This is the first in a series of media watch posts I'll be doing over the next three days as an attempt to frame how the mainstream sports media is covering the match in Columbus.

With USA-Mexico only two days away, and soccer fans in two countries buzzing with excitement, the sports media hype machine should be at full throttle. While the dedicated soccer outlets, a litany of bloggers, and a minority of sports fans are paying rapt attention to events in Columbus, it seems America's sports media giants are ignoring soccer once again.

While I am admittedly biased, I find it hard to understand why this game is receiving so little attention. It's especially baffling on the part of ESPN, which is not only the organization with the most resources, but also the network broadcasting the game (Wednesday, 7 ET ESPN2). Although there is at least one commercial running to publicize the match, it looks to be a rather pedestrian effort. Plugs for upcoming games on their network is standard fare on the part of ESPN during their Sportscenter broadcasts, but I have yet to see this happen for USA-Mexico. In addition to the paltry push and dearth of coverage (a preview piece less than a week before the match does not seem like too much to ask) on television, ESPN also seems to be neglecting the game on their main web page. A quick scan of the page this morning reveals one link to anything related to USA-Mexico; a story by Frank Dell'Apa on the efforts of both countries to bring in national team reinforcements through the naturalization process. Even this nod to the game is buried at the bottom of the page, where the average surfer would more than likely not normally go (looks like space filler to me).

For the other major sports media outlets, television concerns don't apply. Sports Illustrated, CBS, Fox; these organizations would only need to cover the USA-Mexico match as they would any other sports story. Yet, a review of their main web pages shows no stories on the match, the buildup, the rosters, or even the rivalry (the aspect that would seem to me to be the most appealing to the mainstream media). The obvious argument for the lack of main page links is the amount of news to be covered in American other major sports, and the currently running MLB steroid story certainly deserved top-billing. That being said, all of these outlets have chosen to link to stories that are clearly secondary to American sports fans: the birth of Tiger Woods' second child just to name one example.

American soccer fans have come to expect this type of treatment. Beaten down by years of neglect, it appears that we've come to accept our fate, we either dig deeper, or go elsewhere for our soccer news. While this is certainly a practical approach, the lack of pressure on the mainstream media outlets to cover the sport only serves to continue the cycle. Add to this (mostly) silent group to any new fans of the game "ashamed" to be identified as such, and the results speak for themselves.

That last thought just occurred to me for the first time in the midst of writing this, so I'm not quite sure if such a thing exists. It wouldn't surprise me though; the ratings for Euro 2008 and Premier League matches can't just be due to Euro snobs and ex-pats. There's bound to be some newer fans of the sport out there who are turned off by MLS for whatever reason, and aren't active on the Internet, the only place where soccer fans can really go for news/interaction.

I don't expect that much will change tomorrow, but I'll be back to take another look at things. If there are other major media outlets I'm missing that you guys think should be covering the match, even if just a little, let me know.