The Weekender came across some breaking television news this week, and couldn’t stop thinking what it means for Philadelphia Union coach Peter Nowak.
Evidently, the stars of the FX late-night sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are looking to cash in again on the city’s rich sports tradition, this time shooting a skit at a Flyers game last Friday night for an episode of the upcoming sixth season.
This is the third time the show—which ranks on the Weekender’s must-watch list just above reruns of Flight of the Conchords but below next Tuesday’s season premiere of Deadliest Catch—has gone jersey-chasing for a plotline. Last season the gang imbibed grain alcohol while trying to catch the Phillies’ decisive World Series win, and they tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles in the third season.
So where’s the brotherly love for the newest team in town?
We know, we know. It would have been impossible for Dennis or Sweet Dee to somehow trade barbs with Nowak earlier this spring, when the Union weren’t quite on the Philly sports radar yet. If it took four seasons for the show to grease the wheels with the Phillies, we can’t really expect any sitcom antics at the Union’s home curtain raiser.
But after the Union face D.C. United on Saturday night, they should start sending their query letters to the execs at FX. Because Lincoln Financial Field is absolutely the place to be this weekend. And let’s be honest, Danny DeVito would be more fun for Philly fans than Vice President Joe Biden. How many films has the Veep starred in opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Billy Crystal—combined? Exactly.
Yes, there are better match ups on Saturday’s full schedule. The best of the bunch is Real Salt Lake and Seattle, who will battle for early-season supremacy at Rio Tinto, while Los Angeles and Houston make their own pitch as early season favorites in Houston.
But will there really be a better atmosphere anywhere than in Philly this weekend? A blue-collar East Coast hoops hotbed that’s about to stuff 30,000-plus into the stands for a (gulp) soccer game?
In MLS any season that sees the debut of an expansion team, the focus always falls on just how well the newest market embraces its club, from ticket sales to Danny Califf jerseys to Peter Nowak plush doll madness.
Can Philly live up to the incredibly high expectations set last year by Seattle? It shouldn’t matter. Philadelphia is a different market than Seattle, a larger and more established sports hub with an already stocked sports scene. That will make it decidedly tougher for the Union to butt into the sports conversation, especially when the radio jocks start nattering on about Roy Halladay’s arm or Kevin Kolb’s preseason workouts.
So enjoy your day, Philadelphia, but be patient. Late-night raunchy cable endorsements don’t come along every day. The Weekender’s DVR is set to sometime in 2012, when it’s Nowak’s turn to stroll into Paddy’s Pub and let the world know the Union are here to stay.
We’re Watching:Treme
David Simon is back. Finally. The co-creator of The Wire, still the smartest and most under-watched series in an era that produced The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Mad Men, returns with this new post-Katrina drama set in New Orleans. Treme (pronounced treh-MAY) is heavy on the music, and, in quinessential Simon form, heavy on the heart.
Listen Up: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, “I Learned the Hard Way”
If the Dap Kings don’t ring a bell by name, their sound certainly should. A remarkable session band successfully revitalizing the sound of 1960s and 1970s funk, they backed Amy Winehouse on Back to Black. But thankfully for purists of the genre, Winehouse is still two years removed from releasing any new material and Jones is as fresh as ever on the group’s fourth album, which was released on Tuesday.
Virtual Reality:Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
Sure, you could spend hours on FIFA 10, but Tiger’s newest video game is already an online sensation, and it’s release on Tuesday perfectly dovetailed with Woods’ return to golf. The New York Times puts it aptly: “Millions and millions of hours of work will be lost forever because of it.”
Una cerveza más, por favor: Real Madrid-Barcelona
It’s a good thing the Spanish Clásico takes place on the weekend. Imagine the millions of hours of work that would be lost forever around the world if it occurred on a Tuesday. The Weekender isn’t sure where he’s going to watch Saturday’s big clash, maybe at the Spanish Benevolent Society in New York or Busby’s East in LA. Or, in a perfect world, with the gang at Paddy’s Pub.
Nick Firchau is a new
media editor with MLSsoccer.com. “The Weekender” column appears every Friday.
