If you take yourself back a year ago at this time, you might remember that pretty much every major league in Europe had their title basically settled. Germany was a tight race till the last day, but everyone else was pretty well settled a month or two before it all ended. Things are different though this season. Every week the race in England changes direction, Real Madrid and Barcelona will essentially have a La Liga title game on April 11th, and there’s a newly promoted side tied for 1st in France.
Over the next week or two, we’ll take a look at each of these leagues one by one and see who’s still in the race for the title. First up is France’s Ligue 1. Tables are accurate as of March 11th.
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Posted in Ligue 1 | Tagged AJ Auxerre, Girondins de Bordeaux, Ligue 1, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Olympique de Marseille | 3 Comments »
March 12, 2010 by Magnakai Haaskivi
Posted in About Last Night | Tagged African Footballer of the Year, Anderlecht, Arsene Wenger, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Benfica, Chelsea, Chinese Matchfixing Scandal, David Villa, Didier Drogba, Europa League, Fulham, Hamburger SV, John Terry, Juventus, KILLER JELLYFISH!, Lille, Liverpool, Marseille, Michael Essien, Panathinaikos, Peter Storrie, Portsmouth, Rafa Benitez, Real Madrid, Robinho, Ross Turnbull, Rubin Kazan, Sam Allardyce, Samuel Eto'o, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Standard Liege, Valencia, VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen | Leave a Comment »
This week I’d like you to find the names of the pair of people- one a footballer, one not- to which each clue refers.
“Name” can mean first, last, nicknames or some combination of them. Note: Not all of the spellings are “perfect,” so just settle down. Good luck.
1. An American Transcendentalist and an English international.
2. A famous Scottish chef and a Welsh international.
3. An Enlightenment philosopher and a midfielder from the Cote d’Ivoire.
4. A well-known film critic and a German midfielder.
5. A Scottish defender and a guitarist who played with Joe Strummer and Mike Watt.
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Posted in Trivia, Whimsy, Wild Ass Guesses | Leave a Comment »
March 11, 2010 by Magnakai Haaskivi
Posted in About Last Night | Tagged AC Milan, Burnely, Comunicaciones of Guatemala, CONCACAF Champions League, English National Team, English Premier League, Europa League, Financial Disasters, I'll Tell You What I'd Do With $150: Two Chicks at the Same Time, Kaká, Lille, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manuel Pellegrini, Marathon, MLS, Olympique Lyonnais, Pachuca, Peter Storrie, Portsmouth, Rafa Benitez, Real Madrid, Sol Campbell, Stoke City, UEFA Champions League, UNAM Pumas | 5 Comments »
March 10, 2010 by Two Yellows
I’m begging for submissions for our new author slot. That submission period will end on 14 March 2010. So please, if you’re interested in writing for us, please submit a column or whatever you come up with to avoidingthedrop at the gmails. Thanks.
We’ve got our first four entrants in the Champions League quarterfinal field. They are Bayern Munich (Germany), Arsenal (England), Olympique Lyonnais (France) and Manchester United (England). Lyon dumped out Real Madrid today, marking the sixth year in a row that they have gone out of the competition at this stage. By the way, once again proving that money cannot truly buy championships, Madrid spent 260 MILLION pounds (approximately 388 million US dollars) this past offseason specifically because the upcoming finals of the Champions League will be held in their stadium. Once again, they will not be there. What will be especially galling for Los Galacticos would be if their bitter La Liga rivals (and last year’s Champions League winners) Barcelona end up playing once again in the finals on Madrid’s turf. We’ll have a nice laugh if that happens.
Of course, there are other sporting events going on right now, including a virtual smorgasbord of college hoops, five NHL games, nine NBA contests, and of course, the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver! Man, the fun never stops in Canada.
So here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to comment on the various events of the day and ogle Ms. Fox up there, and I’ll attempt to show up tonight at some point. I have no idea what the lads are up to, but who knows who might show up tonight? You have to be here to find out. Okay, have at it, children.
Posted in Last Call | Tagged Last Call | 74 Comments »
This week’s challenge was a bit more…well…challenging that a lot of those I’ve thrown out there in recent months and I was glad to see that a few of you were up to the…er…challenge! Regular participant Jeff P. did the best, answering 8 of the 10 questions correctly. I’d also like to welcome aboard Tom B.- if I’m not mistaken this was his first attempt at the Thursday Challenge. Well, anyway, I’m back from vacation- and only a little sunburned!- so let’s get to those answers. Continue Reading »
Posted in Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics, Trivia, USMNT, Whimsy, Wild Ass Guesses | 8 Comments »
March 10, 2010 by Magnakai Haaskivi
What you missed while spending all morning trying to figure out why Firefox decided to delete all your bookmarks…
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Posted in About Last Night | Tagged Angel Angelov, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bolton, Chester City, Columbus Crew, CONCACAF Champions League, Deportivo Toluca F.C., English National Team, English Premier League, Europa League, Fabio Capello, FC Porto, Fiorentina, Firefox Can Eat Me, Hiroshima Sanfrecce, J-League, Lille, Liverpool, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Stuart Pearce, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Champions League, Wilson Palacios | 1 Comment »
March 9, 2010 by Two Yellows
Just so Mags doesn’t tote the load for all of us this week, and since I seem to the be the media updater (and resident crank), here’s the scoop on today’s Champions League and Barclay’s Premier League ties:
Fox Soccer Channel has Bayern Munich/Fiorentina at 2:45, while Arsenal/Porto is on your local Fox Sports Net (anyone needing a look on DirecTV can check channel 630 which is the one I always use AND is in HD!). Fox Soccer Plus has Sunderland/Bolton Barclay’s Premier League ACTION AT IT’S FINEST (this match should be subtitled: Managers Gone Mental) at 2:45, and Pompey/Birmingham Redux delayed broadcast will make it’s debut at 7:30 PM on FS Plus.
Oh, and for those interested in potentially seeing the only MLS team to play for the time being, the Columbus Crew’s CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against Toluca kicks off at 8:00 PM EST on Fox Soccer Channel. I wonder what would happen should the Crew advance (this is the first of two legs) and the players go on strike. I guess we’ll all find out together, won’t we. Hooray!
Okay people, get back to work.
Posted in Swimming the Chanels | Tagged Champions League, CONCACAF Champions League, English Premier League, Television | Leave a Comment »
March 9, 2010 by Magnakai Haaskivi
John Terry would've given him "The Shocker"
Alright, look. I was going to try to write a controlled, poised piece about my frustration and anger watching Liverpool choke down another stupid loss yesterday, but I don’t have it in me. The control and the poise, that is; I’ve DEFINITELY got anger and frustration. So let’s just go with that.
So here’s where this pitiful, sad excuse of a team is at the moment. They’re in sixth place (sure to change once Aston Villa – in seventh – plays their three games in hand) on the table, which means that they’d just be in the Europa League if the season ended now (and Aston Villa never got to play any of those games). Their win percentage is a dismal 48%, and they’ve only managed to score 45 goals (Everton and Villa are within shouting distance of that, and both have games in hand). Plus, on top of all that, the team is top-to-bottom not talented enough to compete with other real teams on a week-in, week-out basis.
Oh, and we’re giving V-signs to referees who sympathetically don’t send us off after a two footed scissor-tackle. There’s that, too.
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Posted in English Premier League | Tagged Liverpool, Steven Gerrard | 1 Comment »
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