Return of the onion bag?

The English Premier League have cancelled their contract with Setanta for next season and are opening up an auction for other companies to bid for the games Setanta would've shown.

The collapse of Setanta is bad news for me for a couple of reasons. The first is there is a chance that there will be less English football shown in the US.

It may also see the end of Special 1 TV. Hopefully someone will pick up this show as it is much more entertaining during half time than the usual former players spouting cliches. My Wife will be very upset if there is no more Special 1 TV.

Losing Setanta will save us $15 a month but at what cost?

The most worrying thing about this situation is that ESPN are one of the companies bidding for the available games.

ESPN have never broadcast English Premier League games in the US but this may change now that they have lost the rights to the UEFA Champions League.

And if ESPN have some more football to show, it will likely mean the return of the horrible Tommy 'onion bag' Smyth (with a why???).

So me plea to ESPN, should they win the rights to the games, please treat them with the respect they deserve and create a new football channel for the English Premier League. You can even call it 'soccer' if you want but please please please do not give Tommy Smyth another contract.

I'm sure I would not be the only person willing to give you the $15 a month we're saving on Setanta just to keep this idiot off our screens.

So I repeat my plea from last month to Mr ESPN: No more onion bags!

Also, look here. I'm not the only one.

The bidding for Setanta's games ends today so we will find out soon.

No More Onion Bags

The Uefa Champions League final on May 27th will be an historic occasion. Not least because it is the last Champions League game covered in the US by ESPN.

They lost the rights to show games from next season and they will be on Fox soccer channel for the foreseeable future.

It's not that I have any particular dislike of ESPN in general but I won't shed a tear at the loss of their coverage and the main reason for this is their regular co-commentator Tommy Smyth.

This guy is unbelievable, from his annoyingly exaggerated Irish accent, to his lack of general football knowledge and deep lying hatred of all things English their is nothing to like about Mr Smyth (with a Y).

But more annoying than all of the above is his insistence on referring to the goal as an 'onion bag'. Every time a goal is scored it 'burst the old onion bag', or it 'dropped right in the onion bag'.

After years of putting up with his nonsense and trying to block him out to actually try and enjoy watching the games, I recently discovered that I'm not alone in my dislike for the guy. A recent article in the Guardian newspaper referred to Tommy Smyth as 'the most hated sports commentator in the world'.

There is also a website devoted to the subject called No more onion bags, and an inevitable Facebook group (just one of many).

The guy really knows nothing about the game and it's actually embarrassing when you think that Americans may tune in to try and see what the fuss is all about, only to hear this guy spout his drivel and go back to their jumbo bag of cheeto's and throwball super match up series.

I don't have any particular affinity to Rupert Murdoch and his media empire but I will be forever in their debt for removing this pillock from my life.