Vasily Utkin

Biography of Vasily Utkin

Vasily Utkin is a Russian sports journalist and football commentator, awarded two TEFI awards for his work in 2004 and 2005. In addition to achievements in sports journalism, Vasily Vyacheslavovich’s creative treasury includes small but bright and memorable roles in several films (“Election Day” and “What Men Talk About”), participation in television projects as a presenter, and, of course, scandals that made him one of the most controversial characters in the Russian media space.

In the photo: Vasily Utkin

Vasily Utkin: I lost 85 kg. It was a question of life or death...

Vasily Utkin (right) with columnist Evgeny Dzichkovsky (left) and editor-in-chief of Soviet Sport Pavel Sadkov.

Photo: Daria ISAEVA

I've already promised to cut my hair bald about nine times. I thought everyone realized a long time ago that this was a joke. It's clear that jokes don't always land the first time. But after the seventh, let’s say, it should get there! Does this mean that all my promises should be taken as a joke? Certainly. In general, if someone likes to determine their attitude towards me by whether I have cut my hair or not, then he falls into the category of people whose opinion I am not interested in.

I don't have much work right now. I'm practically idle. And for me, too much free time is a problem. I’m not a family person, I have to find something to do with myself. There are kinks. This is why I don’t like idleness. I have to work.

Got a dog. There is no conflict with other fauna: both cats died this year, and the raccoon lives in an enclosure. This animal is like a tipsy three-year-old child, he grabs at everything, tries everything. Extremely capricious, an explosion at a pasta factory. I'm looking for somewhere to put it. The raccoon has become an adult, he probably needs a raccoon, but I don’t plan to breed this subspecies.

The officer does not walk forward with his heels. But this does not mean that the army never retreats. I do not renounce my assessments of the management of Match-TV, I am still skeptical, but at the same time I did not ask anyone to help me or stand up for me. I consider myself free to make decisions. And I may well be wrong. But I was convinced by the phrase of one person: “You should understand that it is not you who are going to a new channel. It was new leaders who came to you, and you were and are here.”

A sports commentator in Russia has somewhere to go to work. To restaurants, for example. On the radio. I don’t see a problem with Match-TV becoming a monopoly channel. Competition between commentators will remain; the rest concerns the purchase of television rights rather than the situation on the labor market.

Match TV will not be the only sports channel. NTV-plus channels will also continue to broadcast. I don’t know what will happen to the site sportbox.ru, which belonged to VGTRK. What is clear is that network video content will definitely pop up somewhere, perhaps on the same resource. And the site itself has already come under the control of Gazprom Media.

There is an idea for a show that I have been cherishing for a long time. I wanted to offer it to Channel One, but now it’s impossible. "Three Reporters"? This program has prospects, but it’s pointless to talk about them now, since “Three Reporters” needs to be filmed during the green season.

The system of remuneration for our labor is changing. Employee salaries are divided in half: one part will be fixed, the other will depend on the amount of work performed.

I have not yet signed a new contract with a ban on participation in other projects. But I will definitely defend what I am already involved in. For example, the “Big Question” program on STS, specially created for me. “Match-TV” will definitely not compete with this channel, the focus is completely different. So why should another 30 people lose their jobs because of my departure?

Life will tell whether I will protest if I don’t like something in the creative steps of the Match-TV management. I will work, but God knows how everything will turn out. The only thing I can guarantee is that there will be no fights. I'm in too exclusive a weight class and I won't take advantage of that. But I can hit the table.

I lost 85 kilograms. I'm on a diet. I can eat everything, but not in any quantity. Argument or oath? There was none of this. The question was about life or death, and I didn’t need to argue with oaths to choose the first.

Watch the video

Vasily Utkin: “It’s not you who came to the new channel. New leaders have come to you"

Vasily Utkin became a guest of the author’s program Evgeny Dzichkovsky Sport after dinner on Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Childhood and family

The future journalist and blogger was born in Balashikha, near Moscow, in the family of physicist and doctor Natalya and Vyacheslav Utkin.
In addition to the boy, his parents also raised his older sister Anna. Utkin, in his own words, inherited his caustic character and sharp tongue from his father, whom he is very similar in appearance to. Vasily studied at school No. 2 in the city of Balashikha, and, unlike most of his peers, was not interested in sports activities, however, like his father, he was a passionate football fan. In addition, in high school, Utkin showed himself to be a responsible Komsomol member and went to pioneer camps as a counselor.

Vasily Utkin in his youth

During his school years, Vasily not only followed sports - he was also interested in languages and literature. Since childhood, Utkin has loved Gerald Durrell, an English naturalist writer who devoted his life to the study and protection of nature. As Vasily said, as a child he even wrote a letter to his idol, but received no answer.

In the late 80s, after school, Vasily entered the faculty of Russian language and literature at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after Lenin, from which his grandfather once graduated. After studying at the institute for four years, Utkin took an academic leave, but never returned to study, deciding not to connect his life with teaching.

Childhood and youth

Vasily Utkin was born on March 6, 1972 in Balashikha. The second child in the family, the older sister’s name is Anna. Utkin’s parents are representatives of the Moscow region intelligentsia. Father is a physicist, mother is a doctor, grandfather is a teacher.

November 1998. Press conference dedicated to the establishment of the website sports.ru

His father’s genes were not passed on to Vasily; physics was difficult for him at school. Teachers gave C grades only out of respect for my father’s profession. At home, the boy had to listen to the admonitions of his parents. Vasily Utkin did not play football, like most boys, but was interested in languages and literature. Since childhood, he had mastered diction and competent speech; teachers admired the boy’s erudition.

Utkin followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and after school entered the Moscow Pedagogical University. I was going to become a Russian language teacher and work at a school, but it didn’t work out. I studied at the university during the period of perestroika, when the country and priorities were rapidly changing. Utkin studied for 4 years, and left the 5th year without passing the last exam and without preparing his thesis. The journalist today cannot explain the reason for this action.

The beginning of a career as a sports commentator

In 1992, having left the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute a year before receiving his diploma, Vasily received the position of junior editor in Alexander Politkovsky’s Politburo project, where he received his first real journalistic experience.
A year later, Utkin left the project and joined the team of the Red Square program, and in the spring of 1994 he got a job as a correspondent for news programs at the newly opened NTV channel. Soon Vasily outgrew this position and took up another niche, becoming the author and host of the weekly program “Football Club”.

“Football Club” with Vasily Utkin (1994) TV viewers loved Utkin for his high-quality coverage of football matches and criticism of coaches and players. However, in 1999, the “Football Club” program on NTV was closed. According to Vasily, it ceased to exist not so much because of his criticism and well-aimed ironic remarks, but because of the intrigues of another journalist, Savik Shuster, who soon created the competitive football project “Third Time”.

Vasily Utkin at the FIFA World Cup in Paris (1998)

Career flourishing and achievements

In 2000, to the delight of fans - both football and the sharp-tongued Utkin - the TV program “Football Club” began to air again. Vasily returned to television, but a year later his life was in danger - Utkin was attacked.

Vasily Utkin in his youth

The stranger tried to hit the vital organs with a “sharpen”, hitting the journalist in the back, but in the intensive care unit of the Emergency Research Institute, Utkin was saved - he underwent an operation that lasted more than two hours. The journalist did not support the assumption of the investigation and the media that the attempt on Utkin’s life was connected with his professional activities.

Vasily Utkin in the show “Football Club”

Until 2006, Vasily Vyacheslavovich worked as a commentator for broadcasts of football matches, and was awarded the TEFI Award as the best sports commentator in 2004 and 2005.

In 2007, Utkin voiced the EA Sports FIFA game dedicated to the 2006 World Cup. In addition to Utkin, Vasily Solovyov and Yuri Rozanov took part in the project. According to Vasily Vyacheslavovich, dubbing a football simulator turned out to be a more difficult job for him than he expected. It was quite difficult for him to be in a confined space in a recording studio, but the pay was more than decent. Vasily Utkin also took part in the dubbing of four more parts of the game related to the 2007 - 2010 Championships.

Vasily Utkin lost 85 kg

In parallel with voice acting, Utkin also participated in other projects. For example, in the period from 2006 to 2008, he commented on broadcasts on the REN-TV and MATCH-TV channels. In 2010, Utkin officially announced the termination of work in the television program “Football Club”, but he remained at NTV-Plus, already as the editor-in-chief of sports channels, and worked there until 2015. Vasily Utkin in the show “Good Jokes” (2006) In 2021, Vasily Utkin became one of the “voices” of Yandex.Navigator, and a year later he began collaborating with RBC and hosting his own program “Sports with Vasily Utkin.” In the same year, Vasily announced his retirement from his career as a football commentator. Vasily Utkin voices the Yandex navigator In June 2018, Vasily Vyacheslavovich began hosting the “Football Club” program on his YouTube channel, and from the beginning of 2021, the “Panopticon” program, in which Alexander Nevzorov acted as his co-host.

Weight loss by Vasily Utkin

Vasily Utkin is one of the famous sports journalists in the Russian Federation and is the most popular commentator of football matches. Popular among fans due to its clear presentation of information, sparkling humor and sports professionalism. He began his career with the program “Politburo” in 1992, then hosted the program “Football Club” on the NTV channel until 1999.

Since 1996, he has been the official sports commentator for the NTV+ channel. Many people do not realize that the man behind the scenes, a successful journalist and famous commentator, had a huge problem for a long time that he could not fight for a long time. This problem was called overweight , and Utkin simply could not be fully happy with his enormous body weight.

How did Utkin lose weight?

Until July 2013, Vasily Utkin weighed 230 kilograms. The mass was so large even with the journalist’s two-meter height that his life became unbearable. In his interviews, he admitted that living with such a burden suddenly became terribly difficult.

It seemed impossible to get to Ostankino without an elevator, and the modest straight distance of 30 meters from the elevator to his own office was given to Utkin with several stops and shortness of breath, sweating increased, and his appetite was simply inhuman. Then the journalist realized that something had to be done and very urgently.

There are a lot of diets and newfangled remedies to get rid of excess weight. What exactly Utkin chose for himself, he is embarrassed to say.

In his opinion, any remedy is so individual that everyone must choose the right one for themselves:

by willpower;
for health;
by the amount of weight you need to get rid of;
by preferences in physical exercises;

https://youtu.be/https
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEH_FbzRB5w
According to Vasily Utkin, his weight loss is divided into two stages. The first, which lasted more than a month before the Winter Olympics began in Sochi in 2014, he treated himself radically and harshly, keeping himself within limits and gritting his teeth towards his goal.

One of the reasons that pushed Utkin to lose weight was severe health problems. The commentator's condition was so critical that he required surgery and specialist help.

During rehabilitation, he was forced to go on a diet, not eating fatty foods, and eat properly and balanced. Perhaps this was the first impetus for losing extra pounds.

Now Vasily Utkin weighs 135 kilograms, but if you think about the figure that was his body weight before, this is a huge difference, isn’t it?

In the fight against excess weight, one can only envy Vasily’s perseverance, because looking at the before and after photographs of this man, it is very difficult to call the current journalist a fat man. Vasily Utkin can become a role model for everyone who dreams of losing weight, but just can’t muster the strength.

https://youtu.be/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP7rGGRMXL8
_

It all depends on everyone’s desire and perseverance in a difficult struggle.

Conflict between Utkin and Kandelaki

In 2015, Vasily Utkin became a media hero due to a conflict with Tina Kandelaki, who took the position of general producer of the Match TV channel, on which Vasily Vyacheslavovich also periodically broadcast football.
Utkin, Kandelaki and Guberniev in Evening Urgant (2015) Utkin stated that he did not want to work under the leadership of Kandelaki and left the TV channel. A number of media outlets claimed that the conflict between journalists was not only due to different views on the channel’s editorial policy. Utkin was also angry with Tina because of old grievances. The journalist recalled to her how she ridiculed his build, calling him “fat-bass.” Since then, she and Tina have periodically sparred on social networks. For example, in October 2021, Vasily made a dig at Kandelaki, hinting that she was only capable of idle talk on Telegram. In response, Kandelaki called her enemy “either a representative of a gay person or an impotent.”

Childhood and youth

Utkin was born in 1972. The man celebrates his birthday on March 6th. In addition to the boy, the future artist’s older sister was also raised in the family. As the man himself says, he inherited his harsh character from his dad, whom, by the way, he also resembles in appearance. He studied at educational institution No. 2 in the city of Balashikha. It is noteworthy that from childhood he was an ardent football fan, but he did not play sports himself.

Vasily Utkin

During his years at school, Utkin not only followed sports, but was also interested in literature. In his free time from school, he read a lot. After receiving a school certificate, the guy became a student at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Lenin. At one time, his grandfather also completed this institution. After studying at a higher educational institution for four years, the student decided to take an academic leave, but later did not return to the university. Then he realized that he did not want to connect his biography with teaching.

Vasily Utkin on TV and cinema

From 2007 to 2010, Vasily Vyacheslavovich tried himself as a host and commentator on the show projects “Earth-Air”, “Wall to Wall” and “Big Question”. In 2009, Utkin appeared on the KVN jury, and in the show “What? Where? When?" he took the place of a player in Alexei Blinov’s team. During the same period, Utkin played several roles in films. In the 2007 satirical comedy “Election Day,” Vasily played the role of gubernatorial candidate Tsaplin. His partners on the set were the actors of Quartet I, as well as Russian cinema stars: Nonna Grishaeva, Mikhail Efremov, Maxim Vitorgan and others.

Vasily Utkin in the film “Election Day”

In 2010, Vasily again received an offer to star in the film adaptation of the play “Quartet I”. In the comedy film “What Men Talk About,” he appeared as himself, and the main roles in the film were played by members of “Quartet I.” The comedy also stars Fyodor Dobronravov, Elena Podkaminskaya, Nina Ruslanova and other stars of the national film industry.

In 2012, Utkin played a small but noticeable role in the comedy film “Till Night Do Us Part,” which also starred Alexander Yatsenko and Evgeny Sytin. Vasily Vyacheslavovich played a restaurant visitor, and the Russians saw Sergei Shnurov, Avdotya Smirnova and Alena Doletskaya in the roles of other visitors.

Still from the film “Till the Night Do Us Part”

In 2021, the second part of the comedy film “Election Day” was released on Russian screens, in which Vasily Vyacheslavovich again played Igor Tsaplin, but not a candidate, but a governor, and he was accompanied by members of the Quartet I theater and actors who took part and in the first part. However, in the second film, several new actors entered the cast, for example, Sergei Burunov and Sergei Stepanchenko. Election Day. Fragment Vasily Utkin managed to prove himself as a writer - in 2008, the Amphora publishing house published the books “Play Football! Notes of a sports commentator" and "Vanity around the ball."

The flourishing career of Vasily Utkin

When the journalist was the sports editor of the tabloid Gazeta in the early 2000s, he was attacked. They stabbed him in the back when he was walking to work in the morning. A young man ran into him from behind and punched the journalist twice in the back, as it seemed to Vasily. He continued on his way to work, although a few houses later he was stopped by a security guard who pointed out the screwdriver in his back and the blood. The commentator entered the Sklifosovsky Institute, where he received medical care. No important organs were damaged; the screwdriver only pierced the muscles. The criminal was never found.

Vasily Utkin lost 85 kg. During the same time period, Vasily commented on the showing of the World and European Championships, and was a correspondent for the publications “Soviet Sport” and PROsport. In 2004 and 2005, he was awarded the TEFI television award (analogous to the Emmy) in the category of the best commentator.

Developing new areas of activity, the journalist also began hosting entertainment programs, including the TV project “Wall to Wall” on Channel One, the music program “Earth to Air” on TV-6, and the reality show “Hunger” on NTV. Vasily Utkin tells an anecdoteReporter continued to act as the presenter of “Football Club”, he no longer appeared constantly, but only after games in the UEFA Champions League tournaments. In 2006, NTV management decided not to renew the contract for showing matches with this organization, and the program was closed again.

The following year, the TV commentator further expanded the scope of his abilities. He played the role of a candidate for the post of governor in the comedy film “Election Day”, based on the play of the same name by the “Quartet I” theater, on the stage of which earlier, in 2003, he played this character, participated in the television game “What? Where? When?”, was a member of the jury of the KVN Major League.

Vasily Utkin in the film “Election Day” In 2010, Vasily again acted as an actor. He starred in the comedy “What Men Talk About,” which contains subtle humor and smart thoughts with philosophical overtones about Russian reality. In September of the same year, Utkin became editor-in-chief of NTV Plus sports channels.

Socio-political position

Vasily Utkin is also known for his socio-political position - he adheres to liberal views and does not hide the fact that he supports opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Utkin repeatedly criticized government decisions and took part in political actions.

Vasily Utkin at a rally for fair elections

In 2011, Vasily Utkin even became a co-host of an opposition political rally in Moscow on Sakharov Avenue, along with journalist Olga Romanova and politician Vladimir Ryzhkov. In addition, the journalist regularly expresses a political position in his blogs, speaking sharply about the actions of the government.

Personal life of Vasily Utkin

Despite the fact that some information resources say that Utkin was married, he himself states that he was never officially married. It is known that in the early 2000s, Vasily met Natalya Pakueva, a member of the film crew in the program “School of Scandal” by Tatyana Tolstaya and Avdotya Smirnova, well-known and beloved by Russian intellectuals. The relationship between Vasily and Natalya lasted about five years, but they never got around to getting married. After the end of her relationship with Vasily, Natalya married football player Sergei Ignashevich.

Vasily Utkin's common-law wife Natalya Pakueva

In an interview, Vasily noted more than once that the woman he could love should be gentle and kind. Utkin also said that to create a family he needs a quality that he does not have, namely the understanding that he is not alone in the world. However, the journalist also believes that he is already accustomed to living alone, has acquired bachelor habits and does not even imagine that a family may appear in his life. Interview with Vasily Utkin Vasily considers his reference point to be the living heritage of Britain - the actor, public figure and writer Stephen Fry, whom he appreciates for his humor, talent and intellectuality. Vasily notes that he is flattered that he is compared to his idol, however, according to him, there is one significant difference between him and Fry: Stephen Fry is homosexual, and he, Vasily Utkin, has always loved only women.

Vasily Vyacheslavovich calls excess weight his problem, which he has been trying to cope with for many years. In an interview with Vasily Vakulenko, better known as rapper Basta, he said that there was a period in his life when he weighed about 230 kilograms. The best result that Utkin, whose height is almost 2 meters, was able to achieve was 110 kilograms. However, unfortunately, he was unable to keep him because of his “weak character, sedentary lifestyle and addiction to delicious food.”

Utkin fell from his chair live Vasily Vyacheslavovich is reluctant to talk about his appearance; he admits that he doesn’t like himself, doesn’t like watching TV programs with his participation and doesn’t keep his photographs at home.

Vasily Utkin is a big fan of TV series, he follows new releases, and calls the series “Doctor House” one of his favorite TV series.

Personal life

From some sources it is known that in his early youth Utkin was married to a model. However, due to misunderstandings and disagreements, the couple quickly divorced.

In the early 2000s, the commentator met Natalya Pakueva. The couple lived in a civil marriage for about five years, but they never officially registered their relationship. Once in an interview, Vasily said that he was very painful about the breakup.

The journalist is always quite harsh in his statements and comments

As the journalist himself notes, he is used to being single, and now he cannot even imagine that he will have a family.

Vasily Utkin now

In 2021, Utkin continued to develop the amateur football team Egrisi, whose franchise he acquired three years earlier.

Egrisi – Utkin football club

In early April 2021, Vasily Vyacheslavovich was attacked again. As he wrote in the Telegram channel, an unknown person in a gray hoodie sprayed a gaseous substance from a can into his face, which he identified as Cheryomukha tear gas. According to Utkin, the incident happened after an Egrisi training session. It was not reported in the media whether a criminal case was opened regarding the attack.

In the spring of 2021, Twitter users witnessed a quarrel between Vasily Utkin and Vladimir Solovyov.
The quarrel occurred because of the opinion expressed by Vasily Vyacheslavovich in his own microblog. According to the journalist, “he does not need a state that refuses to fulfill social obligations.” This is how Utkin spoke about Russia’s domestic policy during quarantine. Utkin challenged Solovyov to a battle. The thread of the conversation was immediately picked up by Vladimir Solovyov, sparing no insults. He called Vasily an unhealthy person and hinted about his opponent’s excess weight. The quarrel between the TV presenters on the Internet lasted for about a month without ending in anything. Utkin's film about MMA in Dagestan Also in April 2021, Utkin, together with Vitaly Kravchenko, shot an hour and a half documentary dedicated to the invincible UFC star, Dagestan MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Dagestan wrestlers in general.

Vasily Utkin is a great personality. Height 2 meters, a lot of prominent positions, success, influence.

He has a lot of weight - no, no, I'm not talking about that - I wanted to say that he has a lot of weight in the football community. However, he never played football or played sports at all. Everyone writes about him that as a child he was interested in... philology. Yes, that's such a perverted boy. He is from an intelligent Moscow family. Then he entered the Faculty of Philology and even almost graduated! And he even intended, it seemed, to become a Russian language teacher - but something didn’t work out.

However, this is just for the best: firstly, children are afraid of hippos (well, and crocodiles). And secondly, then Russian sports journalism would be greatly impoverished.

I am sure that Vasily Utkin himself will not read this text. Although he is one of the co-owners of this particular sports portal Sports.ru, where I write all this, and he also has a blog here (where he does not appear for months, but his blog still miraculously looms in the top 10 every day: how can he Is this possible? It’s mind boggling!).

Why am I so sure of this? No, Vasily is not a Chukchi. But in some ways he is also a little Chukchi. Because he is not a reader - but a writer. It was in childhood and youth that he read something. Now he has no time: he needs to write and speak. Almost from morning to evening. Develop your success.

So it’s unlikely that he reads anything about football at all, not just here.

I think everyone will agree: Vasily Utkin is very recognizable. His style cannot be confused with the style of other authors.

Firstly, he is truly a philologically talented person. He has excellent speech. Secondly, he is ironic, even sarcastic, his texts often resemble feuilletons. It is not because he is so critical that he is a nonconformist. God forbid.

When Vasily Utkin ridiculed Dmitry Tarasov for the famous demonstration of a T-shirt with Putin, he did not forget to add at the end that he also has two T-shirts with Putin: he bought them himself. This is very important: he noted it. I bought it myself, wash it myself in a basin (without soap, to save money) and wear it.

True, one T-shirt is too narrow for him, but he uses it as an incentive: to lose weight.

By the way, have you noticed that Vasily Utkin is losing weight all the time? For many years in a row. I noticed. We need to be more careful!

Here is how, for example, Vasily commented on the defeat that happened in the Champions League match (this was the first round of the group stage) “Bayern” - “Rostov” (5: 0). “Point of shame. “Rostov” was destroyed, and Berdyev’s team was wiped out. It’s not that Berdyev had only masterpieces, but you can’t wipe your feet with just any object, and Kurbanov’s commands are always sandpaper, and never rags. And here “Rostov” lay spread out and quietly, so to speak, absorbing it.”

Isn't it really well written? And all his texts are like this. Talent! Look: they didn’t just “defeat” - they wiped their feet. But that would be okay. And then - a pearl on a pearl: “Kurbanov’s commands are ALWAYS SANDY, but NEVER RAG.” This is a ready-made aphorism: take it and write it down in the annals. And Vasily gives out these almost every day! Talent!!! And “Rostov lay spread out and absorbed.” Glitter, of course.

But this is ALL NOT TRUE.

Anyone who saw this match will probably agree: before the first goal, Bayern had no chances at all. And the goal was ambiguous: from a very dubious penalty (Gatskan and Lewandowski shoved each other with their hands at the corner, or rather, Robert shoved, and Gatzcan held - well, and Robert rushed and collapsed - successfully). This goal psychologically hit the team, which was playing its FIRST Champions League match in its history.

That's all. In fact, despite the 0:5 score, Rostov played with dignity. And such results for Bayern at home are commonplace. Shakhtar lost there 0:7. "Porto" - 1: 6.

So, Vasily Utkin’s texts about football are pacifiers wrapped in a beautiful wrapper. He doesn’t like football at all, doesn’t understand it, doesn’t understand it - and doesn’t strive to understand it. He simply exploits his - really very good - abilities and language and speech skills + plus he is a very smart person. Exploits FOR SUCCESS.

Why is he commentating on football? Football is popular. Vasily likes success.

Vasily Utkin is a typical Muscovite. In Moscow this is such a religion - the religion of Success. All Muscovites pray for it (the Great Success) and are ready to do anything for it. Vasily is like that too.

I have an acquaintance (who, however, is also not a football person: he is a urologist), who, like me, sometimes likes to talk about football: in fact, on this basis we came together. So, he once said about Vasily Utkin: “Vasya Utkin? Well, that’s just blabbering!”

So, comrades, I don’t agree with him. We need people like this! What a man this is! Lump! Seasoned journalism!

Yes, he doesn’t know a thing about football (or any other sport). So what. But - an aphorism on an aphorism. Pearl on pearl. Style. Language. Pleasure!

Still, I would prefer that football be written about by people who love and understand it, rather than using football only as a means of self-affirmation. Because I love football myself. This is an interesting game. If Vasily Utkin had played this game at least once (well, he could have stood in the goal, after all: the goalkeeper doesn’t have to run - just stand there and catch the balls), he would have agreed with me.

But he has no time, alas.

Now it doesn’t matter WHAT to write or even WHAT TO DO. Something else is important. Important for social success.

Professionalism doesn't matter. You need to be able to crawl higher, then remember to batten down the hatches so that someone doesn’t crawl out from behind your back: some kind of competitor, a lousy bastard.

Vasily mastered this art perfectly - like all Muscovites.

For example, on this site there are about a dozen authors who, no matter what they write, their texts will be on the 1st page, in the most prominent place. Let me remind you that Vasily is a co-owner of this site. Right. You need to get into the ELITE - and then not let others get there.

This is how all of Russia is structured.

It doesn’t matter WHAT YOU ESSENTIALLY WRITTEN, what your content is. It is important to BE A HIGH FLIGHTING BIRD. Well, Utkin, there, Orlov, Lebedev. The breed is not so important - what is important is to flutter in the sky-high heights.

By the way, you noticed that I specifically - for parody reasons - wrote this text in the style of Vasily Utkin. And it turns out that it’s not so difficult. I don't usually write like that. I’m not a Ernik - and I’m interested in the content, more than the form. And I love football and understand it well.

But the Utkins, Orlovs and Gubernies will still be flying above... uh, that’s me - the Lebedevs.

That's the way it is.