Here ya go: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/fivelive.shtml To listen live. This week they are covering North America, South America and Africa, should be interesting.
He often on the show every 2 or 3 weeks (often have an A-League or African expert on the other weeks) and Tim Vickery is on most of the time talking about everything South American. The show is just people calling in and asking about players who their clubs are linked with playing in the different leagues. I would recommend people to listen show, you learn some interesting facts about football from other regions and players.
And don't forget the drinking game. One sip every time Wheelock says pitch. Two sips every time Wheelock says kit. Down your glass every time he says fixture.
Like was previously mentioned, he's on frequently and usually covers questions dealing with North & Central America and the Caribbean. Alos, you can subscribe to the podcast version of the broadcast on iTunes. It's one of several the I subscribe to. Some of the questions from the callers about are interesting and kind of funny. They have some regulars that are entertaining.
Wheelock always takes a cheap shot at Freddy Adu. I get sick and tired of it. Freddy's one of the top goal scorers on the team, and Wheelock always acts like Freddy never sees the stadium. Hell... at the end of tonight's show he said "Freddy's either going to be back in MLS or in the Premiership within the next two years." Wheelock is ********ing stupid.
Thats good stuff... When he did the FSC College games he would kill me with the same line in every opening scene: "Welcome to the beautiful campus of the University of North Carolina, where the 13th ranked Tar Heels are home to the 4th ranked Demon Deacons of Wake Forest."
Is it time to have a "Wheelock on BBC" superthread that gets bumped when he's on, rather than separate threads? Just askin'.
Maybe when you're that knee deep in hating and sucking up to the English(???) You can't stop even when you've been proven wrong.
Hell... at the end of tonight's show he said "Freddy's either going to be back in MLS or in the Premiership within the next two years." I found that odd too. He also has nothing but praise for Landon Donovan. AND he didn't know about the new USL-1 club in Austin owned by Sroke City.
The Sean Wheelock drinking game! I love it. Don't forget his biggest grammatical crime: the loss of the preceding definite article when announcing MLS team names---"a great signing by LA Galaxy"---never "a great signing by the LA Galaxy"
Another awful habit of his. Unfortunately, the suits at MLS HQ are doing it too - check out the Superdraft broadcast.
I think theres a slight difference in the way people talk about teams in England and in America For example if I say "Reading are in 14th place, they are in 14th place" Some people (I think Americans) would say: "Reading is in 14th place, it is in 14th place" That thing about having "the" before or not is if you count Galaxy as part of the whole name or as a nickname
To be honest I am WAY MORE annoyed when I hear, "the DC United" or "The Toronto FC", "The FC Dallas" or "the Real Salt Lake" than when I hear the omission of "the" before Kansas City Wizards or LA Galaxy or San Jose Earthquakes. Omission of "the" could be one of the unique things of "the MLS"
I commented on this in another thread so here it goes again. Sean Wheelock is the play by play announcer for the Kansas City Wizards. What could the number of dyed in the wool EPL and British soccer fans be in the Kansas City area? 10,000, less? What is the number of general sports fans in that area? Both the football and baseball teams have huge regional fan bases drawing from several states particularly the football team. What is that number? A couple of million? More, a little less? It is amazing that the Wizards think their future growth should be tied to catering to the EPL and British soccer fan base. By the way this opinion comes from a sports fan whose favorite leagues are MLS and the NFL, tied, Redbulls and Jets, but whose next favorite league is the EPL, then the NBA, NHL, and MLB. Watch some EPL games every weekend and used to buy the pay per view broadcasts when those big championship deciding games, Arsenal/United, were only available on paid TV in New York.
So Doc, 5Live although obviously streamed on the web, is primarily aimed at a British listenership. Are we agreed on that? Big Soccer's MLS boards although on the web, are about an American league and mostly populated by American fans. Are we all agreed on that? So, as you seem to prefer Sean Wheelock to retain the use of American terms when talking about this sport, would you prefer we British MLS fans to call the game football when on Big Soccer. Afterall, that's the name we nearly always use for the sport over here. Or there's another option. Just let Wheelock carry on using perfectly apt words of his own choice to describe the sport. It's all about personal freedom, something I thought Americans believed in.
i dont think its the issue that some of us dont like how uses them its just that it really doesnt help us i mean maybe he just plain no life or something but he is definately not up there when think soccer repoerters here in the uSA
ossie, don't think that the Sean Wheelock drinking game is confined to the 5Live broadcast. It is fun for all occasions Mr. Wheelock is broadcasting. But I have yet to hear any other English-speaking person - English, American, Canadian, Australian - use the word "fixture" as often as Wheelock.
I occassionally call that show, and am ashamed to say it is usually aimed at winding Wheelock up a bit ... He is supposed to be the CONCACAF man, but knows very little outside MLS. BUT, to be fair to him, he often says he is an unashamed anglophile, so its not surprising he enjoys using English usage when talking footy - and as has been said he is talking to a British audience. Tim Vickery, on the other hand, is by far and away the best writer on Latin American football in English anywhere I believe. He is also one of the most intelligent commentators on football in general. That's my opninon anyway. And Doton just seems like a really nice bloke. Well worth a listen, and if you subscribe to the podcast you also get the weekly BBC World Football show with Alan Green which can also sometimes have fascinating articles. For details of subscribing (its free) click here
I don't think Wheelock realises Mexico is part of CONCACAF, he always has to pass questions about Mexican clubs and players on to Vickery who knows the answer even if Mexico only appears in his region for a few competitions
That's so true!! I heard him say a couple of weeks back that he thinks of Mexico as Central America!! Even within CONCACAF it is included in North America, so why he thinks of it as Central America I can't imagine.
Completely agree on this one, and he's great at explaining the game too. I've been downloading the podcast and listening to it on my way to school every week and I've learned more about the South American game from him than anyone else. They need to get him in the studio on FSC.
Bumping this because he's on again. Listen live here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/fivelive.shtml Email questions, comments to upallnight@bbc.co.uk Sean is reporting from the Pan Pacific Championship in Hawai'i