No matter your position in the suddenly-hot debate over Bob Bradley's worth as US National Team coach, the movement advocating his firing (or resignation) is an interesting window into the soccer culture of America.
Without the mainstream media microscope of the more popular sports, soccer is left with a few paid journalists and a cadre of amateur soccer bloggers. This collection of blogs, no matter their narrower reach individually, has a reasonable influence as a combined community.
It's the weight of many voices being brought to bear that has me intrigued; putting aside for a moment my own feelings on the matter, I'm heartened to see an organization (US Soccer) that has too often been given a free pass by those in within the American soccer community's mainstream media be put on notice by bloggers across the Internet. Believe it or not, more pressure on US Soccer is a good thing; without a reasonable amount of accountability to those of us who truly care about the program and the National Team's direction, Sunil Gulati and those in positions of power can continue to act with impunity.
More than likely, the feelings of dissatisfaction and expressions of them by writers of all qualities and worth will mean nothing in the big picture. The full weight of thousands (roughly speaking; I have no idea how many there actually are) of bloggers is still only one straw on the back of US Soccer's camel. It would take many more straws from many more writers with more influence and higher profiles to create any legitimate pressure that might somehow affect change. But make no mistake; Soccer House knows we're out here, be we journalists, bloggers, or commenters. With every "FIRE BOB!" blog post and "It's time for a change" article, bloggers make an impact, no matter how small it might be.
And so, I'm encouraged. Soccer may not get the attention it deserves, or have the talking heads breaking it down here like it does in so many other footballing nations; but there are people speaking out, and doing so loudly and with passion, and in the end, that's just about all we can ask. It will take time for the head honchos of US Soccer to really be swayed by the winds of public opinion and the force of collective pressure. In the world of new media and direct access, it's bloggers and their readers who will slowly build to that crescendo; the time is coming, and today's backlash against Bob Bradley and a plateaued USMNT is only the first domino to fall.
