ESPN’s saturation of World Cup coverage into the United States has added another source. Sirius/XM radio announced today that the sattelite radio provider will broadcast ESPN Radio’s coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

ESPN Radio’s coverage will be spearheaded by American announcer JP Dellacamera, the primary play-by play announcer for the USA’s World Cup qualifying campaign. Dellacamera will be joined by color analyst Tommy Smyth, one of the longest serving soccer analysts in the U.S. Both announcers have a wealth of World Cup experience with Dellacamera announcing the previous six World Cups for various networks and Smyth has called 2,500 international and club matches with three World Cups to his name.

During the last stage of group play, matches will be played simultaneously. During this time Sirius/XM will devote an extra channel to World Cup coverage. ESPN Radio has not announced who will announce those matches.

“The anticipation for the World Cup has been building for four years and for soccer fans there is no bigger event,” said Scott Greenstein, SIRIUS XM’s President and Chief Content Officer.  ”SIRIUS XM and its extensive array of channels will deliver every minute of every match, and ensure that fans can follow all the action involving every team from anywhere.”

This is great news for American fans with 9-5 office jobs. Many of the matches will be played during normal business hours, and it is much easier to listen to the radio covertly than watch matches on a computer. It’s also further evidence that the coverage of the tournament will be so immense, and access so that coverage so easily accessible, the World Cup will be unavoidable by Americans this summer.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the launch of a brand-new eBook today entitled What The World Cup Means To Me. The free eBook, published by EPL Talk sister site World Cup Buzz, features stories from some of the top 21 soccer writers and personalities around the world including Soccernomics author Simon Kuper, BBC World Football Phone-In’s Tim Vickery, ESPN’s Rebecca Lowe and Tommy Smyth, GolTV’s Phil Schoen and many others.

The premise of the book is simple. It features stories about what the World Cup means to each of the contributors. The beauty of the question is that the World Cup means something different for everyone. For many soccer fans, it means their first introduction to the sport. For others, it means much more. Rather than steal anyone’s thunder, I encourage you to download the free eBook, read the 35 pages for yourself and then share your feedback regarding the eBook on World Cup Buzz.

I’m also encouraging you to share your own stories of what the World Cup means to you. Just visit www.WorldCupBuzz.com/sharemystory and share your personal story there.

The World Cup holds a special place in the hearts of soccer fans worldwide. What does it mean to you? What does it mean to people like Misha Sher, This Is American Soccer’s Adam Spangler, Setanta’s Paul Dempsey, Football 365′s John Nicholson, Peter Lupson (author of Thank God For Football) and the other personalities featured in the eBook. Download it today to find out.

The release of What the World Cup Means to Me marks the beginning of the EPL Talk Network’s coverage of the 2010 World Cup. More details will be released shortly, but we have a lot in store for you over the coming days and weeks and throughout the tournament. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to visit World Cup Buzz on a daily basis moving forward, follow World Cup Buzz on Twitter and visit the World Cup Buzz fan page on Facebook.

Special thanks to all 21 contributors for taking valuable time out of their day to share their stories. And last, but not least, thank you to Aram Gumusyan for designing the eBook and banner.

This week on EPL Talk we’ll bring you exclusive interviews from some of the biggest names in English football such as Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke, as well as an interview with ESPN pundit Shaka Hislop. Our coverage began last Friday with an exclusive interview with ESPN analyst Tommy Smyth. And it continues today with a glimpse of what it was like to spend five days at sea with Cole, Yorke, Hislop, Smyth and the ESPN crew.

Many of you who read EPL Talk regularly will probably know that I’m no fan of American football. It’s not that I hate the NFL. It’s just that I find it mind numbingly boring, which is only made worse by the multitude of TV commercials that permeate each game.

So when I was approached by ESPN last week to go on a 5-day cruise as part of their “Super Bowl At Sea” viewing party, I was hesitant at first until I learned that the cruise would feature two of the greatest strikers ever to grace the English Premier League, Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke, as well as ESPN pundits Tommy Smyth and Shaka Hislop. How could I pass up a chance of a lifetime opportunity to interview these players and pundits?

The premise of the cruise was to bring together celebrities from both the American and European codes of football to promote ESPN International’s coverage of the Super Bowl, which was televised live to more than 51 million households in 140 countries and territories throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle Easr, Israel, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim and much of Europe.

While on the journey, the ESPN crew recorded several reports for SportsCenter and Press Pass to be aired during the week on ESPN in the Pacific Rim and Latin America.

During the cruise, I had the opportunity to spend quite a lot of time with Tommy Smyth, had lunch with Dwight Yorke, talked football with Andrew Cole and Shaka Hislop and got to know the former NFL players pretty well who were also on board such as Rod Coleman, Carl Pickens and Norris McCleary.

Here are the stories from my adventures on the high seas with ESPN, Yorke and Cole:

Driving down the highway on the Thursday afternoon before the Super Bowl, it seemed a little surreal to be passing the Sun Life Stadium, the site of the Super Bowl where the TV signal would be beamed to approximately 93 million people worldwide. It was almost as if I was trying to find a way to get as far away from the stadium as possible to watch the game on television. The stadium is 43 miles from my house. Cozumel, my destination, was 610 miles away.

After setting sail from Miami aboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas cruise ship, I was immediately surprised at how many vacationers were walking around wearing Arsenal jerseys. In my first hour, I saw three or four. Some of the people wearing the shirts were either ex-pats or people on holiday from England, but one bloke I struck up a conversation with was from Toronto and was a massive Gooner.

That afternoon, I went up to the deck of the ship to meet the ESPN television crew and watched Tommy Smyth record a couple of segments. Wearing a sombrero and holding a pina colada in one hand, Smyth sat down on a deck chair and started talking about the upcoming Super Bowl and the festivities that were happening aboard the ship. No teleprompters, no scripts. Smyth was a natural. He’s a born talker and definitely has the gift of the gab.

As the afternoon rolled into the evening, I was really impressed by Smyth’s work-rate. The Irishman was all over the place. Talking in front of the camera on the deck, signing autographs and shaking hands wherever he walked, and then moving down a few levels in the shop to record another segment, and then later hosting the first of the evening’s shows from the theater on board. The man is a dynamo.

The next day, the Friday before the Super Bowl, I stood in the crowd and watched Smyth host a TV segment which featured the three NFL players to his right, and the three soccer players to his left. It was my first opportunity to see Andrew Cole, Dwight Yorke and Shaka Hislop in person. Smyth was the ideal person to be in the middle of them. Asking questions of the NFL players and getting their insight into the upcoming Super Bowl. And then asking the soccer players about their thoughts on the Super Bowl and soccer-related topics. The most eyeopening discussion for me was Smyth’s questions to both the NFL and soccer athletes when he asked them about what it was really like to be on the field and how much banter players would get into against their opponents.

A theme that arose in the segment that Smyth hosted ran through the entire weekend. And that was the banter between the soccer players and American footballers about which form of football was better. It was all in good taste. But incredibly the banter lasted throughout the weekend from Friday morning all the way through to Sunday night. There was even a scavenger hunt on board the ship the following day pitting “Football Against Football” with teams captained by the soccer players battling against the NFL athletes. But without a doubt, by the time the cruise was over, the NFL athletes had a better appreciation for soccer and the soccer players, and the soccer players and pundits had a better appreciation of NFL. After chatting with McCleary, Coleman and Pickens, I too had a better appreciation for NFL. All three NFL athletes were down-to-earth, well spoken and a pleasure to meet.

The “Football Against Football” theme was a constant throughout the entire weekend in a couple of different ways.

First, whenever there were functions aboard ship such as an opportunity for vacationers to meet and greet the players, the soccer crew were far more in demand than the NFL players. At times, the NFL players hung back in the shadows while the crowds seemed more interested in chatting with the soccer players and pundits.

Second, there was a private function that allowed the crew members to meet both the NFL and soccer stars in one room. ESPN had a box of American footballs and one box of soccer balls. Both were emblazoned with the ESPN logo. And the crew members who walked into the room had a choice of picking either ball and getting it signed by any of the stars in the room. After between 100-200 ecstatic crew members came into the room, the box of soccer balls was soon depleted. But the box of American footballs was nearly empty but still had plenty for crew members to select from, if they wanted. Pretty soon, ESPN had to grab another box of soccer balls.

In that room, it was a very multicultural experience. You had crew members from around the world. There was a soccer fan from the Middle East who asked Shaka Hislop how he could get a visa to become a soccer player in the States. There were plenty of soccer mad fans from Africa and the Caribbean. There were girls from Australia and South Africa, a few Americans and even a lady from Wales, much to my delight. With it being such a multicultural group, it was interesting to see how popular the soccer players were. And yet again, how the NFL athletes drifted into the background but humbly welcomed anyone who approached them for an autograph.

The other constant theme throughout the entire weekend of the cruise was the popularity of Tommy Smyth. More people approached him aboard the ship and in Mexico than Cole, Yorke, Hislop and the NFL athletes combined. There were constantly people coming up to him and introducing themselves and getting their pictures taken with him. Not everyone knew his name, but there were constantly people complementing him and I heard several “Is that Tommy Smyth?!” questions from the crowds I walked through with him. Ever gracious, Smyth took his time and cracked a few jokes and always gave the strangers his full attention.

With Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke, I had no idea whether they would both be a prima donna or very down to earth. Out of the two, Cole impressed me the most. He was well spoken, very quiet at times but always humble and a perfect English gentleman. In the first couple of days, Yorke was invisible at times. You would see him at the times when he was supposed to be interviewed. But afterwards he drifted away and didn’t seem to hang out with the crew much or participate in all of the activities. As a result, it was harder to get to know Yorke but during the last 24 hours of the cruise, I had the chance to have spend more time with him: at lunch, on the captain’s bridge and during the Super Bowl. As soon as I got to know him better, he opened up more and once you got to know him, he was great.

For both Yorke and Cole, they were able to walk around the cruise ship and stroll down the Promenade without being bothered by the few thousand cruisegoers walking past.

I didn’t get to spend as much time with Shaka Hislop as I would have liked but every time I was near him, he was the perfect gentleman. Jovial, always good natured, he seemed to always be enjoying life and his role as a pundit for ESPN is a perfect role for him after a distinguished career in the Premier League, World Cup and Major League Soccer.

Throughout the weekend, there was plenty of panel discussions among the athletes hosted by Smyth, and joined by Hislop. When the discussions were more NFL-centered, ESPN International side-line commentator Georgina Ruiz-Sandoval joined in.

While aboard the ship I had the chance to watch ESPN International on the TV in my stateroom. The Saturday morning match between Liverpool and Everton was shown live on the channel. The only difference between the broadcast of the match on ESPN International versus ESPN2 was the TV commercials. Instead of the typical Axe and armed forces commercials, ESPN International showed promos for their upcoming programs. Two, in particular, got my notice. The first was one for Serie A, which is shown by ESPN outside the United States. And the second one was for a program called The Legends Of Cricket, which featured lots of black-and-white archived footage.

The final two stories I want to share with you from the cruise are about Tommy Smyth and the climax of the cruise which was the Super Bowl.

I heard a surreal story from Smyth, which was confirmed by an ESPN employee, that Tommy Smyth is big in Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria. So big in fact that Smyth sometimes receives e-mails from the defense minister of Nigeria commentating on his tactical analysis. And most of the fan mail that Smyth gets is from Nigeria. He’s so big in Nigeria that football supporters there often pass around bootlegs of Smyth’s work throughout the country.

All of the events from the weekend culminated in the big game, the Super Bowl. Sitting in a theater that was converted from an ice skating rink to a viewing party, all of the ESPN crew and athletes were present as we sat down to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts. In the first half of the game, it was very one-sided and looked like it was going to be a blow out win for the Colts when they were 10-0 ahead.

During breaks in the game, and there were plenty of them, I had a couple of conversations with Cole and asked him what he thought. His reaction was that he couldn’t believe how many TV breaks there were in the game. For someone who is so used to an almost fluid 90 minutes of non-stop action in soccer, except for half time, the degree to which TV controls American football instead of American football controlling TV is hard to believe. Sure, the TV commercials are often more appealing to many viewers than the actual game itself, but since we were watching the ESPN International feed, there were no commercials. So the game seemed to drag on even more than usual.

Luckily, the Super Bowl came to life in the second half and it ended up being pretty exciting especially since the underdog won. As soon as the game ended, the ESPN crew and athletes moved outside the theater and began singing “When The Saints Go Marching In,” including Yorke who was having in a party spirit.

The five day cruise opened my eyes to ESPN International’s TV coverage around the world. And as Tommy Smyth said to me, he’s commentating just as many Champions League games as he was before but the only difference is that the games aren’t shown on ESPN in the United States any more. It was a pleasure to get to know ESPN better, and they were the perfect hosts. It was also a honor to meet Cole, Yorke, Hislop, Smyth and the NFL athletes. But the star for me that long Super Bowl weekend wasn’t a New Orleans Saints player. It was Tommy Smyth.

Tommy Smyth is one of the most prominent personalities covering soccer at ESPN. Earlier this week, Tommy sat down with The Gaffer for this edition of the EPL Talk Podcast.

Some of the topics discussed with Tommy Smyth include:

• His views on whether soccer will become more popular in the United States after this summer’s World Cup has ended,
• What his role will be during the tournament and where we can expect to see and hear him,
• How far soccer on television has progressed since he began working at ESPN 19 years ago,
• What he thinks of the TV ratings thus far for the 2009-10 Premier League games shown on ESPN2,
• Whether it hurts him when he reads or hears negative criticism aimed at him,
• Who will win the Premier League trophy this season,
• and much more.

Don’t forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free. In the past few weeks, we’ve interviewed legends of the game such as Steve McManaman, Efan Ekoku, Martin Chivers and Robbie Earle as well as experts such as Declan Hill, Simon Kuper, Misha Sher, Matt Dickinson, Andy Brassell and many others. Why pay $40 a year to rival podcasts when you can subscribe to the EPL Talk Podcast for FREE featuring interviews with the biggest names in football?

ESPN will broadcast all 2010 World Cup games this summer live on ESPN Radio in addition to its coverage on television, broadband and mobile phones.

Tommy Smyth has been named as the lead analyst for ESPN Radio and will probably do all of the games as well as being in the stadium to broadcast the World Cup Final live. All of the games are going to be available on radio nationwide via your local ESPN Radio affiliate. To find your local ESPN Radio affiliate, visit the ESPN Radio station locator.

ESPN Radio has exclusive English rights to all of the 2010 World Cup games in the United States. For those soccer fans who are working or who don’t have access to a TV set for all of the games, the broadcasts of the games on radio is a perfect remedy.

It’s pretty sad when two soccer columnists who represent what is supposedly one of the nation’s top newspapers are so incompetent and out-of-touch with reality.
Last November, I called New York Times soccer columnist Jack Bell a wanker for writing an idiotic article criticizing Fox Soccer Channel for broadcasting the Premier League, the world’s most popular sports league. Now Bell is criticizing ESPN for its Euro 2008 coverage.

Bell this time aims his criticism at ESPN’s decision to feature Euro 2008 commentators with British and Irish accents instead of those that are American. Jack Bell backs up his claims by including quotes from sometimes New York Times columnist Greg Lalas, better known as the brother of another doofus, Alexi Lalas.

Here are their inane comments:

1. “ESPN’s decision to import the Scotsman Andy Gray as an analyst has added a whiff of authority and some good insight. But would that insight be absent, for example, if Americans like Shep Messing or John Harkes were at the microphones instead?” – Jack, the answer is a definite yes. I loved John Harkes as a player, but he’s one of the most boring football commentators I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing. Shep Messing is okay, but Andy Gray is better than Messing by a country mile. Gray’s ability to provide listeners insight into tactics and formations is fantastic as well as his ability to be direct with his criticism, which is so refreshing to hear.
2. “There’s nothing offensive about Derek Rae, the Scottish play-by-play guy. But is he any better than J.P. Dellacamera, the voice of M.L.S. and the U.S. national team on ESPN?” — Again Jack, the answer is yes. How incompetent can Bell be not to realize the world-class commentary that Rae provides and to suggest that Dellacamera could do better? I’m a big fan of JP, but Dellacamera has only recently returned to the game after being out for quite some time commentating hockey matches. Dellacamera, alongside Seamus Malin and Phil Schoen, are three of the best U.S. soccer commentators the country has to offer, but all of them pale in comparison compared to Derek Rae and Andy Gray. In a recent interview I conducted with Dellacamera, he himself admitted that he wasn’t on top of the latest European news since being out of the game for so long.
3. “ESPN has made it clear to its roster of mostly competent American soccer dudes that they need not apply for any job outside broadcasting Major League Soccer games” — That’s a ridiculous and childish statement to make. Rather than to go home and cry to mommy, Bell should realize that American commentators need to improve their work so they can compete against people such as Adrian Healey, Tommy Smyth, Rae and Gray. Would Bell and Lalas be more satisfied if we brought back Marcelo Balboa and Dave O’Brien? Both of them were an abomination in World Cup 2006. And do they realize how many American viewers ESPN and ABC lost because they switched to the Spanish language network Univision for better commentary?

Obviously ESPN knows what they’re doing. ESPN’s Euro 2008, with a few exceptions, has been spectacular and the ratings have been higher than ever. Instead of being so negative in a national soccer column, Lalas and Bell should be embracing the game not ridiculing it.

Euro 2008 is finally here after the standard mega sports event buildup.  And for ESPN, today is the beginning of their broadcast of the entire tournmanet for the first time.  The network has been rolling the ads for weeks and made a big addition to its on-air talent with Andy Gray.  Now, at last, the coverage itself is the focus.  So how did the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports do?

Overall, it seemed to go fairly well.  Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth was pretty much their standard selves on the first game, which means you already love them or hate them based on their past broadcasts.  Personally, I’m a fan of Rae, and thought he was great.  I was worried about how Adrian Healey and Andy Gray would come together, but it ended up just fine, with Gray’s class shining but not overpowering Healey, who was able to work well with him.  Part of me, however, wishes for a Derek Rae/Andy Gray booth at some point.  Maybe for the final.  As for the on-screen look, I’m glad to see ESPN’s graphics was in line with UEFA’s own TV feed, right down to the scorebox in the top right.  There were no unnecessary large boxes with mismatched color, and nothing that popped on-screen interfered with the match itself.

The studio show, however, left something to be desired.  First off, Steve Bunin seemed to be having a hard time keeping the show moving.  I’ve seen Bunin before on MLS broadcasts, and he’s always seemed uncomfortable with soccer.  But given Bunin was not on the network’s original slate of hosts, maybe this ends up being just a last minute call-in.  Then there is Julie Foudy.  Foudy is ok as an analyst, but when she was alongside Andy Gray, she seemed superfluous.  Gray just knows everything to talk about and how to say it, and so Foudy seemed unsure what to do.  Foudy with Smyth was better, but seemed disjointed compared to Gray’s own efforts.  Hopefully this gets ironed out as the days go on.

Some other random thoughts:
*Loved that ESPN showed the national anthems before the game.  It’s a nice small touch.
*I understand the event is on a related network, but the Belmont Stakes segment between matches was unnecessary, and reminds me why I get fustrated with ESPN’s promotion at times.
*ESPN Axis is a great addition to the studio show analysis, and I hope it makes its way to the network’s MLS and Champions League broadcasts as well.

My final verdict is that this was a good first day of broadcast.  I would like to see the studio show get straightened out a little, but overall it was a job well done, and showed that ESPN is serious about this tournament.  Hopefully the network will be able to keep it up over the next three plus weeks.

Andy Gray, one of the top football co-commentators and pundits in the world, made his appearance this afternoon not on Sky Sports but instead on ESPN. What Gray gives ESPN is instant credibility, which the network desperately needs if it’s to establish itself as an authority on soccer coverage both in the United States and around the world.

ESPN must have paid a hefty fee to convince the world’s number co-commentator to leave his home in the United Kingdom and work the summer at ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut. For ESPN, it’s a gamble. Paying a high salary for Gray’s expertise is ESPN rolling the dice. With an authority figure like Gray in a pivotal role at ESPN this June, the network will be hoping for increased viewing figures in return as well as satisfied advertisers. The two go hand in hand.

Gray’s knowledge of the game was quickly evident during the opening matches of Euro 2008 today. For the Switzerland against Czech Republic opener, Gray took his seat as a pundit and offered his input regarding the match from Basel. But where Gray truly shown was when he switched seats and became co-commentator for the Turkey against Portugal match.

The difference between Tommy Smyth and Andy Gray is immense. While Smyth seems to contradict himself during controversial moments in matches where we’re seeking his insight, Gray on the other hand is direct and decisive, and tells it like it is. With Gray, he points out things that we, the viewers, don’t see the first time. Plus the Scotsman does it in such a confident and authoritative manner that it’s hard to ignore.

A perfect example of this was the disallowed goal during the first 15 minutes of Portugal against Turkey. Gray spotted the incident and called it as he saw it — offside. If that was Smyth, he would have sounded hesitant, made a call and probably changed his mind when viewing the TV replay.

ESPN’s decision to hire Gray as the expert for this summer’s tournament is a shrewd move. Casual sports fans who may not know Gray as intimately as we do will find themselves absorbed by his analysis of the game. Home teams have the fans as their 12th man. ESPN has Andy Gray.

So much focus is put on the Champions League Final and what happened during the game that it’s often easy to overlook the admirable job that ESPN2 did behind the scenes yesterday.

Their production was excellent and what I was most impressed by is that they continued the coverage all the way through until after Man United lifted the trophy. They could have easily cut away and gone to regular programming, but they kept the coverage going. This is definitely a positive sign that soccer carries more weight at ESPN. And it’s also a reassuring sign that the network will provide an exemplary experience this summer for ESPN’s coverage of Euro 2008.

Clarence Seedorf alongside Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae was a smart choice. Smyth was at his worst throughout the match saying inane things when it would have been better to think before he spoke. Rae was the rock that we’ve grown to love and trust. How he wasn’t involved in commentating ESPN’s coverage of World Cup 2006 I don’t know. Seedorf added a lot of great insight from a player’s perspective. It was a shame that he wasn’t there for the full match though.

I usually have a disdain for touchline reporters, but I thought ESPN’s Dave Roberts did a superb job at pitchside. His thoughts and observations were valuable. One perfect example was when he provided insight about the large divots in front of Van der Sar’s goal that were causing the goalkeeper some worries.

Kudos to ESPN for wonderful coverage.