DIVERTED

Coming on Tuesday... Eoin Sheahan's Diverted

Coming to your OTB Daily feed this Tuesday (March 25th) at 10am - the first episode of Eoin Sheahan's Diverted. Before the first episode went live, Eoin chatted to OTB's Mick McCarthy about the 10-part series, which you can find each Tuesday in the OTB Daily feed, and in its own podcast feed. You can access that here to subscribe. Follow Eoin on this not-so-smooth journey from the Deep South of the USA to the southern tip of Argentina, as he tries to recover from missing out on the Biggest Party In The History of The Universe (™).Each week, this podcast will travel to a new country, and we will bring you to a ritualistic fighting festival in rural Bolivia, to the basketball-crazy highlands of Guatemala and to the equine sport heartlands of Argentina’s gaucho country. We will become experts in Jai-Alai and Tejo, we will speak extensively with a survivor of the 1972 Andes plane crash, we will become fans of FC Palestino and hang out with lucha libre fighters. There are carnivals and psychedelics and broken bones, as we run from Andean karma but towards any presence of Maradona and Messi.

Colombia: Don’t mention the Escobar

In the first episode of this series, Eoin takes you to Colombia, where our first destination is the city of Medellin. Here, there are football ultras trying to make the world a better place, and there is a football club trying to get away from the historic association with Pablo Escobar.There is the national sport of Tejo, where drinking beer is encouraged and making things explode is the aim of the game.In Bogota, we hear about a national obsession with cycling, and how it’s intertwined - and not for the better - with the current politics of Colombia. There is better news on the women’s football front, however, as the national team gains positive headlines.There is also alcohol tasting, a bus that gets stuck in the highland mud and a dog-friendly MMA gym.Before all that, there’s part one of the Patagonian hitchhiking journey, as Eoin tries to get a lift out of the town of Bariloche.Follow Eoin…https://www.instagram.com/eoinsheahan/ https://x.com/EoinSheahan https://www.tiktok.com/@eoinsheahan

Chile: A Scotsman, a Palestinian and a Yugoslav…

In the second episode of this series, we get invited to spend an afternoon at the plush environs of the Prince of Wales country club in Santiago, Chile. Here, some of the country’s national rugby players are putting kids through their paces and they themselves prepare for a first ever Rugby World Cup.A snoop around a flea market, then, tips me off about a storied football club, Club Deportivo Palestino. We meet the fans and those running the club, which is a representation of Palestinian identity in Chile.Finally, we meet Eddio Inostroza who was assistant to the enigmatic Mirko Josic, who came from Yugoslavia to lead the Colo-Colo club to their highest ever point as a club.Also, there is the story of Puskas in Chile, the Battle of Macul and the story behind Chile’s two World Rugby hall of famers.Before all that, there’s part two of the Patagonian hitchhiking journey, as Eoin tries to get himself to the town of Esquel.Follow Eoin…https://www.instagram.com/eoinsheahan/https://x.com/EoinSheahanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@eoinsheahanEmail: eoinsheahan1@gmail.com

Bolivia: Blood, Sweat, and Tear gas

In this episode, we go on a journey into the Bolivian highlands for a completely unique festival called “Tinku.” It takes place in a tiny town called Macha, which is not exactly a tourist hot spot. The aim of the game is to fight thy neighbour in order to spill blood and satisfy the Andean gods, which are all-powerful to the indigenous Aymara community.We drink with the locals, dance with the locals and some of us fight with the locals. It is a chaotic couple of days, and one of the world’s most unusual sporting traditions.Also, we visit La Paz and El Alto and talk about the fighting Cholitas, and we hop on a Mountain bike down Death Road.Before all that, there’s part four of the Patagonian hitchhiking journey, as Eoin is still trying to get himself to the town of Esquel.Follow Eoin…https://www.instagram.com/eoinsheahan/https://x.com/EoinSheahanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@eoinsheahanEmail: eoinsheahan1@gmail.com

Uruguay: “It’s not a miracle”

In 1972, a plane carrying members of the Old Christians rugby team of Montevideo crashed in the Andes, leaving behind a slew of survivors. After 72 days trapped on the mountain, 16 survivors managed to make it home.In this episode, Eoin visits the home of one of the survivors, Antonio Vizintin, for an extended chat about those 72 days and, indeed, the reaction to the revelations that dead bodies were used for food on the mountain.We also speak with Jorg Thomsen, director of Museo Andes 1972, and Ana Ines Martinez Lamas, who lost her brother in the crash.There are also the sounds of Uruguayan Carnaval.Before all that, there’s part four of the Patagonian hitchhiking journey, as Eoin embarks on a risky journey East, from Esquel.Follow Eoin…https://www.instagram.com/eoinsheahan/https://x.com/EoinSheahanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@eoinsheahanEmail: eoinsheahan1@gmail.com