Nutmeg Radio

Holy bejesus. I’ve seen it all.

I was watching Morning Joe this morning. Judge me on that if you will. I was kind of paying attention as Al Sharpton and Joe Scarborough talked Glenn Beck, Martin Luther King, and whether Sharpton will allow Beck to reclaim Martin Luther King’s dream. Sharpton basically concluded that Glenn Beck should have a different dream.

As the Sharpton segment finished, I heard someone reference a segment recapping the weekend’s football action after the break. Surely the reference was about the ol’ gridiron variety, so I paid no attention.

Fast forward a few commercials about stuff that no one needs. Roger Bennett, ESPN soccer contributor and co-author of the ESPN World Cup Companion, was the featured guest for a new segment, Futbol Frenzy. Thoroughly confused, I turned the volume up. Although co-host Mika Brzezinski, Game Change co-author John Heilemann, and boy wonder Willie Geist were clearly unable to contribute, presumably due to a lack of soccer knowledge and/or interest, Scarborogh dove in head first, joining Bennett in a review of select action from this weekend’s English Premier League fixtures. For a man who claims to have had negative interest in the sport only a few years ago, Scarborough has come a long way. Over the past year, he’s made it perfectly clear that he’s 100% on the soccer train.

I have heard Scarborough talk about soccer before, but his comments usually surface during something World Cup-related, or at moments indisputably worthy of coverage, like when Thierry Henry moved to New York after signing with the New York Red Bulls. But today is just a random Monday. For Morning Joe to dedicate an entire segment to English Premier League highlights is borderline mindblowing. My guess — and don’t quote me — is that this could have very well been the first time a popular, non-sports related, morning talk show in the United States exclusively dedicated a segment to regular season soccer highlights.

So what topics did Scarborough and Bennett address? Manchester City, or as Scarborough calls them, “the best team that Abu Dhabi can buy,” falling 1-0 to Sunderland. Tottenham losing to Wigan. Blackpool’s performance against Fulham, which happened to be Scarborough’s favorite story of the weekend.

Really, this happened. Informed commentary on several soccer games with video footage. It was in the morning and not on ESPN or Fox Soccer Channel. It was random, thrilling, and in all seriousness, made my heart skip a beat.

Scarborogh moved on to Chelsea. Highlights aside, Scarborough thinks John Terry is “a terrible human being.”

Scarborough on Manchester United: “Berbatov …  actually performed. This guy has been the underperformer of the year.” Fair enough.

Then he moved on to his relief that Liverpool finally won while smartly acknowledging Bennett’s Everton affiliation. Well played, Joe.

Is this what America looks like when more people care about soccer? Do you wake up in the morning, make your coffee (or tea if you were properly colonized by the British), turn on your 3D television and listen to Al Roker talk about Paul Scholes?

All this Euro soccer talk will make Glenn Beck’s head explode. But it is great to see Scarborough, who has admitedly come from the soccer detractors’ camp, transform into yet another unlikely advocate for soccer’s growth in the United States. When you look at the Morning Joe panel, the idea to include a soccer segment, particularly one focusing on England, could only have come from Scarborough. And for that he deserves a hug. Thanks for making my morning, Joe.

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