The Swamp

I will say you should probably root for a London team that isn’t Chelsea. That way if you ever want to see a game in person you don’t have to go to some god awful place like Manchester or Liverpool to see them.

My son chose Chelsea when we decided to start following an EPL team about 4 years ago. It's been a lot of fun. Don't let the bitter Arsenal or Spurs fans tell you otherwise.

If you want to not have fun, I think Arsenal would be a really good choice. No one I know that likes them has fun rooting for them and they seem like a very not fun organization. Maybe that'll change without their manager (who the team was named after (LOL)) but I hope not. If I were still a free agent, I'd probably either pick Liverpool or just wait until Pulisic eventually moves and pick his team.

But remember that Chelsea's rise from mid-table futility coincided with many billions of rubles being stolen from Russia.

And of course, there's this...

mister d wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:20 pm If you want to not have fun, I think Arsenal would be a really good choice. No one I know that likes them has fun rooting for them and they seem like a very not fun organization. Maybe that'll change without their manager (who the team was named after (LOL)) but I hope not. If I were still a free agent, I'd probably either pick Liverpool or just wait until Pulisic eventually moves and pick his team.

Yeah, if I were a free agent, it'd likely be Liverpool, Tottenham, Fulham, or wherever CP22 ends up.

I think though that most of us agree that to be a City fan is a whole other level of front-running. (Unless a person was there before 2009)

Pruitt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:19 pm I think though that most of us agree that to be a City fan is a whole other level of front-running. (Unless a person was there before 2009)

The Swamp's biggest City fan is also the Swamp's biggest Yankees fan.

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:40 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:19 pm I think though that most of us agree that to be a City fan is a whole other level of front-running. (Unless a person was there before 2009)

The Swamp's biggest City fan is also the Swamp's biggest Yankees fan.

Like saying the sun will rise in the east. 'Bama fan too by any chance?

I support Man U and Barça, so glass houses and whatnot, but I really like watching Klopp's Liverpool and Pocchetino's Tottenham. That being said, managers change. Falling in love with a team properly involves way more than how they currently play, with these players and this manager.

As I type that I realized I'm 100% incorrect. I fell in love with Man U as a student abroad in Prague and Irish/English bars were places where I could get over my homesickness and hear my native tongue. Man U had Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, both Neville's, Butt, Yorke, Cole, Schmeichel, Solskjaer, and MF Fergie.

Pick what you fall in love with, Giff, but don't pick Citeh, or Chelscum.

Yeah, rooting for a team owned by Russian gangsters should be a non-starter.

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:43 pm

Giff wrote: ↑Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:58 am So who are the Arsenal supporters here? Leaning heavily towards them as my EPL team mainly due to my favorite author.

Syb is, I think. As is one or two of the older(to the Swamp) England based Swampers.

Me, NJFlaco, Zumba, Doc Howard, RedArmy, BTTG,... There used to be a lot of us.

We had this discussion several times over the years, but you can't pick an EPL, you have to watch and let an EPL team pick you. Watch the EPL Review show every week, so you get 5-10 minutes of highlights from every game, watch some games as a neutral, and maybe listen to the Men in Blazers podcast and soon enough, you'll find yourself connect with one team.

I started watching the Italian Serie A in 1998, mostly in Italian. I didn't know shit about any of the teams, but I knew a fair amount of players from the World Cup. There was no way to read about the league, as I don't understand Italian, but very quickly I fell in love with Juventus. No idea why, but they had Zidane and Edgar Davids, so that's a big plus. They just grabbed me. I started watching the EPL in 2000. I knew more about ManU and more of their players than any other team, so I tried to root for them, but it didn't stick. I decided to just watch as a neutral, and watch as much as I could. I was a bit in denial, as I wanted to remain neutral, but I was falling in love with Arsenal. Then I had my Michael Corleone lighting bolt moment. Arsenal were down 2-0, and I found myself desperately wishing they could score. Henry (who I loved in the 1998 World Cup) made it 2-1. Then the moment came. 86th minute, left back Silvio Sylvinho, well, words can't do it justice. But I leaped off my couch screaming, and my love could no longer be denied.





And Bergkamp was my favorite player from the 1994 World Cup, so Henry and Bergkamp together was undeniable. And let's not minimize the effects of the 10 foot Calvin Klein ad in the Macy's underwear section of Freddie Ljungberg wearing only underwear.

It really is a sorting hat type of thing, and Mr. Draco is the worst.

I'm also Man U and it was all about accessibility, which is not much of an issue these days. I was super into the 2002 World Cup, and so I got to know players from a bunch of teams, and it just seemed logical to follow english soccer. Man U offered live online radio of midweek games that I could listed to at work. That was unheard of at the time, so I just got used to Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and the lot. I probably didn't fully realize it was a bandwagon move of sorts, but again, I could listen!

I was supposed to be a Tottenham fan but the Yankees' investment fell through.

I'm much more of a casual fan than most of you, but I started rooting for Leicester after my friend from there gave me a hat and a good rundown of the team. Then, they had that magical season with Mahrez, Vardy, and Ranieri leading the way.

Now? It's like rooting for the White Sox or something, I guess. Just hope to stay mid-table.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:41 am I'm much more of a casual fan than most of you, but I started rooting for Leicester after my friend from there gave me a hat and a good rundown of the team. Then, they had that magical season with Mahrez, Vardy, and Rainieri leading the way.

Now? It's like rooting for the White Sox or something, I guess. Just hope to stay mid-table.

Funny thing is, you are blessed. Middle-aged fans of Spurs, Everton, West Ham (yecch!) and many other upper level teams have never experienced that particular thrill.

Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal, if that matters.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 12:11 pm Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal, if that matters.

Deserve each other.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 12:11 pm Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal, if that matters.

Yeah, that's problematic. Arsenal are potentially undergoing a massive change. Arsene Wenger managed the team for 22 years. He revolutionized the EPL, but the game passed him by, and he stubbornly insisted on continuing to play a beautiful, flowing passing game centered around stockpiling small midfielders with incredible ball skills, vision and passing ability. Wenger was an economics professor, and brought a shrewd (cheap?) spending strategy to the team. He bought tons of highly skilled kids and hoped some would develop into first team players, while refusing to spend money to pay wages for super stars, so he sold off many stars in their prime. I'm not sure what the new manager will bring, or whether the owners and Board will let him spend, it wasn't always clear if it was the Board or Wenger who refused to lay out cash for wages and transfer fees.

Speaking of cash, another consideration is how clubs are run. Most are run as a business, and personnel decisions are based on business factors, while teams like Chelsea and Man City are owned by Russian mafia oligarch friends of Putin or Emirati Princes who throw insane money to land every star they want to assemble all-star teams that sometimes work, and sometimes don't, but hey, if it doesn't work, here is a another billion dollars to bring in some more stars. ManU is an interesting hybrid. They are run like a business, but their marketing game is so strong, they can buy any player they want, and pay for it in jersey sales in Asia.

I'd like to point out we didn't get Jorginho.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 12:11 pm Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal, if that matters.

70%. The other 30% is owned by a Russian oligarch with more money than Abramovich.

Shirley wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 1:08 pm

degenerasian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 12:11 pm Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal, if that matters.

70%. The other 30% is owned by a Russian oligarch with more money than Abramovich.

Hes trying to buy out that 30%

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/footba ... 94956.html

I love Adele.

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:45 am

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:41 am I'm much more of a casual fan than most of you, but I started rooting for Leicester after my friend from there gave me a hat and a good rundown of the team. Then, they had that magical season with Mahrez, Vardy, and Rainieri leading the way.

Now? It's like rooting for the White Sox or something, I guess. Just hope to stay mid-table.

Funny thing is, you are blessed. Middle-aged fans of Spurs, Everton, West Ham (yecch!) and many other upper level teams have never experienced that particular thrill.

I remember the Everton team that won the league twice in the mid 80's, must make more than middle aged !!

Baloney wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:08 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:45 am

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:41 am I'm much more of a casual fan than most of you, but I started rooting for Leicester after my friend from there gave me a hat and a good rundown of the team. Then, they had that magical season with Mahrez, Vardy, and Rainieri leading the way.

Now? It's like rooting for the White Sox or something, I guess. Just hope to stay mid-table.

Funny thing is, you are blessed. Middle-aged fans of Spurs, Everton, West Ham (yecch!) and many other upper level teams have never experienced that particular thrill.

I remember the Everton team that won the league twice in the mid 80's, must make more than middle aged !!

Mea Culpa!

This looks like a riot!



Some Background - Wild Story

Unfortunately Lincoln Red Imps FC crashed out of the Europa League qualification today

notice nobody said newcastle? including myself and steve who are newcastle supporters. and boxcar.

stay the fuck away from newcastle. it's like supporting the norman bramen iggles. a fucking trainwreck of a club.

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 7:00 am I'm also Man U and it was all about accessibility, which is not much of an issue these days. I was super into the 2002 World Cup, and so I got to know players from a bunch of teams, and it just seemed logical to follow english soccer. Man U offered live online radio of midweek games that I could listed to at work. That was unheard of at the time, so I just got used to Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and the lot. I probably didn't fully realize it was a bandwagon move of sorts, but again, I could listen!

You and I have had this discussion, but this is almost exactly how I did as well. I wanted to follow soccer, and MUFC were the team that were on and available. I initially rooted against them, but during the ‘01-‘02 season the worm started to turn. That was largely around the should I stay or should I go period with SAF.

rass wrote: ↑Thu Aug 16, 2018 5:36 am La Liga to play matches in the US

Interesting idea. Today EPL and Liga MX are really the big owners of the U.S. attention. However, I think ze Germans are the ones to watch out for. They have lots of Americans playing and more importantly they have Fox. Last week, l I noticed just how many games Fox was going to put on TV this week. Big Fox, FS1, and FS2. If La Liga really wants to ramp up the league they have to find a way onto more TVs than BeIN provides. Also they need to start getting focus on teams and players not named Messi, Real Madrid, and Barca (A problem that Germany will also have). You don't have to love Eibar or such but have to at least known a little bit about them so not everything is tied to 2 teams (Munich and Dortmund).

Pretty sure I just read ESPN got the rights to Serie A as well, AND they're keeping the English speaking world feed/announcers. I'm not sure if that means the studio hosts will be based overseas, but I'd be in favor of it.

Fox lured me in with the bundesliga coverage the past year or two. Seems like the German clubs definitely have more parity or at least a couple more clubs ive heard of than La Liga. Id much sooner that than Liga MX. Did some of that one a spanish over the air network but I think the quality is lesser just from a half here and there. Same deal with MLS. Just cant/wont do it.

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Thu Aug 16, 2018 6:56 am Pretty sure I just read ESPN got the rights to Serie A as well, AND they're keeping the English speaking world feed/announcers. I'm not sure if that means the studio hosts will be based overseas, but I'd be in favor of it.

I can never tell with ESPN when they cut deals if I will see the games. They use "ESPN" broadly and it could be available on ESPN's world feed, or ESPN3 or WatchESPN or ESPN+. My hunch is we are not going to get lots of Serie A games on ABC, ESPN, Deuce, or News during the fall. Just way too much college football coverage/NFL morning programming. There best shot is counter programming NFL windows by showing only Juventus and requiring Ronaldo be on camera 80% of the time.

I think the article was a Deitsch one on the Athletic, and I'm pretty sure the flagship and the deuce we're going to carry games, but you're right, there's not much bandwidth in the fall because of NCAAFB.

The part of the deal left for ESPN prior to Ronaldo’s transfer included games that will now appear on linear ESPN and ESPN2. Once the Ronaldo news was announced, IMG had additional suitors inquiring about specific Juventus games, but ESPN was able to close on a three-year deal to acquire the U.S media rights to all 390 Serie A games. ESPN+ will carry an average of nine Serie A matches live each week from August through May while ESPN or ESPN2 will air a Serie A Match of the Week (likely 38 games). The MOT will also be available in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.

Wow, I had completely missed that Turner now has the rights to the Champions League instead of Fox

Baloney wrote: ↑Thu Aug 16, 2018 12:41 pm Wow, I had completely missed that Turner now has the rights to the Champions League instead of Fox

Yeah and I think I saw they're only going to show about 60 percent of the number of games Fox showed, which just seems dumb. I'm presuming they paid more in rights fees than Fox, so what's the rationale behind showing fewer games?

brian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 16, 2018 12:47 pm

Baloney wrote: ↑Thu Aug 16, 2018 12:41 pm Wow, I had completely missed that Turner now has the rights to the Champions League instead of Fox

Yeah and I think I saw they're only going to show about 60 percent of the number of games Fox showed, which just seems dumb. I'm presuming they paid more in rights fees than Fox, so what's the rationale behind showing fewer games?

"Turner will pay around $65M annually to broadcast the UEFA properties while Univision is expected to chip in another $35M for the Spanish-language rights. The combined payment will be close to twice what Fox paid over the last rights-cycle."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmah ... long-tail/