Skip to content

The Best Worst Thing

2015-01-04 · letter vlog · John · 3:35 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Sports · mode: Personal update · tags: timely hook, self promotion, community lore

In a Sunday bonus video John explains Nerdfighteria's AFC Wimbledon sponsorship, the FA Cup draw against his beloved Liverpool, and his choice to root for Wimbledon, arguing that sports matter because we make them meaningful by caring.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Nerdfighteria's AFC Wimbledon sponsorship: the fan-owned club, and how HankGames ad revenue pays for it

  • ★★ John says that for the past couple of years Nerdfighteria has been sponsoring AFC Wimbledon, an actual professional soccer team in England. — 00:00:02 · Nerdfighteria, AFC Wimbledon, England
  • ★★ John says AFC Wimbledon play in League Two, the fourth tier; they are fan-owned, were England's first club to take a stand against homophobia, and rose from the ninth tier. — 00:00:07 · AFC Wimbledon, England
  • ★★ John says the brothers pay for the sponsorship by sending AFC Wimbledon all the advertising revenue from their channel HankGames. — 00:00:27 · HankGames, AFC Wimbledon

00:00:35 — Bigger sponsorship puts DFTBA on the shorts; Wimbledon scarves back in stock

00:00:59 — Wimbledon's season and FA Cup round three; the draw against Liverpool ruins a take on the Paper Towns set

  • ★★ John says AFC Wimbledon are 12th in their league, excellent for a club owned by regular people, and for the first time reached FA Cup round three, when the big teams enter. — 00:00:59 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John says a draw against Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea could have earned Wimbledon more from one game than 20 years of Nerdfighter sponsorship. (hedged) — 00:01:14 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★★ Nervous while watching the draw on the Paper Towns set, John shouted and ruined a take of the movie when AFC Wimbledon drew Liverpool. (playful) — 00:01:25 · Paper Towns (film), AFC Wimbledon

00:01:43 — Liverpool in John's life; flying with the Yeti to London for the game

  • ★★ John says Liverpool, the team he has supported his entire adult life, has helped him through some of the hardest times in his life. — 00:01:43
  • ★★ John says the day both his children came home from the hospital he showed them Liverpool's Champions League final victory over AC Milan, to be the first thing they saw on a screen. (playful) — 00:01:49
  • ★★★ Torn between his favourite club and the club with DFTBA on its shorts, John is flying with the Yeti to London for the game, leaving in about two hours. — 00:02:00 · Sarah Urist Green, London, DFTBA Records

00:02:10 — Where to watch: Fox Sports 1, a chance for non-sporty Nerdfighters to connect with parents

  • ★★ John says the game is on American television at 3 PM Eastern on Fox Sports 1, where viewers can see the Nerdfighter advertisements by the field. — 00:02:10 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ John suggests Nerdfighters who don't care about sports use the match to connect with parents who don't understand them. (playful) — 00:02:19 · Nerdfighteria

00:02:33 — Rooting for Wimbledon over Liverpool; divided loyalties; sport matters because we care

  • ★★★ John says he cares intensely and irrationally about Liverpool's community, but ultimately has to root for the team with DFTBA on their shorts: Nerdfighteria wins over Liverpool. (playful) — 00:02:33 · AFC Wimbledon, Nerdfighteria, DFTBA Records
  • ★★ John does not recommend divided loyalties; they are extremely stressful. — 00:03:00
  • ★★★ Answering viewers who say his choice doesn't matter to the game, John says the sport doesn't matter either; we make it meaningful by caring, and that goes for lots of stuff. — 00:03:05 · social construction

00:03:21 — Off to the airplane; thanks to Wimbly Womblys viewers; DFTBA sign-off

  • ★ John has to get on an airplane so he can spend 14 hours in England. (playful) — 00:03:21 · England
  • ★★ John thanks everyone who watches the AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys on HankGames for making the sponsorship possible. — 00:03:24 · HankGames, AFC Wimbledon

In the description and comments

  • ★ John adds that the match is live on Monday on Fox Sports 1; viewers without it or outside the US could stream it, which he notes is illegal and does not recommend, only possible. (playful) — video description

Humor (significant)

  • John explains the sponsorship comes from ad revenue on the brothers' channel HankGames. — 00:00:31

    “so called because only John plays games on it.”

  • Watching the FA Cup draw on the Paper Towns set, John sees Wimbledon drawn against Liverpool and shouts. — 00:01:30

    “Are you FRENCH THE LLAMA kidding”

  • John admits Liverpool is an embarrassingly large part of his life: he showed his newborns a Liverpool final. — 00:01:49

    “because I wanted it to be the first thing they ever saw on a screen.”

  • John imagines a Nerdfighter's parents calling Nerdfighteria a strange cult that sponsors fourth-tier English soccer teams. — 00:02:26

    “They're also trying to genetically engineer puppy-sized elephants.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: AFC Wimbledon · Liverpool FC

Also: People: Sarah Urist Green

Projects: DFTBA Records

Works: AFC Wimbledon scarf · Paper Towns (film)

Organizations: AC Milan · Arsenal F.C. · Chelsea FC · EFL League Two · Fox Sports 1 · Manchester United F.C. · Yeovil Town F.C.

Terms: DFTBA · French the llama · puppy sized elephant

Concepts: homophobia · social construction

Places: England · London

Events: 2005 UEFA Champions League Final · FA Cup

Only in the description or credits: AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys · HankGames

Also centred on Liverpool FC: Walking the Red Carpet: Thoughts from Los Angeles · AFC Wimbledon v. Liverpool: Thoughts from the Greatest Game on Earth · A Weird and Beautiful Story · On Sharing the Walk · What to Love and How · i like it

← Previous: Why is The Alphabet In Alphabetical Order? Eight Completely Arbitrary Things · Next → AFC Wimbledon v. Liverpool: Thoughts from the Greatest Game on Earth