Avoiding the Drop

As tasty as you can get this morning

That was some boring international break, wasn’t it.

Between major injuries in the friendlies, diplomatic tensions rising after a particularly testy set of matches, and some sort of handball incident you might have read about, this was easily the loudest two-week international break in quite some time.

Now is the time when our attention shifts away from the World Cup (for two weeks, until the draw occurs on December 4th) and back into club football.  It’s fair to say that this is a positive development for the collective psyche of football fans everywhere.  Overwhelming negativity and the wrong kind of attention to our game is not what we need at this point.

It’s a full-rich weekend of club football, and while the European card is somewhat pedestrian overall, there are some interesting nuggets out there.  The morning kicks off with a rather tasty affair in England as Liverpool hosts Manchester City.  A massive tie for both sides, who both have designs on the Champions League spots available, but must start performing more consistently (ESPN2, 7:45 AM EST).  The FK Rubin Kazan/Zenit St. Petersburg match is occurring on Setanta as I’m writing this post.  Munich is taking on Leverkeusen in the Bundesliga, but it appears that match is not available through legal means today, which is a shame.

Tomorrow, the focus actually shifts to America as the MLS Cup occurs in prime time.  I’ll have a look at the match tomorrow and we may have some type of event here tomorrow night for the match, I’m in talks with the lads at the moment.

Finally, the last comment I’ll make on L’affaire de Handball is this.  FIFA now has all the wrong kind of attention being paid to their decision-making process.  The outrage (and that’s what it is, true outrage) that’s being felt currently is not over some sort of mystical rule that may have decided a match, this imbroglio is easily understood by virtually everyone who sees the highlight.  The simplicity of the injustice is what is causing the problem.  The offense is so blatant and so easily identified, it makes the average sports fan look at the pictures and wonder why it cannot be corrected.  I wish FIFA would understand what that means to them overall, because every time France takes the pitch for the next 7 months as we march towards South Africa, this incident will be mentioned and the wound will be ripped open.  I saw someone write that this negative attention towards the game is “good for the American soccer fan because it gets people who are not watching regularly talking about the matches”.  No.  Wrong.  Completely wrong.  There’s a good reason why NHL Hockey is now considered a secondary sport by most American sports fans.  Once ESPN decides you’re irrelevant, you become just that.  Don’t underestimate the impact that ESPN has to shape the sports psyche of this country.  Again, the equation here is simple.  Thierry Henry commits a blatant and easily explainable offense, France advances, all hell breaks loose and FIFA look terrible for not embracing technology and for allowing the result to stand.  ESPN, invested in the World Cup coverage, takes the story and runs with it, especially on it’s radio telecasts and talking head shows.  Opinion of the event is exceedingly negative and it shows through.  Now the average sports fan, who may embrace the World Cup when it comes along because of the hugeness of the event and the overwhelming national pride being shown during the matches, will think that anyone could get jobbed and have no recourse because of the antiquated fools who own all the power at the highest levels.  That’s not good for the game regardless of what people think.  Now I’m done talking about it.

Television is as follows:

Rubin Kazan v Zenit 0545    Setanta
Liverpool v Man City 0745    ESPN2
Schalke v Hannover        0930    GolTV
Chelsea v Wolverhampton    1000    Setanta
Sunderland v Arsenal        1000    FSC/FSE
Burnley v Aston Villa        1000    Setanta X
B’ham v Fulham        1000
Hull v West Ham        1000
Rangers v Kilmarnock    1000    Setanta P
Cardiff v Barnsley        1000    ESPN360
Inter v Bolgona        1155    ESPN360
Deportivo v Atletico        1155    ESPND/360
Tenerife v Sevilla        1200    GolTV
Ipswich v Sheff. Wednesday    1220    Setanta
Man U v Everton 1230    FSC/FSE
Racing v Real Madrid        1355    ESPND/360
Parma v Fiorentina 1445    ESPN360
Auxerre v Monaco        1500    Setanta
Bilbao v Barca 1600    GolTV
Pereira v Medellin        2000    GolTV

Listings courtesy of Jamie Trecker.  Enjoy your Saturdays.