Anyone remember "Soccer Made In Germany"?

[unclesox]

This old PBS show was my eye opener for the sport when I was 12. Every Saturday back in '78, I always counted down to 4pm when KQED (San Francisco) used to broadcast SMIG. Thought Toby Charles was the greatest (and funniest) announcer ever. Having friends who liked baseball, football (American) and basketball, I always ended up watching this alone, but I never missed a show. Still have my old 'Globe Kicker' issues from the early 80s, too.
Anybody else remember this show (or 'Star Soccer' with Mario Machado), or am I the oldest SOB on this board? :D

[delo_pata]

Originally posted by unclesox
This old PBS show was my eye opener for the sport when I was 12. Every Saturday back in '78, I always counted down to 4pm when KQED (San Francisco) used to broadcast SMIG. Thought Toby Charles was the greatest (and funniest) announcer ever. Having friends who liked baseball, football (American) and basketball, I always ended up watching this alone, but I never missed a show. Still have my old 'Globe Kicker' issues from the early 80s, too.
Anybody else remember this show (or 'Star Soccer' with Mario Machado), or am I the oldest SOB on this board? :D

Been discussed many times here and rss. I think you'll find it was an important component in learning to love the game among many many people in the US. Toby actually reappeared when FSW started showing the BL matches last (?) year, but, sadly, they later replaced his feed with the FSW guy. #-(

[unclesox]

Originally posted by delo_pata
Been discussed many times here and rss. I think you'll find it was an important component in learning to love the game among many many people in the US. Toby actually reappeared when FSW started showing the BL matches last (?) year, but, sadly, they later replaced his feed with the FSW guy. #-(
I only just started receiving FSW. But they're now showing the weekly highlight show with Toby as commentator. So all's not lost. :)

[prospero]

I remember a show on PBS where the game was condensed to 1 hour. My dad and I used to watch it back in the 70's. I think it was the same show your talking about.

[O'Dubhghaill Rules!]

While I'm way too young to be talking about the 70s....my father kept copies of that show that I just found when I was cleaning out my attic. We had a "Soccer Made in Germany" marathon a few weekends ago. I had no idea that they showed soccer at all over here back then.
As for eye openers to the sport, for me that was when ESPN started showing the Champions League a few years ago.

[ol'schoolballer]

I'll always remember " that shot was high, wide, and not very handsome."

[panicfc]

Originally posted by ol'schoolballer
I'll always remember " that shot was high, wide, and not very handsome."

Holy Crap!

I used that when I was announcing, and now I know where I got it from. Thank you Toby Charles!

I later modified it to "High, wide, and not very pretty", and even a few "a shot only his mother could love"

[SoccerApe]

Yes I also used to watch it on PBS NYC. I especially enjoyed the theme music!!

[VFish]

Originally posted by ol'schoolballer
I'll always remember " that shot was high, wide, and not very handsome."

My favorite 'Toby-ism' - "Oh! He nearly got a bite of the cherry that time!"

[unclesox]

Originally posted by VFish
My favorite 'Toby-ism' - "Oh! He nearly got a bite of the cherry that time!"
Toby was fabulous.
I remember once Bayern Munich were getting drubbed by Duesseldorf and the cameras switched to Bayern coach Gulya Lorant, who happened to be picking his nose. Toby didn't miss a beat:
"I wonder what he's looking for? Probably looking for a couple of substitutes."
:D

[FWSCKEEPER]

A little bit of topic, but anywho...
did anybody wonder what happened to ESPN Classic showing all of those old WC matches this year at WC time. I seem to remember them doing it for the 98WC, and was really looking forward to it. Did I miss something somewhere?

[tab5g]

i was born in '76 and I remember "Soccer Made In Germany". I believe it was on WETA in DC at 11AM Sundays, but I could be wrong. I was very young by I remember my family usually watching it. great stuff.

[IASocFan]

Originally posted by unclesox
...Anybody else remember this show (or 'Star Soccer' with Mario Machado), or am I the oldest SOB on this board? :D

You're definitely not the oldest SOB on this board. I remember watching "Soccer Made in Germany" in the late 70s. My wife and young kids found it quite annoying, so I wasn't able to watch it very often - back in the one TV days. :( At that time I was more interested in quality family time and not spending the day in front of the IDIOT BOX.

Ah, but I remember watching and enjoying those musical sounding names like Borussia Mönchengladbach, Köln, Schalke, und Kaiserslautern.

[CanuckFan]

Watched the PBS affiliate in Rochester NY (from my home in Ottawa at the time) every Sunday. Great memories of Kevin Keegan, the little Dane Simonsen, K-H Rummenige, Bun-Kun Cha, the arse in net for Bayern. I recall the Bundesliga supplied the European Footballer of the Year for a number of years in a row when the show was on. Not so great memories of the hard men of the Bundesliga wearing pantyhose when the weather got a bit chilly.

[SccrDon]

"i was born in '76 and I remember "Soccer Made In Germany". I believe it was on WETA in DC at 11AM Sundays, but I could be wrong. I was very young by I remember my family usually watching it. great stuff."

Right on, tab5g. I also remember watching it on channel 26 in DC. Favorite Tobyisms (in addition to those already mentioned)...

It must be...it's in the net!

There's no call for play like that in the Bundesliga!

(At the end of a particularly boring UEFA Cup match from Vienna, with whistles and boos at the end) You can hear the Austrian fans, and who can blame them?

[afgrijselijkheid]

as with many of you that is the show that got me into the sport, but wasnt it called "football made in germany" ? it was a long time and many buds ago, so forgive me

[QuakeAttack]

Loved it! Watched it in the late 70s. Introduced me to soccer outside the US (NASL Quakes season ticket holder via my parents). All of the guy's on my high school team watched it. In fact, my high school nick name was "Rudy" (seemed like every other German was named Rudy).

Remember the beer ads for Dinkle Acker! Nobody beats Toby as an announcer. Memories....

[todd11]

that brings back a lot of memories. my brother and I used to watch it religously back in the late 70s in columbus oh---WOSU. we were quite young but our dad was a second gen. german and we were starting out in youth soccer. good times---and now here I am living in germany...and getting to visit the grounds that sounded so exotic as a kid.
I could be wrong but I think I remember eric wynalda mentioning in a interview that he used to watch it too!

[Dr. Wankler]

It's the main reason why Schalke 04 is listed as one of my favorite teams.

As to Toby's great calls, who can ever forget his basics: "that was a baad one," and the oft-imitated, "the less said about that one, the better."

When FSW started showing the Bundesliga a few years back, you actually got Toby doing the commentary. During a horribly dull Wolfsburg away match a couple years ago, one that finished 0-0 with about as many stimulating plays, the referee blew the final whistle at 89:50. Saith Toby: "What's he doing, it's not full time yet? Ah, well, he's just putting this match out of our misery."

A shout-out to Channel 47 in Peoria for bringing Soccer Made in Germany to us in the 70s, and the Peoria German-American community for making it possible.

[unclesox]

Originally posted by IASocFan
My wife and young kids found it quite annoying, so I wasn't able to watch it very often - back in the one TV days. :(
LOL! :D I was 12 when I first started watching it and it drove my mom bonkers. She used to say that Toby's voice sounded like he was gritting his teeth while holding his nose.