Luis told me that being Hispanic gives him a unique perspective in covering American and Mexican soccer. And being a journalist gave him the ability to see things from the point of view average American sports reporter (i.e. non-soccer fan):

I can relate to how my parents grew up in their culture (they are from Mexico) and especially their love of soccer. I see how soccer can appear to press people who don’t know or understand the game. So I can see it from both sides. I think that’s helped out. If nothing else, my familiarity with the Mexican league and the national team [has helped out]. Long before I ever thought I’d be a journalist, I was watching games with my dad.

When asked about the popularity of soccer in LA, Luis told me that the sport “huge.”

It’s kind of strange in that teams like the Lakers and the Dodgers … Chivas Guadalajara probably has as many fans as they do here in LA. … It’s not true that people don’t care about soccer in LA. Because people speak a different language, they don’t read the LA Times, they don’t watch ESPN. the assumption is that it’s just Lakers and Dodgers in LA. But it’s not like that at all. There are communities here that are mostly Hispanic and [soccer] is their passion.

Despite the popularity of soccer in Hispanic communities in LA and elsewhere, few Hispanics represent the US national team. Luis told me that this is a problem in getting potential Hispanic fans to support the US.

Last year I think there were 3 [Mexican-American] players and they had more than 50 players on the US national team. The only ones who had any Mexican descent were Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein and Herculez Gomez. Gomez was more filler than anything, Bocanegra and Bornstein are solid first-choice players. So I think to capture that market, especially with young kids who are just starting to become fans, I think if they had some guys named Hernandez or Suarez, they might relate to them more.

When I asked him how this was possible, given that Hispanics are the largest minority group in the country and many are more into soccer than the average American. He said that until recently, he didn’t see US Soccer taking the issue seriously.

I heard Steve Sampson once on a conference call when he was coach of the Galaxy say something like, “Oh, all Mexican-Americans support Mexico.” If that’s the attitude of the former US national team coach … That’s not to say Sampson hasn’t done a lot, he actually has. … If any American coach knows about Hispanics, it’s him. Yet it kind of surprised me. Why would he say that? Does US Soccer feel like that entirely? Does Bruce Arena? Bob Bradley? Do they see the importance of it or are they just saying, “Well, we’re just missing this whole wealth of talent.” We don’t know. There could be the next Landon out here, the next Altidore. We don’t know since it’s something that’s never really been explored.

When I asked Luis how MLS could attempt to reach out to Hispanic fans, he told me the league would be well advised to target those born in the US.

I think they need to target more Mexican-Americans than Mexicans. I always use the comparison of my dad. My dad’s a big Chivas Guadalajara fan, but I don’t know that he’s ever watched a Chivas USA game. When I told him that they signed Claudio Suarez, he was like, “Oh, this is about his speed. He couldn’t play down in Mexico any more so he came up here.” I think that’s a common perception. But if you get American-born children of Mexican parents who follow Chivas or whatever club, I think those are the ones who are more apt to watch MLS games.

With the arrival of Chivas USA, I have long wondered how the 2 teams have become identified within LA. I asked Luis if he thought there was any danger that the Galaxy would become the “white” team and Chivas the “Mexican” team. He agreed that this is a danger, noting a fight between supporters of the two teams at the end of last season. But even more than that, Luis told me that the Galaxy roster may indicate a shift in how the team is seen in LA.

When you look at the players, there’s Carlos Ruiz and, um, (laughs). It’s kind of funny to think about it. In LA, how is that possible? I talked to Mauricio Cienfuegos last year when they didn’t have a single Hispanic player on the roster. … The perception is really there, though, that the Galaxy is the “white” team. I would hope that’s not really how it goes.

My interview with Luis focused on about ways in which US Soccer and MLS are reaching out (or not) to Hispanic players, fans, coaches, etc. The write-up of that interview with him will be up on TIAS in the near future.

The transcript of the full 50-minute Q&A with Andrea is up now on TIAS. Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite before you head over to TIAS to read the entire thing.

Andrea was born in Michigan (although she says people in LA constantly think she’s saying she’s from the Mexican state of Michoacan), but lived in Argentina for a couple of years growing up:

In Argentina I learned to play a little soccer. When you’re that young you don’t know that girls don’t usually play soccer because I had always grown up doing whatever my brother did (he’s 2 years older). And so, it was a small town we lived in and they wanted to have enough players to have a team so I was allowed to play with the boys. I didn’t know that was unusual.

Talking about some of the places her career has allowed her to travel to:

I feel really lucky, by and large, to have had the opportunities I’ve had. I could go to the [2006] World Cup, I went to Peru for the [2005] Youth World Cup. That was actually kind of fun because there are a bunch of players who have transitioned to other things, like Jozy [Altidore].

On the stories she’s written that she’s most proud of:

I guess I’m proudest of the stories I’ve gotten a lot of flack for, but I feel like were valid points. I wrote one about Bruce Arena and that I thought he should move on after the 2006 World Cup, but I wrote that before the World Cup happened. There were so many people that were like, “Oh, Arena’s great, maybe he should just be coach for life.” … And of course, after the 2006 World Cup … I got exactly one email saying, “You know what? I remember you wrote about Arena needing to move on and I think you were right and I just wanted to tell you because I remember I wrote you a negative email.” I was proud of having a little foresight there.

On being one of the few female soccer reporters:

I have had a couple of other reporters say, “Okay, I’m standing next to you in the mixed zone because I know the players will stop to talk to you.” I’m not sure that’s true because I’ve gotten blown off plenty of times by players who don’t want to talk to anybody. That’s [the other reporters’] viewpoint anyway, but maybe they were just teasing me. I’m kind of gullible that way.

I did put on the blog an incident I had with a player. It’s kind of depressing to think about. … but I do think it’s part of the reality of being a female soccer reporter. The simple fact is that you get people who come from different cultures and that means they’re not used to the US style of doing things. … To me, it was just being fair. I have no problem with a mixed zone. It’s not like I want to be in a locker room, but that’s just the way things are done in American sports. If other reporters want to give up locker room access and do a mixed zone, then that’s fine. But that’s not the way professional sports want to build an audience. … [Players] can’t try to order me out of the locker room so I can’t talk to anybody else.

On whether soccer is the sport of the Internet:

I’d have to say a qualified sort of yes. What I think is that soccer, more than other sports, creates a dividing line experience here in the US. I think if you follow basketball, no matter who you are, you’re watching the Lakers. If you follow soccer, if you’re an expat in Santa Monica, you’re watching the EPL early in the morning at the King’s Head Pub. If you are Hispanic, you’re reading La Opinión and other papers that focus on teams back in Mexico. They provide very good coverage of the Mexican league, more so than MLS by far. If you’re an American soccer fan, then your experience once again is unique and the media you go to is also unique. For the American soccer fan, and when I say American I mean of the domestic sport, the MLS fan, I would say it’s very Internet-based.

On what she sees for the future for her and soccer journalism in the US:

I don’t know. I wish I did because then I could plan better. I could give up on it and just do teaching (she teaches part-time in addition to soccer writing) but I keep thinking, “Hey, maybe something’s coming around the corner.” I think a lot of us were hoping that the arrival of Beckham would [help]. It sort of did, I mean, Luis and I have a book on the way. I’m not going to say that it didn’t open up doors. But did it open up enough doors for us to do this full-time? Not yet.

Salaam alaikum to my people in Saudi Arabia

Speaking of letter doctorates at the University of California San Dyeju America, that has been responsible for my lack of posts this past week. I have a couple interesting interviews coming up this week and I hope you will enjoy reading the results of them.