OK, before I get into the Rhinos game, I'm just now noticing that my two previous posts have titles that start with "What's going on in ..." I have LOTS of trouble coming up with titles. I'm not creative in a snappy, catchy way. It's the same reason I can't write pop hooks that sail up the charts.
Anyway ... the Rochester Rhinos lost to Vancouver, 3-0, tonight in the USL First Division Championship game, and they lost pretty bad, largely Rochester got the business end of two bad breaks in the first half. In the ninth minute, an apparent goal by Rhinos defender Kenney Bertz was waved off with an offsides call (he WAS offsides, though). Then, at the end of the half, Vancouver scored on a Rochester own goal to break the scoreless tie.
The Rhinos never really recovered. As the cold, rainy, dreary night wore on, they just seemed deflated.
"Tonight we weren't the best team on the field," said Rochester goalkeeper Scott Vallow, his playoff scruff still on his face. "I don't think we deserved to win. We just didn't have it tonight. I don't know what it was."
After the game USL officials held an awards ceremony on the pitch at PAETEC Park, and it had to be depressing for anyone connected to the Rhinos — staffers, players, journalists, fans. As the Whitecaps received their title medals and the championship cup, the Rhinos looked on dourly, some of them patting teammates' head with supportive words, others just staring at the ground. Even I could feel their frustration and disappointment. Using a retooled, youthful lineup, the Rhinos had battled all season to get to the title game, and after the loss it had to be crushing knowing that they got outplayed when it mattered most.
And that's probably the worse feeling in all of sports: knowing that you could have played better, but for whatever reason, you didn't. Up until tonight they had given their fans a stellar, spirited season.
And because of that, the Rhinos, their coaches and their fans shouldn't let tonight's disappointment mar their memories of the 2006 season. The Rhinos exceeded expectations, played superbly all year and put on quite a show for their fans. I know that sounds like corny homer talk, but it's true.
I also know that journalists are told from the first day of Reporting 101 in J-school not to get emotionally connected to their subjects, not to become biased in favor of the sources they cover day in and day out. But in the real world, it's almost impossible to remain completely objective, especially when you're a sportswriter, and especially when the players you write about are just good people, when they're friendly and always willing to give a quote, even after a tough loss like tonight's. How could I — or Jeff Diveronica or Scott Pitoniak or any other journalist in the press box tonight — not feel even just a little bit bad after tonight's game? Quite simply, we can't, because we're only human.
Now, having said all that, I need to add that although it's OK to allow yourself to feel a teensy-weensy bit of empathy for the teams you cover, you also can't let that empathy color your coverage too much, and you have to conduct yourself with a certain level of professionalism.
Tonight, the Vancouver broadcasters and staffers completely lacked any semblance of professionalism in the press box. In fact, they were downright jerks (and, trust me, I REALLY want to call them much nastier names, but I'm trying to be more professional myself. Yeah, imagine that).
First off, the Whitecaps' play-by-play schmuck stood up for most of the game, completely blocking the view of the field for me and the D&C's Kevin Oklobzija. For most of the game I tried to restrain myself and not let it bother me, but midway through the second half, I was too hacked off to stay quiet. I asked the Vancouver staffers if the guy could sit down, and judging from their reactions, it was like I was asking them to poke their own eyes out with red-hot shrimp skewers.
On top of that, they openly and boisterously cheered for the Whitecaps. And I'm not talking just a smile and a high-five. I'm talking jump-out-of-their-seats, hands-in-the-air, shouting-at-the-top-of-their-lungs cheering. I understand that they were elated by the action of the field, but if you want to cheer like that, do it in the stands or on the sidelines, not in the pressbox.
Then, to top it all off, when they packed up and amscrayed, they left behind a mess — piles of paper, a plastic cover, empty beverage containers.
I came away from tonight's game quite impressed by the Vancouver team itself. However, I now have on overall negative opinion of the organization as a whole, thanks to those clowns. So congrats, Vancouver broadcasters and staffers — you're embarassments to your organization. Oh yeah, and congrats on the win.
