Today Steven Cohen and the people at World Soccer Daily announced their broadcast would cease production.
Steven, co-host Kenny Hassan and produce Rafael Gonzales were nice enough to led me sit-in with them during a show, research for a story I did at World Soccer Reader. That story was, as some have labeled it, a puff piece, intended to capture some of the affection the loyal listeners had for the show.
After doing that story, I did more work on the Cohen, Liverpool supporters groups conflict and came to empathize (to some degree) with each side.
Overall, soccer fans in the United States were served well by having a daily soccer broadcast. I do believe that another show will step into the void this disappearance creates. I was saddened to see World Soccer Daily end the way it did.
I couldn’t help but feel for Rafael, who lost his dream job. Rafael was very helpful to me during my visit. He obviously had a deep affection for the show and the hosts. He is a young man and will bounce back, but he’s also young enough to not have perspective on what’s happened.
Then again, who has perspective on something like this?