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The Socially Distant Sports Bar
261: Medium Performance (Pt 2)
🎙️ The Socially Distant Sports Bar – Episode 261: Medium Performance
Elis James (Elis & John, Oh What A Time), Mike Bubbins (Mammoth), and Steff Garrero return for another week of niche sporting brilliance, poorly researched tangents, and top-tier nonsense.
This week we’ve got: good old-fashioned Welsh rugby nostalgia, Shaun Edwards’ eternal intensity, Millie Bright doing business, and the surprisingly emotional journey of a curling stone. Oh, and a Super Bowl, 1980s-style.
"Like a sports podcast, if the sport was optional."
🎟️ We’re Going on Tour in 2026!
That’s right – The Socially Distant Sports Bar is hitting the road in 2026!
Tickets go on general sale Friday 25 April via distantpod.com/live
🎫 Want early access? Join the Patreon on a paid tier and get in ahead of the crowd.
📍 Tour Dates:
- Fri 20 March 2026 – Cardiff, New Theatre
- Sat 21 March 2026 – Cardiff, New Theatre
- Tue 7 April 2026 – London, Hackney Empire
- Wed 8 April 2026 – London, Hackney Empire
- Fri 24 April 2026 – Carmarthen, Lyric Theatre
✨ What’s On This Week’s Episode?
📌 PART 1 (OUT WEDNESDAY)
Mike:
🗣️ Shaun on Danny – If you need motivation, Shaun Edwards has you covered. Again.
Elis:
🐏 Phil Pugh – Proper Old School – A classic clip from the golden era of Welsh hardmen.
Steff:
🏃♀️ Millie Bright Invests in Sports Bras – An important conversation about support, equality, and innovation in women’s sport.
📌 PART 2 (OUT FRIDAY)
Steff’s Documentary Pick:
🎓 The Gareth Southgate Lecture – Leadership, resilience, and an England manager being genuinely inspiring.
Elis’ Book Choice:
📖 Alternative Wales – Issue 17 – Welsh football culture, fan stories, and proper indie spirit.
📌 PART 3 (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
👉 Join us on Patreon for bonus episodes, spin-off shows, and pre-sale access to live shows.
Elis:
⚽ Angel Rangel – What a Guy – Swansea City’s Spanish cult hero.
Steff:
🏈 Watching the 1981 Super Bowl in the UK – It’s grainy, it’s weird, and it’s glorious.
Mike:
🧊 How Curling Stones Are Made – It’s oddly satisfying and a bit emotional.
💡 Get More of the Pod Every Week
🎧 Join Patreon for the full experience:
- Bonus Episodes – 30+ mins of extra content weekly.
- Hoffi Pod & Michael Owen’s Movie Club – Our beloved spin-offs.
- Gift Memberships – Give a mate the gift of nonsense.
- Early access & support – Keep the show going and help Mike expand his vintage leisurewear wardrobe.
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- Ad-free episodes for pure, uninterrupted nonsense
🎉 Another week of niche sport, cult heroes, and completely unnecessary tangents – only on The Socially Distant Sports Bar!
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If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head here 👇
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787. Mike Wants Free Shirts: Pint Size
09:02||Ep. 787Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.This clip is taken from "Episode 289: Snoring"785. Raygun & Sammy Sex
49:01||Ep. 785It's another pick from the Netfllix "Untold" series for the "Documentary of the Week". It features Rachel Gunn "Raygun" and her appearance in the breakdancing competions at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Mike, Elis and Steff talk about her rise to the Olympic stage, how someone who described herself as a "dorky white woman who's an academic" ended up being globally humiliated after her performance at the Games. Steff Documentary: Raygun, Breaking Badly https://www.netflix.com/watch/82048542?trackId=284616272&tctx=NaN%2C1%2Cc5ae2730-71a4-43c2-b000-9cd65f7e67a9%2Cc5ae2730-71a4-43c2-b000-9cd65f7e67a9%7C%3DeyJwYWdlSWQiOiJlYzBlZjRhYS0zNGE4LTQ4NzUtYjZiNC01MGZlMzk0Y2NmOWMvMS8vdW50b2xkLzAvMCIsImxvY2FsU2VjdGlvbklkIjoiMiJ9%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C82048542%2CVideo%3A82048542%2CminiDpPlayButton Elis Book: Football in Sun and Shadow https://link.amazon/B0flqyW7r784. No Readmission
01:20:32||Ep. 784Welcome to another week in the world of Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero at the Socially Distant Sports Bar. If you've ever had a day that promised so much and turned into a living hell then you will sympathise with Elis' attempt to watch Swansea City at Southampton. It's straight out of a bad sitcom. Mike reveals why he thinks he has Phil Bennett's Barbarians blazer in his bar which leads to reminiscing about Kim Cattrall on the back of a motor bike, there is a connection....honestly. The lads chat about Katie Taylor boxing in front of a sell-out crowd at Croke Park, some rugby nostalgia from 1953 and they talk about the great Sean Fitzpatrick, one of the legenfs of rugby union.Mike:Sean and Ardiehttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DclpZm0NIkN/?stkn=MXFjb3k0enRkejVyNA==Steff: Katie Taylor https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/articles/c5yjr8pp0jwo https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc63ebVDiiV/?stkn=MXdwZXg2bXN2YXZseQ==https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc62YnfoWEO/?stkn=MWpqY2V2bWVpcmV4bw==https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc65DgVJPEt/?stkn=cXE3ZnpyZ3k4azM=Elis Cardiff beat New Zealand, 1953https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc1cKJYILtn/?stkn=NXhnNWxmcDl4a Wg=783. A Goose To The Face: Pint Size
11:57||Ep. 783Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.This clip is taken from "Episode 287: Fabio's Goose"781. Cowboy At The Little Tesco
30:23||Ep. 781Welcome back to this week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.This week, Steff and Elis are attempting to have a perfectly sensible conversation about a sports documentary and a book.Unfortunately, Mike has decided to spend much of that conversation sending them an increasingly large number of photographs of himself dressed as a cowboy while very clearly not working as a cowboy.Cowboy at home. Cowboy out and about. Cowboy going about his normal business. Cowboy, potentially, at the Little Tesco.Between incoming photographs, we do actually manage to discuss some sport.DocumentaryMike: Untold — The Testimony of Vince YoungThe Netflix Untold series turns its attention to former college football superstar and NFL quarterback Vince Young, looking back at his extraordinary rise, the expectations placed upon him and what happened when one of the biggest names in American sport found himself struggling away from the field.https://www.netflix.com/title/82020375BookSteff: Cyclettes by Tree AbrahamSteff brings in Tree Abraham’s Cyclettes, a beautifully unusual book about a life spent cycling — part memoir, part visual diary and part exploration of the places, people and experiences we encounter when travelling around on two wheels.https://link.amazon/B0bPaGwN8Sport, cycling, fame, expectation and a quite unreasonable number of photographs of Mike Bubbins wearing a cowboy hat.Thanks for listening.780. The Rizla Stadium
01:21:32||Ep. 780The Rizla StadiumWelcome to this week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.This week Mike reports back from a less-than-luxurious holiday rental in Liverpool, while Steff comes up with a potentially foolproof plan to solve the financial problems in Welsh rugby using nothing more than some enormous halogen lamps and the seemingly limitless supply of Welsh rain.We’re sure the WRU will be in touch.There’s also plenty of actual sport. Mike celebrates the great Billy Boston, Steff brings in Jonathan Agnew and Andy Zaltzman, and Elis heads back to 1990 for Wales v England.As ever, those are merely the starting points.ClipsMike: Billy Bostonhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DcdYebStiy1/?igsi=ODAxNHRraHp6aGo2Steff: Aggers and Zaltzmanhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/DcrRgvwoWR-/?igsi=bTB6eXc4ZTUzZW5whttps://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcsm5sdO_oZ/?igsi=cWp3eDZ1cDN4MzJhElis: Wales v England 1990https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcS4CkQoN-0/?igsi=MXVnejY5MjlybmVhYQ==There’s more from Elis, Mike and Steff later this week, and Bonus Club subscribers can get the extra episode too.Thanks for listening.779. Sing: Pint Size
10:13||Ep. 779Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.This clip is taken from "Episode 252: Just Put A Towel Over My Head"777. Give Him A Passport
25:05||Ep. 777This week's second helping from the Socially Distant Sports Bar with Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero is another fascinating documentary choice. It's Steff's pick and tells the interesting and sometimes moving story of Bilal Fawaz, current British and Commonwealth Super Welterweight Champion. "Fight For Freedom" documents his inability to fight outide of Britain because he has never been able to hold a passport. Elis has picked the "Book of the Week" which is another one to add to your collection. It's "Domestique" by Charlie Wegelius. The book explores the life of a "domestique", a rider who sacrifices his own personal glory and ambitions to support the team leader and secure team victories.Steff Doc: Fighting For Freedom: Bilal Fawaz https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002zv7x/fighting-for-freedom-bilal-fawaz Elis Book: Domestique - Charlie Wegalias https://link.amazon/B0fRZs7TB776. Delivering To Belfast
01:04:28||Ep. 776Come and join Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero in the Socially Distant Sports Bar for their usual weekly catch-up and the first round of clips.We get an update on Mike's new initiative of trying to make friends with everyone he meets, there's hot debate on whether you talk to your builders and sexy professions.There's some accidental sport as well including the wonderful Laura McAllister talking about how football executives like her should be "custodians of the game" along with Wham! playing football in China.ENJOY!!Elis: Laura McAllisterhttps://x.com/SkyNews/status/2083210598154690774?s=46Steff: Wham https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaQSTu0IWXf/ Mike: Alice on golfhttps://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Cw4awQc4u/?mibextid=wwXIfr