Sakiewicz joins Ziga Zoga
July 29, 2006
We are pleased to announce that Ed Sakiewicz has officially joined the Ziga Zoga team. Sakiewicz is a dynamic soccer professional who adds depth to the ZZ executive team much like the central midfielder does for its starting 11. Ed brings over 17 years of entrepreneurial experience with specialized skills in developing, organizing and managing strategic teams. Ed’s expertise lies in the areas of start ups, nonprofit leadership, real estate development, sports marketing, online higher education, E-learning and strategic planning to name a few.
The Sakiewicz name is synonymous with professional soccer in the US, particularly MLS. Ed’s brother Nick, one of the founding executives of the league, is the past President of the MetroStars (now known as the Red Bulls) and now serves as President of AEG NY, spearheading the new soccer-specific stadium in Harrison, NJ. Nick serves on MLS’ Business Development Committee.
The Sakiewicz family is all about soccer, serving both the amateur and professional communities. Ed has also developed an advanced and comprehensive understanding of the soccer-specific stadium development dynamic by conducting a unique one-of-a-kind study for his doctoral thesis, entitled, “A Comparative Study of Enterprise Risk Management and Decision Making Criteria Used in Developing Soccer-Specific Stadiums for Major League Soccer”.
Ed is a former professional developmental player from Europe who participated with 1st and 2nd Division teams in Poland and Denmark and played his DI ball at Loyola College in Maryland. Dr. Sakiewicz holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Management with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship, a Master’s degree in Organizational Development, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Ed resides in San Antonio in the Alamo Heights area with his wife, Jennyfer, and three soccer players Eddie, Brenton and Alek.
The Years Between The Cup
July 22, 2006
Better late than never right? So, I really did not post a reaction to the conclusion of the cup. Honestly, I spent a lot of time thinking and talking to close friends that have a desire to make change in our country as it relates to our National Soccer Culture. What motivated me to write this post was Adam Spangler’s post "Projecting Values Upon The Media Glut". Although I did not agree with everything, Adam did an excellent job in his evaluation and I’d recommend reading it.
One thing that Adam said and I really want to focus on is the following, "At some point in all of our lives we are the victim and the crime. My parents used to deconstruct my adolescent tongue with the phrase, “think before you speak.” Foer talks about the Yuppie parents (my parents), raised on the 60’s, co-opting soccer and making it their own and their children’s (that’s me). But as with globalization, soccer is becoming, locally through amateurs, if not just yet nationally by professionals, a force to be reckoned with because this whitewashed moniker is darkening as the minority populations rise.
As Foer also notes, the detractors come forward just as the sport does, especially, oh, every four years or so. I want to make published note of this now. Mark it and watch what happens in the coming days, months, and years. Let’s hope, as with Strom Thurmond, the detractors die off, leaving our cultural gene pool just a little bit better off, a little bit more accepting."
In a nutshell — and I’m paraphrasing — Adam speaks of the differences in America vs. The Rest of the World and its passion for the game and the influence of the game in respective cultures. When it comes to the media, there are simply not the ubiquity of former players, coaches, etc., that really understand and have experienced the game first-hand that are talking about it. Moreover, we have a population of people that are still young in their understanding of the game and what it means to the rest of the world. In essence, we need a few generations to grow up with the game and be engrossed enough into the fabric of the game. This will take time but as Adam recognizes as do many others the bubbling up of the American game is upon us, as was football, baseball and basketball.
The immigrant make-up of our soccer culture is something Major League Soccer & US Soccer are trying to understand and leverage. It has and is being written about but lets face it as a country we need to foster the pop-culture passion for the game. Our youthful professional league needs to grow with a more invigorating and common following as is witnessed in NFL & NBA. These leagues get enormous media attention but also have significant minority followings. Hmmm - strange? Who predominately controls the media in this country? Its rhetorical but, I think you get it.
Traditional media tends to drive the American Pop culture and the more buzz the more consumption. So isn’t interesting the buzz around soccer between the World Cup years in America drops off. Did you notice how many American corporate sponsors there were in the cup? Well, I am asking you to make a mental note - it all has to do with being a marketplace with desire.
The content of the NFL & NBA is desired yet the desire for consumption of sport is in the fabric of Americans - its just being driven by media & public chatter toward these sports and MLB, which is detracting. Pop Culture certainly drives Chris Anderson’s "Long Tail Effect" , which explains that items, content, etc., outside of the blockbuster sphere sell as much of or more in the economic chain of an industry. Think about the economics and the enormous marketplace behind the NFL & NBA and why the MLS & US Soccer present such a threat to these American iconic sports. Can you see how the Long Tail stretches on, and on, and on. To the traditional media, these sports help sell lots of papers, magazines, attract lots of eyeballs, etc. So, what happens when the passion behind media begins to shift? What happens when media becomes more fragmented?
Mindsets begin changing, people begin talking, writing and reporting on new passions (sports). Pop Culture begins shifting and marketplaces begin changing because chatter is driving certain desires.
Consider this, blogging is getting a lot of buzz, chatter, PR, etc., these days and I submit to you that bloggers — soccer bloggers — have the capability to drive Pop Culture change for the sport we are so passionate about and desire for it to receive more attention.
I am interested to hear your thoughts and comments and hope I did not ramble too much.
Thanks for reading,
Jason
Feeling the Magic
July 19, 2006
So why is it that around the rest of the world Futbol is more than just a game? This has been asked in so many ways by so many people, especially American sports enthusiasts. Consequently, there are so many ways to answer the question and so many variables that add to the mix of what is commonly called "passion", "religion", "fanaticism" or "magic".
Through out the world, this game is a fabric of culture because of accessibility and ease of play. Most anyone can play and play most anywhere. It is a game with levels of adaptability and requires constant thinking. Children are highly motivated with continual movement and problem solving thus you see this game being played in so many places with various formats and surfaces etc. Adults follow their teams like their life may be on the line if they don’t make adjustments at the office to be able to attend "The Match". Ok, so this can all be done here in America - where’s the magic?
The Land of Opportunity America is, in sport, in art, in business in many other things but soccer. Why is this? Well, one issue may be that soccer in America does not get enough press, PR, buzz from the traditional media. Usually, the current of the national media sets a tone for national percpetion and can have a tremendous effect on our national mood if you will. So, as soccer players, fans, coaches or community at-large - how do we change this perception and undercurrent in America?
Don’t let me lead you to believe that I have the answer but, I do know that the powerful current that is being generated by bloggers on various fronts is making an impact and causing movements in multiple areas of American pop-culture. Can soccer bloggers truely affect the mindset of the soccer community and national media? Well, I’d like to find out but I also would like the soccer community at-large to develop the American magic and passion for soccer.
To be honest, I am tired of seeing an American Brand promote the Brazilian National Team and its players rather than showcasing great American players. We need our corporate citizens showcasing the American game more and more.
Thoughts?
Soccer Blogger Contact List
July 19, 2006
Soccer Bloggers,
I wanted to bring to your attention that we are circulating a contact list to hopefully gather and publish a soccer blogger directory. I’d like to try and bring all soccer bloggers together for an event to get to know one another and simply share in our collective passion for the game.
Any thoughts?
Ciao,
Jason
Klinsmann Headed to US Soccer?
July 12, 2006
Just after the US squad was knocked out of the Cup a few friends as well as — I’m sure — many others discussed next steps for US Soccer. We — Chris, Ed and I — had a IM debate over what we thought should take place to help propel our program forward (see IM exchange and related discussion below).
Well, a few hours ago the New York Times reported that Klinsmann Stepped Down. What could this mean for the US? I say we snatch him up quick. Invest in Jurgen Klinsmann and give him the opportunity to take our country to the next level. A World Cup champion player that has proven himself on the biggest stage as a player and coach could do so many things for the USA if we truely give him the reigns.
As I spoke of previously, someone like Klinsmann brings experience and the understanding of a passionate football culture - it would be up to the American soccer community to help drive the expectations. Klinsmann, as a coach is youthful and what I mean by that is - he could have a very productive 10+ years of coaching in him. Wouldn’t it be great to have a World Cup champion player that has been there and won it before and delivered a pretty powerful result reaching the semi-finals in his first run as a coach at the helm?
Someone like Klinsmann loves challenges and taking the US program to the next level would be a challenge I’m sure he would welcome. We have the talent and chemistry - we just need a soccer scientist like Klinsmann to mix the right formula.
All in favor — ZIKKI ZAKKI ZIKKI ZAKKI HOY HOY HOY!!!!
What does it take to win a World Cup?…Experience, Passion & Expectations
July 4, 2006
As the U.S. team exited the World Cup, just a few conversations across America began to take place - one was captured below. So, as we prepare to watch the first semi-finals, we see three nations with deep-rooted history and experience in this colossal global competition. Germany, Italy and France have all claimed the crown of World Cup Champion (Germany in 1954, 1974, 1990 - Italy 1934, 1938, 1982, France in 1998) whereas Portugal is the newcomer with an experienced coach.
The question: what does it take to for America to be a contender for the Cup?
Some have called for Bruce Arena’s exit. Some have blamed our development system. Others allude to the American level of passion for the game. More state, that as a country, we just don’t have the experience from a macro level (coaching, players, fans, leagues, etc.). Goldman Sachs even produced a report — Download world_cup_economics.pdf — that takes into account a multitude of factors which is very interesting. Still, America has not found the formula. Could it be in Coca Cola? Who knows?
Personally, I think there are three critical factors and these can be argued. One, the United States as a soccer playing nation lacks the championship experience on the World stage that many other countries have over the U.S. and this speaks volumes. Take Italy for example, this country has been passionately involved in playing this game at the highest levels since the 1930 World Cup but so has the U.S. who reached the semi-finals in the 1930 Cup. The difference is that Italy qualified and won World Cups early in its nations history and continued to prosper as a soccer nation over the decades building a rich tradition and passion for the game. In contrast, the U.S. failed to qualify for 4 decades from 1954 to 1986 and its less than passionate appetite for the sport certainly did not help the U.S. sport. Was U.S. soccer affected by the focus on other sports, developing as a nation of immigrants, fighting wars and building its economy? Maybe so but, this brings me to the second critical factor - passion.
Passion for this game in the U.S. as you look across the globe and compare is lacking. Look at the most notably fan followings, the Brazilians, Dutch, Germans, Argentines, English and Italians - they would all argue they are best fans. Sam’s ARMY is developing but we are just not on the same level yet. Alexi Lalas and countless others have identified passion as a critical factor for the success of MLS and this should only apply to U.S. soccer since our national players should evolve and thrive from this league. Did you know EPL, Seria A and Bundesliga are the three most represented leagues in the World Cup? These are also three of the most passionately represented leagues in the World. This passion naturally becomes ingrained in the local fanbases and thus builds stronger pride and following of its National team. With this pride comes certain expectations, which is what I think is the third critcal factor.
Expectations of a nation carries a heavy burden on the countrymen representing its nation. And when those expectations and consequences are really not there - how can we expect as a nation to reach such heights. We know that in other countries the medias continual coverage has a certain influence on the moral and tone it sets for the country and that influence holds certain expectations of its teams, coaches and players. How much have we as American really expressed our expectations of our team, its coach and the results we expect? Its just not there in relation to the expectations that are upheld in other countries. So, again, I ask what will it take for the U.S. to be a serious contender?
