20230721 Raven Newsletter

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers filled by a nasty case O’ World Cup Fever sweeping over them. The biggest, deepest, most watched Women’s tournament of all time, and one that is already truly thrilling. And not just because it is not clear if we should be drinking beer or coffee during those 3 a.m. ET kick off times. This is a field packed with a thunderous roar of teams who believe – rightly – they can win, including Three-Peat Seeking USA, Euro Champion England, Powerhouse Germany, France, and Spain, Dark Horse Sweden. It is a tribute to the explosion of the Women’s game as to just how many individual stars are being touted by global brands ahead of the tournament: The OG’s Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. Young Poet Warriors Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman. The bevy of singular world icons: Sam Kerr (💔), Lucy Bronze, Christine Sinclair, Marta, Wendie Renard and Alexia Putellas. Yes, this is a tournament that has to be glimpsed through split screens with one eye on the jubilant circus of football, and the other on the scarring number of ACL injuries that have knocked out too many heavyweights from competition, as well as the horrific number of teams battling their own federations for respect, equality, and basic safety. But to witness these women seize the moment before delirious crowds in nine cities across New Zealand and Australia will also be the spectacle the game needs to go next level and continue to grow.

I asked Naomi Girma how she and her US team are battling jet lag after the 13-and-a-half hour flight to Auckland. She said they were told not to sleep for long stretches of the flight. I realize that advice is probably the best for all who are ready to leap in and savor this Big Dance that lies ahead in the land of Cate Blanchett and Flight of the Conchords. Let’s all make the vow to each other up top, right? We are not going to sleep.

More: On the glory of this World Cup by Miguel Delaney.

🇺🇸 Detroit we are headed to you next Saturday for a flying visit. Let us know where and what we have to eat. 😋

B. 🇳🇿 Were you up for the tournament kick off at 3 AM ET Thursday? (This tournament made for the Honolulu fans who normally suffer worse than all of us through the Premier League kick-off times.) New Zealand shocking a star-soaked but uncalibrated Norway. A home winner scored by former Tennessee Vol Hannah Wilkinson, made for an Andreas Cantor goal call. A famous home win before a crowd of 42,000 summed up by the incredible Los Angeles-born Ali Riley who came on our show and talked with passion about how often she visualizes bellowing the New Zealand National Anthem out before a World Cup match in her home nation. Her sobs at the final whistle after captaining her team to their first-ever World Cup Victory were magical to witness. May we all feel this kind of joy for at least one moment in our lifetime.

C. 🇦🇺 Good and terrible news for Australia. To lose Sam Kerr ahead of the game. Out for the first two matches with a shock calf-injury. News as shocking as Denver losing Nikola Jokić on the eve of the NBA playoffs. The hosts still had enough to fend off a feisty Ireland, not overawed in their first ever international tournament. Ex-Thorn and Pride star, Steph Catley, smashing home a penalty to send a crowd of 75,000+ over-served Aussies into delirium. The Matildas were never in control. But for now, the pressure is off. BTW… that crowd… one of greatest legacies of this tournament will be the end of that knee-jerk hottake "No One Cares about Women's Soccer." A massive audience undoubtedly exists. With the same energy dedicated to commercial investment in the Men's Game, no doubt Women's Football can soar globally.

D. To last night’s games where Canada drew with Nigeria 0 - 0. The moment of the match: 22-year-old Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie going full Jordan Pickford to save a Christine Sinclair penalty and then slap away the rebound. Nigeria were a true bolt of energy, so highly motivated in this match, despite shameful treatment by their federation in the run up. And while she missed a penalty, we have to send huge love to 40-year-old Canadian institution Christine Sinclair. A SIXTH WORLD CUP. Think about that. Almost a quarter century. The ALL-TIME international goal scorer with 190 goals in 323 appearances. Just incredible.

In other games, Switzerland had enough to overcome a fiercely robust tournament debutante Philippines team 2-0. The mighty Filipinas played tougher than a $5 steak, despite only 27 percent possession – huge love to them in their first ever World Cup men’s or women’s. And Spain cruised to a 3 - 0 victory against CONCACAF’s Costa Rica, Las Ticas, dominating the match with 81 percent possession.

E. 🇺🇸🍻 Perhaps to prepare for the crazy kick-off times, we have spent the week getting up at 1 in the morning to spend time one-on-one with our US stars, starting with young rock Naomi Girma, game-changer Trinity Rodman, and that perpetual glue-person Emily Sonnett for a new series “Direct from Down Under,” Presented by our friends at Bud Light. I am happy to report, vibes are good, confidence is high, and the focus seems incredibly locked on. These interviews have been a blast to tape – these players are so singular, their personalities so distinct, and perhaps it is something to do with the middle of the night taping-time, but they have often been hilarious. Know this: I asked each as many of your questions as I could. Keep sending them. LISTEN TO OUR FIRST EPISODE WITH NAOMI GIRMA AND TRINITY RODMAN. 🇺🇸🍻

For more make sure to sign up to our new daily newsletter during the Women’s World Cup - The Women’s Game. It’s bringing you everything you need to know about the Women’s World Cup in four minutes a day. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

e. The Big Question: How good are the USWNT? 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

We will find out tonight as they take the field against 32nd in the world Golden Star Women Warriors, Vietnam 🇻🇳 tonight at 9 PM ET on FOX in what should be a generous opportunity to ease their way into their Three-Peat Odyssey. The reality is, we do not know just how good this squad is – with its 14 World Cup rookies – until they reveal their truth. Injuries at both ends of the field mean that there are so many young talents who have opportunities to assert themselves. The ruthless Sophia Smith and electric Trinity Rodman up top. Even more crucially, 22-Year-old cultured center-back Naomi Girma, who must lead a raw backline as if she has veteran experience to draw upon. The best framework to think about this team comes in this excellent piece in the Times by my friend Rory Smith:

“Two things can be true at once. By common consensus, Vlatko Andonovski’s team arrived in New Zealand as the favorite to win the tournament. It has the aura of experience, the dazzling jolt of youth and the deep bedrock of talent to lift a third straight World Cup. It has a psychological edge, too: It has been the game’s superpower for so long that respect can manifest as awe.

At the same time, the undisputed primacy the United States has enjoyed for more than a decade has never been more fragile. There is a risk that this squad will fail the Goldilocks test: Some players are too old, some are too young, and so perhaps none are just right. Europe’s major nations have closed the gap. In the space of a month last year, the Americans lost to England, Spain and Germany. The United States has the squad to emerge as champion. But for the first time in some time, it is not alone in that.”

More from Rory on all the contenders here.

Programming Alert: 🚨US Women’s National Team World Cup Winner Sam Mewis and I will Do It Live on Amp right at the final whistle of this game. We cannot wait to raise a victory pint with you and answer your questions live on the Pod. Download the AMP app or listen on your laptop HERE. You can also tell your Alexa, “Hey Alexa, play Men in Blazers” while we’re live and you can listen in.

f. One more big note before kick-off. These are insane days to be a Football fan in the United States. Women’s World Cup. Messi. Premier League teams barnstorming our nation. And perhaps biggest of all, Wrexham going coast to coast. We have come such a long way since when I started covering football and I had to beg ESPN to let me tape one podcast a week on the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Let’s never take any of this for granted.

2. Great Reading on the Women’s World Cup 🏆🏆🏆

i. Guide to the teams and every one of the 736 players from the Guardian, whose coverage is excellent.

ii, Australia’s hero Sam Kerr. The face of this tournament at home. So much pressure. So much confidence. I adore and revere her, and wish her a speedy return to full health.

iii. Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal Women’s Coach, is joining MiB during the World Cup. Enjoyed this piece in which he makes a case for how England can win, despite their injuries.

iv. It was incredible to watch Sinead Farrelly start a World Cup game for Ireland after all she has been through. Jenna Tonelli spent time with the Irish-American discussing her remarkable journey. Beautiful.

USWNT Collection with the GFOPs at Homage ⭐️🇺🇸👕

Get ready to cheer on the US Women's National Team, pay homage to the history of 90s sports that I love, and get ready for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. This collection takes us back to the iconic moment when Brandi Chastain's penalty kick secured victory against China, a moment that still reverberates in our collective memory. It was a turning point, a moment when the nation's love affair with soccer and women's sports ignited. Support our women trying to go back-to-back-to-back this summer and gear up HERE.

3. Wrexham begin barnstorming across our Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Wrexham played the first game of their tour – in the vaunted Florida Cup no less – before a sold-out crowd of 51,000 in North Carolina. GFOPs who were there said that Wayne Jones, landlord of now iconic pub The Turf, was walking round being mobbed by fans, “as if he was Harry Styles.”

We were elated to launch our partnership with Wrexham this week: “Wrexham in the USA,” Powered by SToK. LISTEN TO OUR CONVERSATION WITH MANAGER PHIL PARKINSON HERE. I am so proud of this project. We are headed to Philadelphia next week to shoot with the team in person. I believe the Wrexham story is a magical one in its own right, but we can also learn so much about the mechanics of football fandom, ownership, and the very meaning of modern teams, by thinking and talking about it, so I am so bloody happy to be able to do so. We have recruited a Wrexham correspondent for MiB Network, a lifelong fan named Tommy Cheese. He is flying into Philadelphia to be with us next week. Stay tuned for more.

The first episode of "Wrexham in the USA," Presented by SToK - that magical Cold Brew elixir - is available now. Our guest: Wrexham manager, that League Two Halftime Talk Poet Laureate Phil Parkinson. Our big takeaway from this interview: Phil is proper football. A gent whose real home is the technical area at an away fixture like Swindon. And a gent who became so well known on this series for his halftime talks. And we go deep with the Churchillian orator on that very subject. Much to the chagrin of the Men in Blazers censors. This is a conversation with a gentleman who you get a sense is exactly the same off-camera as he is on it. And we loved speaking to him.

🚨We are going to film next week with Rob, Super Paul Mullin and Ben Foster amongst others. Send us your questions for one and all. 🚨

More: Wrexham enlist MiB for American Invasion.

Men in Blazers x Bud Light Sweepstakes - Exclusive Prizes for GFOPs 🍺

You’ve long known about the GFOPs at Bud Light’s support of the game we all love. Now, they’re giving us the chance to give away some exclusive prizes only to those of you reading this newsletter. Entering is easy: just head to budlight.com/MIB to enter for your chance to win signed gear, exclusive Bud Light merch, and more.*

4. Messi. This Week in the Messiverse 🇦🇷🐐 

We are living in days of miracle and wonder. Lionel Messi is expected to make his Inter Miami debut tonight 8 PM ET against Mexican side Cruz Azul in the 2023 Leagues Cup on Apple TV and Univision. Jordi Alba has joined the Barca Legends influx. We have talked and written a lot about this incredible moment and its impact as an optics play in terms of the American game’s profile. In truth, it will take Messi some time to summon match fitness. We must be patient. But the circus, the noise, the hype is deafening. I enjoyed this piece on the impact of Messi and agree that his main impact will be OFF the field.

👑 NEW MIB FEATURE: This week in the Messiverse. To celebrate the arrival of Lionel on our shores, the greatest thing to hit Miami since Don Johnson discovered teal, we have created a weekly YouTube feature, this week in the Messiverse. We have mighty MiB Producer Zac Lee Rigg tracking Messi’s every meal, super market run, and dodgy left turn traffic maneuver, and the occasional football moment. Our goal is to capture the joy of this surreal cultural moment. Catch Episode 1 here and please share with your friends. 👑

5. More Football, Did Ya Say?

i. Manchester City have agreed to buy Croatian human wall Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig. Newcastle have snapped up Harvey Barnes.

ii. Spurs under Ange: Tactics! Possession! And still Harry Kane! “The biggest single one was Postecoglou’s demand for the full-backs in his 4-3-3 to get up and across in possession. The pioneer of this move, Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, has one of his full-backs do it; Postecoglou seemingly wants both of them high and inside at the same time.”

iii. Leeds United are now fully American owned. In 49ers hands. Host of sports stars have shares of ownership. Including Michael Phelps. Is this the most celebrity driven GoFundMe of all-time?

iv. Jordi Alba latest to sign up for Inter Miami project joining Messi and Busquets. Crazy days for MLS. Getting the old Barcelona band together, and Luis Suarez could be on the way.

V. My favorite Instagram Follow: SAT Soccer Watching Trainer Ethan Sonis work all summer one-on-one on the physical and mental side of football with the likes of Christian Pulisic, Moise Kean and Paulo Dybala in Miami. Gent works on a methodology of fast-paced movements and patterns in training with high amounts of repetition at speed to build muscle memory and it is fascinating to witness.

Canadian GFOPs 🇨🇦: An Exclusive Offer from FuboTV

We love our friends north of the border, and FuboTV loves football as much as we do. FuboTV is Canada’s home to streaming live soccer with 57+ live channels of soccer and other top sports. With the 23/24 PL fixtures just announced, there’s no better time to head to FuboTV and get the entire Premier League season for as low as $14.99/mo with an annual soccer plan. To learn more check out fubo.tv/signup.

6. Not Football, and All the Better for It

i. Wham! Documentary on Netflix as experienced by Andrew Ridgeley. The Super Bowl for readers of a certain pop proclivity.

ii. GQ consulted the experts for this one (& when none of them agreed to speak, they came to MiB): Meet the Masked Rapper Who Claims to Play in the Premier League.

iii. The Guardian looks at The Balkans’ Alternative Postal System: An Ad-Hoc Courier’s Tale. Eerily similar to Everton’s scouting network.

iv. My "Naked-Hiking Questions" don't extend beyond "Why on earth?" but the good people at Backpacker came up with a few more: Ask a Nudist: Your Top Naked-Hiking Questions, Answered.

v. I think we're asking the wrong questions here: Why Did 488 Golden Retrievers Gather in Scotland? Better question: Why not?

vii. The Washington Post interviews Harriet Tubman using AI. Seems to me like every AI story should be filed under, "just because we can doesn't mean we should".

vii. The 90 year old who wins bodybuilding competitions. Giving procrastinators everywhere hope on their New Year's resolutions. I cannot confirm or deny whether this is Tim Ream’s Dad.

viii. Dwell.com looks at How The Airstream Became an American Icon. Featuring what I would propose is the greatest business card ever designed.

ix. Happy Barbenheimer Weekend to all that celebrate! Supplement your double-feature with these great essays: Bomb the Multiplex: A ‘Barbenheimer’ Reading List.

x. This song made my week: I Heard It In My Dream by Fig featuring Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys. Wonderfully Woozy.

xi. I read this book and if you love England and tunes, you will savor it too: Manchester Unspun: How a city got high on music by Alex Spinoza.

That is it for today. I am off to Portland, Maine. A city I adore being in. Most restorative place in the world. I cannot wait to be up there in a city that is stealth Proper Football. Savor every second. I cannot wait to go Live with you post USWNT game with the mighty Sam Mewis. Let’s make memories together and not take a second of this for granted.

Big Love,

Courage.

ROG