I'm sure most of you have heard about the edict from the new producers of Major League Baseball on Fox TV?
You know, the one where "any announcer mentioning any ballplayer who is dead will be fired"?
I'd like to propose a similar edict for MLS TV directors?
"Any director showing more than one shot of the coaches per half will be fired." :-)
Seriously, what is it that possesses TV directors telecasting soccer matches that fans "need" to see literally countless close-ups of the coaches? OK, show each of the coaches at the top of the game, so fans know who the coaches are. But why do the coaches have to appear onscreen every 5 minutes?
In the New England - Colorado match from Foxboro on Saturday May 25, there were at _least_ 20 close-ups of Rapids coach Bobby Houghton and at _least_ another 10 for Revolution coach Frank Stapleton.
And these weren't little quickies, ALL of them were at least 5-10 seconds each and ALL of them took place while the ball was in play. What on earth does this accomplish?
Remember in the "stone age" days when TNT showed commercials during play so that we missed seeing goals in the 1990 World Cup? Thankfully, those days are gone.
However, now we have these coach closeups resulting in fans missing goals!
Colorado's first goal (by Roy Wegerle) was NOT shown live because the director was lingering on Houghton for the upmteeth time!
What is it about the coaches that is so compelling? Sure, if TV directors want to do closeups of the PLAYERS, fine. We get a perspective of a one on one that we can't get from the long shots. Plus, we let new fans see the faces of the players to create some instant identification so that we can personalize the players in the new league.
But what's the purpose of showing the coaches? Do we get some insight into what they are thinking? Or what they are doing?
Hardly, ALL coaches have only one facial expression during the game: Concern! Also, they can't really DO anything once the game is underway -- except make 3 substitutes -- because soccer is a PLAYERS' game not a COACHES' game.
Why do we need to see these coaches' shots over and over and over again?
No Mas!
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