Boston University News Team: The Revs fight on despite the odds

By: Yumi Araki yaraki@bu.edu

FOXBORO, Mass. – Amidst the grey clouds that hovered over Gillette Stadium and the exhausted chants of weary supporters, Stefan Digregorio stood up in his red-white-and-blue jester hat and called encouragingly to the crowd. “C’mon guys, you gotta show your support to the team.”

It wasn’t so easy for the crowd as the New England Revolution were defeated 3-1 in the last game of the regular season last Saturday against the Kansas City Wizards. On the pitch, the Revs battled a hard first half as a steady rain began to settle in, and two players were given red cards. The crowd booed vehemently when defender Gabriel Badilla tackled Kansas player Claudio Lopez, and was ejected from the game.

“Are you even watching the game?” yelled angry fans as they cursed at referee Kevin Stott. “That was a clean tackle!”

A long moan of disappointment filled the stadium when Lopez made the penalty kick, making the Wizards the first scorers of the game. In the 42^nd minute, Stott gave another red card to Revs midfielder Khano Smith, leaving the team with only nine players against Kansas’ 11.

“We…wanted to have some confidence going into the playoffs but things went wrong,” said Revs defender Michael Parkhurst in a post-game interview. “We came out with a bad mentality again and a couple stupid tackles…combine that with the refereeing…it hurts.”

“To send Badilla off just shows a lack of understanding,” Revs head coach Steve Nicol said. He mentioned that Stott had previously ejected a key Revs midfielder, Shalrie Joseph, during a 2007 game against D.C. United.

FOXBORO (10/25/08) – Kansas City Wizard midfielder Lopez (left) stands in the corner kick area while a referee and Revolution forward Kheli Dube deliberate.

Both Badilla and Smith will not be able to play in the opening match against Chicago Fire in MLS Cup Playoffs this Thursday.

Digregorio, however, believes that the Revs can perform well in the playoffs.

“The Houston victory will give us motivation. Plus, we have the experience. I’m confident that they can do it.”

Even after Kansas midfielder Davy Arnaud scored with assists from teammates Lopez and midfielder Roger Espinoza, Digregorio remained relentlessly supportive. Shortly afterwards when midfielder Sainey Nyassi made an unintentional pass to a Wizard player, Digregorio joked, “We’re not in our away jerseys, guys.”

Other fans were less sympathetic when Parkhurst scored an own goal in the 88^th minute, bringing the score to 3-0. Some supporters began to leave the stadium as all luck seemed to have exhausted for the home team.

“I don’t care what the score is. You gotta stay until the end,” said Digregorio as he tapped together his inflatable beaters to resurrect a dwindling “REVOLUTION!” cheer.

Digregorio’s attempt to regain supporter confidence reflects the Revs and the MLS’s efforts to increase soccer’s popularity over the

past few years. With the establishment of the Patriot Place shopping complex next to Gillette Stadium, the Revs’ name has been dwarfed by New England’s National Football Association (NFL) team, the Patriots until recently, when Mayor Menino announced in early July 2006 that he would call a task force that would determine the location of a new stadium for the Revs, according to the Boston Globe.

FOXBORO (10/25/08) – Season ticket-holder Stefan Digregorio shows his support for the New England Revolution.

“I am excited by the opportunity to showcase Boston to Major League Soccer and look forward to a long productive relationship moving forward,” wrote Menino to MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

The Boston Globe also reported that The Kraft Group, which owns both the New England Revolution and the Patriots, is leaning towards building the new pitch in East Somerville, encompassed in the Brickbottom and Inner Belt area. In his 2008 Inaugural Address, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said that the area proposed for the stadium “represents the most exciting Smart Growth development project anywhere on the East Coast.” He also mentioned Governor Patrick’s approval of a development proposal of the Green Line to run from Somerville to Medford, which would embrace accessibility for fans. While some Somerville officials and businesses fear that the plan to build the new stadium might slow down other Brickbottom and Inner Belt redevelopment projects, Digregorio and other fans remain in accord that the stadium would boost supp

orter participation.

“It’s going to be big,” said Digregorio. “It’ll be good for fans who have to come from…far like me; I’m coming from the North Shore area.”

“It’ll be awesome to have a stadium that’s more centrally-located,” said Jon McCormick, a Somerville resident who became interested in supporting the Revolution after watching the 2006 World Cup.

However, the Revs have yet to gain popularity on the air. With highly-anticipated games like last night’s Boston Celtics season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, MLS games prove difficult to rank high on Nielsen TV ratings.

The top cable TV program during the week of October 13 was the American League Championship Series Red Sox game against Tampa Bay. The NFL Regular season game on ESPN was the top syndicated TV program during the week of October 6.

Nevertheless, soccer-only networks have strategized to maximize the quality of their MLS playoff coverage.

According to the New

England Revolution Official Blog, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel chose to cover their team of choice in a way that would “fully tell the playoff story.” The blog noted that “with ESPN2 selecting [the Revs’] series against Chicago…and Fox Soccer taking the Real Salt Lake [versus] Chivas USA series…it should make for great two weeks of soccer action on national TV.”

“The reason why soccer might not be as popular as football is because…football has so many breaks where advertisers can get air time,” McCormick mentioned.

Indeed, NFL breaks serve not only as commercial opportunity, but also, according to American football coach Howard Schnellenberger, current head coach of Florida Atlantic University, “the best thing about American football.” Aside from game play breaks, the NFL has allocated lucrative breaks exclusively for commercial purposes during games.

In a recent L.A. Times Sports forum, reader Chuck Culpepper refutes Schnellenberger’s claim, and names the “top three complaints about American football

FOXBORO (10/25/08) – The End-zone Militia get ready to fire as Jeff Larentowicz scores in the 90^th minute of the game, bringing the Revs up 1 to Kansas’ 3.

heard or overheard during three years in the United Kingdom”. Too many breaks was the top complaint, Culpepper noted, but Schnellenberger argued, “it's that 20-to 30-second gap between plays…The inactivity not only leaves time for serial strategy adjustments from the sidelines, but allows the construction of anticipation, excitement, dread, hope and tension in the audience.”

The breaks also bring in huge dollars for NFL teams. Charlotte News’ Business Journal section reported that ad rates for a 30-second spot during Fox Carolina Panthers broadcasts range from $10,000 to $15,000, according to local media buyers. On a larger scale, the Super Bowl brings in an average of $2.7 million for a 30-second spot, according to Marisa Guthrie, a Broadcast & Cable correspondent. Soccer has one 15-minute break, where most is allocated to post-first-half coverage.

Sponsors have also tried to propel popularity. The New York Metro Stars changed their name to Red Bulls New York when Red Bull Company, which owns the successful Austrian FC Salzburg, acquired the team. According to the official Red Bull sponsorship website, Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz said that he took the next step to buy another team after Salzburg showed success when it qualified for the 2008/09 European Cup.

“18 million Americans actively play soccer in the US, up to 60 million follow the games every weekend as fans or players,” said Mateschitz. “Soccer is just about to make a big breakthrough in the US media. For us it is the logical consequence following the successful launch in Salzburg.”

Two minutes before the whistle blew to conclude the game, Revs midfielder/defender Jeff Larentowicz intercepted the ball from midfield and shot 30 yards from the goal to score a point for the Revolution. The game ended 3-1, bumping the Wizards up to fourth place, and securing the Revs’ third place position in the MLS Eastern league.