NBC Sports ready to capture Liverpool's celebration of Premier League title
Lowe and NBC's Premier League studio crew will be at Anfield for the final day of the season as Liverpool gets to lift the championship trophy after facing Crystal Palace.
It is Liverpool's second Premier League title but the first it will be able to celebrate in front of a sold out crowd. Liverpool won the championship in 2020, but the joy was muted as it celebrated in front of only a couple hundred fans due to COVID-19 crowd controls.
'I think Anfield might be the happiest spot to be maybe anywhere in the world,' Lowe said earlier this week. 'This is a moment for a generation. I know there are going to be men and women in their 30s and 40s who've never seen Liverpool lift the top flight of English football, and that is why this Sunday is so special for these fans.'
Liverpool has had the title wrapped up since late April, making the final match day of the season mostly meaningless after the championship went down to the final minute the past couple years.
Even with the three relegation spots decided, the only drama remaining is which clubs will get the final three auto qualifying spots for the Champions League. Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are separated by just three points.
Even the Crystal Palace supporters making the trip to Liverpool are going to be in a celebratory mood after it won the FA Cup last Saturday for the first time with a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Lowe, who grew up rooting for Crystal Palace, was in London last week for the FA Cup final.
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Liverpool was not considered among the Premier League championship favorites going into the season. Arne Slot came in as manager after Juergen Klopp resigned after being at the club over eight years and leading them to the title in 2020.
'If anybody back in August would have picked Liverpool to win the league, they would have been laughed out of town,' said Lowe, who has hosted NBC's coverage since it started carrying the Premier League in 2013. 'Arne walks into this massive club, succeeding a massive figure and character and then pretty much walks his way to the Premier League trophy. I think it's been a combination of excellent coaching, a very good squad that he inherited and very few injuries.'
NBC Sports wraps up its 12th season by showing all 10 'Championship Sunday' matches beginning at 11 a.m. EDT. NBC has the Liverpool match while USA Network, CNBC, SYFY, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock will also have other matchups.
___
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'I usually do this one later on in the night but since I just had a request for it, here we go, off to Mexico!' It's Saturday evening at the Pony Corral Restaurant & Bar on Pembina Highway. Entertainer José 'Pepê' Cortes launches into a rollicking version of La Bamba, diners on the eatery's spacious riverside patio put down their forks and knives to clap along to the Ritchie Valens hit, which Cortes performs on guitar with the assistance of a pre-recorded backing track. Given his high-spirited delivery, one would never guess that Cortes, a summertime fixture at the Fort Garry hotspot since the mid-2000s, has sung the crowd-pleaser 'oh, about a million times,' over the years. Jose (Pepe) Cortes, who is a one-man show, performs on the riverside patio at the Pony Corral Restaurant & Bar three nights a week. 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The band eventually expanded to seven members and by the mid-1970s, Children had become a popular nightclub draw, not just in Mexico City but in more touristy destinations, as well. Cortes was 21 in 1979 when Children was booked for a weeklong engagement at the Princess Hotel in Acapulco. Also appearing there was a band called Zig Zag, which got its start in Mexico before relocating to Minneapolis. Following one of Children's performances, the members of Zig Zag told Cortes they were impressed with his voice, especially when he sang falsetto on Bee Gees numbers. Also, would he be interested in going with them when they headed back to the States? It seemed like a great opportunity and after discussing it with his bandmates, he made the difficult decision to leave Mexico. 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She told me she was living in Tequisquiapan, about three hours from Mexico City. After messaging back and forth a bit more, she said I should come for a visit, which I ended up doing that winter.' Cortes fell in love with both Gabriela and the town, notable for its quaint cobblestone streets and rustic houses. On the flight back to Winnipeg he thought if he could land a gig there, he'd probably move. Four years later he was preparing to do just that. Ahead of his imminent departure, Peter Ginakes, owner of the Pony Corral, proposed they stage a 'Farewell Pepê' concert in his honour, on the patio. That night the place was jam-packed, with lineups stretching into the parking lot. As Cortes was putting away his guitar for what he thought would be the last time at that locale, Ginakes approached him to say, 'You know, there isn't any reason we can't do this every summer.' Cortes, who has dual citizenship, refers to his current situation, which sees him living and performing in Tequisquiapan for nine months of the years, and spending June through August in Lorette with his daughter Sam and her husband, as the 'best of both worlds.' Not only does he get to see his two adult children as well as a pair of grandchildren, ages five and nine, when he's here he holds down a Las Vegas-style residency at the Pony Corral three nights a week, Thursday to Saturday. Added bonus: his son Matthew occasionally supports him on bongo drums. 'It's funny because couples who used to come see me at the Pony 20 years ago, back when they were dating, now show up with their kids to catch the show,' he says. 'The other night my own grandkids were here and the oldest one spent the whole time in one of the Tiki huts, banging away on the table like he was playing drums.' Cortes, who has recorded four CDs of original material, figures he currently has close to 150 songs in his repertoire, including what he refers to as the calypso medley, which he put the finishing touches to in Mexico, this past winter. Jose (Pepe) Cortes on the patio at the riverside Pony Corral Restaurant & Bar (Pier7) at 1700 Pembina Hwy. 'For that one, I kick off things off with Lionel Richie's All Night Long, then switch to Kokomo by the Beach Boys, September by Earth, Wind and Fire and finally Hot Hot Hot (by Buster Poindexter). If that doesn't get people tapping their toes, nothing will.' And although Gabriela has only come with him to Winnipeg once — she found it too chilly, even in June, he says with a wink — he intends to make the annual trip north for as long as Ginakes and the Pony Corral will have him. 'The only tough part is I'm not as young as I used to be,' he says, polishing off the last of his coffee. 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