WWW

Yes, that’s a redundant expression of the name of the hotel where I stayed this past week in Los Angeles, but that’s not its meaning.   Nor is it intended as the lead-in to any particular website.  It’s a pessimistic acronym in formation, something along the lines of “writers wrangling werewolves” or “we won’t win.”

I’m not quite sure where my mood comes from but it can’t be because I’m in LA.  What’s there not to like about this place?  Pause.  It’s probably tied into my reason for choosing a hotel in the Westwood section of town.  My first LA area book event this trip was scheduled to take place February 9^th a few blocks from here at The Mystery Bookstore on the edge of the UCLA campus.  But the signing never happened because TMB closed forever on January 31, 2011.  A victim of many things, no doubt, and my canceled appearance was but a trivial bit of collateral damage.

Sign in the window of The Mystery Bookstore, Los Angeles

So much history gone in an instant.  I wonder what will happen to that massive “arrest ledger” each author appearing for the first time was asked to sign?  I’ll never forget how I felt looking at the names of all the legends who’d signed before me, and that shiver down my spine at the honor of being linked to them in even such a small way.  It saddens me to think of all those who will never have that chance.

But I knew of its closing a month ago, so there must be more to this feeling.  I think the reality of seeing TMB’s shuttered doors brings home much of what I’ve been hearing in my travels along the Seattle-San Francisco-Los Angeles digital heartland of America.  These were not conversations with book people, but with techies—which means I have no way of verifying if what I heard was true, false, pie-in-the-sky thinking, old news, or fattening.  All I know is that I heard essentially the same thing from different people.

Google's Wael Ghonim

Each conversation took off from the same place: the power of the Internet as witnessed in world headlines.  A Google executive using Facebook is heralded as champion of Egypt’s (successful) revolutionary efforts and a content provider gains editorial control over its acquiring AOL delivery system (plus hundreds of millions of dollars).

AOL's Tom Armstrong and Arianna Huffington

There is feverish, worldwide competition for bringing traffic-generating content to the Internet.   And amid that frenzy digital pirates flourish.  Just look at what’s happened to the record and movie industries, they’re awash in pirates.  And publishing has boarders threatening on all sides.  There is a horrible inescapable truth out there: the market will be served.  Accept that and prepare, or perish.

For those who say publishing is different, because book buyers are different from lovers of music or films, go light a candle along with your prayer.  It was readers of books who put an iconic bookstore out of business because what TMB offered could be found cheaper elsewhere.  What then makes one think a book buyer would not pay less still to a pirate?

Yes, I see the shrugging at all this old news.  But if what I’ve heard has any merit, far more daunting problems lie ahead.  The U.S., a relatively observant protector of intellectual property rights, is approximately five years ahead of the rest of the world on methods of exploiting the World Wide Web.  Imagine what will happen when that knowledge spreads unchecked across the globe to places far less respectful of such IP rights, and the masses are tempted with near freebies in the privacy of their own downloads?

Let’s hope that what I’ve heard is wrong, or that the publishing industry is preparing for the challenge.  If not…

Sunshine...if you can't recognize it at the moment.

Well, I’m a firm believer that the only ones who lose are those who give up when they’re down, so it’s time to change the mood, with journeys to bookstores that keep mystery reading alive by offering unique point of sale value to their customers.  Today at 1:30PM it’s Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks, tomorrow (Sunday at 2PM) Book’em Mysteries in South Pasadena, and Wednesday at 7PM Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego.  We shall prevail.

Next week I’ll talk about fun things, I promise.

Jeff ­— Saturday

Houston, We Have a Problem.

Yes, I’m afraid you do, oh fourth largest city in the United States.  Let’s be honest, if someone says the name of one of America’s three more populated cities, New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, there is an immediate sense of energy in the air.  But mention Houston—the true energy capital of the world—and the enthusiasm meter flatlines.

"Smokey City" Pittsburgh, midday 1940

I know that syndrome far too well, for I grew up in a place long-suffering from the same ailment: poor public image management.  To this day people ask me if Pittsburgh still is as smoke-filled as it was in the “old days.”  Since the skies over Pittsburgh have been clear since the late 1940’s, and Forbes Magazine (again) picked Pittsburgh as “America’s most livable city,” I’m not quite sure how to respond to such an ill-informed comment other than with a fist-pumping “GO STEELERS.”  [No offense intended to the wonderful folks of Green Bay, Wisconsin, but one must stick with one’s hometown football team in the Super Bowl, unless of course you happen to be the native Pittsburgher coach of the Packers.]

Sam Houston (1793-1863)

But this is not about expressions of civic pride for Pittsburgh.  This is about Space City/Bayou City/H-Town.  And there are at least a half-dozen more nicknames for that southeast Texas metropolis down by the Gulf of Mexico created by two New Yorkers (the Allen Brothers) in 1836 and named after the President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston.  Yes, Texas was indeed an independent country between 1836 and 1845 and some down here seem to long for those days to return.

As far as I can tell, Houston generally gets picked-on in one of three ways: for having hot humid summers, no zoning, and one of the fattest populations in the United States.  But the weather is really no different from Florida, there are beautiful residential communities to be found all over the city, and at least four other Texas towns rank higher than Houston on the “fat list.”  Besides, “Fat City” is the nickname for New Orleans.

Murder By The Book, Houston

So, why am I suddenly springing to the defense of a city I’m just coming to know? Answer: because it’s the right thing to do.  The fact my son and his family just moved there and I kicked off my book tour this week for Prey on Patmos at Houston’s wonderful Murder By The Book is purely coincidental.

What is the real Houston?  Let’s start off with a pithy description given to me by a Houstonian.  “Houston is Los Angeles without the pretensions.”  Having far more friends in Los Angeles than Green Bay, I hasten to say those are not my words, but at least it’s a place to start.

So, how do those two great cities compare?

Downtown Houston

Though both LA and Houston have distinct downtown areas, to get around either city you must live in your car because mass transit is virtually non-existent.  Nor does either have what most would consider traditional, neighborhood street life; rather each seems an amalgam of small towns connected by freeways.  Yes, Houston is flat while LA has its mountains and canyons, but that is a difference likely lost on most commuters plodding along on their respective, clogged rush-hour freeways.

Downtown Los Angeles

On the natural disaster front, LA has its earthquakes, Houston its hurricanes.  A tradeoff.

Both cities have terrific restaurants, shopping, and civic pride.  Both have lovely residential communities, though the price of a home in Houston is likely to be one-tenth that of a similar one in LA.

1956 film of Edna Ferber novel

But how can one possibly find a comparison in Houston to the glitzy intriguing world of LA’s Hollywood.  Simple, ever hear of Enron?  Yes, LA may have the movie business, but Houston has big oil, big gas, big medicine, and the U.S. Space industry.  When is the last time you heard a commercial on an LA radio station for Saudi Aramco oil soliciting teachers to relocate to Saudi Arabia?  Or on behalf of the C.I.A. offering career opportunities in the National Clandestine Services?  The stories filmed in LA arise out of lives lived in Houston.  [Okay, a bit dramatic, but you get the point.]

Stop! you say.  Everyone knows Houston is redneck, while LA is

Houston's Wunsche Bros. in Old Town Spring

chic and sophisticated.  Not sure what that means.  Yes, politics in Houston is more conservative than in LA, but isn’t the fairer measure of a people the way they treat others rather than the color of their necks?  Houston’s robust economy has and continues to welcome those fleeing difficult economic times elsewhere in the country, and let’s not forget how wide Houston opened its heart to the rush of New Orleans refugees fleeing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Honorable Mayor of Houston

And, oh yes, this redneck, conservative town just elected a new mayor, Annise Parker.  A Democrat, female, and the first elected mayor of a U.S. city with over a million residents who is openly gay—something NYC, LA, and Chicago haven’t come close to doing.

Now, about managing that public image thing…win a Super Bowl (or seven), it does wonders.

Downtown Pittsburgh today

By the way, tonight (Saturday) at 5 PM I'll be at Poisoned Pen Books in Scottsdale, Arizona for a joint good time event and signing with Donis Case, Dana Stabenow, and Tina Whittle, and on Monday at noon I'll be at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop.  I'd mention my signing next Saturday at M is For Mystery in San Mateo, California, but I think I'll save that bit of BSP for next Saturday's piece.

Jeff – Saturday

The 'Other Football' Championship

Even though there was an important game yesterday evening for my hometown Philadelphia Eagles on national television, there was another sports event on television at the same time which stole most of my attention during the whole night.

That event was the MLS Cup Final between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. To the rest of the world, that event would be considered the football championship of America. They would consider the Eagles game to be a contest known to them as 'American football'.

To most of America, the MLS Cup would decide the champions of a sport we call 'soccer'. For the uninitiated, 'MLS' stands for Major League Soccer, which represents the professional level here in America of the game that is the most popular in the rest of the world.

One of the reasons that pro soccer has very little profile or coverage here in Philadelphia is that we haven't had a local team for whom to cheer. The last time that Philly had a true soccer team for which to root was way back in 1980 when the Philadelphia Fury played their final season.

For much of the 1970's, pro soccer was a part of the local sports scene. The Philadelphia Atoms started things in what was a generally successful competitive four-year run from 1973-1976. In their very first year of existence, the Atoms won the NASL (North American Soccer League) championship. The team regularly would draw more than 20,000 fans to their matches on the pitch at Veteran's Stadium.

After winning the title, Atoms goalkeeper and local player Bob Rigby became the first soccer player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Then in 1975, midfielder Chris Bahr, a Penn State product, scored 11 goals in 22 games and was named the league's Rookie of the Year in his only season playing pro soccer. He would go on to star in the NFL as a kicker for 4 teams over 14 seasons.

The Atoms were unable to sustain their success, and eventually folded. In 1978 the NASL moved back into Veteran's Stadium with the Fury. That team never really caught on thanks to three straight seasons of losses, folding after 1980 having compiled an overall 32-60 record.

The NASL, formed back in 1968, finally folded itself in 1984, and professional soccer became largely a non-entity in the United States. The modern game in North American terms began with the run-up to the U.S. bid to host the 1994 World Cup, the acknowledged world championship of national team football/soccer. As a part of that process the MLS was formed, and pro soccer began once again when the league formally began play in 1996.

The MLS Cup has become the annual championship game of the league, and for the 2008 championship a completely modernized trophy was developed for which the teams now compete. The league is made up of 15 teams currently who compete in a season from March through November, but that will expand to 16 teams next season, including a return at long last to Philadelphia, and ultimately to 18 teams by 2011.

Philadelphia Union will begin play with their opener at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Eagles, on April 10th, 2010. This is due to construction delays at what will eventually become their permanent home in the Philly suburb of Chester, PA at Union Field, an 18,500 spectator soccer-specific facility being built on the banks of the Delaware River.

With expansion on the horizon and with a renewed commitment in recent years to developing American youth soccer from within, the league held their 2009 MLS Cup last night in Seattle, home of the wildly popular expansion Seattle Sounders team. The two participants were the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy and the upstart underdogs from Real Salt Lake.

The Galaxy is this year's version of the 'best team that money can buy' as they are led by American superstar Landon Donovan, English icon David Beckham, and Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. They won the MLS West Division regular season with a record of 12-6-12, and were solid favorites to take this MLS Cup match.

Real Salt Lake finished under .500 for the season at 11-12-7 and in 5th place in the West Division. Normally the MLS Cup pits the top playoff finishers from the East against the West, but Real Salt Lake got in because the league puts it's top 8 teams into the post-season regardless of division. RSL was placed into the East playoffs as the last seed, but then proceeded to pull upsets throughout to reach the MLS Cup.

Last night's match began with the Galaxy continually taking the play to the RSL side, finally breaking through thanks largely to their superstars Beckham and Donovan. Beckham began a play at midfield and fed Donovan along the wing. Donovan then passed the ball deftly and perfectly across the goal mouth, laying it right on the path of a charging Mike Magee who directed it home in the 41st minute for a 1-0 LA lead.

The score remained 1-0 at the half and into the 2nd half where RSL began to even the playing field. RSL had been put at an even greater disadvantage on the field when playmaker Javier Morales was injured early in the match by an aggressive tackle from Beckham. That injury advantage for LA would be wiped away early in the 2nd half as Ricketts suffered a broken hand in a collision and eventually had to be replaced.

RSL began to press the play towards the Galaxy goal more regularly, and finally knotted the score when Robbie Finley left-footed a scorcher past Ricketts in the 64th minute after a scrum in the penalty area. It would be Ricketts final play, as the pain from his broken hand became too severe to go on. The LA goalie was replaced by backup Josh Saunders, marking the first time a goalkeeper was ever replaced in an MLS Cup match.

With the score now tied at 1-1, the two sides battled back and forth through the remainder of regulation and injury time, and then on into a pair of 15 minute overtime periods. This was the 7th time that an MLS Cup game had reached overtime, but for only the 2nd time in history neither team scored and the game would be decided on penalty kicks.

Beckham took the first penalty shot for LA and scored, but the Galaxy seemed dead when Donovan missed his shot as the #4 shooter. In the 5th round, Andy Williams of RSL had a chance to win it all but was robbed by a nice save from Saunders, and the penalties went on. Finally on the 7th round, LA's Edson Buddle was stopped by RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. That setup a chance for Robbie Russell, who had not scored all season, to win it all for RSL.

As Russell approached the kick, Saunders guessed wrong, and Russell calmly slid a shot into a wide open net. Dropping to his knees and burying his head in his hands with emotion, Russell was quickly mobbed by his teammates who celebrated in a heap in front of the goal. The underdogs from Real Salt Lake had won the MLS Cup in just their 5th season of existence. In the process they also became the first team in major American pro sports history to finish their regular season below .500 and then go on to win the championship.

This coming week the Union will begin to fill out their roster as the MLS holds an expansion draft for the team. Between these players and others that it is able to sign over the winter, the Philadelphia Union blue and gold side will form for the first time. At some point a primary sponsor will be named to round out the team's identity.

In April the club will take the pitch for the first time together under their motto "jungite aut perite", "join or die", cheered on by their already rowdy group of fans nicknamed the 'Sons of Ben' (relating to Ben Franklin) and thousands more with the ultimate goal being to one day reach that MLS Cup, and to bring home the 'other football' championship to the Philadelphia area.