People who know a bit about EPL soccer sometimes make comparisons between the big English soccer teams and the big major league baseball teams in order to explain the dynamic of that league to we soccer ignoramuses.
Like, I once heard someone say Man U. was like the Yankees. Or maybe Arsenal. And Chelsea was the Red Sox. Or maybe Liverpool was. I can’t remember and I kinda don’t care, actually. Like every other time I’ve sat and watched more than five minutes of an EPL game I was in a pub and the guy explaining this all to me was over-emphasizing the words “football,” “kit,” “pitch,” and “match” to make it abundantly clear he wasn’t saying “soccer,” “jersey,” “field,” an “game.” I’ve sorta liked EPL when I’ve watched it, but man, those guys who make it a point to have you know how into it they are drive me nuts.
Anyway, this is some meat for those conversations:The New York Yankees are going into the soccer business.
The Yankees are partnering with Manchester City to own Major League Soccer’s 20th team, which will be called New York City Football Club and plans to start play in the 2015 season.
Manchester City, owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, will be the majority owner of the team.
During that conversation, held at the faux Irish pub in a suburban Ohio mall, the guy to my right will loudly and conspicuously order “a pint of bitter,” and then frown a bit when the suburban Ohio bartender rolls his eyes and gives him whatever they have.
Oh, here he is now.