Tony Jameson: Football Manager Ruined My Life

If we use Malcolm Gladwell’s definition of expertise, anyone that can prove they have spent more than 20,000 hours on one particular pastime can consider it mastered twice over. Cue Tony Jameson, who proudly boasts a 20 year career as a Football Manager – not on the touchline, but on the laptop.

Jameson’s show delves deep into how the notorious time-destroying PC game has been a constant companion through the good times and bad, delivering a fast and self-effacing conversational dialogue while considering the fine line between enthusiast and addict. He handles digressions and tangents well as he gauges the audience’s tolerance for the most obscure references, and is clearly delighted when they reciprocate with glee.

As a non-football fan and armed with only the most basic knowledge of the computer game I still found this show incredibly accessible, delivered with the kind of infectious charm that comes only from someone with real love for their subject matter. If you’ll leave completely convinced there’s nothing wrong with a grown man wearing a real suit to watch his imaginary football team play in an imaginary FA Cup final, then Jameson has done his job. Strangely life-affirming stuff. [Tony Makos]