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16 July 1999 Vol. III, No. 2 Feature Article An action photo of New England Revolution forward Joe-Max Moore. David Kartunen shot the photo at the Revolution's July 11 game against the Los Angeles Galaxy and posted it that evening on the team's official Web site, which he manages. Student Web master helps drive a soccer Revolution By Eric McHenry It didn't take a U.S. women's World Cup victory to get David Kartunen (COM'00) interested in soccer. Now in his second year as a media intern with the New England Revolution -- the region's Major League Soccer franchise -- Kartunen has for some time been one of the sport's most enthusiastic and visible promoters. As an MLS Web master, Kartunen has had sole responsibility for maintenance and expansion of the Revolution's official site, www.nerevolution.com, since April 1998, when he joined the club as a summer intern. He posts scores and statistics, reports on developments within the organization and league, adds new features and links, and scans in action photographs, many of which he takes. "It's pretty much my baby," he says. Additionally, Kartunen produces and hosts two Internet programs for the team -- Revolution Cyber Sideline, a short weekly video news show, and Revolution Pregame, an audio show that airs two nights before each game. On top of that, he is a technical producer for Rae's Rev Report, a live audio program hosted by Derek Rae, the popular "Voice of the Revolution." Both Rae's Rev Report and Revolution Pregame air on the Revolution Radio Network, the audio component of the team's Internet promotional programming, which Kartunen helped conceive, design, and launch. Forward Johnny Torres executes a bicycle kick in the Revolution's July 11 game against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Photo by David Kartunen "It seems like I'm always here," he says of his Foxboro office. "I work 40 hours a week during the school year, and I take the Web site home with me, because I do it on a laptop. If we have an away game, I'll take the laptop home, watch the game on TV, and put the stats up right after it. The live show is Monday night, so I'm here until eight. It's more than a full-time job, and it's also weird hours." But it's a labor of love for Kartunen. A confessed sports fanatic and lifelong soccer player, he's ecstatic to have found a career that joins an old passion with a new one: broadcast journalism. "I don't know a whole lot of people who have had, through a summer internship, the opportunity to do on-camera work," he says. "That was what was appealing about staying with the Revolution for a second year." Revolution Cyber Sideline is clearly a pet project for Kartunen, who speaks with great enthusiasm about recent and upcoming episodes. In addition to game highlights and previews, player profiles, and ticket promotions, the show includes a few minutes of free-form short features. It's the space where Kartunen finds some creative elbow room. "One of our players is a great golfer," he says. "We're arranging to go golfing with him, and we're going to shoot it for the show. We're going to take one of our foreign players on a Boston Duck Tour. Last week we had Senator John Kerry shoot a little spot for our in-stadium scoreboard entertainment, and we also covered it for Cyber Sideline. We mixed it up with the senator a little bit, and it was fun." Such opportunities are plentiful at the Revolution, according to General Manager Brian O'Donovan. "We operate with a fairly flat organizational chart here," he says. "A lot of people, including interns, have a good deal of input. And if they show themselves to be creative, energetic, and visionary, they get a tremendous amount of latitude to pursue their ideas. That's what David has done with us. "A lot of these ideas had been bouncing around -- we did have an existing Cyber Sideline in place for the Patriots," the NFL team that has the same ownership as the Revolution, says O'Donovan. "David took that model and clamped onto it. The radio network is a brand-new concept, and he assisted tremendously in its conceptualization and development." Kartunen says his commitment to the work is strengthened by a sense that he is laying cornerstones for the future of American sport. Soccer's popularity is surging in the United States, and although a previous professional league foundered after only a few seasons, Kartunen believes the circumstances are right for success this time around. "I think it can and will work," he says. "The pace at which they're developing the league is very important. The first time they tried this, with the North American Soccer League, they hit the ground at 90 miles an hour and ran out of gas almost immediately. They spent millions and millions of dollars on player salaries and just bankrupted themselves." MLS is pursuing a more prudent strategy, he says. Along with greater frugality where player pay is concerned, the league is marketing to American sensibilities: flashy uniforms, tie-breaker shootouts, and promotional programming such as Cyber Sideline and Rae's Rev Report contribute to its appeal. "People who are in college now, the generation of kids born in the late '70s and early '80s, grew up playing soccer," says Kartunen. "And I think this is the first American generation about whom that can be said. They don't just understand the game -- they respect it."