About Me
Blogging Since: March 2007
Residence: Seattle Area, WA
B-Day: November 5th
Who I support: Seattle Seahawks, U-Dub football/basketball, Manchester United, Toronto FC (therefore confirming my masochistic tendencies), anyone who can beat the New England Patriots.
Hey man, I read your stuff on Armchair GM. Its pretty good.
I was wondering if you could put my site in your blog roll and I will toss yours up on my site under the links as well. Let me know what you think about the idea.
Thanks man.
Like you, I have an NFC team– the 49ers. But I also dig the Colts, and now I guess the Giants– another team that can beat the Patriots (fake dynasty)
Aarongers, what a coincidence? Grew up in the Bay Area, so I supported the 49ers, and I still do at a lower level.
Hey Mookie, great blog. Looks good!!!
Nice blog! You must be excited about Man U going to the Champions Cup final vs. Chelsea!
Thanks.
And yes, I’m very much excited Man Utd are back in the final. I’ll be even happier if they win against West Ham for once and repeat as Premiership champs at Wigan.
Hey are you the same guy that posts on the 506.com fourm?
BTW great site I was on awful announcers looking at ESPN/ABC’s EURO 2008 schedule and noticed your name in the comments section and found your site from that.
Yes, I am the same guy that was on the506.
Thanks for the compliment.
Just a word on the beachball goal, no I didn’t see it live. But our position at Sunderland is very low, we are almost at pitch level and Glen Johnson’s position obscured any possible view of the beachball. I thought for a moment he’d deflected it in.
Neither manager saw it live, none of the radio guys saw it first time. The only reason it became a story was cos I knew the rules and told Steve Bruce it shouldn’t have stood.
The written press guys weren’t even going to ask him about it, but he said “the lad from Sky tells me that it should have been a dropball”
Hello Mr. Mann!
For the readers who don’t know the “beachball game”, it refers to this goal scored by Sunderland’s Darren Bent in their 1-0 win over Liverpool this past weekend in the Barclays Premier League, in which his shot was deflected off a beachball in play and into the net. Daniel Mann’s post is in response to a remark I made on a forum. He was the commentator that day for Sky Sports and I was wondering how that was not seen live. Hence you get a response!
I’ve never seen the Sunderland commentary booth but if it’s that low then just envisioning it there isn’t a way to see it without the aid of the replay. It was a very bizarre moment and I was perplexed at why no one saw this live. Thanks for taking the time to clarify and answer my question. Have you been to other stadiums with commentary positions as low as Sunderland’s?
Good work on the Inter Milan/Dynamo Kyiv game yesterday in addition to the Sunderland/Liverpool match! I watched the former on delay last night and it was another entertaining encounter! Have a good day and I look forward to more of your exceptional commentaries as the season progresses. It’s a great honor to have a great commentator like yourself to respond to a question I had in the wee hours of the morning.
–SSR
I should clarify that, of course, the press would ask him about the goal. But most were not aware it wasn’t legal.
Thank you
Well if it happened at almost any other Premier League ground (not Portsmouth, which is far from ideal for a commentator) we would have been able to get it straight away.
Sunderland is a terrific ground, but we don’t get an overview of the game from the gantry. It’s in the lower section of the stand and anything happening on the deck in a crowded penalty area is tough. You can’t call what you can’t see and X-ray vision would have been required at that moment – it’s very easy to watch it back later, knowing what to look for and say ‘well there’s the beachball, how did you not spot it?” Indeed I notice one particular poster seemed to take great glee in the fact that I could not see it, well that is very, very sad. And no I have not been demoted – will be on duty at Manchester City v Fulham on Sunday.
As for the law, well I mentioned it pretty swiftly in commentary once all was clarified – don’t know if it made the edit. Talking to a few ex-pros this week and most did not know beforehand what the rule was – surprising. Steve Bruce, in whimsical fashion, told me I should get out more! I remembered it from a You Are The Ref piece with Keith Hackett in a newspaper a while back.
What a mad 2nd half there! There’s something about Man City vs. Fulham these last few seasons that has produced some great action!
I should add my thanks for your kind words. I’m not by any means an avid reader of Digital Spy, although I have posted on there before. Praise is always nice, and I’m glad someone out there appreciates what I do.
You’re pretty much praised all the time at Digital Spy! If I go through that particular thread’s history (which is now headed for 4 years) I’ve seen maybe 2-3 criticisms of your style.
Am I right in thinking you are for the most part based in the northern part of England? I notice many of your Football First games involve the likes of Liverpool, Sunderland, Everton, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Well, I do get an easy ride compared to some. While it’s obviously flattering, more often than not my own assessment of my performances is quite different!
You’re right in thinking I’m based in Northern England, Liverpool and Manchester are a half hour away.
Self-criticism I’m sure is quite common amongst all commentators! ;-)
I actually had the pleasure of listening to your first Football First game (Newcastle 2 Wigan 1 I think) back in 2006. Amazing how in that span you’ve now done the Manchester Derby and Man Utd vs. Arsenal! You’ve built up quite the resume!
Did you treat all fixtures you commentate on in terms of research and preparation time the same? In other words would you spend as much time researching Man City vs. Fulham as you would Man Utd vs. Liverpool?
Good luck with your game this weekend! You always seem to get wild and thrilling matches in the Premier League.
Ha ha! I remember hearing my goals from my first game unexpectedly quite some time later, and did actually say out loud “who’s that kid commentating?”
Yes I try and prepare for every game in the same manner and give it the same amount of time, preferably two to three days. Sometimes this just isn’t possible and you have to prioritise – for example a live Sky match will always take precedence over a Football First match if I have to make a choice. Not that I do have that quandry often!