Book Review: ENCYCLOPEDIA BLAZERTANNICA

MEN IN BLAZERS PRESENT ENCYCLOPEDIA BLAZERTANNICA by Roger Bennett and Michael Davies. (Knopf Publishing, May 2018)  Hardcover, 224 pages.  ISBN # 1101875984.

 

The summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

From the wildly popular soccer pundits, a hilarious and informative guide to the ever-more popular game.

 

For more than a decade, the "Men in Blazers"—two balding transplants from Britain named Rog and Davo—have stood at the center of our growing national obsession with soccer.

Hundreds of thousands of fans tune in weekly to their podcast and television broadcast to get their analysis of the previous week's matches and soccer news. But for all their passion, many American fans are new to the sport: they weren't following it (or weren't yet born) when, for example, Maradona scored two of the most remarkable World Cup goals of all time in 1986, or when George Best was leading Manchester United to glory on the pitch and boozing and rampaging off of it.

Now, Rog and Davo fill in all the gaps with this hugely entertaining and idiosyncratic guide to the sport they—and we—love. Published on the eve of the 2018 World Cup, this will be the book every soccer fan will need to have.

 

My review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

     You’ll learn a lot more than just football/soccer in this highly entertaining and often funny collection of short articles (from one paragraph to several pages) on various and sundry topics - - some only loosely related to football/soccer.

    

     Just like the Men In Blazers television show, Rog and Davo go off on tangents and that's what gives this book it's unique charm. If you're looking for a comprehensive overview of soccer, including a complete history of the sport and a detailed explanation of the rules - - this is not the book for you. However, if you want to learn some interesting facts, essential topics, and some peculiarities of fandom this is the tome you want. 

     As they mention in the introduction, the volume was designed to be "an ill-advised attempt to journey into the inky dark, unexplored depths of the Men In Blazers universe, every detail of which we have created hand in hand with our masochistically loyal listeners over the past eight years, pod by pod, show by show, tweet by suboptimal tweet." Indeed. The book is also subtitled "A Suboptimal Guide To Soccer, America's 'Sport Of The Future' since 1972."

     I learned as much about Roger Bennett and Michael Davies from reading this as I did about the reasons behind the popularity of soccer. I did not realize that both are transplants, having lived in America for a long time and did not meet until 2006, as detailed in the amusing 'Zildane', the last entry in the encyclopedia. 

     For as many factual entries in the book, there are even more personal essays that reveal insights about both men and their infatuation with the popular sport. Among my favorite entries are the numerous mentions of baldness: Balding Sectors, Bald Players, Best Bald Team Of All Time and Way Less Bald In Person. Don't miss the entries on Facial Hair and Mullets. 

Also among the highlights are entries on why Blazers are important, Chanting, and The Worst Tattoos In Football

     Bennett's entries are full of clever pop culture references just like the tv show while Davies' approach is more literal and intellectual (to a degree). Rog definitely has the most personal essays in the book. I really enjoyed Davo's memoir titled "Is That Your Analysis?"