Shep Messing

Infobox Football biography
playername= Shep Messing
fullname = Shep Messing
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1949|10|9
cityofbirth = Bronx, New York
countryofbirth = United States
height =
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber =
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears = 1968-1969
1970-1971
youthclubs = New York University
Harvard University
years = 1973-1974
1975-1976
1976-1977
1978
1979
1978-1984
1984-1985
1986-1987
clubs = New York Cosmos
Boston Minutemen
New York Cosmos
Oakland Stompers
Rochester Lancers
New York Arrows ("indoor")
Pittsburgh Spirit ("indoor")
New York Express ("indoor")
caps(goals) = 9 (0)
27 (0)
30 (0)
25 (0)
29 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1983
managerclubs = New York Arrows "(interim)"
pcupdate = 31 May 2006
ntupdate = 22 June 2006

Shep Messing (born October 9, 1949 in The Bronx, New York) is a former American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster. He played seven seasons in the North American Soccer League and six in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was also a member of the U.S. soccer team at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Playing career

High school and college

Messing attended high school at The Wheatley School in Old Westbury, New York. He began his collegiate soccer career at New York University. He graduated from Harvard University in 1973 after playing on the school's men's soccer team. He was a two-time second team All-American.

National and Olympic teams

He joined the U.S. national team that played in the 1971 Pan American Games. He went on to play with the U.S. team at 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The U.S. went 0-2-1 in group play and failed to qualify for the second round. Messing manned the net in the U.S.'s third game of the games, a 7-0 loss to West Germany. After the Olympics, Messing received offers from teams in Mexico and Germany, but was invited to play for the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL), alongside prominent teammates Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia.

NASL

He made his debut with the Cosmos in a May 20, 1974 exhibitation game with Irish club Finn Harps. He would remain a backup for most of his career with the Cosmos. In 1973 and 1974, Jerry Sularz held the starting job.

He achieved a measure of notoriety by posing in the nude for a photospread in the December 1974 issue of "Viva Magazine". For this he was paid $5000. He joked that these photos gave the New York Cosmos more "exposure" than they'd ever received from the media up to that time.

He moved to the Boston Minutemen for a season and a half. Halfway through the 1976 season, Boston owner John Sterge began selling his players when he began to fear he would go bankrupt. The Minutemen sold Messing to the Cosmos who needed him after starter Bob Rigby was injured. Messing then played the 1977 season with the Cosmos before moving to the Oakland Stompers. When he signed with the Stompers for $100,000 per year, he became the highest paid American in the NASL. ^{[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919471,00.html]} The Stompers lasted only a single season and Messing moved to the Rochester Lancers.

MISL

When the Major Indoor Soccer League began its first season in 1978-1979, the New York Arrows were essentially the Rochester Lancers in different uniforms. As such, Messing became the starting Arrows goalkeeper through the team's six years of existence. Messing became the league's dominant keeper, being named to the MISL All Star team in 1979, 1980 and 1981. He was the championship MVP in 1979.

Coaching

When the New York Arrows fired coach Don Popovic in February 1983, the team named Messing, who was sidelined with an injury, as the interim coach. ^{[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E0DA133BF936A15751C0A965948260]}

After his retirement, Messing was briefly part-owner of the ill fated New York Express which played the first half of the 1986-1987 MISL season before folding.

Legal problems

In 1991, Mr. Messing pled guilty to a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, commonly referred to as Federal wire fraud. This violation came about during Mr. Messing's tenure as a corporate officer in a securities firm, although he never acted, nor was licensed as a broker or dealer. Mr. Messing was sentenced to five years probation. Mr. Messing filed a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York on November 17, 1995. The Bankruptcy Court confirmed the plan of reorganization on February 11, 1998. ^{[http://www.secinfo.com/dsvrb.35m.htm#l77]}

Broadcaster

Messing has been a soccer broadcaster for sixteen years. He began as an analyst for the Major Indoor Soccer League games on ESPN. He broadcast the 1986 FIFA World Cup from Mexico, the 2002 FIFA World Cup from Japan/South Korea, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany for ESPN. He has also been the lead analyst for the MetroStars and the re-branded New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer for several years. During these broadcasts, Shep hosts a segment during halftime entitled Shep Unplugged. Shep is usually outspoken during this segment about league issues and global soccer news. He can be easily recognised while calling games by his trademark "......wow" following a dramatic incident, as well as his thick Bronx accent.

Currently, he co-hosts (with sportswriter Greg Lalas) MLS Extra Time, a weekly Major League Soccer analysis show produced by the leagues website MLSNet.com and commentates european soccer matches for ESPN International stations

Despite his role as a broadcaster/analyst for MLS and other soccer matches, he is the player agent for U.S. under-20 and Columbus Crew midfielder Danny Szetela. ^{[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2007-08-07-2682108311_x.htm]} This has led to some, including Washington Post soccer reporter Steven Goff, to question his objectivity in his work as an analyst. ^{[http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2007/07/conflict_of_interest.html]}

He is a member of the New York Sports Hall of Fame and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the author of a book on soccer, while appearing in several films on the sport.

In 2006, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.

Messing will serve as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Soccer at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [ [http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/mediumwell/blog/2008/07/your_nbc_olympics_lineup.html Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup - A blog on sports media, news and networks - baltimoresun.com ] ]

Memorable Calls from Shep

*"Oh, baby!...You've gotta be kidding me!"-" Shep will usually say this after an unexpected goal, play, or officiating decision.

*"This portion of the match is brought to you by McDonald's! I'm loving it!""- Shep would exclaim this during the 2004 season, when McDonald's sponsored portions of MetroStars games on MSG Network. Usually, co-commentators JP Dellacamera and Steve Cangialosi would leave this line for Shep as a running gag. However, Shep would joke with them that he would only exclaim this when the MetroStars were winning.

*"Oh baby! He's too young to know any better!...He looks up....WOW! That's how to play!"" - Shep said this after 16-year-old Jozy Altidore scored for the New York Red Bulls against the Columbus Crew on September 16, 2006.

*"JP, I love this kid. I just can't believe how he plays." - Shep said this regarding, again, Altidore, who scored against rivals D.C. United on September 23, 2006 in a 4-3 loss.

References

* [http://iviesinchina.com/color-commentary/ Color Commentary]

External links

* [http://www.jewishsports.org/jewishsports/detail.asp?id=47 Jewish Sports Hall of Fame listing]