as U.S. companies like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch have embraced a global marketing strategy, they’ve learned that sponsoring with the world’s most popular game is a powerful platform.

Will soccer ever be king in this country? Don’t count on it. The world’s richest, most prestigious leagues aren’t leaving Europe anytime soon, nor is America’s passion for the NFL showing any sides of slowing. But in 20 years, soccer has emerged from obscurity to a place of prominence in American culture. I can wait to see what the next month- and the next 20 years- bring to the sport.