I Really Hope This Isn't The Future Of Journalism

I know I pick on Sam Stejskal a lot, but he really, really asks for it. This bit at the end of his post about Julio Martinez made me want to hurl:

Between today's signing, yesterday's report that Krzysztof Krol will be joining the Fire, and last week's draft, the Fire's roster is starting to take a definitive shape. Klopas and de los Cobos, who have emphasized their desire to bring attacking, attractive soccer to Toyota Park for the entire offseason, have stayed true to their word so far; bringing in players that fit that system through both the draft and transfer market. It should be exciting to see how these guys all do on the field next season. I think it's more than fair to expect another appearance in the Conference final come November 2010.

This is either shameless pandering to the fanboys' sense of superiority and entitlement to gain their allegience (and, more importantly, pageviews), or it's shilling for the front office and their relentless spin about "attacking, attractive soccer" -- a phrase that is going to be so stale by Opening Day that I suspect that any soccer writers or fans who haven't drunk all these gallons of Kool-Aid will be openly mocking it, if they're not already.

Either way, it's crap. It's not even consistent, as I'm not entirely sure how signing a wing midfielder and a defender balances against last week's enlightened commentary that, without knowledge of the Collins John pursuit, not drafting some college forward with no MLS experience, the Fire weren't delivering on the AAS promise. Because rookies often contribute the 10+ goals Chicago needs to replace in the lineup.

And yet, Sam is probably one of the more widely read local writers that "covers" the Fire. If this is where we're headed in terms of soccer coverage in the United States, then all the attractive, attacking soccer in the world isn't going to get anyone to take our beloved sport seriously.