Exclusive Interview with ESPN’s Buzz Carrick, Founder of 3rd Degree
By Matt Barbour
There is little doubt that football is King in Texas. Professional baseball, basketball and hockey in Dallas have all had to slowly but surely swim against the tidal wave of fan support and media coverage that the Dallas Cowboys and college football receive in this town to make their mark on the local sports scene. Soccer, in spite of it’s overwhelming global popularity, has been treated as a second-tier sport by many in the Dallas area (particularly the traditional media). But Major League Soccer is growing in stature nationwide, and FC Dallas is starting to be recognized as the fifth major sports franchise in Dallas. Recently SportDFW conducted an interview with ESPN’s Buzz Carrick, who has been writing about FC Dallas since 1997 for 3rd Degree. The interview covered a range of FC Dallas and soccer-related topics and even has a response that may be a bit surprising for many football fans. Minor edits have been made for clarity.
SportDFW: Do you feel that Los Angeles Galaxy are still the team to beat in MLS?
Buzz – Yes, the Galaxy will still be the best team over the course of the season.
SportDFW – Who would your sleeper or surprise team be?
Buzz – My sleeper is Philly, mostly cause I really like Peter Nowak as a coach.
SportDFW – Where do you see FC Dallas finishing in the Western Conference?
Buzz – I have FCD 3rd in the West.
SportDFW – With George John back and ready to renew his partnership with newly minted captain Ugo Ihemelu, FCD’s backline looks to be set, so are the experiments with Shea at CB on the shelf for 2012? Do you see him playing more out wide or up top this season?
Buzz – Shea won’t be playing CB (center back) this year because FCD has more depth there. Shea will play 90% of his time wide in midfield, but will do a lot of swapping of sides with Castillo.
SportDFW – Speaking of Shea, who will pick up the creative slack if (as expected) he spends a large part of his summer at World Cup qualifiers and the Olympics?
Buzz – Carlos Rodriguez will get the first shot at replacing Shea I think at left mid, after that… Wiedeman I guess. Shea being away from the team puts a big burden on Andrew Jacobson to link to Ferreira (or Villar) and Perez.
SportDFW – Do you expect Shea to finish the season in an FCD uniform after he trained with Arsenal in the offseason and with all of the speculation about a jump to Europe?
Buzz – Yes, Shea will finish the season with FC Dallas.
SportDFW – How many goals do you expect Blas Perez to score?
Buzz – Perez will score 12 goals.
SportDFW – Do you think Ruben Luna or Fabian Castillo are set for a breakout season?
Buzz – Fabian Castillo is going to be the FCD break out player this year. Luna will take a step forward but won’t “break out.”
SportDFW – Totally loaded question, but what do you see as the biggest challenge(s) to FC Dallas matching the excitement and atmosphere in some of the recent expansion cities or even what we saw from Sporting Kansas City’s fans in their new stadium (Livestrong Sporting Park) last season?
Buzz – Relevance in a saturated, conservative sports market and failings in reaching the Hispanic fan base.
SportDFW – Let’s look ahead 15 years. What will be seen as the biggest step in the growth of MLS into being considered one of the big 5 in American sports? The NBC contract, the Designated Player rule, the passion (and impressive attendances) in the Cascadia (Portland, Vancouver and Seattle) rivalries or the implementation of soccer-specific stadiums for most of the teams?
Buzz – National footprint and TV ratings. The audience is growing into the sport, soccer is now the #2 sport amongst younger fans (after football).
SportDFW – What changes have you seen in terms of fan support in Dallas over the last 10 years?
Buzz – In Dallas very little apart from the loss of most Hispanic fans. In MLS the young, urban, passionate fans in the northwest have blown me away. That’s not what I expected.
SportDFW – Can you give us a few reasons why people in the Dallas area who haven’t been to FC Dallas Stadium before should make an effort to attend a match this season?
Buzz – Quality play from your local side. If you like soccer, this is your local team, and they are good. It’s hard to convince people who don’t like the game to come, but this game is loved worldwide, give it a chance.
SportDFW – If you could attend any match in any competition(league, cup, friendly, international) in the world, where would it be, between what teams and why?
Buzz – 1. Home game for Newcastle United, because they are my English Premier League team that I have followed for years. 2. Boca Juniors vs River Plate <Argentina>.
SportDFW – As an Aggie and a soccer fan, would you rather see Texas A&M win the National Title in football or the USMNT win the World Cup?
Buzz – By far USMNT win the World Cup. Not even close.
SportDFW would like to thank Mr. Carrick for taking the time to share his thoughts, knowledge, and opinions with us. Click here to check out his website for all things related to FC Dallas.