Episode Ninety-Three - Tragedy Tomorrow, Comedy Tonight

Kevin’s new book, Who Are Ya?

Sometimes the podcast you plan isn’t the one you end up doing. That’s the case with our new pod with writer/broadcaster/comedian Kevin Day (@kevinhunterday). What was supposed to be a chat about Kevin’s new book and his podcast ended up starting with a long conversation about comedy, old TV shows and more.

We innocently began the pod talking about time zones in the United States, which somehow turned into a long chat about old school British comedies, especially the shows that were shown in the States on PBS. This turned into a wide-ranging discussion about American comedy vs British comedy, Monty Python, Dad’s Army, Whose Line is it Anyway?, 1970s British sitcoms brought over to the States, classic spy shows, referentiality in comedy, stand-up versus improv and more. We also talked about Kevin’s son Ed Night (@_ednight) also being a stand-up comedian and the challenges facing the comedy business in Great Britain during the pandemic.

Eventually, we did get around to talking about Kevin’s new book, Who Are Ya?, an examination of the (current) 92 clubs in the English football pyramid. We discuss Kevin’s famous interview on Match of the Day 2 with Sylvester Stallone at Goodison Park, football’s working class roots and the contrast with today’s big business philosophies, at least among many of the Premier League clubs.

We close it out with Kevin’s current podcast, The Price of Football, and some of his old ones. How did Kevin end up working with Kieran Maguire and would the pod have even started had he known Kieran supported Brighton, the hated rival of Kevin’s beloved Crystal Palace. We also talk the old Chappers podcast that Kevin did with Mark Chapman, Graham Poll and Roy Meredith and discuss how the podcast model can be better for concent creators than trying to work in radio or TV.

This was a fun show that went in so many different directions. It’s always fun when you have a guest as multi-faceted as Kevin who can talk about everything from football finance to Randall and Hopkirk Deceased to Robin Williams. Hopefully, we will have Kevin back on the show in the future.

Also, when this show debuts in late October 2020, we hope to be announcing in the next week or so our next project which will have written content on the website and an audio companion, either on this feed or a new one.

Thanks for listening.

Episode Seventy-Seven - Blue Moon Odom

Thanks for the Memories. Ichiro retires.

To help us kick off the baseball season and the closing stages of the European futbol season, we’re happy to welcome back Awful Announcing Managing Editor Joe Lucia (@joe_TOC). We talk about the first week of the baseball season, the surprises both good and bad. What’s going right for Seattle, the Mets and Milwaukee and wrong for the Yankees, Boston, the Angels and Joe’s Braves. Just how early is too early to panic if you are one of the struggling teams? Who is the biggest heel in baseball? Is it Bryce Harper? Or someone else? And just how well will a heel Bryce fit it in Philadelphia?

We also talk about just what is going on in the Premier League and the Champions League, as their seasons wind down. Just how confident is Joe that his Manchester City can win the quadruple? Where are they most likely to slip up? If they don’t win the Champions League, who will? Messi? Ronaldo? Pogba?

There’s some fun random stuff thrown in, like doing a fantasy league for pro wrestling in the mid 1980s, price-for-rental videotapes and hand-typing in statistics from USA Today in the early years of rotisserie baseball.

As we teased last episode, we will be doing a convention soon. We will be appearing at TMPT 3 in Richmond, VA on May 18th. Scheduled to be at the show are Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express (including Dennis Condrey), The Rock and Rock Express, JJ Dillon and more folks. If you come to the show, please stop by and say hello. We hope to have a wrestling themed issue of the magazine debuting at the show. You can get your tickets here.

Episode Seventy-One - Rock Me Salieri

Pep and Jose, the prequel

The podcast returns before the holiday season kicks in discussing the world of futbol and more with Ken Early (@kenearlys) from the Irish Times and the Second Captains podcast (@secondcaptains). 

We start with how Ireland is dealing with their elimination from the World Cup and what the future holds for coaches Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane. That segues into a discussion about why they and the Irish national team have such a poor relationship in recent years with Everton.

Then, it's onto a chat about the Champions League, which resumed with Match Day Five when this episode debuted. From there, we talk about two of Ken's favorite subjects: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.  We examine the relationship between the two in Spain and now in the Premier League. To which historical rivals does Ken compare the two managers? And just how of The Special One's wrestling heel persona is a work?

Lastly, we talk about the Second Captains World Service podcast network, their move to becoming a paid subscription model earlier this year and the decision for Ken to a political podcast as one of their shows and the whole "stick to sports" opinion held by a segment of the sports fans around the world.

Note: The political chat starts around 34:30 and includes a number of current events.  If that's not your cup of tea, please feel free to give that section a pass. No offense taken.

You can join the Second Captains World Service at Patreon.  For US subscribers, it's (at current exchange rates) $5.35 a month for at least six podcasts a week. 

Episode Seventy - Here Come De Judge

Will the Cubs be able to defend their World Series crown? 

Just in time for playoff baseball,, we welcome back to the podcast the Managing Editor of Awful Announcing Joe Lucia (@joe_TOC).  We start with the news of the day, the resignation of Atlanta GM John Coppolella and which managed might get the pink slip this offseason.  We then give our picks for the American and National League Cy Young and MVP awards.  Then, it's a series-by-by-series breakdown of each round of the playoffs, culminating with who we each think will win the World Series. 

After that, it's some quick Premier League chat. As a Manchester City supporter, Joe is flying high at the moment, with his team top of the table when the podcast was recorded. Conversely, my Everton is under-performing and plenty of folks calling for the manager's head. We also give our thoughts on who may or may not end up in the relegation dogfight. 

Episode Sixty-Seven - Campeones, Campeones

Hot balls. The UEFA Champions League draw happened this week in Monaco.

With all sorts of news going on in the futbol word, we welcome ESPNFC journalist Gabriele Marcotti (@marcotti) to the show. We start with an analysis of the draws for the Champions League and Europa League, held this week in Monaco.  Which groups look the toughest and what are the prospects for the Premier League teams.  Then, we discuss the flurry of transfer activity this summer, including news just today that Ousmane Dembele is headed to Barcelona and Kylian Mbappe could be on the verge of joining Neymar at Paris St-Germain. That leads to a talk about PSG and Financial Fair Play, something Gab has written about over the last couple weeks.  We end the futbol talk with a look at Week Three in the Premier League, including the match at Stanford Bridge between Chelsea and Everton.

The rest of the show, we talk about how Gab became an ECW hardcore regular in the mid to late 1990s while a student at Penn.  What was his first trip to ECW Arena like? What angles does he remember seeing at the shows? Does he still keep up with the business in 2017?

We really want to thank Gab for his time, as the pod was recorded after he flew back this afternoon to London from Monaco. You can read Gab's work at ESPNFC.com, The Times (of London) [paywall] and you can hear him as the host of The Game podcast every Monday during the futbol season, on Soundcloud, iTunes, or most listening platforms.