In the wake of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy, the importance of a game in which 22 men chase around a ball is once again put into perspective — mainly, that soccer is as important as ever in this time of need. With Michael driving around lower Manhattan, broadcasting from his automobile, and Rog huddled on the floor of his guest bathroom, the Men in Blazers vow to not leave GFOPs without their weekly helping of suboptimal podding.
In this week’s edition, the Blazers recap the wild and controversial Chelsea and Manchester United clash, the Merseyside derby, and NBC’s dip into the EPL broadcasting waters. Welcome to the fold, Bob, Al, and Mary.
Send your telegrams via raven to the Crap Part of SoHo, reach us @MeninBlazers or drop an email at meninblazers@gmail.com. You can subscribe to the pod in iTunes or via our RSS feed.
GFOP Lee Simmons Radke asks, “Is Brendan Rodgers on E?” The photographic evidence from Being: Liverpool is troubling.
It started innocently enough last season with the simple yapping of a finely manicured Italian hand. And now, following Manchester United’s 3-2 loss at home to Tottenham, it does appear that the divine aura surrounding Sir Alex Ferguson is on the wane. Could Fergie Time really be a thing of the past? The Blazered Men are inclined to think it so.
Manchester isn’t the only place where the script is undergoing a revision. The visions of new managers at both Liverpool and the aforementioned Tottenham look to finally be taking hold. In this week’s pod, Michael and Roger cover these and other story lines that emerged over the weekend, including the continued rise of a certain club that will be left unnamed for fear of jinxing its unnamed flying start. All we can say is: In Fellaini’s ‘Fro We Trust.
From GFOP Scott Parsons. Tears.
“I took my beagle in for styling and guess who happened to be getting all prettied up for his match”
To celebrate Game of Thrones’ return to HBO, and in a craven attempt to lull die-hard Tyrion Lannister aficionados from the geopolitics of Westeros to the goals, dives, and feigned injuries of top-quality soccer, we have worked with Men in Blazers listeners to construct this GAME OF THRONES–to–ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE converter based on the characters we’ll meet in Season 2.
GFOP Ryan Wakefield challenged us to select our finest Middle Earth XI. And here it is. A Premier League Football team consisting solely of Hobbits, Elves, Wizards and Dwarves. Soccer as cast by Peter Jackson.
Goalkeeper: David de Gea
Defenders: Tony Hibbert, Ryan Shawcross, Joleon Lescott, Leighton Baines
Midfielders: Jay Spearing, David Silva, Gareth Bale, Juan Mata
Forwards: Craig Bellamy, Fernando Torres
Super Sub: Tomas Rosicky
Map of the 2011-12 Premier League teams. (HT to Jason Nofsker via the great resource billsportsmaps.com)
The brilliant folks over at Sports Illustrated have compiled a slideshow of fans and their tattoos. Unsurprising, soccer supporters make up a chunk of the inked.
GFOP Ben writes, “Rog should follow suit with these lovely men and get a Everton tattoo. Michael, too, should Chelsea end up qualifying for the Champions League.”
As part of our series TOUCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, listeners shared their tales of choosing a Premier League club. Exhibit A. Tim Huddleston picked Tottenham. He writes, “My choice was much simpler than I ever could have believed. Why? Because Tom Huddlestone plays for Spurs.” Surface? I don’t think so. Tim’s inner arm made beautiful with Audere Est Facere. The Spurs motto.
I work for my local power company mapping utilities, and in the course of doing this, I stumbled across this gem of a neighborhood in the suburbs of Rochester, New York. Apparently, a local developer is a soccer fan.
EPIC. Massive thanks to Peter White. America’s Sport of the Future is on its way.
Further proof that Everton is America’s Team. GFOP John unearthed this beaut from his linen closet. He writes, “It’s a proper towel for Boddington’s spills.” We’ll ignore the fact that he and his wife are Manchester United supporters.
Poor Petr Cech. After breaking his nose in the 1-0 win over Blackburn, he’ll now have to don a specially-made face mask in addition to the headgear he already sports.
Chelsea’s Juan Mata plays tourist in London. More via his Facebook.
The Arab Spring came to Manchester this weekend as an outstanding City humiliated ten-man United. In this week’s podcast, the Men In Blazers review that seismic victory and the rest of the Premier League slate, are then joined by proper broadcaster and comedian John Oliver.
