Voices of MLS: Peter Schaad

Peter Schaad (PS): I was lucky enough to know when I was 10 that radio would be my path. When I was 13, I told my dad I wanted to be the Whitecaps play by play announcer. He told (Whitecaps President) Bobby Lenarduzzi about my dream, and Bobby reminds me of that often! My first job was in Port Alberni BC where I learned every aspect of the business. 6 years later it was down the Island highway to Victoria for 6 years at a country music station, and then in 2001 I moved to Vancouver and slowly worked my way towards sports. My first proper live soccer broadcast was in 2005 for an A-League game between the Whitecaps and Toronto Lynx.

PS: I try to to read and watch as much as I can about the opposing team. The great thing about my job also being my hobby, is that I'd probably be reading about all that stuff anyway. With so much access to information and video now, it really does make the job easier. One of the great challenges of my position is also creating storylines and narratives that can hopefully spark some banter on the phone lines after. The North American game needs people arguing and venting the way supporters do overseas. 

PS: (March 19th, 2011) The first Whitecaps game in MLS was pretty special. As the game kicked off, I did find myself choking up a tad. The realization of a dream, combined with the incredible atmosphere of that first day, and then the game itself was amazing. We actually got knocked off the air because of the "temporary" nature of Empire, and the cramped media area. During that brief power outage, Atiba Harris scored a goal…and I remember butchering the call. I was quite pleased to find out it was wiped off the radio record forever!

PS: I see good signs every year. Youth academies and home grown player development is pretty important, because I'm convinced people now want to see local kids on their local teams…but they want them to be good, not just roster fillers. We're still maybe a few years away from that. In the meantime, there needs to be more high profile, high quality players coming into MLS. The standard of play needs to improve, in order to create a higher bar for the HG players I referred to. I'd also like to see MLS round out their expansion protocol, and then settle into a routine in order to start establishing its own traditions, history and scheduling format. I do suspect somehow, that we won't be stuck on 24 teams forever. 

TMLS: With New York City and Orlando joining the league and Commissioner Garber wanting to go to 24 teams, what other markets do you see as possibilities for expansion franchises?

PS: We know Atlanta and Miami will likely be in, and the latest word is that Minnesota wants a second tenant for the new Vikings stadium. But selfishly, San Diego would be my choice. The Sockers were a great franchise back in the day, and it's a lovely city. Tijuana has a great little team across the border that's drawing many San Diegans, and I know the market is historically very high in TV soccer ratings. Not to mention another derby for the LA teams.  

PS: Contract CHIVAS USA!! Everything about that club confounds me. Unless you're a hard core Chivas de Guadalajara fan, why would you get behind that team? And now with an empty stadium virtually every game, why would anyone want to go? It's not going to work. MLS needs to either pull the plug altogether, or broker a sale to someone who wants to rebrand (LA Aztecs anyone) and maybe move them closer to the LA entertainment district (where I hear, the City of LA is interested in putting a stadium). You're only as strong as the weakest link…and the Goats are that by a wide margin. 

PS: I'd be dumb if I said anyone other than Messi or Ronaldo. The two biggest soccer brands in the world would look pretty good playing in MLS.  

PS: I'm a bit of a stadium junkie. I check the progress on San Jose's new park probably once a week, and hope to get a tour when we visit in October. There's the construction of Orlando's new park, the long suffering plans for DC United's new home, and even some talk of New York City FC building a stadium next to Yankee stadium in the Bronx, which would be amazing! The stadium equation is so critical for the league for two reasons. It creates an environment which is unique to our sport, and it puts the clubs who own or lease the stadiums in better financial shape. I would imagine that some of those early Soccer Specific Stadiums are getting pretty close to being paid off.  

PS: I have to admit, I'm a tad concerned about the Whitecaps thanks to this Camilo debacle. He's a very hard player to replace, and in the wake of Darren Mattocks desire to leave the club, and Kenny Miller's intentions to return to Rangers…there's just a feeling right now that no-one really wants to be in Vancouver! I hope it's not the case, but this club needs some good solid signings soon. I will say, that I think Toronto FC are doing some interesting things, but I'll stop short of saying they're a playoff team in 2014. I'll also be keeping a very close eye on Real Salt Lake in the post Kreis years, and Chicago for the start of the Frank Yallop era.  

PS: I'm curious to see how the MLS Rookie of the year Dillon Powers makes out in his second season (hopefully injury free). I think he has a chance to avoid the "softmore slump", and he's surrounded by some decent players in Colorado. I've also found Sebastien Velasquez at RSL a very interesting player, who just seems like the champagne cork about to pop. We saw some signs of that last year. 

PS: New York City FC will simply have to land at least one big star. Cristiano Ronaldo says he'd fancy coming to MLS, so I'll connect those dots. Being a World Cup year, I won't go as far as "Men In Blazers" by saying that the US will hoist the trophy in Brazil, but I will predict they join Germany from that group. That would be a fantastic achievement on its own…but it might be enough to push them on in the knockout stages. 

I'd like to thank Peter for his time. Keep checking back here for more of our Voices of MLS series!