Sunday, August 19, 2012

Podcast Review - Arse2Mouse


The English Premier League soccer season has just begun, and after a summer hiatus, the Arse2Mouse podcast is also back. This is an excellent fan show by and for supporters of the North London squad, Arsenal, of which I am one. Two Englishmen and an American host this monthly show, reviewing past matches, analyzing strategy, complaining about the coach, and looking forward to future matches. The podcast feed just released their 2012/13 season preview episode.

The hosts are very knowledgeable about the game, and are major fans of the squad. The passion that is on display in this podcast accurately expresses the discouragement, disappointment and occasional joy that is part of being an Arsenal supporter.

Sports podcasts often do not work for me, despite being a fan. The time-delayed nature of podcasting runs counter to the timely nature of sports talk and sports news. Sports podcasts often become "stale" after just a few days. But the monthly nature of this show creates an atmosphere where this does not take place. This show takes a longer-term view, so the time-delay nature of podcast listening does not hinder enjoyment of this show as it may others that focus on just the latest news or yesterday's match.

On the other hand, a strength of podcasting is that it allows for programming to niche markets. And this podcast is for an extremely small niche (sports fans, narrowed to fans of English soccer, narrowed further to fans of one particular team). But if you are in this small group, or are interested in this group, Ares2Mouse is a terrific podcast.

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