Lose the Mixed Zone

Left over from the MLS Cup, due to technical difficulties — my own — prior to the title match:

Major League Soccer may never overtake the NFL in popularity in America – in fact, it won’t – but it does put on a professional presentation. All of the activities prior to Sunday’s championship game were nicely orchestrated. In fact, MLS probably took a lot of cues from the NLF and NBA…

There is always talk about making a few changes to the American soccer game, for instance not having ties in MLS. My suggestion is, first off, get rid of the mixed zone. It’s clumsy, ineffective and allows athletes to dodge the media. The system involves a row of barriers, behind which soccer players walk on their way out of the stadium. Media gather along the barriers and the athletes stop where they please.

Trouble is, it doesn’t allow for a lot of the fresh material, the type that comes from an athlete still sitting beside his locker. It also allows the athlete to pick and choose who he wants to talk to.

The mixed zone is customary in European sports, as well as the Olympics. It’s one import America should reject entirely…

Drew Carey, part-owner of the Seattle Sounders, was in the press box last Saturday to answer questions from the media. He seemed laid back and genuinely funny, sitting at a table while others gathered around. Every minute or so the group would erupt in laughter. Carey seemed willing to hang around all afternoon, had it not been for the publicist who sat beside him, trying end the session. But Carey kept on talking. Eventually his publicist stopped the proceedings by saying, “Thank you.” End of session…

When a sports writer asked about Salt Lake being a “sort of back woods location” for MLS, a Los Angeles Galaxy publicist shook his head in disagreement, saying, “We play in Carson.”