[CORRECTION: During the podcast’s Real Salt Lake segment I mentioned Anderson Silva as a center back. He is a midfielder/forward. Brian Vs. Utah regrets the error.]
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Grant Wahl: A person I considered a friend has died but his work proves that soccer journalism is just as important now as it ever was.
When the country in which you're a guest treats you more like an unruly fan when it’s your job to cover the world’s largest sporting event there as a journalist, it had to have been maddening to Grant. It is YOU, the people, who stay glued to your emails watching for his latest update in this ongoing Whodunit saga—because we already KNOW they dun it; the question is how often, and to how many thousand.
I don’t believe anyone in their right minds ever believed it was 37, but that's what a PR team can do; they can spin the truth like a fucking top until it lands upon whatever in the hell kind of number it wants.
No, contrary to popular belief this was NOT what people thought it was; Wahl DID tweet this in response to Holland's amazing free kick goal in the dying moments of regulation. Nobody knew shortly after that my friend and colleague would be taking his last breaths here on this planet.
But: when you have subcontractors handling every ounce of business from your food to your vehicle—to the medical care you're about to receive in a stadium that is under enemy hands, then what the hell can you DO?!? [When you're in enemy lands.]
Another: colleague at the CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] who was there when Grant collapsed, bravely wrote about the moments WHEN Wahl was actually transported by ambulance to the hospital, which he said occurred "after the stadium was completely empty."
But: the company line coming out of Qatar was that Grant had been sick for about a week. On his podcast yesterday [Friday], Wahl revealed he had been diagnosed with a case of “bronchitis”.
Finally: I think there will be more questions than answers for awhile. I also think Grant’s biggest gift to the world was that he was a master servant to the soccer community. He knew his task was arduous, but it was one that he not only accepted—it was an area in which he thrived. I don’t know if you could find 11 people who could fill the job that Grant did. It goes without saying that we’ll miss him.
Meanwhile: The great Leo Messi didn’t just light a flame under the Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal, the Argentine legend pulled out the frigging torch and set the interview room in Qatar ablaze with an accusation to a reporter, in the postgame—loud enough so that Van Gaal could hear it.
On a lighter note, and in true BVU fashion [IYKYK], I saw a great tweet that emphasized the historical importance of this upcoming Morocco-France showdown Tuesday at the World Cup semifinals.
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Grant Wahl: Someone I Considered A Friend Has Died, But His Work Proved Soccer Journalism Is Just As Important Now As It Ever Was