The mysterious way people are connected continues to amaze me.
Nearly 13 months ago, I attended a soccer match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at River Plate‘s famed Estadio Mas Monumental. Among the fellas who were part of that tour group attending the match was Tim Walker, an English ex pat who was living St. Petersburg, FL.
During the ensuing year, Tim and I have remained in contact.
We trade occasional WhatsApp messages about whatever sporting event either one of us recently attended. Tim was even kind enough to join me on a previous episode of Conversations with Sports Fans (S:4, E:59) when he totally buried the lead by failing to divulge early in out chat that he once had a business meeting with then-International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch.
That aside, it’s been terrific to get to know Tim a bit better and, in fact, he’s joining me for the 2027 Daytona 500.
So it was a pleasant surprise when he called me late this summer about a fellow Brit he’d just met through a mutual friend: James Rowlands.
“I think he’d make an excellent guest for your podcast, Doug,” Tim began.
He then went on to inform me that, despite living in Leeds, England, James had just visited his 30th MLB ballpark with a visit to Tropicana Field. Oh yeah, Tim went on; he’s also been to FIFA World Cup finals, countless English soccer grounds, Cricket World Cups, and Rugby World Cups. And he’s seen quite a few music acts live.
What Tim didn’t disclose early in the discussion (or maybe he did and I’ve just conveniently forgotten) is that James is a long-haul pilot for a major commercial airline and thus has major logistical and financial components (flight and lodging) covered by his employer.
So Tim put us in contact with one another, and the result of that contact is the episode you find before you today.
In the event you needed any more reasons to listen, James has also attended golf’s four major championships, eight Formula 1 circuits, four European Soccer Championships, a Super Bowl, a soccer match in all 92 English soccer league grounds, and more.
Talk about a man after my own heart!