Because this is my first official “official” column as a CSN writer, I thought I’d take a step back and look at the big picture.
We all know Canadian soccer is going through what corporations sometimes euphemistically call a “transition period.” Canada will have three MLS teams by 2012, the Canadian Soccer Association has voted for reform itself (kinda sorta grumble grumble), rumours of the CSA’s interest in a pro all-Canadian D2 league are floating to the surface, we’re hosting the Women’s World Cup in 2015, TSN holds MLS rights coast-to-coast—in short, the future—while uncertain—isn’t exactly bleak for football in this country.
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It may or may not be coincidence that these changes took place at the height of another “transition period”; that of print journalism into the digital age. That particular transformation (or disintegration depending on your perspective) hasn’t been as smooth or as hopeful. Again, most of us know the story—old media couldn’t come to grips with the loss of their means of revenue (ad and copy sales), nor the loss of their authoritative voice (enter the bloggers).
While the distinction between MSM journos and independent digital writers has started to blur if not disappear altogether in some news sectors, the iron curtain between soccer bloggers and mainstream sportswriters in Canada is as thick as ever. While major outlets are no stranger to soccer writing, there have been some major gaps in the narrative, sometimes lasting years. The result is zero coverage of the Canadian national team in any meaningful way, and a reliance on AP reports to cover the European leagues in the weekend paper.
Let me tell you right now—this is going to change, and it’s going to change quickly. Look forward to a slew of articles appearing over the next few years in papers, magazines and evening news programs about the “soccer explosion” in this country (the same slack-jawed reports we read around World Cup time when local journos wax embarrassingly about our soccer-loving, multicultural tapestry). Even so, after an embarrassing teething stage soccer will carve out a permanent niche on radio, TV, and newsprint, and eventually regular coverage of the Beautiful Game will become the new normal.
What does this mean for those of us who’ve watched over the Canadian game for years while the giant slept? It means we have a golden opportunity to drop the soccer victim shtick (I’m as guilty as anyone else) and look at the Canadian sports journalism establishment as an opportunity rather than the bane of our existence. That means we need a) more Canadian soccer writers covering more diverse areas of the Canadian game 
a willingness for Canadian soccer writers to take risks by regularly querying pieces in mainstream publications.
The second need presents the more exciting challenge for soccer writers in this country—writing about the game in an informative, and widely accessible way, tying in everything from the Long Term Player Development initiative (“Wellness to the World Cup”), the history of the game in this country, the relationship (if any) that currently exists between amateur youth soccer, the national team, and MLS. Writing about soccer in a way that will make readers excited about the enormous shift in soccer culture in this country. Writing about soccer in a way that will make it attractive to editors of non-niche, national publications.
Why should Canadian soccer writers bother at all with the dinosaur that is “old media”? First of all because rumours of print’s death have been greatly exaggerated (there’s no reason to suggest an American style newspaper cull will in fact take place here), but also because MSM pubs are still THE major point of contact with the general, non-soccer-mad Joe Blow-type readers. Why do we care about Joe Blow? Because Joe's kids play in amateur youth leagues in the summer. Because Joe watches a bit of EPL action on Saturday morning and wants to know if MLS is worth his time. Because Joe has long wondered about the Canadian national team and why we never hear, read, see them on Canadian radios, newspapers and TV channels.
So let me kick off and say Media Takedown is going to be less about griping and more about encouraging. I hope to spend time each week introducing you to a new Canadian soccer blog, an interesting piece on the game here that might have passed you by because it was featured in the Report on Business or the Financial Post. And it’s going to push both independent bloggers and MSM characters to do more—for the former to consider pitching pieces to hated MSM editors and for the latter to start telling old fashioned news stories instead of news items.
So there it is. The old Canadian soccer victim act is dead. Long live Canadian soccer. Welcome to Media Takedown.
Pictured: Galt Football Club, Canadian winners of the gold medal in Association Football at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. You can read more about them here.