Champions League draws announced

(arsedup.com)


It's nearly September and that means one thing: the Uefa Champions League is heading into group play. After the qualifying rounds drew some familiar and favorite faces(Liverpool & Arsenal), Europe's premier cup competition will begin it's group play later in the month. For a full listing of the tables you can zoom over to the BBC's sport section and look under the football tab and from there look for the Europe tab on the left side bar.

Looking at the group stages, there are some familiar battles from last year. Manchester United and Roma who met in the round of 16 and whom Fergie's lads destroyed in the home leg, will meet in the group stages. I look for these two teams to be the top of their group, honestly. The only thing that could hurt United is the loss of Rooney. Hell, the loss of Rooney is impacting the whole of English ball as well.

We will also see a rematch of Chelsea and Valencia. Chelsea barely scraped past the Spanish team last year and I remember sitting there watching the match with my friends, trying to put off going to work as late as I could. Just like Uniteds group, I take Chelsea and Valencia to get past the group stages.

As far as the other groups go, I have to take the elusive Liverpool from group A. This is a team that can't win the Premiership, but they can win against the rest of Europe. The FA should talk to the British government and see if they can extend dual citizenship to the players on Liverpool that aren't from Great Britain. Then they can field Liverpool's starting 11 as the national team. Also in Liverpool's group, I have to take Marseille over Porto. Marseille is a wonderful team with a good record in French football but I think they have a little more gusto than Porto does. And to add to Porto's folly, Chelsea are trying to wrangle one of their best players away, Quersma.

For group C, I am taking Real Madrid and Werder Bremen. These are both teams that know what they are doing when it comes to European football and they should breeze past their competition.

Group D has one obvious prospect and two circumspect prospects. AC Milan will lead the group. And as a runner up I am saying Celtic. The Scottish side is always a joy to watch and I think that they will give the group a run for the money. The other "upset" roles that might come out would be Benfica but I don't see that happening.

Group E is the group of death. You have Barcelona, Lyon, Rangers, and Stuttgart. These are all wonderfully composed teams. Lyon and Stuttgart won their respective leagues last year and Barcelona was a runner up. Despite loosing Eto'o for two months, I still think that Barcelona will be the first team safely clear of the group. Then comes the fight for the other position. I have to put my money with Stuttgart. German football is more aggressive than French football and while the intensity of Champions league games does not get turned up until later in the competition, by that time Stuttgart will have knocked Rangers and Lyon out of the running.

Groups G and H are the two groups that I think no one will pay much attention to. Your top draws are Inter and Arsenal, respectively. I think they will both emerge from the group stages but as for the second teams in the groups, I've got nothing.

By looking at the groups as we have them now, it is going to shape up to be another cracking year for the Champions League. I think the group stages will see more knockouts of bigger clubs this time around as opposed to last year, where there were still formidable clubs up until the semi finals. As far as picking a winner, it's too early on. However, I think if Chelsea can get it's players fit and not end up drawing Liverpool again this year, I think Chelsea could get to the final and probably face AC Milan or perhaps Liverpool. I do think AC or Liverpool will be in the final and who knows we might have a repeat of Istanbul and Greece, all over again. Good luck to all the teams. And to the fans, don't be upset if your team goes out in the group stages. It takes a great commitment to get to the Champions league. The winner wouldn't be referred to as the Kings of Europe if it wasn't so prestigious. Once again, good luck to all and go Chelsea.

On Tap: The English Premier League

Last week was pretty uneventful. Manchester United fell into relegation status and Man City went to the top of the league. Oh, how do things change in the Premiership? A week later: Man City lost to Arsenal, United finally won, oh and Chelsea is leading the Prem by a point. This puts Man City fast on the heel of Chelsea and Man U out of relegation status. Oh and might we add, England lost a friendly.

BBC is reporting that Arsenal will be keeping Arsene Wenger around for a few more seasons. Managerial transitions have been the highlight of the off season and indeed the start of the new season it would seem. You can argue the Berbatov trade issue has been important, but what about his boss at Tottenham, Martin Jol? Since the opening gates were thrown open a few weeks ago, Jol has been a constant image. There is talk of him being fired but it seems that now, it isn't going to happen.'

Then there is the Arsene Wenger talk. I can remember back before school let out for the summer that there was talk that Wenger might be looking to manage a different gun with the fall rolled around, but it seems that those reports were un-warranted.

And perhaps the most publicized manager dispute has been that of Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho. He has been at odds with Chelsea's owner, the Russian oil magnate, Roman Abromovich for some time and most were sure that the Special One would be leaving Stamford Bridge this fall but once again, a manager prevails.

With all the stories that float around websites about players, it's amazing that we know the teams have managers. For ever one story about Jol, there are ten about Berbatov. It seem that the job of being a Premiership boss is a rather thankless one that I would never want. I rather play the beautiful game then see the ugliness that it can produce.

I saw so many footie pitches today.

As I flew across the middle of our amazing footieless country today, I was amazed to see how many pitches there were between Nashville and Erie. I must have counted ten on my flight into PA. This comes at a time where it seems that soccer is once again taking off in America. I don't think America has been this excited about soccer since Pele moved to the Cosmos back before I was thought of being born. I don't think the Womens National team got as much press after winning the World Cup. We knew who Mia Hamm and that she ran around a field, ripping her shirt off and spinning it above her head but we didn't know why.

However, and a lot of people will disagree with me, but I think soccer just might be falling into its prime here in America. With the creation of the David Beckham soccer academy in L.A and the continuing of the soccer mom culture, more youth are being inspired to not hang up their boots when they reach middle school. They see the star life that can come from being a soccer player. Players like Josey Altidore of the Red Bulls will be the next Beckham, leading the young footballers of America to grow pitches across this land at the rate that NFL stadiums went up at. I am not a big fan of Dicks Sporting Goods but their MLS ads talk about a rebirth of soccer in American and they just might be right. Let us nurture this growing child and truly make the beautiful game an American tradion.

Memories

(JupiterImages.com)


As fall rolls around and I think back to the start of last school year, I remember training for what would be an amazing journey into the land of Footie. I bought my first pair of gloves last summer and started with goal kicks and drop kicks. I started not being able to target a shot and after this past year I can now punt the ball around sixty yards with a nice high arch. I had my mother tossing and kicking balls at me to get my hands going. I became damn near cocky when the ball came at me but then I got back to school.

My friend Josh, who played in high school, decided to test me a bit and see how much I had learned over the summer. He got nearly every shot past me out on that wet grass in front of the dorm. He failed to mention, and I failed to realize that penalty shots are a hell of a lot harder to save than anything else. That's what he started me on was penalty kicks. When he moved about ten more yards out, it got a bit easier. I think my save percentage went up a little. I can save high crosses into the box and I can save well with my feet but I be damned if I can save Josh's kicks. My friend Shibley, that's a different story. He has his boots but no leg power to follow through with the finish. I stopped a lot of shots off of him.

I think one of my greatest saves so far was one off of Josh. Shib had played a through ball to him and Josh was coming in on me. I made my decision to come out for it and I dived at his feet to take it off of him. He got me back though when he went for a free kick outside the area. He had pace and power on it and it damn near broke my finger, or so it felt.

So, as I start a new semester without my friends, I wonder who I will have to play footie with. I am going to try and recruit my RA and some of the kids in my program. Hell I might even try out for the schools team next year once I get my touch and skill back. Happy footie to all and good luck with school ya'll.

Shibley and the Spaniards

Photo Courtesy of
Wikipedia


I can remember the day that I bought FIFA 07 for my PS2. It was cold as hell and it was snowing. This is signiificant because it hardly ever snows in Tennessee. The last two months of the semester were spent being Rooney and Drogba from about 11 p.m. until 2 in the morning. Loves for new teams formed and even someone who rather discuss why the cutback route is more effective than post-cross pass found his league. I am referring to my friend Michael Shibley. Shib is a die hard college football fan who has a soft spot for the beautiful game. He also seems to have a soft spot for the trio from Barcelona. He told me that he was considering ordering an Eto'o kit and that sealed him as being the Barcelona fan among my footie supporting buddies. It was nice to have a bit of diversity when we watched the Champs League matches. Me and Josh were both EPL fans. I support Chelsea and Josh, well.. Josh supports a group of players called Manchester United. I must say, I don't know they are really. We had a Liverpool fan on our floor as well, who rubbed their victory into my face after Chelsea lost to them in the semi's. Then, two doors down from me, was a Newcastle supporter. So, Shib was the odd voice in the choir of footie supporters that I knew but it was nice to have that change around. So, Mr. Shibley, here is a section of posts for you. I am going to try and keep up with both the EPL and La Liga as well as other footie related stuff.

So, La Liga gets kicked off this weekend and I can't seem to find any predictions for the season over on soccernet. Since they are lacking, I will toss my own out there. Last seasons winners, Real Madrid could very well win again this year. I have referred to them in the past as being the "retirement home" for some of the worlds better players; Van Nistelroy, Robinho, Baptista, Raul, and the list goes on. Some might question how the team will play now without Beckham, but I think if they can wake their scoring up a bit more, they will be fine. Van Nistelroy was their top scorer with 25 goals. If Raul and Robinho are next on Real's score card with just 13 goals between the two of them. The lack of consistent scoring will be what hurts Real this season.

Scoring will most definitly not be a problem for the runner's up in the league, Barcelona. They have enough seasoned forwards that they could probably take on the English national team by their self. I honestly can't say much about the Barcelona team that will kick off at Camp Nou on Sunday. Pound for pound. Point for point, they are one my favorites to win the the league and maybe the Champions League, if A.C. doesn't throw up a big game this year.

The only other team that might make a run for the cup will be FC Sevilla. They finished the season a win and a draw behind tying Barca and Madrid. They had a better goal differential than Madrid and seriously, only squeaked out of a runner up spot. Their scoring was dead on, with their top two strikers going into double digits. That is a key to a winning season, really. Good defense is vital but you have to have scorers. And you need more than one descent striker on your team. That's what all three of these teams have and that's why La Liga will be a highly contested cup this season. Sure, you have Cinderella stories in football, that's the way it goes, but that's not the case in the La Liga. This season will come down to what it was this past year. Someone is going to score on a free kick from outside the box in the last minute of extra time to sweep their team past the other two teams they have been tied with for the last few weeks. I don't think that's what Shibley likes Barcelona though.I think he just liked seeing the digital Eto'o do the Electric Slide when he scored a hat trick

I think they want to scare their opponents off the pitch

Image Courtesy of
soccerlocker.com

Don't get me wrong, anyone who reads this that knows me, knows that I am a Chelsea fan. However, I doubt i can seriously support a squad that wears a damn near lime green kit. The white kits of last season have become the new third/European kits. Me and my friend, Jessie, joked about the new Arsenal kits looked but at least they looked better than that. The third/European kits from last season were far better and could have subbed nicely for the away kit this season. I suppose I am partial to the that wonderful black kit with the nice blue stripes because I have a Drogba one packed, ready to go back to college with me. That's the last time I do that. Well.. unless it's John Terry or a Crespo kit. Speaking of new kits, I am getting one for Christmas. Any suggestions?

Flashpoint!!! David Beckham has cured cancer!!... oh yeah and D.C United has great fans

Photo Courtesy of
GettyImages

I almost expect that to be the next headline on ESPN's Soccernet front page. With all the hustle and bustle of the season, it would seem that the good ol' folks over at ESPN have forgot that there are other teams in the MLS and that the Galaxy are near the bottom of the league. The arrival of Becks has turned the MLS into a footie-tatorship. I doubt that ESPN would have covered a Sunday night Toronto-Galaxy match if Becks wasn't there. That was a good game by the way and the Toronto fans are amazing, but more about that latter. I have never seen this level of detail put into the coverage of a soccer player here or a football player for that matter. Sure, we have the Michael Vick case going on right now, but he has less coverage on ESPN's NFL front page than Becks has. I am not denying that Becks is a great player, he has to be, he got his England call up for Wednesdays match against Germany, but he is not the entire league. I wouldn't be suprised to turn on an MLS playoff game and see Becks by himself playing a clone of himself. Sure he can play. Sure he bends kicks like a metal worked does steel but all the camera flashes and VIP entrances at the Home Depot Center can't make up for the fact that there are other things that make the MLS great besides Becks.




Photo courtesy of
Sports Illustrated


This is what there is beside Becks. Since the season started, I have seen the emergence of two wonderful supporter clubs; D.C. United and Toronto F.C. These two groups of supporters are absolutely wonderful to watch. They are a source of non-stop chants and songs and I doubt there is a quiet moment inside of RFK when United is on the pitch. This is the motivation that has led United to its number two spot in the table. It's funny, I remember about two months ago, the boys on World Soccer Daily mentioned that there were no teams in the MLS that carried the kind of support that an English team does and I thought they were right. We all might want rethink that position when it comes to these two clubs. They don't need Becks to draw the fans in. Their fans come because they love the beautiful game that is soccer or football or footie or whatever you want to call it. These people are there because the spirit of the game runs through their bodies, not because they want to get a glimpse of Posh or Katie Holmes with Surrey. Hats off to the fans of D.C. United and Toronto F.C. You should be mentioned on those "Real American Hero's" commercials. "So, have yourself an almost room temperature Guinness(real soccer fans don't drink Bud Light nor do they drink their beer ice cold) because you stand in a not even half way packed football stadium watching sport that will never be popular in America. You are truly a real American hero, Mr. D.C. United fan. What people call a pansies game, you call war and you would wrap yourself in flag and chant for hours on end about the score being 1-nil to your team." And as I wrap this up, I can hear the sounds of the United fans chanting and see them flapping that, huge, car dealership sized United flag around. A beautiful moment for such a beautiful game.

A Tale of Two Cities

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http://www.dessodlw.com


I can remember back when I was in college, one of the ladies I worked with had a friend who visited from England. He hated Manchester United(he was a Man City fan) but he offered to bring me a Man U hoodie and a box of tea. I still have the hoodie and I abandoned the tea rather quick. He had brought me a box of aromatic earl gray tea. I think he bought me pansy tea to go along with what he thought was a pansy clubs hoodie.

You ask most of the people in the world what football teams they know and they will name off Manchester United, Newcastle, Chelsea, but never will you hear Manchester City. In all of the derbies that get played across England and the world, I think none are more dull than the Man U vs. Man City derby. Man U usually fields a strong side and Man City goes and rounds up the boys playing in the school yards. But, it would seem that this season is a wee bit different. One week, and three games into the new Premiership season, Manchester United is near the bottom of the ladder and Manchester City is sitting at the top smiling down at their cross town rivals.

I have read columns on BBC.com that say people automatically jumped on the absence of Rooney and are saying that this two month loss could spell disaster in the table for Fergie and the Reds. United only have two points, so far this season, but the season is only two weeks old. I think the pundits should back off on those that would call the season now. Let the fans have their fun. Most of the City fans are just happy that their team is not in United's place this early in the season.

Man City won against their cross town rivals on Sunday and City's coach, Sven-Goran Erikkson, was all praises for his side, which was apparently put together at the last minute. As nice as the win was for City, it makes one wonder if the FA should have rethought it's decision on sacking Erikkson amid tribulations of his "personal life," which both parties have denied. Erikkson, who has won double silverware in three countries, might take his new team and do the same thing. Granted, it will take time to see those results, but one thing is for sure, this very well maybe a tale of two cities worthy of Dickinson himself.

What do you have on tap? The weekly Premiership post

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affordablehousinginstitute.org


Being a lover of all things British, and since the Premiership is one of the only leagues I truly follow, I will be adding this little ditty into the post rotation.

The Premiership opened up this past weekend and in less than a week, last seasons champs are already in 11th place. Last seasons runners up, Chelsea, are sitting in third after there 2-1 win over Reading today. Chelsea fielded a cracking squad today that included Petr Chech. One might question why this might seem odd. The reason would be that this is the fixture that put Chech out for most of Chelsea's season last year and according some analysts, cost them the Prem for the third year in a row. Being a Chelsea fan, I think the team did rather well in the absence of Chech. Petr is a great keeper, one of the best in the league. At this level though, you can't rely on one player. Sure, your star keeper goes out a week into the season but you have to bounce back. Chelsea also lost on John Terry, the immortal, at points throughout the season. Some say he got injured during the Carling Cup final, I say he was off to have a sword fight with Keith Richards to see who would be the only one, the highlander. This is the point where my mind is started the Highlander tv theme.

Speaking of things that will survive nuclear fallout, Manchester United is the other thing that has drawn my attention so far. They are not even close to the top 5 teams in the league at the moment and you have to wonder if Sir Alex hasn't been holding back signing more than one superb player during each transfer season. Sure, Tevez is good but when you have Rooney gone until October and Saha injured,(he was didn't play today) you have to have a more solid base. United is full of wonderful players. There is no denying that their position as one of the top teams in the league since before I was born has gained them some of the better players in the world. But that must be awkward at United's camps when all the summer arrivals come in. You have players that come from the four corners of the world and most of them play different styles of ball.

I think this is one of the fundamentally inherent problems with English football and their National team as well. England has more football clubs than any country in the world. They Premiership could easily be filled by all English players but half the Premier league is imports. I think that is a good thing but at the same time it hurts the prospects of younger players that didn't have the drive to make it big in football. And these younger players are kids that could go on to be in the ranks of the national teams. They could be real talent but they are getting looked over because the Prem bosses are looking beyond England, instead of looking at what the local breweries are putting out. That's what's on tap this week for the Premiership.

What did England do to you?

Photo courtesy of BBC.com

That's what I want to ask FIFA VP Jack Warner. Warner went on record earlier in the week and stated that he would try and block any move by England to bid for the 2018 World Cup. Warner, who is the president of the CONCACAF region of FIFA, wants to see the cup in his region of the world. That would mean that we could see the first cup on American soil since 1994. This could do well for American football if the FIFA committee rules to give it to America.

England invented the sport but in recent years, the mother country of this wonderful sport has not seen any great strides. You could argue that England might be laying its hopes with the young Rhain Davis, the recent signing for Manchester United. Most of the English team, at present, will be pushing their last cup when 2018 rolls around. That, coupled with their current lack of success in Euro '08 qualifying, might be the reasoning behind Warner's decision to not back England's bid.

The interesting thing about this situation is that there is talk of the rotation of the hosts being lifted after the 2014 cup, which is slated for Brazil. Even if they didn't lift the rotation cycle, it would be logical for Asia to get the 2018 cup, and not the CONCACAF region. It would seem that Warner is just simply upset that his region hasn't seen the cup in ages. He should stand in line though. South America hasn't hosted the cup since 1978. While that is almost forty normal years, it's eight world cups. CONCACAF held the cup in 1994 with America. By the time 2018 rolls around, that is just five cups, not the eight that South America has had to wait.

So, at the end of the day, what does FIFA do? I think that England should have a fair crack at it and according to the BBC, so does Franz Beckenbauer. Beckenbauer thinks that England would be a wonderful host for the cup. It certainly has enough pitches to be able to do so. Hell, you could host friendlies on pitches across town from a major match with the devotion that England has put into its football. On another note, I wouldn't mind seeing China hold the cup. They would have the space seeing that they are holding the Olympics rather soon. It could also be a force to bring China and Taiwan back together. Because if there is anything that the World Cup has taught us, it's that nations forget their problems and a ball becomes a weapon of nationalism instead of a gun. And that right there is what makes football such a beautiful game.

At Least Wait Until Wigan Wins The Prem

So, I was a political science major in college and being the lover of British culture that I am, I was interested to see what the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown's take on the Iraq situation was. I was watching the news the other day and they brought up the fact that Brown, who visited the UN on Tuesday to push for peace keeping in Dafur,had also visited with President Bush. Brown did not mention the situation in Iraq but he has reportedly began to query what effect, if any, there would be if the UK started to pull it's troops out of Iraq.

Could the UK be making a move to distance itself from us? If so, can we expect to see the type of protests that we saw when France decided not to join us in the "war" on terror? If this is the case, what does that say for the future of English Football here? I can see it now, "Americans play the REAL football." There would be no more Fox Soccer Channel because it wouldn't be American to watch a sport from a country that won't support us. All of this could lead to a ban on English tea like Twinnings. That would be where I would draw the line. No tea equals an unhappy Bela.

In all reality, I doubt that it would come to us boycotting Manchester United or Chelsea matches being shown here in America but, and this is a BIG but, if it were to come down to this, I hope both parties can play nice until Wigan or Leeds win the Premiership, then we can so long to soccer.

I will take a lare coke...and...um... Barcelona FC

I was poking around on the BBC soccer front page last night and I came across a story that I found interesting. The website MyFootballClub is offering fans who want to pay a round $70 American, a chance to buy stake in a football club. It's a novel idea that has caught on quickly. How quick? The site has reached it's goal of 50,000 fan in only three months. By my calculation, that comes out to a little over $3 million.

Will Brook, MyFootballClub's creator, has already been approached by four clubs that are looking to let him and his 'investors' buy their club. They are wiling to turn over the run of the club and the power to make all the major decisions with the fans.

I read this and found myself wondering if this would work here in America with, lets say, a hockey team or perhaps an MLS team. You could launch a site and let the people that live in the state where the team is make a smaller deposit, with fans outside of the state, paying a slightly higher fee. I think this takes the idea of being a fan to a whole new level. Imagine if you could log on to a website and decide who D.C. United was going to sign in the next MLS draft. Or if your team should make upgrades in their staffing.

This reminded me of playing Manager Mode on EA's FIFA 07. Interestingly enough, Brook has negotiated a deal with the world leader in sports video games. Perhaps Brook got the idea from them. I don't think that Mr. Brook's idea would see more than a touch or two here in the states though. I don't think that professional sports teams here could bolster the kind of support needed to buy a franchise out. The teams that have approached Brook are all from the lower divisions in the FA. Perhaps a minor league club would work here.

In the long run, Brook wants to surpass the group of Barcelona's fans, around 155,000, who vote for the clubs president every four years. It will surely be something to watch over the next few months as the English season takes off.

The Wizards could have used Mr. Potter (MLS Prime Time Thursday)

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If Kevin Hartman would have attended Hogwarts, he very well might have been in Gryffindor. His courage tonight against the New England Revolution surely backs that claim up. The game was scoreless until the second half, due to Mr Hartman, who was at full stretch for most of the evening. I have seen some amazing saves in the last year but this kid could easily play keeper for a Quidditch team.

He did, however, get knocked off his broom twice. Once by Pat Noonan and once by the rookie, Adam Cristman. The Noonan goal was a squeaker and it slid right past Hartman as Noonan fell out of bounds. The Cristman goal was a bit more like what you would expect from Kaka or Eto'o. New England completely pulled the Wizards defense to one side before finding Cristman in space big enough to be a galaxy. He ran it home and flicked a quick shot past Hartman to continue the Rev's spot at the top of the MLS east.

Other news around the MLS this week finds us talking about the young American forward Freddy Adu. Adu, who started out with the Red Bulls at the age of 14, but the last year has seen a spark around him with talks of a transfer to a European side. Adu had mentioned a move to Manchester United but that fell through at the urging of the MLS. Now though, Adu has signed a five year contract with Portugal side Benfica. Adu has spoke about his wanting to move for some time. He wants the experience that playing in a new league would bring. He also is looking for a run in the Champions League, which he could very well see with Benfica. It will be an interesting five years to see how Mr. Adu evolves in Europe and it will greatly help the US Mens team in the years to come. Good luck, Freddy. And for any other young players, get out while the getting is good.

The other interesting thing that came out of MLS this evening was talk of Beckham playing on Sunday. It's as if it's Becks v. Toronto on Sunday and not the Galaxy v. Toronto. I think Kind David, as some American press is calling him, has had his name mentioned a record number of times in an ESPN broadcast. I am half tempted to call and ask if a record has been broken. I think the bottom line is, Dave is a great player but I almost feel that it will take focus off other players coming up in the MLS like Josey Altidore, Juan Toja, Juan Pablo Angel, and Eddie Johnson.

The hype around Beckham can be attributed to that that surrounded Pele after his days with Brazil. Even Pele has warned Beckham against becoming a 'pop star' instead of a footballer. Hopefully, though, Becks will listen to the words of the Galaxy's Manager, Alexi Lalas. Lalas said that the Galaxy would be playing Toronto Sunday, not just one person. Well said Alexi, lets just pray that Becks can get his head out of the Hollywood hills and hear him.

Because shooting in the south doesn't always have to be from a gun...

I bring you this blog from Nashville, Tennessee. I have been a fan of footie, or soccer, or football, or whatever you want to call it, for a little over a year. I admit that I jumped on the 2006 World Cup bandwagon when it rolled through town. I am, however, happy to say that I wasn't like everyone who ran out to buy and Italia shirt or kit after the cup was over. I was personally pulling for Argentina and the Ivory Coast.

I had watched Champions League matches that spring before the cup and fell in love with the beautiful game and the World Cup just exacerbated that love. Since the night of the WC final, I started to eat and breathe soccer. I picked up on what is possibly the best footie league in the world, the English Premier League or EPL. I had watched Chelsea play the year before in the Champions League, and despite the fact that I have a Manchester United hoodie hanging in my closet, I started pulling for the mighty blue lions that den at Stamford Bridge in western London.

Chelsea faired pretty well this past season. They went out in the Champions league semi-final to Liverpool on PK's. They lost the Premiership to Sir Alex and his the Red Army of Manchester United. Chelsea did walk away with two pieces of silverware though; the FA Cup and the Carling Cup. As my friends, Shibley and Josh, have both reminded me that these two lesser trophies were like wining the Outback Bowl and the Alamo Bowl, a win is a win.

So, after a lengthy introduction, I should probably get down to what this thing is gonna be about. I am not a big fan of MLS but I will probably make a weekly post on Thursdays that goes along with ESPN's weekly coverage. I will probably focus heavily on grass roots soccer here in America and EPL, SPL, Italia Seria A, and the international scene with both the Womens World Cup coming up this year and Euro '08 next year. Last but not least, please visit the sponsors when I get some and read the other blogs and news sites. You don't just want my view on the beautiful game.