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ESPN’s segment on Tim Howard

Tim Howard 2 (AP)

In case you didn't catch it this weekend, here is the must-see segment on U.S. national team goalkeeper Tim Howard put together by ESPN. Enjoy:

What did you think of the piece? Will you be rooting for Everton in the FA Cup? Is Tim Howard your favorite U.S. national team player?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As an everton fan I’m very happy with big Tim in goal for us, the occasonal clanger aside (1 handed stretch would have kept out lampards winner in the final tim :-s ) he is a top class Keeper and a top class guy.

    I was surprised by the two press clippings shown in the video as Tim is very highly respected over here and not really slagged off. however the ‘News of the World’ is the definition of ‘Gutter Press’ so I wouldnt get too worked up over it.

    As for Everton…. THE Greatest football club in the world, Evertonions are not made we are born…
    famous blues… Sly Stallone, Halle Berry amongst others. hehe.

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  2. With the weekend’s game, didn’t Howard just play every minute of the season? “Incredible” doesn’t seem to do it justice!

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  3. You need to buy broadcast and digital rights to content seperately, so ESPN probably didn’t splash the cash for the digital rights.

    It was a great piece though, I really enjoyed it. As a Red Bull/Metro fan, you could see Timmy was destined for big things, so I feel fortunate to have been able to watch him live so many times, and I really hope he comes home for a few seasons once he finishes up in Europe.

    I hope Bradley and Altidore distinguish themselves as much as Timmy has in their careers.

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  4. I hear what you’re saying regarding ESPN’s target market for this piece. I just thought it was a much more interesting story when 60 Minutes did the exact same one four years ago. It’s still a great story and the Everton v. Man U penalty kick shootout was a nice chapter to add, but basically this was just a rehash.

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  5. I think it’s great for them to talk about his Tourette’s in the context of his success. It’s a part of who he is and it inspires others who may be dealing with health-related obstacles. Yes, I’ve known about it for years. But I am not ESPN’s target audience for this piece.

    You also have to consider that it was part of the reason his success against MU was a little bit sweeter — look at the **** the papers printed when he was there.

    You guys who complain about this not being “hard news” lack the capacity to see this from the perspective of the “average” ESPN viewer. Many of them are not self-proclaimed hard-core SBI OGs. ESPN features are often about the places where “real life” and sports intersect. For what it is, this is good piece about an incredible person and footballer.

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  6. nice piece on tim howard. i really felt for him when they showed the brit media calling him a zombie and disabled goalkeeper. harsh!!!!

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  7. Such a classy guy, can’t help but love him. Way to rep Jersey Timmy !!

    It was also very weird seeing soccer, let alone US socer, on ESPN. I could get used to that!

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  8. guys, on TV they showed all the videos you all are asking for… maybe they don’t have the rights to post it online…

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  9. Nice piece. Although, it’s a little disapointing that these types of things seem to always be special interest stories. As a soccer fan I’d much rather see it be a bit harder news – a five minute piece on Howard being in the FA Cup as opposed to ‘Oh look how great it is that he overcame Tourettes.’

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  10. T-Ho is one of my favorite players of all time but that piece was a mostly fluff and condescending. Enough with every story about Tim being about his Tourette’s Syndrome. We get it. Isn’t there anything more interesting for us to learn about? It’s a 9 year old story. He overcame it. And how many freekin’ times are American journalists going to keep equating Man U to the Yankees? My god, it’s embarrassing already. The only thin interesting was to hear hear what David Moyes had to say. Of course it was only about 20 seconds and all the expected coach cliches but at least it was something new in regards to Tim. Is this really the best ESPN journalists can do? Sad.

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  11. When it was aired Sunday they had highlights including commentary of the games.

    Loved the piece, love Howard, favorite player by far for the MNT.

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  12. @CSD, you’re right fans are also to blame for this… American fans and imigtants don’t support MLS enough, they will always wear the Man U/Barcelona/Celtic jerseys and will always criticize the kljestans, the donovans etc. Add to that ESPN and their late starts with MLS game coverage because of …… Womens volleyball… Yes, womens volleyball!!!!
    And that’s why US soccer will never be a top 5 sport , never!! Not in my lifetime, it will always be NFL Baseball, NBA NHL and fifth… All other sports like men’s lacrosse, womens voleyball, senior Bowling tournaments… Darts.. Whatever RUUD GULLIT IS RIGHT!! Because over here at SBI.. We are celebrating for ten minutes of a soccer interview “with basketball topics being asked by the interviewer”. As for fans in the US , they need to become real fullyime fans and not casual hobbyists flirting with soccer, stop wearing the euro jerseys and support US soccer and MLS !!! And ESPN should include US soccer in sportscenter and have at least one hour show a week dedicated to US soccer and MLS. Fans and media are all to blame really. You are all afraid of soccer’s growth, except for the people on these blogs who seem to be the real fans

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  13. Tim Howard is, and always will be, my favorite player. He is also one of my personal heroes (with the exception of my parents). It helps that he is on my favorite non-MLS team (Go Toffees!).

    Congrats to ESPN for a great piece.

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  14. Nice piece on Howard. I have never seen an extended interview with him. I thought it was great and I thought it was well done by ESPN. Nice of Clint Dempsey and crew to help add to his record setting shut out total for the year 🙂

    My best part of the interview was the part about his teammates thinking highly of Jersey because of what he told them about it.

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  15. “when I go to practically empty giants stadium to see RB games. It’s very sad……”

    Do you think there might be a correlation with no fans and no coverage. If the Red Bulls were selling out Giant Stadium every week and ratings were sky high on ESPN’s game of the week there might be a little more coverage on ESPN. There are fans around the planet watching highlights of Lebron James and buying his jerseys…MLS not so much.

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  16. Great piece about a great GK. I’m a Chelsea supporter,but if we do lose the FA Cup to this guy, I have no problem. Tim and Everton are class all the way.

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  17. Great piece on a true American soccer prodigy I love Howard as a player and as a human being. But watching this story on him and watching ESPN waiting for that segment Ives announced, I realized soccer will never be a top 5 sport here in the US no matter what!!! And ESPN has no intention in making that happen. If you observe at how much time is spent on the same news over and over with sportcenter talking about the NBA baseball .. Helio Castro neves Indianapolis , men’s college lacrosse!!! And no love for soccer, no programs covering the champions league , no programs about MLS highlights etc, I mean how many times can you show Lebron James 3 pointer on one day? Enough is enough!!
    Soccer needs more coverage!!! I’m starting to think and agree with Ruud Gullits comments; there is a conspiracy against soccer’s growth in America and US soccer fed knows it there is no interest in the higher powers for soccer to become more popular…. They are afraid of the impact it might have, and when I say “they” is because I don’t know exactly who’s behind this, but I can feel it . I feel it when I watch ESPN I “feel it” when I go to practically empty giants stadium to see RB games. It’s very sad……

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  18. Great piece!

    I like the basketball question. Too often Americans don’t realize Europeans obsession for how most of us can dribble between our legs, spin the ball on our finger, and in general do tricks with the ball. It’s the same as when we see young kids dribble a soccer ball. I lived a large part of my life in Europe and it was always the first question I would get asked when I stepped on a pitch for a scrimmage. What basketball moves can you do? I’d show them with the soccer ball.

    Not tellin’ this story to make myself look cool but to show that it is a 2way obsession. It just may look bad to some that an American journalist is asking an American soccer player this question. It’s normal on both sides though. Soccer AM asked him the same question.

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  19. It is a little weird that they don’t have the FA Cup highlights or the play against Porto like they did in the original broadcast they had yesterday. It’s still a great piece though. Tim is the man!

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  20. Oops, sorry for the skipped post.

    Anyway I’d bet ESPN paid for one time usage or something, just a random guess.

    Still a pretty good piece on Timmay.

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  21. I bet it’s something to do with Sky more than ESPN, Sky has known to ask for ridiculous money for the simplest of things for which they own the rights. It’s just a guess, but I’d bet

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  22. In ESPN’s original broadcast they did show the mistake vs. Porto, which looked to be a punch out directly to a Porto player, who then banged one home. But for some reason the online version does doesn’t have it.

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  23. That was a great story, and Howard is the man.

    Lost a little bit without the actual highlight footage. Like when they said, “until this slip up against Porto in a Champions League…” and didn’t actually show the slip up.

    I also really don’t like questions like, “How much better are you at basketball than your teammates?”

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  24. Not bad, for ESPN. But like Hopper said, where’s the video footage? Even ESPN is cutting cost, including their Champions League offer. How else would Fox have won it?

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  25. What a classy person and player. Howard is one of my favorite NT players.

    He’s also a top 10 GK in the world. He’s the total package for club and country. What a great player. He’s not the best GK in the world, but he’s clearly a top 10. He has had great performances against some of the best teams in the world recently. The match against ManU(ure) and Argentina come readily to my mind.

    We’re all pulling for you Tim. Beat Chel$ea this weekend!

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  26. I found it a little strange that they didn’t show the actual highlights from some of those big moments and instead presented them as a slideshow. I guess ESPN wouldn’t pay for the rights to show Premier League highlights?

    Good piece on Howard though. I hope he comes out on top in the FA Cup Final.

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  27. Great piece. Hope the FA Cup final is a good one.

    I have such respect for Tim as a player and as a man. So proud of him. Hope he continues to get better and better.

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  28. I didn’t want it to end. I hope a lot of non-soccer fans saw that, it was amazing and I think it could change some minds.

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  29. Obviously a great piece. Saw it on Sunday. One question:
    What happened to the archive footage? It went to pictures in this clip.

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  30. Favorite national team player? Maybe, but not of all time.

    My favorite of all time would have to be the skilled and speedy David Wagner. He was incredible.

    Kidding.

    Go Timmy!

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