(And getting Americans genuinely excited about soccer, too!)
Via ESPN
The World Cup isn't over for another 13 days, but for Americans who've been devouring every last televised morsel of this year's tournament, there's already a clear winner: a madcap duo of soccer-obsessed British ex-pats who call themselves the “Men in Blazers.”
Tucked tightly away inside ESPN's head-spinning 290 hours of original World Cup programming, the Men In Blazers have become the network's breakout stars of the tournament, charming both ardent soccer fans and the casual watchers alike with their passionate love for American soccer and somewhat unhinged takes on the high and low culture of the tournament. More importantly, their formidable presence online (a Grantland podcast, where they got their beginning, constant Tweets, and several video segments per day) as well as appearances on ESPN's World Cup Tonight show, have in no small part assisted the sport's recent boom in the country.
For the uninitiated, the duo of Roger Bennett, a writer for ESPN, and Michael Davies, a TV executive and CEO who's produced, among other things, Wife Swap and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, bring a level of weirdness and sport savvy that's been compared to the 1990s SportsCenter glory days. Chock-full of idiosyncrasies born from their podcast — they have their own vocabulary (emails are “ravens”, GFOP stands for “Great Friend of the Pod”) — Davies and Bennett are a refreshing break from ESPN's sometimes bland talking heads.
The group's trademark phrase: “Size The Day” (via @chimp_mcghoul)
“For us, football makes us feel feelings that you're meant to experience in real life that neither of us are capable of,” said Bennett. Things like happiness and excitement and loss and joy and disappointment. Dav-o and I are ultimately wedded by the fact that we're most alive when we're watching football. We always say we'd watch two horses play football, if that's all that was available.”
Their obsessions this world cup include: the hyper-combustible, sometimes rain-soaked Mexico coach, Miguel Herrera, tiny Brazilian bananas, the interplay between the “smalls and talls” of the French national team and the always-visible protruding nipples of each team's players. Try for a moment to imagine Chris Berman discussing Tom Brady's nipples and you'll understand why the “Men in Blazers” are like nothing ESPN has seen in years.
“Authenticity is an important trait for me as someone who consumes a lot of sports media and viewers are too often treated to manufactured, ego-driven, self-serving buffoonery,” said Sports Illustrated media columnist Richard Deitsch. “That's why I like what ESPN has done with Michael Davies and Roger Bennett. They are decidedly different from what we are used to seeing on television and their passion for soccer blows through the screen. As I've written this month, ESPN's World Cup soccer coverage is the network at its best and World Cup Tonight (where the Men In Blazers appear) has been sensational sports television because it's authentic. Undoubtely, MiB (and a ton of others) have helped push the world soccer to the American sports fan.”
Beyond witty commentary, the duo has helped to ignite a very real passion for soccer in America — their motto is “driven by the belief that Soccer is America's Sport of the Future. As it has been since 1972.”
“Their witty and undeterred support of American soccer has been invaluable,” Dan Wiersema, a member of the American Outlaws, a US national team fan club, told BuzzFeed. “As a popular show in both the U.S. and across the pond they've done immeasurable positive work in creating new fans at home and aboard for the USMNT.”
How Two Weird British Dudes In Blazers Are Winning The World Cup
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