Holy Zombie Jesus, did a lot go down since the last time the Premier League kicked off a fortnight ago. First and foremost, my assumed title chase between Chelsea and Arsenal got thrown a wicked Barry Zito circa-2002 curveball. (Ok, for Brits, a wicked Googly.) Chelsea is going to have to play at least a couple matches -- and almost certainly the Nov. Click to continue reading...

... But Ireland got absolutely robbed in that game against France today. Thierry Henry with the "main d'un dieu" to set up William Gallas's winning goal. Oh, and both players were offside to start the play, too.In all honest, not pull pull a Sir Alex Ferguson, but that was arguably the worst non-call I've ever seen. Click to continue reading...

No ramblings. No preamble. No time. Have to run out for work, so not too much time to marinate on the USMNT/Denmark game. You're getting bullet points. Enjoy. * Danish Tex Mex? Who would have figured? I'm sure salted cod and salsa make an excellent burrito combo. * Missed the first 15-odd minutes watching the ends of the Algeria/Egypt hate-cast and the Ukraine/Greece snooze-fest. Click to continue reading...

How about those Danish Van Houtens?What, you're telling me you didn't stick with 'The Simpsons' through season 19?Guess I'd have to call that a cromulent decision. If you read those last three seconds and your brain didn't turn into a puddle of chocolate pudding, you were probably able to deduce that I don't have a whole lot to offer for Wednesday's USMNT friendly against Denmark in Aarhus. Click to continue reading...

Well, turns out Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey & Co. have about as much drawing power in Eastern Europe as Anvil. For whatever the reason Friday night I decided to stay up through multiple power outages for the MLS Western Conference Final between the Galaxy and Dynamo. During the match the thought drifted into my head about Saturday's USMNT/Slovakia friendly -- why wouldn't Bob Bradley simply roll Click to continue reading...

For whatever the reason, the term "friendly" can be lumped together with diving (i.e. David Ngog) and the quantum physics intricacies of the offside rule as primary reasons why mainstream media types prefer to mock soccer, as opposed to caring about it. What exactly is a "friendly" anyway? Why not call it an exhibition? Click to continue reading...

This morning when I woke up and checked my email, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets (think the 1:06 mark of this classic clip) when I read the U.S. Soccer Federation missive about the roster for the upcoming USMNT friendly against Slovakia. (Saturday, 10 a.m., FSC)As the old saying goes, don't blog angry, so I took a little time to collect myself and my shock that Edgar Castillo, et al, Click to continue reading...

It's weird, isn't it, that the same player could be hailed as both "Lionheart" and the "Bionic Woman" in the same breath? Maybe it's not so strange if that player is John Terry. On the one hand, if you're English -- particularly in the media -- you have to love Terry's grit and even if you hate Chelsea, he is sorta the captain of the National Team, after all. Click to continue reading...

We could probably spend a day listing all the difference between our traditional North American sports leagues (MLB, NFL and NBA) with the way European soccer clubs are run, or in fact almost all leagues around the world are run, aside from MLS. For me, one of the key differences is roster construction. Click to continue reading...

Before delving into a couple odds-and-ends, let me first issue a major apology. If anyone out there in Inter-nets Land actually takes my Premier League picks to heart and bets them, well, last weekend I'm massively sorry. Going 2-and-8 is frankly, unacceptable. If this were a reality television program, I'd have been asked to take my laptop and go. Click to continue reading...

For better or worse, I am a gamer.There I said it. In fact, video games will probably outgrow me -- maybe a cerebral implant -- before I outgrow them.The following is going to be my thoughts on the latest EA soccer release, "FIFA 10." Maybe you don't game, but I'll go out on a limb and say that "FIFA" has been as important as spreading soccer and ingraining it into Americans sports fans brains as Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez. Even if you follow the Premier League with the most passing of interests, chances are you have an opinion on the goatee-d Spanish coach of Liverpool, who has seemingly been at the hot seat at Anfield since before the world knew who Hannah Montana was. Just the other night I was chatting with a friend over XBox Live during a game of "FIFA 10" (shameless plug, review/thoughts coming Click to continue reading...

Believe it or not, after this weekend we'll be past the quarter post in the 2009-10 Premier League season. With that in mind, I figured it would be time to assess where the 20 clubs stand. While at first glance it might look like a giant glob, there are some mild strains of separation. Again, I'm knowingly cribbing a Bill Simmons popularized trope, so deal with it. Click to continue reading...

Nothing better than when someone, or in this case, a monolith hell-bent on global sports supremacy, learns from it's mistakes. Monday Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch is reporting ESPN has hired Martin Tyler to announce next summer's World Cup for the network. Well, nothing more to say than halle-freaking-llujah. Click to continue reading...

So yeah, after this weekend slate of action from the Premier League over in England, maybe it's best to stop making bold declarations of any sort. Nothing makes sense anymore. When the one fundamental truth -- Chelsea is a shade better than everybody -- gets shattered, what are we left with? In fact, gun to my head, the only thing we might be able to count on week-to-week is that Arsenal isn't Click to continue reading...