Songs that remind us of the good times

On July 31, the longest-tenured national print journalist is leaving the Washington Post. Steven Goff's decades of coverage included the full 30 seasons of D.C. United, 14 World Cups, 24 MLS Cups, 20 College Cups and 344 national team games. With all the other layoffs, force reductions and consolidations, it is hard to think of anyone working in traditional media who has done more soccer coverage.

That era is over. At the same time as DC is celebrating their 30th anniversary, they are losing the person who knows that first year more than anyone.

The perpetual reduction of written, professional media covering soccer in the United States – at the same time that the game is more popular than ever – saddens me. In some ways, the blogosphere (what's left of it), social media and democratized video without editorial stands are to blame. That blame can also be passed around to other less-directly soccer related issues.

One of the fascinating transitions as names like Goff, Straus and the wave of pre-Sounders-in-MLS writers faded out is that Sounder at Heart is still here and maybe even stronger than ever.

Many blogs are not – 24th Minute, Seattle Pitch, MatchFitUSA, and most pre-SB Nation blogs are gone. Many of my friends that worked at SBN pre- and post-Vox left the hobby of writing about soccer.

Turning a hobby into a profession is hard work. It takes different skills than creating community and writing mostly well. The managing editor has to be an all-arounder capable of writing, editing, audio, video, payroll, hiring, selling adverts, managing a CMS (even if other people help, the person at the top must be a little bit of everything).

In the era when newspapers dominated, a writer needed to write, develop sources and have an understanding of the issues, but very little outside of the actual journalism.

Mostly, the way to survive is to convince a few thousand people that specialized, focused content has value. Where newspapers and national websites try to be a lot for everyone, the modern era of websites-come-newsletters is about specialization and dedication. Sounder at Heart has leaned into this and I think we do it quite well. There are other examples around the United States, but far fewer than there probably should be.

MLS and the American soccer scene is going to be worse off without Goff. Every team is worse off without the numerous blogs that covered the teams a decade ago. Every fan is worse off with social and video influencers who don't have core journalistic ethics, nor an editor to answer to.

Soccer media is stronger with trusted voices who amplify each other's good work, with grinders who dive deep into the tales of the sport, with daily content that inspires future players and future media. TV and streaming coverage of sports that once lifted writers up to be experts now loses that pipeline as there aren't as many writers – that video landscape runs the danger of only being former players or virality specialists.

Wherever Goff winds up next, his writing will be must read.

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Catching up on Sounder at Heart

Here's what you missed on the site this week.

Sounders

Next match: Saturday, July 19 vs. San Jose Earthquakes | 5:30 pm PT | MLS Season Pass
After the midweek results, Seattle seems to have drifted back to a pace (55-60 points) that would be one of their best ever while also finishing the second-lowest in the West in the MLS era (competing for 5-7th and no home-field)

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Reign

Next match: Sunday, July 20 vs. Urawa Red Diamonds | 1 pm PT | no broadcast
The NWSL is in the middle of their summer break for international tournaments and mandatory rest.

Defiance

Next match: Sunday, July 20 at Colorado Rapids 2 | 7 pm PT | YouTube
Defiance are 10th in the West, behind all but one team in the Central and all but two teams in the Pacific. Both trailing teams in the Pacific are only three points behind Tacoma.