No Pub? No Problem. Join Us For Matchday Chat

Fox Soccer's short-sighted, pound-foolish decision to ignore Champions League implications by putting Newcastle United's final match Sunday on web only has left many fans without a pub broadcast to call their own. Well, since you'll be on your computers anyway, we've decided to run our very own live chat right here on the blog on matchday. We'll start a half-hour before kickoff, at 9:30 Eastern U.S./2:30 Newcastle time Sunday, and chat our way through the match plus a half-hour postscript afterward. Check out our nervous/snarky/intentionally-or-unintentionally-humorous commentary as the game unfolds, and add your own! It's better and faster than Twitter - everyone follows everyone else instantaneously. (Not that you can't follow Twitter at the same time. Holy overstimulation, Batman!) Our previous live chat on the final day of summer transfer season drew hundreds of fans and was a blast. We think this could be even funner. So we invite all you pub-deprived American Magpies, as well as our friends in England and around the globe, to stop in here and follow Everton-Newcastle with us on Sunday. Howay the Europe-bound lads!

P.S. Thanks to all of you who posted and tweeted and facebooked your support for our screed against the dark forces of News Corp yesterday. As for those who think the decision to televise meaningless Chelsea and Liverpool matches instead represents some sort of ratings or money bonanza for Fox - we're skeptical at best. All the ratings for morning EPL soccer in the U.S. are miniscule at this early stage of popularity, around 100,000 viewers per match according to the latest figures released by Fox, in a nation of 300 million TV viewers. The difference between the most-watched and least-watched Fox Soccer match is pennies to a media conglomerate. Beyond that, Manchester United and Arsenal are the truly large fan bases in the U.S. We'd be surprised if a meaningless Chelsea or Liverpool match would draw more eyes than a critical match not only for Newcastle but for Arsenal, not to mention Tottenham, which has a fast-emerging U.S. following. More pubs and homes are likely to be dividing attention among the meaningful games than focusing on two matches that are essentially friendlies. And even beyond that, the way to grow interest and ratings for the future is to cover the sport, not the same four bandwagons. We. Don't. Get. It. But that's Fox.

Comments

[Mathew]

Can't believe Warren Barton, Center Parting hasn't managed to convince the powers that be to switch up the game?!?!

I am enjoying how heated you guys are getting over this - ;)

[Bob]

Haha, thanks. We're not the only ones worked up, judging from the traffic to the blog yesterday, especially via Facebook.

[MnToonArmy9]

Ideas for Fox: (with a side helping of sarcasm)

(1) A hot weather babe a la FOX NFL coverage to tell us about the conditions at the Stadium of Light ("it's raining cowpies, Warren") and how the new cold front will impact Peter Crouch's leaping ability ("He might consider staying on the ground, folks...Britannia's an open air stadium and you won't be sure where the gusts will take him").

(2) Fox loves new shows for sweeps to get marketing tie-ins. Ideas: (a) "Mario's House": reality show involving Mario Balotelli, his WAGs, his auto body shop and his pet duck. (b) "Bend it like Wayne": Wayne Rooney is tapped to teach United States Secret Service agents about proper call-girl/prostitute eetiquette. (c) "GGB or Good Geordie Boys": Andy Carroll cast as a man who left town for the big city and greener pastures and returns to find that in every hometown if you are humble enough you can still get a job at the local hardware store, hook up with your old sweetheart and still save the orphanage from the bulldozer.

(3) Hope beyond hope the guys tuning into FuelTV to watch Swans v. Liverpool don't think that the accidentally stumbled on to a PBS special presentation of "Swan Lake". "Hey, Earl, see them boys in white? They hold that ball a lot between their legs. They're the swans…but who are them red fellers?".

(4) Get a clue that Newcastle United is on the rise and once we get up to the top, there won't be room on the train.

[Sean Berry]

While I'm disappointed that the game won't be on TV, I actually am very thankful that they've shown as many matches as they have this season. I didn't keep track, but I only remember having to look "elsewhere" for our games 2 or 3 times. For a team not traditionally in the top 4 I thought it was great, much better than last season.

[Mathew]

^ Totally agree - i've managed to watch nearly all their games this season it's been a total treat! Irony was when I was in England earlier this year I couldn't get it on the TV?! That's got to change over there!