I chose the FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham as my editor’s pick on the show today. Just wanted to expand on it and say that I know the docuseries itself is a kind of marketing ploy for the asset that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought in Wales. What I like is that they are very transparent about it. This is their way of entering the exciting and potentially very lucrative business of sports ownership. They don’t have the billions of oil magnates in the Premier League. What they have is an ability to hire great storytellers and drive attention to their Little Engine of a Team That Could.
Also, I confess to having something like a hometown interest. Like a lot of celebrities who make a home on the East Coast, Ryan Reynolds resides in a town near to me. Uniquely among such celebrities, the Reynolds crew are superlative local citizens. I believe in what Reynolds and McElhenney are doing for Wrexham on the screen in part because I’m familiar with how Reynolds makes my own area better for his presence. Maybe it’s out of fashion to identify it as noblesse oblige, but he practices gratitude, and that’s worth highlighting in this world.
Also, if I have any allegiance in English football, it’s to my godmother’s team, Fulham FC.