| The Socially Distant Sports Bar | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Steffan Garrero Elis James Mike Bubbins |
| Genre | Sport, Comedy, Pop Culture |
| Language | English, occasional Welsh |
| Updates | (Weekly) |
| Length | 65-110 minutes |
| Production | |
| Audio format | MP3 |
| Publication | |
| Original release | March 31, 2020 |
| Ratings | M- Mature |
The Socially Distant Sports Bar is a comedy/sports podcast hosted by sports journalist and academic Steffan Garrero with comedians Elis James and Mike Bubbins.[1] It was created in response to the lack of live sport during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Each of the presenters picks a short clip, then take turns to pick a feature length documentary, followed by a second short clip each, ending with one of them choosing a book (originally three books were discussed) all related to sport.[3] They discuss the clips, documentary and book as well as taking various detours to discuss a diverse range of subjects loosely related to the original clips.[4] Since March 2021 the second round of clips have only been available to Patreon subscribers.
The podcast was included in The Telegraph's 50 Best Cultural Events of 2020 poll, being praised for it's "unreasonably hilarious lockdown laughs".[5] In January 2021 the Podcast won a Pod Bible poll winners award for best podcast in the Sport & Leisure category.[6]
In April 2021 it was announced that the podcast would tour the UK in the Autumn of that year, visiting venues including The Hackney Empire, The Lowry in Salford and Cardiff's New Theatre.[7]
| Episode | Title | First Clip | Second Clip | Third Clip | Documentary | Fourth Clip | Fifth Clip | Sixth Clip | Book(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do We Not Like This? | Jonathan Davies (Mike) | Kevin Keegan on Superstars (Elis) | Euro 88 Final (Steff) | "An Impossible Job" about Graham Taylor (Elis) | Wigan Winning the Middlesex Sevens (Steff) | Shane Warne's ball of the century (Mike) | Barry McGuigan (Elis) | Life Of Evel (Mike), McIlvanney On Boxing (Elis), In Sunshine or in Shadow (Steff) |
| 2 | Covfefe 19 | Paul Thorburn's kick 1986 (Elis) | Terry Wogan holes the world's longest televised putt (Mike) | James Scott - prison boxer (Steff) | Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL (Mike) | Steve Robinson (Elis) | Wales & England V Scotland & Ireland 1980 (Steff) | Daley Thompson at the 1984 Olympics (Mike) | The Football Man (Elis), Friday Night Lights (Mike), Barbarian Days (Steff) |
| 3 | Milk and Biscuits | Angry John Sitton (Elis) | Magic Johnson in the 1992 All Star Game (Steff) | Stirling Moss interview from 2010 (Mike) | The Test (Steff) | Aston Villa favourite food 1995/96 (Elis) | Paul Sykes (Mike) | Serena's Golden Slam (Steff) | Instant Replay - The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer (Mike), Those Feet (Elis), This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own (Steff) |
| 4 | Oh Bobby! | Dick Butkus (Mike) | Derek Redmond at Barcelona '92 with his dad (Elis) | 1987 Football League XI V Rest of the World (Steff) | Home & Away the 1984 Milk Cup Final (Elis) | Sam Burgess in the NRL Grand Final 2014 (Steff) | West Brom in China 1978 (Mike) | Francesco Totti playing 8 a side with his mates (Elis) | Brilliant Orange (Steff), Bobby Dazzler (Mike), The Glory Game (Elis) |
| 5 | You've Got to Die of Something | Jonah Lomu V England 1995 (Elis) | 1973 Shamrock Rovers V Brazil (Steff) | John Facenda reads "If" (Mike) | Ice Guardians (Mike) | Bernard Hopkins confronts Joe Calzaghe (Steff) | Leeds Utd V West Brom 1971 (Elis) | Derek Quinnell debut (Mike) | The cyclist who went out in the cold (Steff), Barry Sheene (Mike), Born to run (Elis) |
| 6 | Waking up Next to a Bag of Cement | Shaun Williamson, singing before the Bowls (Mike) | Andy Powell's message to the troops (Steff) | England 3 Hungary 6, 1953 (Elis) | Next Goal Wins (Steff) | Chuck Wepner V Andre the Giant, 1976 (Elis) | Junior Kickstart, 1985 (Mike) | Kellogg's Start advert (Steff) | Knowing the Score (Steff), Today We Die a Little (Elis), 90 minutes of freedom (Mike) |
| 7 | Mother Teresa's Debit Card | Michael Owen & Neville Southall (Steff) | Simone Biles 2019 (Mike) | The Haka, 1973 style (Elis) | Panorama Millwall 1977 (Elis) | Chicago Cubs - Steve Bartman (Steff) | Eddie The Eagle... with added Burt Reynolds (Mike) | The Peter Reid clip about Lawrie Cunningham (Elis) | Up Pohnpei (Steff), Snake (Mike), Soccernomics (Elis) |
| 8 | 14 Seconds | John Fury (Mike) | Wrexham 2 Arsenal 1, FA Cup 3rd Round, January 1992 (Elis) | Blues V Crusaders (Steff) | The Rugby Codebreakers (Mike) | The Tartan Flash (Mike) | Ian Wright meets his old teacher (Elis) | Mark Hughes' missing goal (Steff) | In the Mad Pursuit of Applause (Mike), Pants of Perspective (Steff), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Elis) |
| 9 | Dr Z | Moe Norman's Golf Swing (Mike) | Robbie Savage phones in to chat with Leighton James (Steff) | Kerri Strug's vault at the 1996 Olympics (Elis) | 9.79* (Steff) | The world's oldest ultra (Steff) | Bullseye's worst prize ever (Mike) | Sunshine on Leith sung by Hibs fans (Elis) | The Fight (Steff), Living on the Volcano (Elis), Bringing the Heat (Mike) |
| 10 | Wimbledon or Bust | 1969 League Cup Final (Mike) | Herman Maier crashing and then winning 2 Gold medals (Steff) | 1987 Battle of Cardiff (Elis) | 89 (Elis) | The Crawl (Mike) | Football scene from Kes (Elis) | Jonty Rhodes fielding (Steff) | Fever Pitch (Elis), Messi (Steff), Barry John's World of Rugby (Mike) |
| 11 | Podding for Pears | Chris Froome at Giro D'Italia (Steff) | Kimbo Slice punches David Blaine (Mike) | Blackpool V Machester City (Elis) | Cliff (Mike) | Gloucester Cheese Rolling (Mike) | Jimmy Anderson back in the nets (Steff) | Wales goal in a qualifier for the Women's World Cup (Elis) | Raging Bull, My Story (Elis), Shoe Dog (Steff), Mean on Sunday (Mike) |
| 12 | Underarmer Karma | Calcio Storico (Steff) | England squad sing 'All the Way' on Wogan (Mike) | Robert Jones fighting with Nick Farr Jones (Elis) | Be Water (Steff) | Wales beat the All Blacks in 1978 (Mike) | Underarm ball (Steff) | Maradona warming up for Napoli (Elis) | A Fighter's Heart (Steff), Rugby Football (Mike), How to Watch Football (Elis) |
| 13 | Grandstanding | Snooker Loopy (Mike) | Alan Jones test match debut (Steff) | Grandstand, April 1st 1989 (Elis) | Kevin Allen's World Cup video diary (Elis) | Brazil Airport Advert (Steff) | Zola Budd 'trips' Mary Decker, LA 1984 (Elis) | Danny MacAskill's brilliant bike trickery (Mike) | Danish Dynamite (Steff), Only A Game? (Elis), The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee (Mike) |
| 14 | 40 Bags of Pom-Bears | Jurgen Klopp's first press conference (Mike) | Jan Molby's 'Lost Goal' during a 1985 TV strike (Elis) | Ice Hockey sub goalie makes NHL debut at 36 (Steff) | Lyle Alzado (Mike) | Carragher & Neville running (Steff) | NRL tackling (Mike) | 17yr old Michael Chang underarm serve, French Open 1989 (Elis) | The Breakaway (Steff), The Topical Times Football Book (Elis), Football Shirts Book (Mike) |
| 15 | Half a Family Cheesecake, Two Ribeye Steaks and a Lion Bar | Ali and Frasier on the Dick Cavett Show (Elis) | Brian Shaw and Eddie Hall on diets (Steff) | Wales team celebrating England loss (Mike) | Gati V Ward Legendary Nights (Steff) | JPR (Mike) | Australian Speedskater Gold (Steff) | Manchester Utd 3 Barcelona 0, ECWC 1984 (Elis) | Das Reboot (Elis), The Art of Resilience (Steff), Paper Lion (Mike) |
| 16 | Seven Times a Night | Ireland at Italia '90 (Elis) | Roy Jones touching his toes (Steff) | Atherstone ball game (Mike) | Gascoigne (Elis) | Why do Ajax sing Bob Marley's Three Little Birds? (Steff) | Agnew and Johnstone (Mike) | Bert Trautman plays 1956 FA Cup final with broken neck (Elis) | Playground of the Gods (Steff), War, Baby: The Glamour of Violence (Elis), Distant Replay (Mike) |
| 17 | Doing a Geldof | George North V Israel Folau (Steff) | 10 cent beer night (Mike) | Eddie Hall doing a 500kg deadlift (Elis) | The Best That Never Was (Mike) | NHL Press Conferences (Mike) | Gary Sobers hits six sixes (Elis) | Real Zaragoza V Ajax 1987 ECWC semi (Steff) | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Steff), I am the Secret Footballer (Elis), No Spin - Shane Warne (Mike) |
| 18 | Ripped Like a Chimp | Will Carling gets a surprise (Elis) | Tony Bellew on SAS Who Dares Wins (Steff) | Brian Close (Mike) | The Opposition (Steff) | Blyth Spartans reach the 1978 FA Cup Fifth Round (Elis) | Crossfit fails (Mike) | Geraint Thomas crying after winning the Tour De France (Steff) | Toshack's Way: My Journey Through Football by John Toshack (Elis) |
| 19 | On My Mother's Life | Tina Turner Aussie RL Promo (Mike) | Greg Lemond wins the Tour De France after being shot by his brother (Elis) | Larry Merchant and Floyd Mayweather (Steff) | Once in a Lifetime (The Extraordinary Story of The New York Cosmos) (Elis) | Jens Adler's 2 minute international career (Steff) | Hagler V Hearns Round 1 1985 (Elis) | Gary Newbon gets called a c*nt (Mike) | The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw: The Robin Friday Story by Paolo Hewitt & Paul McGuigan (Mike) |
| 20 | The FourPiece Bathroom Suite | Scott Jurek talking about his attitude to running (Elis) | Castleford Wigan commentary (Mike) | GB relay team gold in 2004 (Steff) | America's Game Superbowl I 1966 (Mike) | A collection of Ieuan Evans' tries (Elis) | Millionaire Pitcher who lives in a Van (Steff) | Dana Kunze High Diver (Mike) | The Rider by Tim Krabbé (Steff) |
| 21 | Sohcahtoa, Sohcahtoa | Cliff Jones teaching his twitter followers to exercise at the age of 85 (Elis) | Ronnie 147 V Selby shot (Mike) | Donald Trump on Saint & Greavsie (Steff) | The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (Steff) | 11mins of absolute magic from David Campese (Elis) | Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding (Mike) | David Rudisha Gold 2012 (Steff) | The Picador Book of Sports Writing (Elis) |
| 22 | The Redemption of Peter Reid | Eric Cantona at his best (Elis) | Sergey Bubka (Mike) | GB Hockey gold medal shoot out 2016 (Steff) | Everton: Howard's Way (Elis) | Superhuman (Mike) | Adam Ondra, The hardest route in the world (Steff) | Jane Couch beating up Michael Barrymore (Elis | Scoop Sports Annual 1982 by D C Thomson (Mike) |
| 23 | Love Caldey Island | The Glasgow Diamonds. Best Song Ever (Mike) | The Strange Case of Sonny Pike (Elis) | George Weah solo goal for AC Milan (Steff) | The Marinovich Project (Mike) | Marcelo Bielsa orders his players to concede a goal (Elis) | Northwestern fitness coach (Mike) | Jossy's Giants Theme tune (Steff) | Doctor Socrates: Footballer, Philosopher, Legend by Andrew Downie |
| 24 | Getting off with Iain Dowie | Ali Dia (Mike) | Reporter says sex (Steff) | Jimmy Glass (Elis) | Of Miracles and Men (Steff) | Wrigglesworth and Rodgers (Mike) | Colin Jackson wins gold at the World Championships (Elis) | Tony Hawk (Steff) | Soccer and Society in South Wales, 1900-1939 by Martin Johnes |
| 25 | A Room With a View | Indoor League (Mike) | The Two Sides of Rene Higuita (Elis) | Kevin Peterson: Switch Hitting (Steff) | Welsh Greats, Carwyn James (Elis) | Terry Butcher bleeding like a pig, 1989 (Elis) | Wales lose to Leyton Orient in 1996 (Steff) | John Charles singing (Mike) | The Rise and Fall of the London Monarchs by Alex Cassidy (Mike) |
| 26 | We Cannot Be Serious | John McEnroe You Cannot Be Serious (Elis) | The MCG Brawl, State of Origin, 1995 (Mike) | John Williams wins sprint race (Steff) | The Battered Bastards of Baseball (Mike) | The science of Michael Jordan (Mike) | Luis Suarez Handball (Steff) | Newport beat the All Blacks, 1963 (Elis) | The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters (Steff) |
| 27 | Spielberg: Catch Me If You Can | Lee and Hunter having a scrap, 1975 (Elis) | Leighton Rees winning the world title (Steff) | Gavin Henson (Mike) | Chasing Tyson on ESPN (Steff) | Vets Rugby (Mike) | Swansea City fan scores a goal at Anfield, January 1990 (Elis) | Aussie Rugby League finish (Steff) | Red Dragons: The Story of Welsh Football by Phil Stead (Elis) |
| 28 | Mo & Elv | Jack Nicklaus & Gary Player (Mike) | Jeff Cranton's awful tackle (Elis) | Dock Ellis on LCD (Steff) | The 72nd Hole (Losers series) (Elis) | Richard Harris and Peter O’Toole on Rugby (Steff) | Insane Fielding (Mike) | Brian Clough v Muhammad Ali (Elis) | Chasing a Rugby Dream: Book One: Kick Off by David Brayley & James Hook (Mike) |
| 29 | Hindu or Hin Don't | Bike Fail (Mike) | Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank signing a contract to fight (Steff) | Keegan and Bremner fight at the 1974 Charity Shield (Mike) | The Band That Wouldn't Die (Mike) | Darts Fart (Mike) | Fiji sand dune training (Steff) | Glenn Hoddle the manager (Elis) | A Lot of Hard Yakka: Triumph and Torment - A County Cricketer's Life: Simon Hughes (Steff) |
| 30 | Semen World of Sport | Old School Weight Lifting (Mike) | Jimmy Wilde - Self-Defence (Elis) | Brian O'Driscoll (Steff) | Katie (Steff) | PBR Bull Riding Wrecks 2014 (Mike) | The worst 20 seconds of football of all time! (Elis) | Premier League launch (Steff) | Brian Flynn: Little Wonder (Elis) |
| 31 | Remind me of Your Name | Fish and a Rice Cake (Mike) | Retrieving lost balls in a coracle (Elis) | Tommy Lawrence before the Merseyside derby (Steff) | Football’s Greatest: Ronaldo(Elis) | Jason McAteer (Steff) | Brian Clough trying to sign Dean Saunders (Elis) | Rossi vs Lorenzo MotoGP 2009 (Mike) | The Mavericks: English Football When Flair Wore Flares (Mike) |
In July 2020, in addition to bonus Patreon content on the main podcast a sister podcast, “Michael Owen’s Movie Club” was introduced, the hosts watch a fictional sporting themed film and discuss it. The title comes from Michael Owen’s admission that he has only ever seen 8 films and didn’t like them because they aren’t real.[9]