News Alert! ESPN Realizes Florence has a Professional Football Team

By: Ted | March 6th, 2008

Just a quick note today as we all look forward to the big UEFA Cup match v. Everton….

As an American sports fan (and not just a fan of soccer), I often go to the ESPN website to get my general sports news. For those of you who do not live in the United States, ESPN is the biggest sports television network in the country; they broadcast over a number of stations and generally provide high-quality coverage of American sports.

ESPN also has a very good website (espn.go.com) that provides all the latest news on American sports and columns by some very respected sportswriters.

ESPN’s coverage of soccer, however, has always been a little spotty. On television they cover some Champions League and some MLS, but little else. On their website they have a soccer homepage (called soccernet) that does a good job of providing up-to-date scores and decent coverage of football news. Much of the website, however, is weighted towards coverage of the Premiership and English football in general. Their coverage of the Spanish and Italian leagues are limited to one (admittedly very, very good) columnist for each nation: Phil Ball on Spain and Roberto Gotta for Italy.

Well, today, Gotta came out with a very long and very thoughtful column on Fiorentina. It is generally an overview of Fiorentina’s season and a consideration about whether the team will be able to break into the top four. Nothing groundbreaking, but it is a good, solid feature article about our favorite team. The article can be found here.

What struck me about this was the fact that I have been going to ESPN for a long time and I’ve never seen a feature article on Fiorentina. They most they have ever done is report the news on the team. Obviously this is all prompted by the big match with Everton today, but does this suggest that the wider world is finally starting to notice the rise of the Viola? Who knows? I’ll take this as a good sign that the club is being noticed, and accept it as a token of good luck for the big game later today.

I’ll be back later with a match review…

Category: Team News

Tags: espn, everton, Fiorentina, roberto gotta, Team News

« Fiorentina v. Everton: Preview | Home | Fiorentina 2 – Everton 0: It’s Been a Good Week to be Wearing Purple »

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Comments  

• Tim |  March 6th, 2008 at 11:03 am

  
  
  

  Ted that was a tremendous article, thanks for putting it up. And I came in early all week and put in some extra hours with the hope that there would be some way for me to watch the game today. But, no luck - it isn’t being shown in any of the soccer bars here in DC. I thought there would be a good chance because of the fact that the Viola were up against an EPL team (see ESPN’s choices on CL broadcasts). Oh well, there’s always matchtracker, youtube and my crossed fingers for the return leg …

  Posted from United States

  

• Francesco |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

  
  
  

  http://www.channelsurfing.net has 2 streams up for it. They always have the best quality and you don’t need to download anything.

  Posted from United States

  

• Francesco |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

  
  
  

  I recommend using the last listed stream, scroll past the two streams that say “AC Fiorentina vs. Everton FC” and go to the one that says “Fiorentina v. Everton”, it’s excellent quality and it’s a stream from ITV4 in England.

  Posted from United States

  

• Ted |  March 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

  
  
  

  God Bless You, Francesco. I mean it.

  Posted from United States

  

• Ted |  March 6th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

  
  
  

  nil-nil at the half. Fiorentina doing the majority of the attacking. I have seen most (but not all) of the match, as I am at a desk at work. More to come…

  Posted from United States

  

• Marco |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

  
  
  

  What a Kuzmanovic goal !

  Posted from Canada

  

• Marco |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:19 pm

  
  
  

  i’ve always wondered, do english teams know they can link the Defence with the attack by using the midfield?

  Posted from Canada

  

• DeGuilio |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

  
  
  

  2-0 Viola! While i’m a Romanista i’m also a proud Italian hoping you guys go through. Everton is a classy side sitting 4th in England and a Fiorentina win would look great for Calcio.

  Forza Roma
  Forza Fiorentina
  Forza Calcio

  Posted from United States

  

• Ted |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

  
  
  

  Four minutes to go and I’m on the edge of my seat…it could be 5-0 right now with the right breaks…

  Posted from United States

  

• -nickt.- |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

  
  
  

  this game has been great for fiorentina. everton don’t look so good though. what gives? tim howard loves to sit on the ball

  Posted from United States

  

• -nickt.- |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

  
  
  

  anyone know how the other games are going?

  Posted from United States

  

• -nickt.- |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

  
  
  

  thats it 2-0!

  Posted from United States

  

• Ted |  March 6th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

  
  
  

  Viola win 2-0. I’ll be back tonight or in the morning with the recap. Good win for the boys.

  Posted from United States

  

• Alessio |  March 6th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

  
  
  

  Shoulda been more. Congrats to all Viola fans.

  Posted from United States

  

• McTalian |  March 6th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

  
  
  

  Well done the Viola.
  Keep pressing forward.
  FORZA SERIE A!

  Posted from United States

  

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