BringBackTheBlizzard Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Paul James now has a weekly blog about soccer on the Globe and Mail website so Ben Knight has finally been replaced:- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/citys-title-chances-greatly-exaggerated/article1289228/ A major upgrade in soccer knowledge terms but not in writing ability but the former's more important, in my opinion. Good to see someone, who has played the game at a pro level and has played for the national team, getting the opportunity to write about Canadian soccer. I never watched him on Gol TV but by all accounts he offered forthright opinions that antagonized people at TFC. Hope he does the same with his blog when it is merited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Good to see that Paul has landed another gig in the media. I find Gol TV's in-studio coverage misses him or someone like him, badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 ^ Seeing as the GolTV in-house broadcasting, aside from Bundesliga, La Liga and other foreign league coverage, consists of a thinly disguised 24 x 7 infomercial, that would be an understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdroze Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 To be fair, last time I checked GolTV only had about 6 six hours per day of TFC coverage, not 24, but I certainly agree they could use some more independent analysis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Not a fan, but hopefully he proves me wrong. While his criticisms of TFC in the past were valid, i found much of what he was doing rubbed me the wrong way. I wouldn’t exactly describe him as enlightened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard A major upgrade in soccer knowledge terms but not in writing ability but the former's more important, in my opinion. Good to see someone, who has played the game at a pro level and has played for the national team, getting the opportunity to write about Canadian soccer. I never watched him on Gol TV but by all accounts he offered forthright opinions that antagonized people at TFC. Hope he does the same with his blog when it is merited. I look forward to reading his stuff. I don't agree with everything he has to say, but at least he has some credentials and experiences to back up his opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Paul James is a good guy and i enjoy his commentary. I'm glad someone gave him a gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Good for Paul. he got a raw deal at GolTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Paul a soccer Hall of Fame inductee lives, breathes and coaches soccer.Paul will do a very good job and his knowledge is second to none.We are very fortunate to see the real soccer players with that wealth of knowledge reach this plateau and recognition.His opinion matters.I am glad he is back again representing our great game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgary Boomer Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Now if they could just replace Ben with Paul James on "It's Called Football"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 ^ c'mon...don't go picking on Ben (I assume you mean Knight...there are 2 Ben's on that show afterall) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I look forward to Paul James writing with all the keen enthusiasm I have when someone tells me my dentist is fixing my car. "Reach this plateau" ??? There are sportswriters in every village with two camels and a goat all over the world... in James case, how about "sank to this level". Players play, coaches coach, writer's write. Writing is in the blood, and there's a good reason a lot of brilliant, talented athletes and coaches in every sport in the world don't write - because they're smart enough to know what they are and what they're not. Most even have their bios ghostwritten. A player taking up writing in mid-life is like a writer taking up playing. The last time I read something James wrote it included this gem: "if I ever found myself in a position of compromising my own personal ethos which amongst other characteristics includes impenetrable integrity." I usually find stuff of that quality stuck between Larson (Gary, not Henrik) and Keane (Bill, not Roy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 ^ Yeah Singapore like integrity..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Calgary Boomer Now if they could just replace Ben with Paul James on "It's Called Football"... That'd be great, nothing better than someone with an inflated sense of self-worth talking down to the local peons like myself. They'd have to change it to "It's called football: The Paul James Monologues" because nobody would get a word in edge wise. Personally, I threw out any sense of respect I had for this guy when on several occasions he looked more like he was auditioning for his next position with the CSA rather than providing honest journalism. Not to mention his technical sense of the game makes me think he's confused the sport with rugby. If he had the political cache, he’d be just another member of the CSA executive we’d be cursing on a weekly basis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Eric ^ Yeah Singapore like integrity..... I suspect most of the posters on here are too young to have any idea what you are talking about. He did a great job in London with the Lasers in 1992 (basically the Canada Olympic or maybe U-20 team added to get the numbers back up to six after the Steelers folded). He took a team that was expected to act as the Washington Generals when playing the other five teams to the verge of the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmynow Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 James was awful on TV though. No personality .. always looked pissed off or disinterested. He doesn't have a personality for television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 quote:Originally posted by ag futbol I don't think we see enough of that truly insightful investigative stuff, period, and I guess it's a dollars and cents issue. Instead we get too much journalism which involves exclusive surfing of the net for other people's misinformation, which is then passed on as gospel by self-proclaimed people "in the know." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 ^ I'm not sure if that's a knock on some people like the Toronto Star reporters who basically surf the RPB board and produce articles based on what people are talking about or a slight again what i wrote. But if it's the former i completely agree with you. Journalism in general has sunk to a pretty low level, and I'd have to admit when you compare PJ to that he could offer much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 quote:Originally posted by ag futbol But if it's the former i completely agree with you. Journalism in general has sunk to a pretty low level, and I'd have to admit when you compare PJ to that he could offer much better. We are on the same wavelength (definitely not a slight against you: sorry for the misunderstanding). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard I suspect most of the posters on here are too young to have any idea what you are talking about. He did a great job in London with the Lasers in 1992 (basically the Canada Olympic or maybe U-20 team added to get the numbers back up to six after the Steelers folded). He took a team that was expected to act as the Washington Generals when playing the other five teams to the verge of the playoffs. Mind you he did have a young Jason Devos his defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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