From a blog entry I wrote for The National …

(I will return at the end of the item.)

The US television network NBC has purchased the rights to air the English Premier League in the American market, and has turned to the new and fictional Tottenham Hotspur coach Ted Lasso to help explain “football” to his fellow Yanks in a new video that has quickly gone viral.

Lasso, played by the comic actor Jason Sudeikis, has a Texas twang, wears the short shorts, visor and long socks favored by American football coaches a generation ago.

At a faux news conference before British media, Lasso suggests “soccer” and American football have “a lot of small similarities. We’re going to play hard for four quarters”, he says, as an off-camera voice with an English accent says, “two halves”.

Lasso continues with, “Two halves. We will play hard till there’s a winner or a loser.” Says the same off-camera voice: “Or a tie.” Lasso continues: “You can tie?

“Do we have a lot of goals? Yes, we’re gonna win a lot of games, gonna get in the play-offs. No play-offs? My job just got a lot easier.” He adds: “Ties and no play-offs. Why even do this?”

Later, Lasso is at a training session and asks an assistant: “Who’s ‘orange shoes’, there?” The assistant says: “That’s Gareth Bale.”

Says Lasso: “Gareth Bale, he’s from England?” Told Bale is from Wales, the coach says: “What, is that another country?” and earns a reply: “Yes and no.” And continues: “How many countries are in this country?” Says the assistant: “Four, sir.”

Critics have suggested the “Americans don’t get soccer” complaint is “old and tired” but most credit Sudeikis for the success of the five-minute video, which has been viewed more than one million times.

Wrote the biglead website: “For soccer fans, this is another encouraging sign from NBC, which is going all-in on trying its best to promote the Premier League for the American audience.”

And … we’re back to the present.

We have found that many of the Brits in the newsroom have found the NBC video quite amusing, and have shared it around, as they would put it.

The lines that seem to get repeated the most are the one about Wales. “What, is that another country?” “Yes and no.” …”How many countries are in this country?” “Four, sir.”

Yanks often are held up to ridicule by Brits for not knowing that Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland are countries … well, sort of.

In point of fact,the U.S. is not the wasteland it was for soccer a generation ago. Major League Soccer is doing just fine and is up to, what, 19 teams now?

Ted Lasso would be an anachronism in 2013. Which is what makes it funny — U.S. viewers of the video are in on the joke; they know it refers to a time in the past. Ted Lasso, however, doesn’t get it.

The US television network NBC has purchased the rights to air the English Premier League in the American market, and has turned to the new and fictional Tottenham Hotspur coach Ted Lasso to help explain “football” to his fellow Yanks in a new video that has quickly gone viral.