Congrats to Isle of Sodor Championship’s Maithwaite FC! They’re the first team to ever receive celebrity sponsorship or support. Sort of.
See, Wonky Whistles coach Brile Nickels Jr. is a big Duran Duran fan. And he recently learned the band was asked by newly re-formed Hungarian sixth-tier club Budapesti AK if they could use “My Own Way” as a theme song. The band said yes, asked for some swag in return and were obliged! Nickels was inspired to flip that script and try making use of his own familial rock ‘n’ roll connection to improve his kids’ kits.
Nickels’ uncle Keithley grew up with famed Motorhead roadie Steve Luna. He invited Luna to vacation to Maithwaite, catch up, huff some glue and such. Nickels knew the uniform shirts the kids’ moms designed were utter crap, lamely depicting actual broken whistles, in addition to the a sponsoring local lab’s business logo (see above). He had Luna see a match, and the old bass tech declared the shirts “absolute gobshite” and immediately set about paying for new ones.
So Luna got the kids these brand spanking new unis.
Congrats again, Wonky Whistles. Well, now it’s “Blind Drunks” and “Hell Drivers” to which the kids answer. See, Luna gave them an official song, too. “(We Are) The Road Crew”. Lucky tots!
Another town another place, Another girl, another face, Another truce, another race, I'm eating junk, feeling bad, Another night, I'm going mad, My woman's leaving, I feel sad, But I just love the life I lead, Another beer is what I need, Another gig my ears bleed, We are the road crew Another town I've left behind, Another drink completely blind, Another hotel I can't find, Another backstage pass for you, Another tube of super glue, Another border to get through, I'm driving like a maniac, Driving my way to hell and back, Another room a case to pack, We are the road crew Another hotel we can burn, Another screw, another turn, Another Europe map to learn, Another truck stop on the way, Another game I learn to play, Another word I learn to say, Another bloody customs post, Another fucking foreign coast, Another set of scars to boast, We are the road crew
Should two or more teams tie for 1st, they’ll have a Playoff at the national stadium in Suddery. The same will be true if there is a tie surrounding the Relegation Line. No other form of tiebreaker will be used. This includes Goal Differential, despite pressure from our cousins in the English FA to follow their model.
KTFC won the first, early-season match between these two at home, handily, 5-1. That result, however, has not been the rule for Knapford. Much of the season since, they’ve owned lesser teams. But when they face stronger clubs, they’ve typically lost. That those losses tend to be incredibly close speaks well of their abilities. Still, Noob wonders if they have the mettle to close a tough one out and make a sincere title push.
Peel we’ve come to know and love as a club who don’t play in the typically Sudric fashion. Instead of just throwing everyone forward, they actually play defense. Unlike East Coast Diesel, they don’t do it with aggression. Instead, they’re the one club here who actually play more recognizable formations from the rest of the world. In particular, they’ve succeeded with the defensively-oriented 5-2-2-1, only pushing really hard on counters.
6-5 ? Your skills of football divination are dodgy as best, as always. Yes, it's me, your old prognostication sensation pal Noobstradamus, back with his own call. Noob, consulted the forces of nature. I watched birds fly west off the Isle in a W formation, not a V. Leaving home. I am forced to surmise the home-siders will not prevail this day. Knapford Town 2-4 is what WILL be.
Also, I willed those birds to crap all over your rental Mini Cooper while you've been back in the U.S. this week.
Ultimately, United couldn’t keep up with Peel’s strange use of what are pretty standard formations anywhere else. PGFC earned a 2-4 staying mostly in a 4-3-3. But once PG extended their lead a little in the second, they then switched to a 4-5-1. Remember: On Sodor, it’s all hyper-offense, all the time for most clubs. That second formation bamboozled United something fierce.
So heading into Sunday’s feature match, #1 Dryaw FC’s lead was down to a single point in the table. Could they re-extend their cushion?
Visiting East Coast Diesel reclaimed their identity as the league’s Bad Boys, reinstalling their incredibly physical defensive style their last two matches. But the FA had seen enough (10 yellow cards in a half last week!), and actually equipped refs for this match with red cards for the first time in anyone’s memory. Previously, had the need arisen, someone would’ve just had to bleed on a yellow or something.
But my best friends American author Daniel J. Heck and Doug Barr (1980’s TV “The Fall Guy”, screenwriter and vintner) both hopped back across the pond. Saturday’s feature match was in Brendam, and so there I b&b’ed for the week.
What could be troubling him? Interview time. I excused myself from my dinner companions, swiping the last full bottle of Barr’s Hollywood and Vine Cellars 2002 vintage cab sav ‘2480’ off the table. Heck and Reynolds could argue whether the latter’s space-swashbuckly 
(For the record, if the protagonist/s is/are young and the plot has no loops and any prominent adult characters are neutered of real power, it’s kid lit. If no, than not.)
Wilbertson: Since I'm not as famous as that giant-headed Haley Joel Osment-looking diva, I even kept my dream more realistic than Kane's. I set my sights on the American Alliance of Football.
