Two of Major League Soccer's most historically successful franchises won't be competing for a title this season. The Houston Dynamo, back-to-back MLS Cup winners in 2006 and 2007, and the team they beat for those two titles, the New England Revolution, will play out their regular season schedule and begin to focus on 2011 after being mathematically eliminated from the playoff race.

One of my favourite books is Winter: Notes from Montana by Rick Bass. It is a diary of sorts about Bass and his partner moving to a remote valley in the Northwestern USA, near Yaak, Montana. He arrives just in time to begin preparations for the ferocious Montana winter. He knows that foot after foot of snow will come and render him housebound for weeks at a time.

Bill Simmons - ESPN's 'Sports Guy' - is eaten up by the game. He recently wrote about playing 20 Questions with the 2010 World Cup.
Question No. 1: What's been the single best thing about the Cup so far?
I love the Cup because it stripped away all the things about professional sports that I've come to despise.

The Cincinnati Bengals took a gamble when they signed Terrell Owens. The talkative wide receiver was brought on board to spread defenses and help ignite the Bengals offense. In a preseason game on Friday against the Philadelphia Eagles, Owens did just that as the Bengals coasted to a 22-9 victory.

When Matt Leinart was drafted, he had big expectations. After starring at USC, Leinart appeared destined for NFL stardom. His shaky start with the Arizona Cardinals opened the door for Kurt Warner to take over ... and Warner didn't disappoint. However, with Warner now retired, the door opened back up for Leinart on the Cardinals.

Editor's note: Three weeks ago, Earl began this series as a chronicle of his quest to find the Premier League team that connects with his spirit as a fledgling soccer fan from afar.

Between the Euro 2012 qualifying weekend (where I found myself happy for Wayne Rooney to overcome his personal distractions) and a weekend trip to see my favorite American football team, the Buffalo Bills, I didn't catch much Premier League action the last two weeks.

The Seattle Seahawks have struggled on the ground this season. To help solve that problem, the Seahawks traded for Marshawn Lynch. According to reports, the Buffalo Bills will receiver a 4th round pick in 2011 and a 6th round pick in 2012. If Lynch plays well in Seahawks, that 6th rounder will become a 5th rounder.

It's the Week 10 of the fantasy football season. The fantasy playoffs are just around the corner and you are fighting for playoff positioning. You need a sleeper or two to help carry your team over the top this week. Here are some Week 10 fantasy sleepers that can play a heroic role for your fantasy team.

With the fantasy football playoffs almost here, Week 11 was a key week in the fantasy world. If you had one of these fantasy football players on your team, chances are your fantasy team had a victorious week. Here were this week's best position by position.

QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Against Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers proved he's the better quarterback for the Packers.

Shawne Merriman used to be a feared NFL linebacker. In his first two seasons, Merriman had 27 sacks and looked headed to a Hall of Fame career. However, during his second season, Merriman was busted for taking steroids. As it turns out, those steroids were what powered Merriman to stardom. He's never been the same since getting busted.

For the fourth time this season, James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers has been fined. His latest fine was for $25K, which brought his season total up to $125K. Harrison's latest fine was due to a helmet-led hit on Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Steelers linebacker was called for roughing the passer on the play.

In overtime of the Pittsburgh Steelers 19-16 win over the Buffalo Bills, the Steelers suffered a potential loss. Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended for the first four games of the season due to sexual assault allegations, sprained his right foot. Since then, Roethlisberger has been wearing a walking boot to protect his injured foot.

On the first pass play of the game, Brett Favre went back to pass and got creamed. Favre wouldn't be able to re-enter the game. Tarvaris Jackson replaced Favre and threw a pick-six on his first series. However, Jackson regrouped and led the Vikings to an impressive 38-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills.