Planting the Seed of Soccer Across America:
Unknown2
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Was there really any doubt that Clint Dempsey wasn't going to run away with this award?
As some of our commentors pointed out during the voting, it seemed a bit one-sided. Not just because of their own qualifications, but the over-whelming case that could be made for Sir Deuce.
With nearly 40 goals for Fulham in the English Premier League and counting Clint Dempsey has made the biggest splash of any American aboard, ever. Dempsey's soccer ambassadorial work for the United States has made him the most recognizable face for the red, white, and blue in any corner of the world (sorry Howard and Donovan).
But what makes him our choice for Free Beer Movement "Person of the Year" isn't so much the goals and the quality play that he brings to the field, but the audacity of what his brings to the field. His playing style, his take-no-prisoners attitude is the American way. Grit. Determination. Mixed results.
Think Dempsey's attempted scorpion kick during the 2011 Gold Cup. Think his towering header against Arsenal last week. Both near misses that were marked by both an insane amount of effort and incredulity.
And the beer side? Clint Dempsey, he of Modelo beer sponsorship and he of bottle-opening-on-his-boot goal celebrations has put American soccer on the map in a way that no other player could. A clear message that the suds play an important role in his life.
We love the beer connection in Dempsey's goal scoring life and his on-field exploits only further our mission to spread American soccer.
We could buy hundreds of thousands of beers 'round the globe and have only the fraction of an impact that Deuce has had on building American soccer at home in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Raise a pint for FBM's 2011 "Person of the Year"!
Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com
Planting the Seed of Soccer Across America:
Unknown6
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Last year we debuted our first selection ever for "Person of the Year". The award went to the German ad agency Nordpol+ for their roll in creating the brat train and under-the-seat kegs at St. Pauli's (Germany) soccer stadium.
Beer and soccer indeed.
This year we're opening the award to out FBM community to decide. We've narrowed down the field to a few spectacular candidates for you all to vote on. Below is a profile of each nominee and their claim to be the FBM's 2011 "Person of the Year"
VOTE AT THE END OF THE POST.
1) Clifton Vial
We might be stacking the deck for our other nominees because Mr. Vidal's story is completely unrelated to soccer, but, boy, is it beer-related. Clifton lives in Nome, Alaska and one night while driving he lost control of his Toyota Tacoma and ended up in a snowdrift. Unable to contact anyone and stuck in below-freezing nighttime temperatures. Over three days he battled to stay alive. His only ally?
His only provisions: Snow, and a few cans of Coors Light that had frozen solid in the cab. Vial ate the beers like cans of beans. "I cut the lids off and dug it out with a knife," he said.
Beer! Life-saving beer! How wonderful.
Just think if he would've had some Alaskan Brewing Company instead of Coors Light he probably would've been able to survive a week out there.
2) Keira Knightly
Keria Knightly is hot. No argument there. And she's a pretty talented actress as well. But what makes her a candidate for FBM's "Person of the Year" is this revelation in some asinine interview about her upcoming movie "A Dangerous Method".
The movie was shot during the summer of 2010 and Knightly said that given the heavy nature of the movie's subjects (psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung) her and her co-stars would go our each night and drink loads of beer and watch the World Cup.
And she still gets credit for her starring role in "Bend It Like Beckham" too, right?
3) Clint Dempsey
American? Check. All-time leading scorer for his countrymen in the English Premier League? Double check. Often celebrates those goals by using his boot as a bottle opener and drinking a beer? Triple check.
Clint Dempsey has now blasted in 39 Prem League goals and numerous ones have been followed up by his boot-and-beer celebration (like the one below from 2008). Deuce has cemented his place as one of the USMNT's most recognizable players alongside Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.
Clint Dempsey is having a banner 2011. Can he add FBM's "Person of the Year" to his pile of accolades?
4) German Beer Drinking Kid
How long does it take a child to drink a beer at a soccer game? No one knows the exact answer to that question, but after watching the following clip of a youngster enjoying a beer during an early December Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and FC Schalke, we are led to believe that the answer lies somewhere around 25 minutes.
That conclusion was drawn from the evidence in the video above, which shows a child enjoying a beer and wiener schnitzel in the 62nd minute of the match, before washing said beer and schnitzel down with a water (or full glass of vodka) in the 89th minute.
The legal drinking age in Germany may be 16, but I guess it is never too early to begin expanding your child’s palate.
5) Will Ferrell
Mr. Ferrell starred in the Oscar-snubbed soccer flick "Kicking and Screaming", but that was back in 2005. He even appeared on "The Daily Show" in a Chelsea jersey, but now you're talking about 2008. What has the funny man done in 2011 to be included on this list?
