Bears Beyond The Gate

We chew over the opening day bonus point victory from the Media Conference Room at Ashton Gate. We were the only ones in it mind but it was still quite exciting nonetheless.

A shaky first half, where Tigers did a 'Radwan' on us, subsequently developed into a comfortable victory as the intensity increased, the pack took control and Prem debutant Tom Jordan ran the show.

The atmopshere at the stadium was excellent as the Bristol faithful wallowed in the early Autumn sun and it was somehat apt that as the vicotry strains of 'Drink up ye Zider' echoed around the ground, the Thatchers hot air balloon gently ascended from Ashton Court.

We're up and running (literally!).

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Pod friend James Dun makes his second appearance live from the BBF Taproom to tell us how pre-season has gone, talk us through how the boys will prep for the game during the week and even make some of his own suggestions for ramping up the atmosphere at the Gate, in particular searching for George Kloska look-a-likies in the crowd...

As always, we appreciate his time and it's good to see the 'fourth mic' getting some more action.

We also hear from Elliott Butlin from Tigers fan pod, The Rolling Maul, who gives us the low-down on their season prep, how some of their new players are shaping up and how he sees the game going on Sunday.

The Prem is nearly upon us. Up the Bears!

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Having reached a double ton at the end of last season wth the help of emerging club and Instagram legend James Dun, the boys road-test their brand new crowd funded recording equipment at the BBF Taproom Studio Bar for the season seven opener with Bears CEO Tom Tainton, who, lets be honest, was well impressed with the set up and admtted that he had never done a pod in a lock-in before.

The boys asked him briefly about his journey to the top before diving in with some of the sorts of questions that we hope our listeners would expect us to ask - fan engagment, whether the Big Day Out made money, merchandise, Simba cam and much, much more.

Tom was a very engaging interviewee and took his time to clarify and engage many of the issues that are close to fan's hearts. He admitted that sometimes the club had got things wrong but also reaffirmed his belief that the club is in a great position and that the future is bright. 

It was very good of him to come down to our manor on a Sunday night and it can be confirmed that at least two of the can opening sound effects, much loved by many listeners, were definitely of his making.

As always your feedback is welcome both on our socials or via [email protected]

Up the Bears!

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Running order:

00.00 - 14.30: Re-living the semi at the Rec

14.30 - 18.40: Back to the start of the season and the focus on cohesion

18:40 - 25.45: Pronouncing Ravouvou, thoughts on Rubiolo and gym strength

25.45 - 30.45: Integrating the Internationals

30.45 - 41.00: Lee's list of positives, centurion or not centurion and Wooley tribute

41.00 - 52.30: European campaign, man love for BJVR and the Clermont cauldron

52.30 - 70.07: Quick fire questions:

• Fitzy's real name?
• Batesy's super skill? 
• England aspirations?
• Next season's squad?
• Nicknames?

And then an abrupt finish as the memory card ran out of space...

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After being 'super-excited' for the game on Friday and reaching high peaks of excitement at half time we talk about the glorious defeat to them down the road in the play off semi final at the Rec.

It was everything we had hoped for bar the final score but just like that, the season was over.

Having spent the afternoon at the cricket, and with the 200th episode looming, we decide to do a 'half pod' instead.

We talk through the incidents, the individual performances and muse on what might have been.

If anyone wants to buy a relatively cheap final ticket then get in touch with Pete!

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In this week's episode we re-live a fantastic day down the Gate when the Bears secured their first play off berth in four years with a resounding 52-26 victory over Quins. The Bears Way was on display in its full roller-coaster splendour although to be fair they weathered a small storm in the second half and then powered to the finish line, much to the frenzied delight of the majority of the 20,000 fans in the stadium (minus the Quins supporters who, to be fair, seemed very gracious in defeat).

The prize? Another visit to one of our happier hunting grounds just down the road.

Banana skin? Target on their back? All the pressure on them? The cliches are rolling off our tongues but the bottom line is we have nothing to lose, have a pack that might just cause them a few things to think about and if we get front foot ball then we know we have the weapons to win the battle and propel us further east to the promised land of a first Premiership final.

Finally, we run through a bit of AOB which includes questions around the number of season ticket renewals, a debate on whether the the hoops on the home shorts are the in the correct order for middle aged men who drop food down their front, and then a quick sprint to the finish line with a run through of the end of season award winners from the ceremony that took place after the game on Saturday.

Running order:

0.00 - 6.20: Introduction

6.20 - 12.10: Post match soundbites

12.10 - 38.54 : Review of the game

38.54 - 45.13: Listener contributions

45.13 - 53.54: Bath preview

53.54 - end: AOB

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Join Pete and Lee as they review the Friday night loss at Sale and how Saints' win against Sarries has provided us with a play off lifeline.

At least things are simple now. Win against Quins and we are in the play offs.

Lose and we probably won't be...

Up the Bears!

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It's been a long time coming and it has divided opinion, but Saturday saw 51,000 spectators descend on Cardiff for the Big Day out at the World's premier rugby stadium. We review both the pre-match atmosphere, the game itself and what we can take forward to the tough away game at Sale. It is customary to mention Enya at this juncture but we need to put lazy puns aside and focus on the task ahead. 

Bears got the 5 points that they needed to keep themselves on play-off life support but how good was the victory really given it was a Bath second string and they needed two late tries to make the score board look respectable?

We also manage to slot in a couple of soundbites that actually got recorded in the mayhem and indulge ourselves in more Hambley-esque acrostic-ery with a tidy limerick for desert.

All this and more with Pete, Miles and Lee at the Bristol Beer Factory Taproom...

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You’re listening to Bears Beyond The Gate episode 196. Yes 196.

We’re three fans who love the club, the game and all things Bears.

Each episode we talk about the game that’s gone, the game that’s coming up and anything else that takes our fancy as long as it is vaguely Bears related. We try to be as balanced as possible but ultimately we are trying to reflect the views and opinions of paying punters from all ages, backgrounds and demographics. We don’t take ourselves too seriously but we do try to say it as we see it!

This week we mull over the third defeat in a row at Franklins Gardens and wonder whether ‘the best form of defence is attack’ strategy has now run its course and given that we have a play-off place hanging in the balance with only three games left, is there any way of tweaking the game plan to keep us in the top four?

The next time that we see the Bears will be The Big Day Out in Cardiff and sadly we imagine that Bath players and fans will be licking their lips in anticipation. It has to be a yet another must-win for us, but how exactly are we going to do that?

Finally, a new song, ‘Come on you Bristol Bears’, has been published by lifelong fan and charity fundraiser, Paul Hobbs. All download proceeds are being donated to the Foundation and you can find out more by clicking here.

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Only a couple of hours after the end of the disappointing defeat against Tigers we knock out a pod.

It's raw and a bit unstructured and involves a long discussion about how many more fortress metaphors we can realistically use before just giving up and accepting that we're never going to win lots of home games in a row.

Supporting Bristol continues to be like riding a roller-coaster but today it felt like we were more at Peppa Pig World than Alton Towers.

Are play off hopes in the balance or can we bounce back? 

To be honest, we just don't know but talk about it anyway.

Plus shout outs to the Bristol Bears Lotto, Martin who we met in the concourse, and a new Simba Cam candidate...

All this and more with Pete, Miles and guest pundit, Stoner!

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