Live coverage: NSCAA Convention Day 3
Today will be quieter and a bit more laid-back and here won't be any really big events, but I think I'll be able to find some stories and events to tell you about that you'll find interesting.
Live coverage: NSCAA Convention Day 3
Jonathan Tannenwald
Greetings once again from the Convention Center, where a day of relative quiet has been interrupted by some breaking Philadelphia Union news.
It's just been announced that ESPN's top soccer play-by-play announcer, JP Dellacamera, will be the play-by-play announcer for the Union's local broadcasts throughout the regular season.
While a broadcast deal has yet to be finalized, a Union spokesperson told me that a deal is close to completion.
Of course, it's very likely - indeed, expected - that Dellacamera will head to South Africa in June to be a part of ESPN's World Cup announcing teams. It's not yet clear what the Union would do if that happened, but from what I've been told the team expects Dellacamera to be part of the World Cup crew.
Earlier this afternoon, there was news on the player front. According to Mexican news wire reports - including this one on the website of newspaper El Financiero - American defender Michael Orozco may be leaving Mexican club San Luis to come to Philadelphia.
Credit to Ives Galarcep, who found the reporting first and offers (in English) his view of the move - and the rather byzantine process the Union may have to go through to be sure they can land his rights.
Orozco has one cap with the senior national team, but was a regular player in the 2008 Olympic team that Peter Nowak coached. He was a regular starter for San Luis for a while, but hasn't played as much lately.
Moving to the Union would likely get him more playing time and probably also raise his profile in terms of national team selection.
I'm spending the afternoon covering convention events, and I've been updating the blog's Twitter feed throughout the day. You can follow along below.
There's also a new video in the player at right of an interview I did this morning with Union assistant coach John Hackworth. It took place before the Orozoco news broke.
It's very annoying having to click on others for Union coverage. Why is there no direct link for Union like the other pro teams?— LCBline- Be patient brother.— The Time Is Now
- Jonathan- How are they going to pull this off without the allocation pick. It was reported on Big Soccer that Lee Nguyen resigned with his club in Nam, so wouldn't Dallas have the first shot at Orozco? And how where they able to sign Califf?— Dwall
- Ives said they could use a Discovery slot on Orozco. And I don't know how they were able to get Califf if they've still got a Discovery slot left, because the Designated Player slot is still open. Confusing enough?
There will probably be an independant Union button as soon as we take the pitch. JP is amazing news for the Union broadcasts. As for the allocation/DP/Discovery stuff, this is one of the things the players want simplified/eliminated in the CBA discussions.- Does anyone know how/what channel the Union will be televised on locally? I'm hoping its comcast sports, similar to some of the flyers and Phils games. I'm going to be extremely displeased if they end up getting relegated to Fox Soccer Channel or some other channel you must have a special package to get.— JamieJ
JamieJ--I would say CN8 or CSN--I believe the Union has some sort of deal with Comcast.— AdoptedSon
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
