20230414 Raven Newsletter

April 14, 2023

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers filled with gratitude and a tinge of sadness. My parents, Val and Ivor, fly home today after 10 days in New York. It has felt like the quickest eternity of all-time. So many memories made. Including watching Everton’s 2-0 surrender at United, spectating in agony with four generations of Blues (I include the dog as his own stratum). Proof that even traumatic experiences can forge shared fond collective experiences. Shouting at Dwight McNeil is healing. For a long time, I have tried to consciously make memories. My wife tells me that I have a black belt in that. It might well be my only skill. But time is short (a truth the tragic last tribute in this newsletter reinforces). Let’s savor every second, GFOPs.

It has been some week at MiB. We have begun to add new writers and editors who are the brains and lungs of everything that we do. It is such a hard process. To find passionate like-minds with the ability to write and think in voices that are not their own. That is some rare skill. We have also spent time with Aston Villa’s change-maker, Unai Emery – a sweeter manager you will rarely meet – and USWNT Player of the Hour Becky Sauerbrunn, with whom we taped a deeply inspirational hour, the first episode of our new Road to the Cup series. The other lovely thing is that we followed up our Webby nomination by being nominated for a Sports Emmy along with our partners at Twitch for our World Cup Tour which was given a nod as “Outstanding Interactive Experience – Original Programming.” To be honest, these nominations do not mean a lot to me, partially because I am dead inside, but I am excited for our young staff across MiB who have worked so hard and deserve every recognition, and also because this category is a reflection of the passion and quality of conversation we have with you GFOPs, which is the core of all we do.

One final note before we dive in, we are hurtling towards a pair of intriguing interviews this week. Saturday, one of the biggest we have ever done, that I can’t wait to talk about. Then on Wednesday, we will film with four Baby Eagles at the Same Time. That's right, Fulham's lockdown left side of Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson and Leeds United States of America's Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie are going to join us, all at once, for an interview before next Saturday's Premier League Bowl: Fulham vs. Leeds. It should be a bit mad, tbh. Send us your questions for these gents. These can be queries for them as individuals or as a group. Send us your best questions and we will endeavor to get answers for as many as possible. EMAIL US HERE.

🗣️BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: WE LAUNCHING EVEN BIGGER AWARDS THAN FIFA’S THE BEST 🏆

The Men in Blazers American Football Awards, presented by Bud Light

It has been a Premier League season of seasons. One unlike any other. Ascendant, joyous, young, buccaneering Arsenal. A mid-season World Cup Break. So many Americans. And Everton... well... it's been nice to have some consistency in this season of flux. And we want to mark this footballing trip around the sun by officially launching The Men in Blazers Football Awards, presented by Bud Light. A series of awards designed to celebrate the league we love in the country we adore. And here is the best bit: we are asking you, dear GFOPs, to pick the winners. We've always viewed Men in Blazers as a dialogue with you, so it is only fitting you have your say in deciding who receives these beauties. We begin with two categories:

👑 America's Premier League Player of the Year 🏆

🇺🇸 America's American Premier League Player of the Year 🏆

HOW YOU VOTE: We will reveal the nominees ahead of the Voting which will take place via an exclusive link sent out in the April 21 edition of The Raven newsletter. If you know someone who may want to vote, please, please send them this newsletter and encourage them to SUBSCRIBE before next week's issue flies.

We are sculpting trophies as I type. The winners will be announced on a special edition of the Men in Blazers Television Show, featuring some very special guests. It's scheduled to air May 28, the final day of the Premier League season on PeacockTV.

3. To the Football

i. Aston Villa vs. Newcastle, Bud Light Big Game Preview (Saturday, 7.30 AM ET, USA)

Two of the most transformative Premier League managers collide: Unai Emery vs. Eddie Howe. Eddie Howe has modified himself in building his Saudi project as a defensively impermeable unit. But Unai Emery will fling nine goals in 11-games Ollie Watkins against them with well-placed confidence. I spoke to Unai this week, a man who has stealth been manager of the season, and he attributed Watkins’ resurrection to the player’s intelligence, video work, and his ability to get his own players around him. It has worked and then some. Villa were relegation fodder when he arrived 175 days ago and he has transformed his squad into European contenders. A new manager bounce that has soared. Only Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points than Unai’s Villa since he arrived: 32 in 16 games, and he will fancy grabbing three more here.

ii. West Ham vs. Arsenal (Sunday, 9 AM ET, USA)

How will Arteta's mob respond to the thunderous draw which felt like a loss at Anfield last weekend? With the clash against Manchester City still to come, there is neither safety net nor margin for error. For West Ham, victory here will both blow the title-race apart and shelter them from the storm of relegation. Yet the truth is, Arsenal will be well aware their opponents have scored three goals in their past three league games: two were from set-pieces and the other an own goal from Fulham’s Harrison Reed.

More: Arsenal must plot to defeat Declan Rice, the player they most want to join them this summer.

iii. Manchester City vs. Leicester City (Saturday, 12.30 PM ET, NBC Proper)

In-a-groove City emerge after obliterating Bayern as the Tampa Bay Rays of Football, reeling off nine straight games all comps (Goals For: 34 Goals Against: three). Six points back, with a game in hand, this is their final league game before they welcome Arsenal into the belly of the beast at the Etihad in that Premier League-geddon on April 26, they face 19th-placed Leicester who begin their Dean Smith-era and are in a death spiral of seven straight defeats. Jesse Marsch will be pleased he sat this one out.

iv. Chelsea vs. Brighton (Saturday, 10 AM ET, P’Cock)

It took one week for Chelsea to reduce Frank Lampard from shiny, healthy, rejuvenated Super Frank to having his beatdown, drowning Everton face back on him. No goals in four games as he attempts to rub João Félix, Mykahilo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech, Noni Madueke and Christian Pulisic together like dry sticks to start a fire. Todd Boehly floating around Madrid pre-game and boldly, idiotically predicting a Chelsea 3-0 victory would not have helped. Purring Brighton will hope to inflict Frank’s third loss in a row. A new manager bounce, yes. But in the wrong direction.

More: Chelsea keep showing they are promise and no substance.

v. Everton vs. Fulham (Saturday, 10 AM ET, P’Cock)

An Everton Trap game: Playing a team that has lost five straight and appears to be on their holidays? Loss guaranteed. Fulham remain Mitrovic-less. Everton have not had a striker all season.

More: Complete Premier League Broadcast Schedule is here.

vi. Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester United (Sunday, 11.30 AM ET, USA)

Relegation-Zone embroiled Forest, fresh off firing their second sporting director of the season, will hope to return to their home form of yore against a Manchester United reeling with injury problems after Lisandro Martinez was stretchered off in yesterday’s Europa League semi-disaster against Sevilla, prognosis still unknown. United were up 2-0, then two own goals erupted. At the other end of the field, Marcus Rashford will be sidelined for 'a few games' with a muscle injury suffered against Everton last weekend. That means the 28-goal striker is likely to miss the back end of the Europa League quarter final and next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final. As the games pile up so do the injuries for Ten Hag.

vii. Leeds vs. Liverpool (Monday, 3 PM ET, USA)

Elland Road will be a bearpit but will an almost certainly Wöber-less and Tyler Adams-less Leeds be able to repel Liverpool? Admittedly, Liverpool, on the road, have been more like the insipid first half Liverpool of last week’s bombastic 2-2 draw against Arsenal, as opposed to the barnstormers who charged back from the brink in the second half. They have lost eight out of 15 games, and the fan base are reeling after the press were briefed that Jude Bellingham's $167M price tag is too rich for a squad that needs total overhaul. Klopp compared it to “a child asking for a Ferrari.” A price only Manchester City or Real Madrid can offer. (BTW I love the idea of Liverpool having created a precedent and now having to announce every time they are not in the market for a player. Big picture for Liverpool: There is no margin for error in recruitment now. Every move has to be a sage, instant upgrade.)

4. Men in Blazers. Sprint at a Marathon pace.

Another week of tiny legs spinning around the MiB World HQ Hamster Wheel and here are the offerings we so humbly present to you:

i. An Erik ten Hag YouTube exclusive in which the Manchester United manager talks restoring the club's proud tradition, his sideline stoicism and those Dutch Dance Moves. How you say stanky leg in Amsterdam? WATCH HERE. We are dropping daily content on our YouTube, including video versions of The Pod. Subscribe. Subscribe. Subscribe.

ii. The only thing more certain than Real Madrid in the Champions League: the return of European Nights with Rory Smith, Presented by Paramount+. This week, Rog and Rors talked why Italy could be Europe's second-best league. LISTEN HERE. We're back Tuesday ahead of the quarter-final return legs.

iii. We also released a brand new episode of VAMOS with Herc Gomez, Presented by Bud Light yesterday in which Herc sits down with Barcelona's Julián Araujo, a gent who grew up in Lampoc, California. Some real insight into the factors that caused Julian to chose El Tri over the USMNT here. And how he's experienced his move from LA Galaxy to Barcelona. LISTEN HERE

iv. And to keep your finger on the pulse of all of global football's comings and goings, be sure to listen to Fabrizio Romano's "Here We Go" Podcast. The Pod is on the Men in Blazers Media Network, but a separate feed from the rest of our offerings. SUBSCRIBE HERE.

5. More Football, Did Ya Say?

ii. Does changing the manager impact the team’s results? One data analyst here wrote me to say it is “tough to measure because you don't know what would happen if you didn't sack your manager. No successful org changes their leader like underwear and is successful long term.”

iii. American owners flowing into English football’s lower levels. Interesting piece by our friend John Wall Street whose newsletter is worth signing up for.

iv. If you only read one piece make it this: Henry Bushnell’s excellent deep dive into Why Gregg Berhlater would publicly speak on the record thinking it was an off the record conference”. So much in there. A movie could be made of this piece of self-destructive questing.

v. This still cracks me up. Who first had the idea? Who executed it?  

6. A Brand Collaboration I Adore: 47 x Ebbets Field Flannels

It is no secret: I revere the Boston-based hat brand 47. The aesthetic of their design. The sense of storytelling that sings out of their creations. The feeling that when I pull one on, I am wearing a slice of America. But even I am blown away by their latest release. The MLB Press Pin Collection in collaboration with the majestic Ebbets Field. These hats are stunning and so is the backstory. I had no idea about this, but in the early days of baseball history, the media were given press pins for access instead of the laminated plastic lanyards we have to wear. These hats are recreations of original designs crafted in chainstitch embroidered felt appliqué. And they are a slice of magic.

7. Women’s World Cup is 97 Days Away

As I mentioned up top, we taped last night with Becky Sauerbrunn who said that there is barely a moment she is not aware that the World Cup, which would be her fourth, is charging towards us. This week, the US played their final game before rosters are announced. A night against Ireland in which squad players battled to earn a place on the final squad was always going to serve up discombobulated football. Coach Vlatko said after the game he was considering “10 to 12 players fighting for six or seven spots.” Few will remember the US 1-0 win, but there were indelible scenes. Pre-Game, Sauerbrunn was honored for breaking the 200 cap mark before her hometown crowd. A transcendent human who shuns the spotlight was thrust into it with her family on the field and few deserve it more. Within 3 minutes, Becky, of 216 caps and Zero goals, almost scored. An arcing header from a designed set-piece. One of the most stunning nearlies in American history.

8. Not Football, and All the Better for It

i. Stock Models see their face in memes and have to live with it forever.

Stock Models are the new Supermodels.

ii. Lesley Feist interview. So much life in here.

iv. John Oliver explains the origins of Chuck E. Cheese. One time I was at Chuck E. Cheese and the kid playing Chuck E. knew my Dad and took his animatronic head off to say hi. Several children burst into tears and were scared forever.

vii. Fed up, Arnold Schwarzenegger terminates ‘giant pothole’ in L.A. Every few months I'm unwillingly reminded that this man was once the leader of the world's 9th largest economy.

viii. People love "creepy" bollards that look like school children in Nottingham.” They are actually some of the 31 players Forest have signed this season.

ix. How Bookshop.org Survives—and Thrives—in Amazon’s World. Support your Indie Book Stores, America!

x. Why teens are suddenly obsessed with chess. One trend 13-Year-Old Rog was way way ahead of.

Xi. Succession fans: Remember MiB teamed with HBO to launch the Official Succession Podcast with interviews of the whole cast. The Jeremy Strong ep is my favorite. HERE IS A PLAYLIST OF ALL EPISODES.

That is it for today. I want to end by paying tribute to a gent who passed away far too soon. The Men in Blazers family lost a true GFOP on April 7 when David Douek succumbed to injuries he incurred in a traffic motorcycle accident on his way home from the Mets home opener. An attorney by trade, but in real life, a passionate supporter of Crystal Palace FC, David was a frequent fixture at Men in Blazers live events in New York City. I have such fond memories of him – a truly genuine bloke who was mesmerized by how quickly and deeply he had fallen for football in general and Palace in particular. He is survived by his daughter Leora and his wife Jessica, who is expecting their second child in the coming months. Our hearts go out to David's family and friends including the great GFOP Jason Wiegand, law school classmates from the Wake Forest days, who was always by his side.

May David's memory be a pillar of strength for them in years to come. Life is short. Time is precious. Make memories while you can. ❤️💙

Big Love,

Courage

ROG