Soccer, Pints, and Fantasy Points

Grab a pint and join us for a deep dive into soccer culture as we explore the beautiful game through the lens of traditional English pub ales and Detroit's thriving soccer community. 

What happens when you mix the world's most popular sport with Detroit's gritty character and authentic beer culture? Pure magic. Our guest Matt Conti breaks down the intricacies of fantasy Premier League soccer, explaining how this global phenomenon differs dramatically from American fantasy sports with its salary cap structure and unique scoring system.

We take you on a tour of Detroit's vibrant soccer scene, from the passionate supporters of Detroit City FC who march from local bars to Keyworth Stadium, to the dedicated pubs where fans gather at dawn to watch their favorite European teams. Thomas McGee's for Liverpool supporters, The Dog and Pony Show for Tottenham Hotspur fans – every major club has found its Detroit home.

While sampling traditional English pub ales like Boddingtons (aptly nicknamed "the blonde Guinness") and discussing the art of cask conditioning, we explore how these brewing traditions create the perfect complement to match day experiences. Our conversation weaves through personal stories of attending matches in England and Italy, the cultural differences between European soccer leagues and American sports, and how global stars like Messi are transforming soccer's popularity across the United States.

Whether you're a dedicated supporter who knows every chant or someone curious about why people wake up at 7am on weekends to watch matches, this episode captures the community, traditions, and pure joy that make soccer the world's game. Listen, learn, and perhaps discover your own team to support in the premierist of all leagues.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Man Cave Happy Hour
• 5:37 English Premier League and Fantasy Soccer
• 16:56 Detroit City FC and Michigan Soccer Culture
• 27:57 Traditional English Pub Ales and Beer Culture
• 38:33 Global Soccer Stars and American Connections
• 49:20 Soccer Bars and Watching the Beautiful Game
• 54:43 Friendship House and Community Outreach

Transcript

Show Open - Theme Song: 0:02

I said, hey, hey, welcome to the Man Cave Happy Hour.

I said hey hey welcome to the Man Cave Happy Hour. We're going to drink a fine whiskey and smoke a really fine cigar.

Jamie Flanagan: 0:25

It is time for Happy Hour. It is the man Cave Happy Hour Whiskey, cigars, spirits, the stories that go along with it. I'm Jamie Flanagan.

Matt Fox: 0:32

That over there is the handsome August Kitschleck Matt.

August Gitschlag: 0:36

Fox, I missed your face. It's been so long we haven't been together in like three weeks guys. No, everyone's on vacation and we got that whole summer thing kind of bit us in the butt. You know, I was back to school today. Oh man, I was afraid you were going to say that.

Jamie Flanagan: 0:49

Back to it. Way to kill the vibe, yeah, I know. And then I had to do like a presentation on Zoom, right Already, yeah. And so I figured, all right, let's warm it up, we'll do it, we'll get a joke right. Get them joke right, get him going nothing, nothing. Oh, your dad opening dad joke fell flat. Apparently I'm not even remotely funny. Oh, that was a sad.

August Gitschlag: 1:08

Okay, all right, zoom, joke okay all right, you follow that folks. It went right over matt's head, but you know you don't know me he's got that stuff in his pocket for work next week.

Jamie Flanagan: 1:22

He's doing what?

Matt Fox: 1:22

did the elephant say to the naked man how?

Jamie Flanagan: 1:28

can you breathe through that? Thing, but yeah, it's a little summer vacations and camping, but yeah, I was back to reality.

August Gitschlag: 1:35

I thought there was still a law in Michigan that they couldn't go back to school until after Labor Day. Didn't the northern Michigan reps get all that passed so they would vacation through Labor Day. Still, people would vacation.

Jamie Flanagan: 1:49

Yeah, but now you can get dispensations, and it's ridiculous because we were having like two football games before the school year started, right? So you got, you know, 200 kids on the football team, 300 kids in the marching band, daniel dance squad, cheer squad.

August Gitschlag: 1:57

Well, high school sports is now a year round for these people. Yeah, once you're involved, you got to be in a you, you got to be playing all your your tournaments and your travel teams, but it's ridiculous you don't even make the team in high school it.

Jamie Flanagan: 2:08

Yeah, but it's ridiculous that you know it's ridiculous, so sorry. So, uh, you can get a dispensation from the state. I think they, but I think they got rid of the rule I think it's gone.

August Gitschlag: 2:17

I think it's gone all together it's gone all.

Jamie Flanagan: 2:19

They were just giving dispensations.

August Gitschlag: 2:21

And now it's like you should be. Just the catholic schools and the private schools are going back early. Yeah well, the public school kids went back, went back on, you know, september 2nd or whatever, after labor day but, yeah, they're all in now.

Jamie Flanagan: 2:31

My nephews went to school last week in chicago and schaumburg yeah felt so bad yeah, my one of my buddy journalism teaching buddies in indy.

August Gitschlag: 2:39

He's been back for two weeks I mean they get basically they get out in the middle of of June now and they're back in the middle of August.

Jamie Flanagan: 2:46

I'm out the first week of June. He's out Memorial Day or whatever that is they torture children differently there?

Matt Fox: 2:53

My kids still got a whole week off of school before they go back.

August Gitschlag: 2:59

Isn't your kid 37 years old.

Jamie Flanagan: 3:01

One of them.

Matt Fox: 3:02

I have six kids and one of them is mine. Biologically, he only earned one of them.

August Gitschlag: 3:05

I have six kids and one of them's mind biological, that's right he only earned one of them I got a big heart. You know I had fun having one of them oh my god but uh today is pints and picks, something like that.

Jamie Flanagan: 3:18

You can pick your nose and you can pick your friends. Just don't pick your friend's nose. I'm not gonna pick matt's nose all right and we have with us. Matt Conti's here again, folks Speaking of picks, so we're going to get into some English pub drinks and some Premier Soccer.

August Gitschlag: 3:34

Premier Soccer yeah, just talk about soccer. This is the European soccer fired up this past weekend. And Matt runs our Fantasy Soccer League.

Matt C: 3:43

Oh boy, the premierist of leagues, the premierist league of all.

August Gitschlag: 3:46

Of all Of all Premierist of all leagues. My team is called Blame it on the Reina, blame it Geo Reina On the Reina.

Jamie Flanagan: 3:54

Reina's a soccer player yes, on the national team.

August Gitschlag: 4:05

We're not going to get a whole lot of bounce back going to know all about the soccer home runs and all of Landon Donovan's touchdowns.

Matt Fox: 4:08

I know the game. I've played the game. I don't pay attention to what's happening locally at this point in time, or nationally or internationally? Yes, just because I don't have the mentality for it at the moment.

Jamie Flanagan: 4:22

Because now you have the cable TV. Oh, the cable TV you haven cause. Then we get you now you have the cable TV and you get, like you know, the cable TV you haven't cut that yet the Ocho Well, you get the internet TV, whatever you get Right. So you get all these magnificent channels coming into your home one way or another, and the premier soccer league and the different European soccer leagues. It's fun to watch. I'll turn them on, and you know Manchester.

August Gitschlag: 4:45

International soccer got my dad hooked, a dad who'd never had two squirts about soccer, started watching probably the World Cup three years ago and then went in the Euros. And it was just the timing of when it was on TV, matched up and when he was sitting in his damn chair he's retired. So right when he was getting in his chair is when these games are starting to ramp up at one o'clock, you know, two o'clock.

Matt C: 5:07

He's sitting in his damn chair. He's retired. So right when he was getting in his chair is when these games were starting to ramp up at like 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock. He's sitting down. So he hasn't been a fan since. You've been with Detroit City and all that, no no, no, he's never been involved Now.

August Gitschlag: 5:13

he was obsessed with the Women's European Championships Great, so-and-so's a beast. He's texting me I watching this one, you know, but he's into it. So now I gotta. We've decided that the old man at 76 just turned 76 on saturday.

Matt C: 5:30

He now needs an english premier league team, but he's been watching bundesliga. I guess fox is carrying bundesliga. Yeah, there's a lot of different channels.

August Gitschlag: 5:33

There's uh apps, paramount plus has some, so yeah, and, and I'm not gonna get too I try to tell him like this is coming up, go find it on peacock go find right champions league, he fell in love with watching barcelona I can't find my own cock.

Jamie Flanagan: 5:46

What are you talking?

Matt Fox: 5:47

about. Hey, oh, it's the size of a pea oh boy, oh boy hey, so, oh boy, well, yeah, I think it was.

Jamie Flanagan: 5:55

You were. Uh, you, you texted or messaged on the socials. You're like, oh, I'm going to thomas mcgee to watch whatever. Yes, and that provoked me to like, oh, there's some good soccer on, I'll flip, I found it. So I found it, I was watching it, and it ended up being just a. I was texting and we were texting yes, I remember that you're like.

Jamie Flanagan: 6:12

You must have thought I was like into soccer or something because I'm like holy crap. Do you see what's going on? It was a crazy game. It was a really good game.

August Gitschlag: 6:19

I forget what the match was a champions league game and it was. I think it was the barcelona, yeah I think it was the Barcelona game. Yeah, I think it was Barcelona. They scored a whole bunch of goals. There was a shit ton of goal scoring in that game.

Jamie Flanagan: 6:26

Not a typical soccer game, Right, right right, but no, I mean it was interesting we were texting back and forth and just really getting into the soccer.

August Gitschlag: 6:37

So Detroit has a few serious soccer bars.

Jamie Flanagan: 6:41

Yeah, my favorite Detroit soccer team, the Express.

Matt C: 6:44

Nice.

Jamie Flanagan: 6:45

Going way back. That is playing at the Pontiac.

Matt C: 6:49

Silverdome Trevor.

Matt Fox: 6:50

Francis and the whole crew.

Jamie Flanagan: 6:53

I had a T-shirt. It doesn't fit.

August Gitschlag: 6:55

Is that who had the guy named Drago?

Jamie Flanagan: 6:56

Doesn't even fit the dog. That was the indoor soccer league. I forget the name of it, the Neon.

Matt Fox: 7:02

Neon, yeah, yeah, the.

August Gitschlag: 7:03

Detroit, neon.

Jamie Flanagan: 7:09

Oh boy, I soccer league, I forget the name. The neon, neon, yeah, I think.

August Gitschlag: 7:10

Yeah, the detroit neon oh boy I was in the detroit drive days, all those aging ourselves. I think a little bit. We don't exactly have a teenage following on this podcast.

Jamie Flanagan: 7:14

I think we're gonna be okay, but currently we got the dcfc yes in the usl championship.

August Gitschlag: 7:19

What else, what else?

Jamie Flanagan: 7:20

we got going on in the city as far as soccer, that's kind of it it.

August Gitschlag: 7:23

And the women's, the women's DCFC game. It's a league. It's a little bit different. That's what I follow. There are Ann Arbor's got a team now Royal Oak's got, or Berkeley's got a team, Flint's got a team. They're starting to pop up and where DCFC started in the NPSL.

Matt C: 7:41

I believe it was the not paid National Premier Soccer League. I'm not the premierist I started.

August Gitschlag: 7:47

No, not the premierist of leagues, but close, yeah, I just thought the NP stood for. Not paid to me, that's true.

Matt C: 7:53

That's pretty damn close.

August Gitschlag: 7:58

And that's when DCFC was really good, because we got a lot of college kids that come here to play and they'd come to Detroit because, no matter where they go, they're not going to get paid. But there was 4 000 5 000 people watching them in detroit, instead of 70 if they're playing in memphis or carolina. So they came here for the energy and so we got the better players and we kicked some ball. Okay, we would win championships. So then we got into the pay where it's like, oh, I'm gonna get make 60 grand, I can make 60 grand in, you know, virginia, in detroit indiana, I can make it in el paso and right, right, you know.

August Gitschlag: 8:23

So there's a lot, there's more choices and the crowds are pretty much they're better. We still have one of the better crowds. Louisville is right out there.

Jamie Flanagan: 8:30

They're very, very popular now, our stadium was is raw. Our stadium is is current stadium is a very, very raw experience have you seen the renderings for the new stadium? Don't don't, don't blow it yeah, we have of course, yeah, I mean we got two more years at least I like, I like, but my, my mom has stories, because she grew up in hamptramck and that was their football field stadium, you know she would walk from you know over on kniff there and compo.

Jamie Flanagan: 8:59

They were just right at the corner of kniff and compo that it's a big white barber shop.

Jamie Flanagan: 9:03

Now that big white, that was my. That big white, that was my grandma's house. That storefront, she had a dress shop in the front and then they have a flat and then there's like a bunch of apartments up top or single rooms they rented out, and then a whole other house behind it that they rented out and then the house that was two doors down from Paychex. My grandfather owned that house and there was like three flats in that, but so she would walk. That's the painted lady. Now, no, paychecks is not painted lady. Paychecks is sanctuary, sanctuary for reference. So she would, she would walk. I did. She go to the keyword stadium for her?

August Gitschlag: 9:34

high school as a poor concrete stadium in the 1920s part of fdr's back to work programs. Brilliant, is there a depression?

Matt C: 9:40

I think it fits the team, it fits the the vibe of dcfc perfectly it's the crowd, it fits the crowd.

Jamie Flanagan: 9:46

It fits the city, it's it's it's a great visual on tv.

August Gitschlag: 9:50

It looks great on tv, just as I always said, I was bummed when the grand prix left belle isle because, man, it looked good on television it was a great television show to watch that on. You know the guys jumping in the fountain and all that. So we'll see. We'll see if it keeps that charm when it goes to a new build steady, but it's the natural way as a person who lives in hamtramck and has had a season ticket holder since the past tech days. It was always like I.

August Gitschlag: 10:11

I think it was borrowed time that they were in hamtramck this long anyway, yeah always knew they wanted their own dedicated soccer stadium they didn't have to share with a bunch of high school kids tearing it up during the week, you know, playing soccer and football, and sharing it with the high school they don't want that, and it's a.

Matt Fox: 10:26

It's a. Every game, every home game. Isn't there a parade of people that go from the foaling warehouse?

August Gitschlag: 10:31

it's now it's from, uh, the new dodge and motor city and painted lady. They do it on the three bars that are right there on compo. Okay, they do the march from there now oh, so awesome.

Matt Fox: 10:40

I say I've done the march before the march is a blast many of

Matt C: 10:42

them are. Yeah, yeah, back in the day used to be from harry's back in the day, yes, from harry's.

August Gitschlag: 10:47

From harry's the cast tech.

Jamie Flanagan: 10:48

So what can you tell us about the uh, the new stadium? I've seen the renda.

Matt Fox: 10:52

They're already asking for my money yeah, they want my uh down payment yesterday as a season ticket holder.

August Gitschlag: 10:58

They don't. I don't need to do that. I mean, the first thing we started talking about amongst our friend group was we got to just make up the name of some kind of foundation and buy five tickets and then just all kick in and we can keep them all together. Yeah, if one of us is in or out, who's going to take the ticket this week and just pay into the fun, you know, and so we can keep five tickets together. But I don't right now. I mean, keyword Stadium isn't sold out, right, and they're going to put another 10,000 seats, so it'll get there if they move, you know, if USL keeps going the way it's going. But there's a big difference when you go watch a Champions League game and then you walk into a DCFC game.

Matt C: 11:33

Do you think the stadium itself that new stadium will be an attraction will get people down to Michigan Avenue For at least the first year?

August Gitschlag: 11:42

Then, like any other sports team in town, town, if there's no product, the you know comerica park is empty. Yeah you know the lions are the only one that always is full, no matter what, because nfl football is nfl football, right, but yeah. Then the wings are pretty small, but the pistons were struggling for a while. They get butts in the seats. Yeah, and the tigers. You know baseball.

Matt C: 12:00

There's so many games yeah, yeah, I don't go tomorrow. Yeah, good, I go tomorrow.

Jamie Flanagan: 12:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they better be playing somebody. Good, yeah, you want to go see Otani play, or you want to go see?

August Gitschlag: 12:08

the Skeens pitch. You want to go see the Astros play.

Jamie Flanagan: 12:10

Yeah. Yeah, all right, so tell me about what we're drinking. We're going to get back to your fantasy league, your double fantasy, yoko.

Matt Fox: 12:21

Ono John Williams.

Jamie Flanagan: 12:22

But we'll get to that in a second. What did we drink in August? What did we do?

August Gitschlag: 12:26

So I brought some Guinness, which is what I usually drink when I'm watching the game at one of our local pubs Strongbow, the old dry Strongbow and I mixed it into it as a snake bite. So you start with the cider and then you pour the spoon and you pour the Guinness on top. It is a kiss If you don't know about it, you'd probably think it's going to taste weird. It's goddamn delicious.

Jamie Flanagan: 12:47

But it's a nice and you did a nice job with the spoon. You got a nice separation. Yeah, I got to separate pretty well. I've been drinking it, so it's combined a little bit more, but it was a nice separation when we first started and it's still pretty separated.

August Gitschlag: 12:58

Yeah, so I drink this when I Go to McGee, or in Boddington's Pub Ale, because it's just unique. If you haven't had a Boddington's in a while, damn, it's a good beer. Yeah, it's got that honey kick to it, it's got the same nitro science in there, that whoever did that for Guinness should have a Nobel Prize for physics or something. It used to be a widget.

Jamie Flanagan: 13:17

It was about the size of your pinky and it was a little rocket, but now they change it and it's like a little smaller than a ping pong ball.

August Gitschlag: 13:25

Yeah, it's a tiny little ball.

Jamie Flanagan: 13:26

It used to be a rocket, though it used to be a little pinky-sized rocket.

August Gitschlag: 13:30

Like your horny dog.

Matt C: 13:32

I wish I had more of that inquisitive nature.

Jamie Flanagan: 13:35

What the hell's in there ripping a can open? Oh yeah, yeah, I've drank dozens of these things. I never bothered to saw the can open.

August Gitschlag: 13:40

I remember being a kid ripping one of these open in my 20s.

Jamie Flanagan: 13:43

What the fuck is in there?

August Gitschlag: 13:45

I got my Ginkgo knife out, yeah get that Ginsu and cut that can in half just to get that little widget out of there. That's it.

Matt Fox: 13:51

And then you cut a tomato right afterwards. That's right, because you can.

Jamie Flanagan: 13:53

Because you can you throw it up and then just kind of yeah, hoo-jah, so, but England, my favorite colony, by the way, known for the soccer, the Premier League, right, and is that the fantasy? What is the fantasy?

Matt C: 14:17

So the fantasy league, it's called the Premierist League. A lot of our soccer things, from our team names to the league name itself. It's all tongue in cheek, I think, a lot of times playing into the stereotypes of football or soccer around the world.

August Gitschlag: 14:32

So the premier league in england is probably the premier league in world football as of right now, I think it is the top to bottom the best league in in uh in the world talent, talent, salaries, crowds, everything.

Matt C: 14:46

I think it's the, but how the hell does it work when?

Jamie Flanagan: 14:47

it's like all they do is run back and in the world, talent, salaries, crowds, everything. How the hell does it work when it's like all they do is run back and forth and score maybe one goal in three hours? It's the beautiful game, man. It's called strategery. How do you get shots on goals, defenses, yellow cards? You're getting points plus and minus on that.

August Gitschlag: 15:06

I'm not here to teach you. Go back to high school or middle school to teach you how to play soccer.

Jamie Flanagan: 15:09

No, no, no, it's a fantasy. The fantasy, oh man. How do you Straight up?

August Gitschlag: 15:14

goals, assists, deflections in the defensive. You know there's soccer plays that are statistically counted.

Matt Fox: 15:21

Okay, so those all register a little bit.

Matt C: 15:29

Okay, so those all register a little bit. You're talking like the three touch, that's like a soccer move that they do. Does it do quality?

Jamie Flanagan: 15:36

I don't know if you get that, but even for shutouts, if your team gets a shutout, the goalie gets some points, the defenders get some points how many points do you get for a header?

August Gitschlag: 15:41

Well, if it goes in, and then you have a captain, you have a vice captain, so their points are tripled or doubled.

Jamie Flanagan: 15:46

Oh, okay.

August Gitschlag: 15:47

And this league is not like a football league where you draft and you're stuck with those players for the week. Sure, you can go in and you can move your lineup around every week, but it costs you, so like if I won, I had like 45 points this week. But I want to get a couple different players. It's going to take me down to like 32 to swap players in and out and it's salary cap, so technically everybody could have Irving Halal, they could all have the same or both, sal the best player, I think you get what.

Matt C: 16:15

100 million pounds, yes it is in pounds. So you get a certain amount of money 100 million fake pounds.

August Gitschlag: 16:20

That's salary cap.

Jamie Flanagan: 16:21

Salary cap to spend on your 15 players players of which 11 of them will actually play can you have the same player as someone else?

August Gitschlag: 16:29

sure, yep, and this league you can it's all about how you mix and match every, how you spend your money.

Jamie Flanagan: 16:34

Okay, you know, like a lot of like you know if there's what 13 teams, it's a weird number 13, 12, six of them at any time is going to have mo sal on it, yeah liverpool striker, you know myself included, yeah, yeah I did a because I'm not a sports ball, you know, I don't, I'm not a big sports person and and I did a football league with a bunch of people from high school, right. So they they were like we're friends on facebook and somebody dropped out of the league and they're like, hey, jamie, we got we got an opening in the league.

August Gitschlag: 17:03

You want to give me 50 bucks and show up at this night.

Jamie Flanagan: 17:05

Don't even worry, it'll draft for you Right. You know, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so, but then I'm like all right, so I want to not suck, so I'm like trying to and it was like work. So like if you try to learn football and learn the well you know what you know it was. It was too much work.

Matt C: 17:26

But it's interesting, though, what people consider work. You know my dad used to work his eight-hour job at a factory, then come home and work in the garden. I only work in the garden for about an hour or half and I, I'm like I can't. This isn't fun, but for some people different things are fun.

August Gitschlag: 17:41

Yeah, so, yeah, so yeah but.

Jamie Flanagan: 17:44

I don't see, if I understood the game and I knew the players, it would be less work. The hardest part I was going to educate myself.

August Gitschlag: 17:50

It was hard work to educate myself the hardest part is just navigating the interface of the app that we do it in.

Matt Fox: 17:55

Oh, ok, to be honest with you, because I'm used to Yahoo and how simple Yahoo works.

August Gitschlag: 17:59

Yeah, I'm a fantasy sports junkie. I got three baseball teams. Oh, my teams. Every Monday I'm checking every day, I go in and look To me. That's not work at all To me that's fun.

Matt Fox: 18:08

He's in a curling league too.

August Gitschlag: 18:10

I've done NASCAR and won it.

Matt Fox: 18:12

It's all statistics.

August Gitschlag: 18:15

That's easy to do by track and race car. You can just look this stuff up who trends? I did that. I've done golf in the past. That didn't go as well because I just can't follow golf as much as I'd like to, but I do do fantasy golf for every major. So all four majors, my buddies and I draft oh my goodness Four players.

August Gitschlag: 18:33

We do that. That's all my college buddies. Then I have three baseball. I will have, I think, four football this year, only because we started a family league with no money so that my 11-year-old nephew could do his first fantasy football. So because we started a family league with no money so that my 11 year old nephew could do his first fantasy football. So it's like my dad is going to learn fantasy football. So, oh boy, you thought just getting them to learn the controller and get the right. You know the inputs, right, you know not, he's not that bad, but every once in a while, you know they can't turn the tv on in the bedroom, all. So now we're going to walk him through this and it's going to be. I can't wait. I think he's really going to like can watch. You know the raiders play the patriots and have something to root for. Sure, you know. But that's not like because you gambled on it you kind of gambled on it you just want to see if that running back gets you know, a touchdown.

Matt C: 19:14

You know we're talking about fantasy, uh, sports. Do you find ever that your fantasy interest takes away from your just fanhood of the of the game it's?

August Gitschlag: 19:24

never bothered me with the Lions at all and with the Tigers? No, Not at all. I'm still a Tigers fan. I'm still a Lions fan. It does give you more rooting interest in that Monday night football game.

Matt Fox: 19:36

You need a kicker to get two field goals to win the week.

August Gitschlag: 19:39

Then you get a little more into it.

Matt Fox: 19:40

Come on, mr Bates. Come on, mr Bates, that's right.

August Gitschlag: 19:42

Come on, mr Bates, that's right, come on.

Jamie Flanagan: 19:44

Master Bates, you do all of that while still maintaining an immense Han Solo collection.

August Gitschlag: 19:53

And an adult relationship Fascinating?

Jamie Flanagan: 19:56

Yes, isn't it Fascinating?

August Gitschlag: 19:57

With a woman Fascinating.

Jamie Flanagan: 20:00

And you're on the board or you work with the Friendship House. I'm on the board of directors of the Trey Friendship House. Yes, yes.

August Gitschlag: 20:06

Is there something going on that we need to know about? Well, get ready to knock down hunger in Hamtramck, oh boy.

Jamie Flanagan: 20:11

Detroit Friendship House. All right, so there's a spot coming up, so people should listen for the spot somewhere coming up. Yeah.

August Gitschlag: 20:18

For our Falling for Food fundraiser in September.

Jamie Flanagan: 20:20

It will insert itself somewhere in here for us magically, through the magic of interweb? Oh yeah, but just so to reiterate, what is the Friendship House doing?

August Gitschlag: 20:28

Friendship- House is the food pantry. In Hamtramck. There's one of the food pantries it's like the oldest one, one of the oldest charities of Michigan actually, and they have a foaling fundraiser, kind of like a golf outing, but it's at foaling instead, so it's not as hot out. They do that in September. There's teams that sign up, they have raffles, they do all that kind of stuff. Pizza shirts everything.

August Gitschlag: 20:50

So that's coming up in September and we'll talk about that. We've got people sponsoring lanes and all that kind of stuff. So I've been on the board of directors there for about six, seven years now. Now I'm on the executive board, which means one more phone call a month.

Jamie Flanagan: 21:01

All right, so listen for a spot that will drop in somewhere in the episode. So yeah, so the man Cave Happy Hour here at the Podcast your Voice studios, which are both nominated for the podcars In the podscars Podscars.

August Gitschlag: 21:18

Like Oscars, the pod Oscars. Yes, oscars, podscars. How many people have made that one up and in which cities?

Jamie Flanagan: 21:25

You need to workshop that a little bit. But it's like a local Detroit podcast award. Potscars yeah, yeah, if you look Potscars, that's an odd little name. Oh yeah, we're up for it. Motor City Hypnotist is up, and then several of the other shows.

August Gitschlag: 21:41

You should be walking at any minute now. Huh, Is he coming tonight?

Matt Fox: 21:44

He hasn't. I haven't got a message from him saying that the door is locked Okay.

Jamie Flanagan: 21:50

Yeah, yeah, so people have voted, thank you.

August Gitschlag: 21:52

Yes.

Jamie Flanagan: 21:52

For having voted yes. And the votes are open until September 14th of 2025, depending on when you're listening to this. So the link is in the show notes and it's in the it's on the facebook page on the facebook page throw a vote out there. You know it's like chicago there's no clerk watching these.

August Gitschlag: 22:11

Vote early vote off vote early vote. Yes, I'm not policing this one. Not that I really police, I just administered.

Jamie Flanagan: 22:16

But I don't there's, there's, there's a whole lot of shenanigans. They don't want you out anyway, so that's a whole nother episode thank you for your votes. Yeah, thank you and you guys were promoting it, so thanks.

August Gitschlag: 22:29

So I'm going to ask Matt a question. Yes, sir, You've been to Europe many times. You're a well-traveled gentleman. Have you gone to Syria or Premier League games?

Matt C: 22:36

matches yes, actually I went to one of each, okay, and I went and saw your team actually play.

August Gitschlag: 22:46

Saw my, your team actually playing.

Matt C: 22:47

So my, my Tottenham Hotspur, tottenham Hotspur at the old white Hart lane Hart lane, yeah, your old field. Myself and Shane force, he's also. He's the. He's the one that named our league, the premierist league, by the way. But so, yeah, we went to Italy, so my family's from Italy, and we went and took a trip there. We saw of our local team, small team Frosinone, and they are usually up and down. Right now they're in the lower level, they're in B right now Can I ask a question?

Matt Fox: 23:11

You said Serie A. Yeah, why Serie?

August Gitschlag: 23:14

A, that's just A, but the Italian pronunciation Relegation is a concept that's not possible in the North American sports model. Namely, no billionaire is going to have a team that suddenly is relegated to the AAA baseball because your best two players got hurt and so you end up in last place. Okay. And these European soccer leagues. The tables are huge. You get 20 teams in these leagues.

Matt C: 23:38

Okay, the bottom three, bottom three, depending on your league. They're in your league Typically two or three.

August Gitschlag: 23:44

The two or three worst go down to the minors and then the top three in the minors come up to the big time and then their budgets change and they try to keep up, they try to sign some players and keep it going. This was in Ted Lasso. It happened that the Greyhounds got relegated and there's a whole thing where we can't have a Premier League budget and a Premier League roster costs in the championship league. So there's syria, syria b, and it goes down like four.

August Gitschlag: 24:09

That's just in italy, they call it syria, I got it and that was it. In spain it's la liga.

Matt C: 24:13

In england it's the premier league then the championship, and then some where rex was. Yeah yeah, but so, yeah, we went. Uh, we saw our my family's local team play in Italy. It was one year 2016. They won, I think, three or four games the entire year. We were at one of them.

Matt Fox: 24:32

Oh good, for you Good luck Charm.

Matt C: 24:34

And then we flew. We went to England and we saw Tottenham Hotspur against Watford.

August Gitschlag: 24:41

Oh yeah, Watford, They've been relegated. They're down a couple divisions. I think they're at least one, maybe two divisions down. So we saw the Spurs play a championship, because they're on my list here of where Americans are playing Nice yeah.

Matt C: 24:53

And so at that game that was a 1-0 Spurs win. The only goal was scored by Kieran Trippier.

Matt Fox: 24:59

Oh yeah.

Matt C: 25:00

Trippier, who plays now for Newcastle.

August Gitschlag: 25:02

Yeah so 1-. Yeah so yeah. One-nothing game. Love the beer. He jumped in the crowd once he got a little pissed. Someone was messing with his brother.

Jamie Flanagan: 25:07

Really yeah, oh, those deals.

Matt C: 25:09

Awesome. So yeah, so I've seen a few matches and it's interesting. You know the Spurs game in London, tottenham, north London, right, yes, north London, it was nice. It was a smaller team and a little more remote town. There was a little more rowdiness, a little more of that Detroit City FC feeling.

August Gitschlag: 25:33

Yeah, Tottenham's considered a little bougie. You know Chelsea's kind of. The same way, the West Ham London team is the rowdy. That's where the hooligans all started. Right, it's West Ham United out of London, but everyone. Thechester united fans are a little crazy, but not the man city ones. They're, you know, they're a little more really. So there's, there's a little a bit of that. So now you're, you're wearing a newcastle so this is newcastle.

Matt C: 25:56

So you know it's interesting. Everyone picks a different team. I'm curious which one your, your, your dad will will end up, you know me too, getting behind me too, but but for me it's going to be player, but for me it's going to be player-driven.

August Gitschlag: 26:07

I guarantee you it's going to be. He's going to see someone do something and say I want to see what that guy's doing, I want to watch this guy play. That's how it's going to go.

Matt C: 26:15

Most likely, and I don't know how you became a Spurs fan. For me, newcastle was my first team. I turned 21 back in the 93, 94. And I remember drinking imported beer back then was something kind of exotic.

August Gitschlag: 26:30

Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's a Heineken. Newcastle was considered craft beer back then.

Matt C: 26:34

You're drinking a Newcastle. Yeah, it's the one and only. And then, shortly after, I would you know, watch ESPN or turn on a sports show, and I would see the soccer team with Newcastle. I'm like, oh, the beer company has a soccer team, so back when I was probably 21.

August Gitschlag: 26:48

Well, they did sponsor the kids back then.

Matt C: 26:50

Yes, they were Newcastle beer logos on that team and the team was very good back then in the mid-'90s. Alan Shearer was probably their all-time.

August Gitschlag: 26:58

And Newcastle's not a London team.

Matt C: 27:01

No, they're quite north, and so that's how it started with newcastle, and it's, you know, 30 years later.

August Gitschlag: 27:09

It's still kind of the team that I follow. They've been pretty good norwich scarf.

Matt C: 27:11

You came in.

August Gitschlag: 27:11

I know you've always touted the canaries in our chat groups the norwich canaries is.

Matt C: 27:15

It was a started as a for me as a almost a little bit of a joke. You know we were myself and shane, so shane's my old roommate. Back in college we used to joke about what's the wimpiest nickname that a sports team could have, like the Banana.

August Gitschlag: 27:29

Slugs, right the Banana Slugs or the Savannah Bananas.

Matt C: 27:32

Yeah, so these guys, norwich City happened to be the Canaries, which I don't think inspired right Tweets. Doesn't inspire much fear in the opponents.

Matt Fox: 27:44

Come on, guys, let's go. We're the losers.

Matt C: 27:46

yellow birds would have been tougher anything birds but they went with it's it's canaries, and then they had always an automotive sponsor. So lotus automobiles are built from there. So I like uh I like cars too, you know, and there was a guy that worked at our golf course at oakland, you back in the day, who drove a lotus and then the canary, so it all kind of fell into place with a bit of a comedy.

August Gitschlag: 28:10

My first scarf I bought was a Newcastle scarf Awesome, strictly because it looked great with my peacoat, nice, and it was just. The colors were perfect and I just thought it was great and people would ask me where's that from? So then I start watching. It had to be. Do you still have it? By the way, I do, I do. I do still have it I had. Then it was had to be. I was about 29, 30 years old.

August Gitschlag: 28:30

So 25 years ago, no, a little while ago, 30 years ago, no, 20 years ago, 20 years ago, they just started playing English premier league games on like Fox sports in the afternoon and I get home from work and I would watch whatever replay was there sitting in a chair and I'm at the belmont bar in han tramac talking to, uh, chris tate, passenger radio chris tate, and he had just gotten off tour in london and he was. I was just started watching this english soccer, just watching chelsea. I was watching, uh, ibrahimovic and you know, dominate and be a total prick and everything. And just the russians had just bought, just bought Chelsea. I think the Russian oligarch had just bought the team. So it's like, oh, they're owned by these Russian guys, and that was crazy. And Chris Tate starts talking about coming back from London and how there's a team called the hot spurs, that their logo is a cock out of all, and I'm like that can't be real.

Matt Fox: 29:19

And it was like no like the cubs they're like they've got a crazy fan base and they never win. I'm like, okay, I'm in, I'm terrible he goes.

August Gitschlag: 29:29

they're not terrible, they just don't win the big ones, you know, and I'm like, okay, I, I just like I thought, chelsea man, you, everyone had heard of manchester united because david beckham put them on the map, sure, and then the first jersey I ever bought was actually a beckham real madrid jersey and the second one was a Beckham LA Galaxy jersey, which I still have. Awesome, my David Beckham jersey.

Matt C: 29:49

So are you going to buy a sunny sun jersey from LAFC? I absolutely will.

August Gitschlag: 29:53

I have four of them at home right now, so is that official? Yeah, yeah, it is official. I think he's.

Matt C: 30:00

So for those that might not know so they don't know Probably the he's banging Posh Spice.

Jamie Flanagan: 30:05

No, no, no, that's David Beckham.

Matt C: 30:08

One of the most popular players, I think, globally.

August Gitschlag: 30:10

In the world.

Matt C: 30:10

Yeah. He's South Korean. He played for Tottenham Hotspur.

Jamie Flanagan: 30:15

He might be banging Posh Spice. He may be, yeah.

Matt C: 30:17

But he played for Tottenham Hotspur and he's been there for many years, Many and just recently, maybe within the last couple of weeks, he said you know, they won a trophy last year for the first time.

August Gitschlag: 30:31

He said I think it's time for different things and he moved from Tottenham Hotspur, he went to LAFC in Major League Soccer, which he knows he's going to make an F ton of money coming over here, just like some of these other guys did, for briefly, to get the Gillette ads and to get the Frito-Lay ads and to get the American money and all the endorsements of the South Korean products and everything in America and in LA is the perfect spot for it.

Jamie Flanagan: 30:55

Good thinking.

August Gitschlag: 30:56

Yeah, and that's where they're going. They're going to LA, they're going to Miami. Eventually, someone's going to land in Chicago, someone's going to land in New York.

Jamie Flanagan: 31:02

They're going to get these guys, get some of those big names, the Old Spice money will make up for their lack of salary money.

August Gitschlag: 31:10

They know they're going to get.

Matt C: 31:12

Apple. They know they're going to get.

August Gitschlag: 31:14

GM and Frito-Lay and all that stuff. As soon as Thierry Henry got here years ago, he was doing Gillette ads. No one even knew who the hell he was.

Matt Fox: 31:21

He was doing.

August Gitschlag: 31:22

Gillette ads. I'm like that's Thierry Henry was doing gelato ads I'm like, that's terry henry. I'm like, oh, because he plays for you know la now, so that's coming with a lot of these stars. They're coming. Well, you see what? What messi has done? Messi's jersey is a pink miami mls jersey and it's the number one selling jersey in the world.

August Gitschlag: 31:37

There you are in the world if they were canaries, I might buy one myself, yeah you know, it is a, it is kind of a pretty jersey but funny goes yeah, and then other guys choose to go to Saudi Arabia for the big, huge chunk of money and then live in obscurity and never be seen again.

Matt Fox: 31:51

They need the oil money.

August Gitschlag: 31:53

That's what Ronaldo did. Ronaldo went that route because he didn't want to live in the United States. I guess he took the $500 million or half a billion from the Saudi sports washing fund.

Jamie Flanagan: 32:05

And that's fine. But no one goes to the games. The games are empty. Sure, I should really do some research and take the money and then retire.

August Gitschlag: 32:10

Go back to my roots, playing soccer was paley sure right that's the only soccer player we ever heard of, until maradona came around, right yeah, and that's I.

Matt Fox: 32:19

I'm curious what he, what he did after his career he's just the world soccer ambassador.

August Gitschlag: 32:24

I thought I mean, yeah, I mean he saw him at everything when he was live he played.

Matt C: 32:28

He ended up playing in the nasl he didn't play in new york against the express, so you know it's funny, I actually brought a bit of a prop here, but it's so. It even vibrates like you have to remove it playing for the new y Cosmos. So he was one of maybe the first international star that decided to come to North America to play right, absolutely For soccer, sure, for soccer, as far as I know, that was the first time soccer was the next big thing.

Matt C: 32:57

Yeah, right, right, the first of probably half a dozen. Yeah, so back then that was probably in the late 70s, so that was right around when I started playing soccer. I was, you know, born in late 72. So I started playing soccer at the age of seven and I have a storage unit where I have never thrown away.

Jamie Flanagan: 33:18

Oh my God.

Matt C: 33:20

This was the shirt that I wore.

August Gitschlag: 33:21

Is that for your dog? No, this is mobile.

Matt C: 33:25

But the team name was the Cosmos. They were the most popular team back in 78, 79, 80.

Jamie Flanagan: 33:32

Look at that, we got props man.

Matt C: 33:34

We got vintage 70s props it was funny because we have the like I said we. You know we lived in hazel park and we moved to sterling heights where I grew up, and I had a lot of stuff I didn't bring from one house to the other. I'll just put it in a storage unit, but obviously this has been around a long time oh my god, and I'm off.

August Gitschlag: 33:51

I've never gotten to it.

Matt C: 33:52

It's in good shape never gotten to it and we get rid of that storage unit. Well, there might still be some stuff there that is some bad news. Bears colors going isn't it the funny, I still have the shorts to it does it say chico's?

Jamie Flanagan: 34:04

it's also it's so polyester?

August Gitschlag: 34:06

I'm sweating looking at it.

Matt C: 34:07

The irony maybe I don't know if it's that's the right word, but I I wanted to. You know, I have a daughter that's 14 and she's played soccer on and off and I said, well, I'm to give this to her and she can wear my old. And then I forgot it was in a storage unit, I forgot I even had it. Now she's too big, so oh well, oh, I'll grow it up. Luckily I kept it, though it worked as a great prop here tonight.

August Gitschlag: 34:27

Yeah, well, that can go on the wall in your man cave little frame, tiny shadow box.

Matt C: 34:38

Yes, I'll sign it too.

August Gitschlag: 34:40

Add a little value.

Jamie Flanagan: 34:46

So, Matt, while we're at Kibitzin, look up what is unique or different about English Pub Ales. What makes an English Pub Ale an English Pub Ale? Because we're drinking. I just cracked the Boddingtons, Matt poured half of it, I got it too, and sipping on the Boddingtons and there's little honeybees. There's a barrel and little honeybees on the label and I always get a little sweetness to it, but people call it the blonde Guinness.

August Gitschlag: 35:15

That's how I was going to introduce it Because it is a nitro pour. I guinness, that's how I thought I was kind of introduced to it because because it is a nitro pour I don't know what's 1779, I just think it's really older than guinness.

Jamie Flanagan: 35:26

It's even older than yingling, I look the most overrated beer, the last 25 fucking years.

August Gitschlag: 35:28

Oh my god, everyone oh yingling's in michigan like beer, flavored beer

Matt C: 35:31

right. Oh, we finally get this average regional beer.

August Gitschlag: 35:33

Yeah michigan, have a rolling rock and get over yourself. No kidding man, it's always been here. Yeah, it's like same shit, different states.

Jamie Flanagan: 35:41

Coors. Oh, thank God, we got Coors everywhere now.

August Gitschlag: 35:45

Oh, I know right no more smoking in the band Get the Coors over here.

Jamie Flanagan: 35:51

We did In 1976, my family took a trip. There was six of us, right, I have four siblings. I can math, I have four siblings. The other one's the one in my head and then my folks. So there's six of us in my dad's Lincoln Continental town car, right, and I'm sitting on the hump wall, the armrest hump. I'm sitting up there, my sister's in the back and she's got this massive eight track player. She's like listening to that. Dragging this thing all the way across. We drove all the way to california and back and but yeah, so my dad brought back a bunch of cores because you couldn't get her here and so that's what smoky, and the bandit was I think we cores from texas to, yeah, georgia yeah, was it was running Coors from Texas to Georgia?

Jamie Flanagan: 36:40

Yeah.

Matt C: 36:40

Was it Coors? Specifically, it was Coors, they were running, yeah.

Matt Fox: 36:43

Do you know the name of the mountain that actually is on the Coors bottle? I do not.

August Gitschlag: 36:48

It's a real thing.

Matt Fox: 36:50

It's Mount Wilson. Oh, it was the name of that mountain that's on the Coors bottle.

Matt C: 36:54

I never knew that.

Matt Fox: 36:55

Well, when you look at next Coors and then you watch Paramount Mountain, that's on Paramount same freaking mountain.

Jamie Flanagan: 37:02

Oh really, it's Mount Wilson. That's awesome. It's in Utah.

Matt Fox: 37:05

So, yeah.

August Gitschlag: 37:06

The Coors Rocky Mountain beer has a Utah mountain on it but there's some dark.

Jamie Flanagan: 37:15

Coors stories, adolph Coors. There's some dark, dark, dark Coors stories, adolph Coors. There's some dark, dark, dark Coors stories. But we were talking about the Boddingtons and English Pub Ales and I tasked Matthew with trying to come up with something about letting us know what was different or unique about them. But I do like the Boddingtons, I'll get these. I'll have them in the fridge.

Matt Fox: 37:36

I stand corrected. What the hell is that?

August Gitschlag: 37:39

There's no way they were putting a non-Colorado mountain on there.

Matt C: 37:43

That's it. It looks very familiar. Is that the mountain also on Bush beer.

August Gitschlag: 37:46

No, because that's Anaheim Bush, a whole different company. It would have to be different.

Matt Fox: 37:50

Mount Wilson.

Jamie Flanagan: 37:52

You got sidetracked.

Matt Fox: 37:56

I got sidetracked. You started talking about Coors the second most famous beer from Colorado.

August Gitschlag: 38:02

Second most famous crappy beer, it was Blue.

Jamie Flanagan: 38:05

Moon Yep.

August Gitschlag: 38:06

Blue Moon came. When they opened up Coors Field, the field that the Rockies play in they put a brewery in it and they wanted to make their own beer there. Oh, and it was only made there, in that brewery attached to the stadium, and people were like this is goddamn delicious and it went from there, so it's not from Belgium.

Jamie Flanagan: 38:20

That's the story I heard.

August Gitschlag: 38:21

Blue Moon's not from Belgium. No, it's a Belgian style made and Coors owns it. They started making it in the brewery. It's in Coors Field.

Matt C: 38:30

Well, there you are, question on just beers and the experience of drinking them. So, whether it's a, a boddington's in england, a guinness in ireland or a blue moon in colorado, do you think there's a little bit of I'm drinking this english beer in an english pub?

Jamie Flanagan: 38:47

oh, fuck yeah, and that's why it's amazing, I'm drinking a guinness, oh it's amazing the cores in denver's fresher.

August Gitschlag: 38:53

You know the new belgian beers are better if you're drinking in the cascadeascade Mountains.

Jamie Flanagan: 38:58

Well, I'll argue this for Guinness in Ireland yeah everyone knows.

August Gitschlag: 39:02

I've heard that all my life.

Jamie Flanagan: 39:03

No, if you're on the island, right, Because it's a little fresher right. And Guinness. They send out representatives to the bars because they clean the hoses and the pipes and taps.

August Gitschlag: 39:16

And so, guinness, to maintain the quality, they send out teams to clean the hoses and taps and pipes in the pubs in every good bar here should do that too, all the time right and so sometimes you get it.

Jamie Flanagan: 39:28

I'm always. It's like freaking russian, it's irish roulette with the porter and a guinness at some places, and it's like you know, because it's like they don't maintain things as well as they should. There's some lines that are some funky monkeys out there.

August Gitschlag: 39:42

I will attest Malort tastes better in Chicago. Oh geez, there you go. It's better in Chicago, which doesn't say anything.

Jamie Flanagan: 39:49

No, it's. Malort tastes better. That's not a sentence. That's not. It cannot, it is not it's not a.

August Gitschlag: 39:57

That's not. That's not. That's not a. Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan: 39:59

Yeah, I said put it down the drain, you know, in the tub.

Matt Fox: 40:03

Oh, you pussies, it's like a fortune cookie in the tub.

Jamie Flanagan: 40:07

That's it, pouring it down the drain.

Matt C: 40:09

The Peroni in Italy. I'll tell you.

August Gitschlag: 40:12

I'm sure there's nothing quite like it, I bet. I bet Chimay in Belgium is like perfect.

Matt C: 40:17

But yeah, I am curious, though you know Boddington's and what are some other popular English, so I looked for there's one called Hobgoblin.

Jamie Flanagan: 40:25

Obviously, I looked for Carlsberg and.

August Gitschlag: 40:27

Carlson, newcastle Carlsberg and Carlson. Carlson and Carlsberg are two different beers. I used to always see.

Matt Fox: 40:33

Carlsberg around.

Jamie Flanagan: 40:39

Yeah, carlsberg, yeah, okay, and carlsberg used to sponsor because they're in green. They're in green, they're in green bottles.

August Gitschlag: 40:41

I thought they were carlsberg across it for years. Yeah, one of them was a green bottle.

Jamie Flanagan: 40:44

Yeah, I, so I thought they were german no, no, that one's.

August Gitschlag: 40:48

Uh, that's english all right, and german, german beers to me skunky. Yep, they can be skunky to me you know heineken's never tasted good to me. Heineken's green bottle beer seems to be skunky to me. You know Heineken's never tasted good to me.

Matt C: 40:59

Heineken's skunky, skunky, skunky Green Bottle Beer seems to be skunky Green Bottle Beer, you know but I did have a.

August Gitschlag: 41:02

Stella on draft once, and god damn, it was a crisp, delicious beer. Really Stella Didn't taste anything like well. You know who has it on tap is the Caucus Club.

Matt C: 41:10

Really Stella.

August Gitschlag: 41:19

So yeah but I'm dry, it's delicious. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was. That was that because we did episode.

Jamie Flanagan: 41:22

I don't know it's terrible in the bottle. I can't stand it. But we did episode 200 from gus's snug. Yes, we did, and I was there over. I was there because they do, uh traditional smithics there, I think yeah, they do a traditional irish music on sunday. So I went up there yesterday to lament having to work today and listen to some ir music and have some food and a pint, and I forgot where I was going.

August Gitschlag: 41:44

What kind of beer did you have?

Jamie Flanagan: 41:45

Green bottle. Oh, the cups, so the pour them in the proper cups. And Stella, there's a particular chalice.

August Gitschlag: 41:52

Yeah.

Matt Fox: 41:54

For the.

Jamie Flanagan: 41:54

Stella.

Matt Fox: 41:57

There's a Guinness pint.

Jamie Flanagan: 42:00

But at Gus's they got the Smittix, down there they got the Guinness. There's a harp, there were two harps and there were two others and they had them separated on the shelves for the particular pours, for the particular glasses. And I always think that's fascinating. When you were talking about Stella, that's what brought me to the chalice with the Stella. But getting a nice poured Stella out of a, those are great. Actually, I like Stella, we'll have that at home too, and that's not skunky to me.

August Gitschlag: 42:26

From my those Heineken's man Some friends of mine are doing right now. Bite me Stella's. The Stella and the Peroni NAs are supposed to be the best tasting, most closest to the original NA beers out there Interesting.

Matt C: 42:39

Yeah. I'll take someone's word for it.

Jamie Flanagan: 42:45

Someone said the Guinness Zero is spot on.

Matt C: 42:48

Actually, I have had that one, I have not. It is pretty good. It is pretty good, all right.

Jamie Flanagan: 42:53

All right, but we're the soccer hey away away, away, yes, yes, yes. We're talking about the pints and the Matt. What do you got about the English? Oh, some of the unique things. What's unique about?

Matt Fox: 43:05

them English ales. There's differences. Some of them it's cask conditioning you ever heard of that.

Jamie Flanagan: 43:13

Yeah, because that's right on the Boddington label. There, a big little, there's a cat there's a cast condition, meaning that they actually undergo a secondary fermentation, okay, and carbonation in the cask.

Matt Fox: 43:22

The large barrel itself smooth and creamy at the pub. It does that so it's resulting in a more you know level, of a more natural level of carbonation, if you will, and then also there's actually a lower alcohol content, right so you drink more, yeah, yeah it. It's compared to some modern American craft beers, but English hills generally have that lower alcohol content.

August Gitschlag: 43:42

Guinness is only 4.1. I can't remember the last time we drank beer on this podcast.

Jamie Flanagan: 43:46

All day. Paul, it's been a while the last time you made us drink beer. I brought in.

August Gitschlag: 43:53

I think some barrel-aged beers, I think.

Matt Fox: 43:54

Yeah.

August Gitschlag: 43:55

And we tried those. Yeah, we never did the episode at Kunin's yet.

Jamie Flanagan: 43:59

Oh my God. No, there's so much stuff to do. I know we finally got back to the Butter Run. That made me very happy. We got back to the Butter Run.

August Gitschlag: 44:07

I was asked for dates from McShane's another popular soccer bar, that's the Arsenal Bar in Michigan. Oh man, All personal fans at school today one of the other teachers walks by.

Jamie Flanagan: 44:17

He's like the, the foods cooking teacher. He's like, hey, he goes, you're still doing that bourbon show. I'm like, yeah, he goes, there's this new brewery in new baltimore. You and I gotta go and you gotta do one of your shows from there.

August Gitschlag: 44:28

He's a friend of mine I'm like oh okay, yeah, don't threaten me with a good time. I'll catch a helicopter flight from hamtramck.

Matt Fox: 44:33

I'll go to baltimore, I'll tell what I can't remember the last time I had a Boddington's yeah, I'm drinking it now yeah, I would definitely have this on the shelf all the time.

August Gitschlag: 44:43

Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. There's only one bar around in Hamtramck that I see it at. Painted Lady has it on draft. Okay, oh, on draft. They dedicated a nit that would have it. I was just there yesterday and I didn't notice.

Jamie Flanagan: 45:03

Okay, right, right, but you'll find it in the can. I like it in the. Can I know Painted.

Matt C: 45:10

Lady, I was there on.

August Gitschlag: 45:11

Poochie Day actually, I think I had a couple, but I couldn't tell you how they taste them. Yeah, yeah, fair, because that means you did it right, because they have the uh bacon wrapped whiskey cream. They did, yes. Oh, my punch keys, they were buffalo trace. Donut holes oh my god, yeah, the buffalo face uh, trace custard I'm salivating right now my heart just skipped a couple of beats and my arteries all clogged automatically, instantaneously.

August Gitschlag: 45:41

Yeah, those were delicious. So yeah, that's so. I've mentioned McGee's. Down in Eastern Market is the Liverpool bar. Yeah, good place to watch soccer All around soccer, mcgee's USA games and.

August Gitschlag: 45:53

World Cup games and things like that. Any Champions League, that's a good spot. That is a good spot that is. That is another big soccer bar. Yeah, my tottenham hotspur bar is the dog and pony show in oak park, the brewery, and they always get a food truck for the games. Really. So, yeah, they always. I've been there once for a game. It's just all full of, you know, coy's fans. You know, come on, you spurs the whites, so that the lily whites, so they're in there. What other ones? Something is Ann Arbor.

Matt C: 46:19

I was going to ask you which those bars were.

August Gitschlag: 46:20

I did not know about those Hamlin Pub up in Rochester.

Jamie Flanagan: 46:24

Are there other places? Do they focus on the soccer?

Matt C: 46:26

They focus on soccer, especially on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.

August Gitschlag: 46:32

It's a huge soccer holiday. Every team plays that day.

Matt C: 46:37

So that's a very cool place to watch games on TV. But yeah, I was wondering.

August Gitschlag: 46:43

There was a man U bar with Loaded Dice Brewery and Clawson and Troy Clawson.

Matt Fox: 46:47

They closed.

Matt C: 46:48

I guess they folded, they closed.

August Gitschlag: 46:49

They were a man U bar. Which one the Loaded Dice.

Jamie Flanagan: 46:53

Brewery oh Yep.

August Gitschlag: 46:54

They were up and they were supposed to move to Claussen and then they just went kaput.

Matt C: 46:57

I have a friend actually named Keith Manchester, go figure, was a big Manchester. United fan big beer brewer and that's where he used to go and he's kind of bummed out that they closed. But I think anywhere, almost anywhere you go, because the matches are on at a usually an odd ball time could be 7 in the morning yeah, that's really 7 in the morning so if you can find a place, open East Point Pub. I've actually been a few times.

August Gitschlag: 47:22

They're a 7 am bar. I've been there, yeah, 7.

Jamie Flanagan: 47:26

When Mickey Lyons did that article for Our.

August Gitschlag: 47:27

Detroit about 7 am bars.

Matt C: 47:29

I was there so they put some canaries back in the day. Some Newcastle matches. Victory Inn, newcastle matches. Victory in the Vic is gone. Now it's gone. It's going to become a sheets or something, isn't it? It's going to be a sheets. That's a big bummer.

August Gitschlag: 47:40

That was uh they were done, they were retired and they they they gave them the most money for their, their bank, for the buck, and if they weren't going to keep it a barbecue joint and the seven AM bar they were, we're retired, no one's gonna buy it, so just tear it down. It's unfortunate money.

Matt C: 47:57

I don't think sheets are gonna put matches on tv there and uh yeah, I know, I don't know yeah, if you bring a big enough crowd, maybe. Yeah, we'll see yeah, yeah, yeah we're dealing with them in fraser.

August Gitschlag: 48:08

We'll see well, I'm curious to see how professional soccer plays out in detroit with dcfc remember, next year the world cup comes to united states, canada and mexico and it's going to be on our times, so you're going to get games in our prime time. And you're going to be able to see these international stars and they're going to hype it up like crazy.

Matt Fox: 48:28

Well, that's interesting. Did you just say road trip?

August Gitschlag: 48:32

My buddy's already booked rooms in Seattle.

Jamie Flanagan: 48:36

The whole TV aspect of it all is because they don't stop. So how do you place ads? But I've been watching and they're like they're sneaking them in in the corners on the side and they're the scorer, little scorer. They go around the board and while somebody's laying on the ground and holding their leg and crying like a bitch.

Matt C: 48:53

You got 10 minutes right there, and then they're like all right, roll an ad.

Jamie Flanagan: 48:56

Put minutes right there, then they're like all right, roll it ahead, put a split screen that shit.

August Gitschlag: 48:58

I tend to think the Italians do that. The most there's a sniper in the crowd that takes the guy out.

Jamie Flanagan: 49:04

It's great, it's fabulous.

August Gitschlag: 49:05

They do it to stop play sometimes because they've been running so damn hard.

Matt Fox: 49:09

They need to stop and breathe. I'm not going to.

Jamie Flanagan: 49:13

Buttermaker, it hurts. Lean into the ball, Buttermaker it hurts, it hurts.

Matt Fox: 49:19

Lean into the ball, lean into the ball butter maker, it hurts. Premierist league scoring. I'm going to go back to that real quick, because this question just came into my brain uh-oh, do you get docked points for a yellow card or a red card for your player? I believe yes, yes, red cards, yeah yellow cards are quite common yeah, so two yellow cards equals a red card.

Matt C: 49:35

So if you get two yellows, you get a red and then you lose points if it's a severe card. So if you get two yellows, you get a red and then you lose points. If it's a severe enough infraction, you'd get a straight red card and you do lose points for that.

Matt Fox: 49:44

Okay, I'm just curious. It just kind of popped into my brain. Kind of like in NFL fantasy, if you throw an interception or if you lose a fumble, you get docked points Okay, Pretty similar yeah.

August Gitschlag: 49:53

All right. I put up 61 points this week in our league. The average team in the whole thing was 54.

Matt Fox: 50:00

So you're above average this week.

Matt C: 50:04

I was. I'm not going to show mine. Were you the?

Jamie Flanagan: 50:07

158?

Matt C: 50:08

No no, no, I was not a great week. Average was 54.

August Gitschlag: 50:12

The highest was 127.

Matt C: 50:15

There's a couple guys that scored two goals and if you had that team guy from Brentford who scored two goals on double captain you get a bunch of points you know there is one thing about about the way they do soccer football in the different countries, whether it's Italy, spain, france, england. One thing I really like is that the, the, the team that wins the league. So there's, there's 20 teams. You play 19 games. You play every team home and away. Every team plays the exact same other teams and whoever wins that season is the champion there are no playoffs.

August Gitschlag: 50:48

That was the first episode of Ted Lasso.

Matt Fox: 50:51

We're going to get to see the playoffs.

Matt C: 50:53

There are no playoffs.

August Gitschlag: 50:54

We're going to play hard for four quarters.

Matt C: 50:55

Two halves. What do you mean?

August Gitschlag: 50:57

playoffs.

Matt Fox: 50:58

What are you guys playing for here?

August Gitschlag: 51:00

How many countries are in this country?

Matt C: 51:02

Four Ireland, Scotland, Wales. What the team that wins the season. Ted Lasso. What Are you the?

August Gitschlag: 51:10

one. He found the unicorn. You're the one, you're the guy who didn't vote for each row for the Hall of Fame and you've never seen Ted Lasso.

Jamie Flanagan: 51:17

You're the one fucker I am. What's it on? What was it on?

Matt C: 51:22

Apple TV.

Jamie Flanagan: 51:23

Well, there you go.

Matt C: 51:24

I'm way too cheap.

Jamie Flanagan: 51:26

Did I do Get it On my Rabbit.

August Gitschlag: 51:27

Ears Steal the password from someone, it is delightfully charming.

Jamie Flanagan: 51:31

You're going to love it.

August Gitschlag: 51:32

Yeah, yeah, and it started when NBC bought the rights to the Premier League years ago. Ted Lasso was a fake character that coached the Tottenham Hotspurs. It was taking an American football coach, sending him over to Tottenham to coach the Spurs, and it was just an ad campaign. It's all it was.

Jamie Flanagan: 51:47

Oh my God. And all turned into a TV show.

August Gitschlag: 51:49

The jokes in the first ad campaign became the first episode of Ted Lasso, and that whole press conference was the original ad campaign where we're going to fight hard and make it to the playoffs. There's no playoffs.

Matt Fox: 51:59

No playoffs. What the fuck are you guys playing for?

August Gitschlag: 52:01

What are you playing for? Is this over? Is this done? The last game is it?

Matt C: 52:08

I actually like that. The team that for the season has been the best team in the exact same schedules as everyone else, that's the champion. Then you have the champions league and the different european championships and stuff, where they play england teams play italian, teams play spanish and french etc. But that that first place team for the league is the champion I. I like that a lot better.

Jamie Flanagan: 52:33

so you know, american football was like that. There weren't playoffs. That goes back to my other podcast, detroit City of Champions, and that's how.

August Gitschlag: 52:45

You're still doing that one.

Matt Fox: 52:47

We're not a champion yet yeah well no, there's a lot of stories in that year.

Jamie Flanagan: 52:51

There are 33 champions, right, and how many games do they play?

Jamie Flanagan: 52:55

We got a lot of things to talk about. But when the, the detroit lions were in portsmouth, ohio, as the spartans, yeah right. And so they were battling with green bay and they're like, oh hey, we got this great record. And green bay was like we got to play to decide who's on top. And green bay is like, well, if we don't play you, we win. So we're done. Schedules are a little bit more flexible, so it was like I'm not going to play you, we won. And so at that point the Spartans were like, well, we hate you. And so that turned like the next year there was this game when they faced each other, and the one, patsy Clark, was like we're going to beat you.

Matt Fox: 53:36

Oh yeah, patsy.

Jamie Flanagan: 53:37

And we're going to beat you. We're going to beat you with 11 guys only. So 11 guys played both sides of the ball the whole game and beat them. It was called the Ironman game.

Matt C: 53:46

Really it was insane.

August Gitschlag: 53:48

But all those guys went back to their day jobs at the ceramics factory and the carpet shop and the auto dealership yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. A dealership, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan: 53:56

Yeah, yeah, so it was crazy, so, but but that would the American football used to be like that and that was the Spartans, and that rivalry created that, the call for for there to be playoffs, and, and, and, and.

Matt C: 54:09

Yeah, really, I never knew that, but it's it's, it's taken over.

August Gitschlag: 54:12

That's for the college football playoff Right.

Matt C: 54:23

It's football player, right, it's, it's, it's a whole. To me it's a whole. I don't know it's a whole, right, it's a whole separate topic. Check those playoffs, whether it's nfl or college, changing them every few years to favor certain teams like ohio state.

August Gitschlag: 54:29

But playoffs in every sport seem to be almost sometimes unfair that's why I kind of do really enjoy champions league football, which, to explain to you, is like the top three or four teams, depending on how big your league is, all get put into a big global tournament. But it's only europe, okay, and I think russia comes in right there's a russian team.

August Gitschlag: 54:46

Yeah, it's always dynamo yeah, but the bigger your your league, the more teams you get. So, like english usually gets four and then they play in a straight up home and home tournament and it's you get through, you get through and then you play down, bang, bang, bang and then there's a winner in a neutral site and those games are usually really, really good because these guys want to win, they're just playing.

Matt Fox: 55:06

So, speaking of facts and statistics, who's checking in? So Jessica Lan Conti Do you know who that is?

Matt C: 55:12

She's probably white. I've met her once. No, no, she's my wife.

Matt Fox: 55:15

She's my wife, all right, thank you, jessica, for chiming in, but she actually said 50% of middle school children are wearing messy jerseys to school, boys and girls. The pink was genius marketing. That is an exact statistic, fyi.

Matt C: 55:29

Interesting. I would never have known that. 50%, honestly, I see them in airports.

August Gitschlag: 55:35

I just traveled to Portland and Seattle and I was seeing more messy jerseys than I was Portland Timbers in.

Matt C: 55:38

Seattle. In Seattle you saw more messy jerseys In the airports.

Matt Fox: 55:42

They're good travel shirts. How are the coffee?

August Gitschlag: 55:43

shops. I don't drink coffee, I don't know. Okay, fair play, but the breweries were great.

Jamie Flanagan: 55:48

Yeah.

August Gitschlag: 55:52

I brought home and what's beautiful. Totally digressing back to my vacation, alaska airlines lets you check for free a case of wine. Oh, my god so whatever you want to put in that, yeah, so that wine box that we just filled it with beer and like shoes, we taped it all up and checked it for free.

Jamie Flanagan: 56:07

We got it all back.

August Gitschlag: 56:08

Yeah, well, actually the shoes was trying to keep the beer from breaking, but we just shoved it full of stuff.

Matt Fox: 56:13

I brought a bunch of beer back and the beer didn't smell skunky.

August Gitschlag: 56:16

No, Not even with the shoes. Not green bottle beer. No, we just packed up all this beer in the boxes because you know they expect it to be wine. Right, but we just used beer because that's the way I brought back Sweet.

Jamie Flanagan: 56:26

Awesome, all right. So Friendship House, listen for that spot someplace in this ad. Yeah, we're going to plug that in for voting for us for stuff. Thanks for being here.

Matt C: 56:37

Matt good to have you again. Thanks for having me. This is great, you guys are great, it's tremendous fun.

Jamie Flanagan: 56:42

All the podcast things and all the podcast places. That is Jamie Flanagan over there.

August Gitschlag: 56:47

Matt Fox, once again I get to look into your eyes and call your name. Thanks, buddy and Maddie, thanks again for being here.

Jamie Flanagan: 56:54

Gentlemen, cheers, Cheers. Guys Hit being here Awesome.

Matt Fox: 57:01

Thanks, all right, gentlemen, cheers. Guys Hit the stop button.

Jamie Flanagan: 57:04

I'm working on it.