Me and the machines

First of 2 trips to Wearside, starting with the league match tonight and the FA Cup the following week. Beginning of a very important 7 days for Arsenal Football Club according to Arsene Wenger. 3 matches that will decide our season. An European cup tie against AC Milan sandwiched in between 2 meetings with Martin O'Neill's Sunderland.

If you' re any sort of women's soccer fan, you know about Alex Morgan.

The 22-year-old wunderkind, known as the "super sub" during the Women's World Cup last summer and in the recent CONCACAF Olympic qualifying matches, has a nose for the goal. The former Cal soccer star has also been noted for her amazing mix of strength and beauty which makes her the epitome of Pretty Tough.

... remember: firm and manly ... firm AND manly. If you've read me in any form of media over the years, you'll know I have no extra love saved up for ESPN aside from my unofficial English uncle, Ian Darke -- the most earnest man in sports media. No sense rehashing what makes ESPN insufferable, although it could be argued its a byproduct of the 24/7 news cycle.

Last time we see all 3 on the pitch at the same time?

Haven't written in a while, therefore this will be more of a short summation on things that have happened in the past week. No place better to start than with the players.

Emmanuel Frimpong will be out for the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.

The Goalkeeper and the Void by Martz Azparren

Featuring the words of Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, The Goalkeeper and the Void was a Jury winning film at the 2011 Machinima Expo, and primarily uses footage from the video game Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven).

Why does Germany wear green? The Ireland myth and the truth.

After dropping a few hints over the past few months, Adidas released the new Germany away kit that will be used throughout EURO 2012. It's green. Really, really green. Like you, we've seen a German flag before and could not find a trace of green on it.

The big win over Blackburn was immensely enjoyable and has lifted the mood in the Gooner camp to a great extent after an eminently forgettable January. A lot has already been said about the match and I don't want to revisit it in detail but there were two goals in that game that caught my eye.

Both the goals started from the back but were scored in a markedly different manner, each a delight in its own way.

By Josh Clarke

On initial inspection, similarities between Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea and Edgar Allan Poe seem most abundantly clear in a shared propensity for an excruciating and painfully drawn-out narrative (think Fernando Torres and The Pit and Pendulum).

The World Wildlife Fund wants Messi to wear a Real Madrid jersey for a day

If I supported Real Madrid, I'd be pumping up my bike tires as I type this. In an effort to spread awareness for Earth Hour, which is an hour of "uniting people to protect the planet", the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has celebrities teaming up with the organization to help spread awareness of Earth Hour and promote sustainable habits.

This week's soccer programing on ESPN Deportes Miami 1210 AM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7
COPA LIBERTADORES DE AMERICA
Chivas (MEX) vs Deportivo Quito (ECU)
Time: 9:00 PM – 12:00 AM ET
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
COPA DEL REY - Spain
Valencia vs Barcelona
Time: 2:00 – 5:00 PM ET
COPA LIBERTADORES DE AMERICA
Nacional (ECU) vs Cruz Azul (MEX)
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
MEXICAN SOCCER LEAGUE (Clausura Season)
Morelia vs Santos
Time: 9:00 PM – 12:00 AM ET
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
LA LIGA – Spain's Soccer League
Osasuna vs Barcelona
Time: 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM ET
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
MEXICAN SOCCER LEAGUE
Tijuana vs Cruz Azul
Time: 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM ET

By Richard Nash

2012 will see the inaugural Premier League Soccer competition take place in India. It follows in the footsteps of the hugely successful Indian Premier League cricket competition which began in 2008 and has now run for four seasons.

FC Barcelona vs. Brazil in 1999 - The Full Match

The beginning of the week is never enjoyable, but let's lessen the dosage of suffering with a glorious find on Youtube. 1999 was FC Barcelona's centenary year and the whole season was quite the celebration of everything FC Barcelona.

Stylish and Educational! 3nil's Onside/Offside Shirt.

Imagine a perfectly timed run from the far side. Ozil slips Benzema in, which is followed by a cool finish to the far post. But there's something wrong; the assistant referee has raised his flag and the goal doesn't stand.

The Italian fans of AC Savoia know how to support their team

AC Savoia play 5 leagues below Serie A, but they don't care one bit do they? In an age where the ever-prominent feeling of entitlement seeps into modern football, I say bravo Savoia!

Well, we kind of had an idea that Arsenal were playing well but not getting the results. It was a matter of details according to Arteta, Wenger, and others. It all came good in this one as Blackburn were the hapless victims of a rampant Arsenal side.

Chance conversion was another issue which was put to bed, at least temporarily, with 7 out of 8 shot on target registering on the scoreboard.

If you think throwing away a three goal lead is a bad day at the office, it got worst for Chelsea Sunday morning. Chelsea spelled their own website URL wrong, on their advertising boards during their game against Manchester United, according to 101 Great Goals. Now that is a bad day at the office and it only happened with a billion people watching.

Don't just sit there Robin. Get a fourth

That's our first rout of the season. The first of which we won and not the other way around. You can count the Chelsea game as one but then it was not as one sided as this was. Blackburn tormented us the last time we met and this was sweet revenge being exacted.

Henry to start?

Horrible is the word to describe our last meeting against Blackburn Rovers. Steve Kean's side only had two shots on goal and still managed to beat us 4-3. That was a dark day in our season but nothing compared to the run of form we are in now. The draw at Bolton was the first league point we picked up this season and we're now facing an uphill battle to find our way back into Champions League spots.

Time-Lapse Camp Nou

Egoi Suso Rius decided that capturing a match, in its entirety, at the Camp Nou would be something special. It's been done before, but not in 110 seconds. Egoi chose to film the Barçelona vs. Osasuna match in January and the results are fantastic. Set to musical stylings of "Sonata No.

Clearly, every game is a very tough one for Arsenal on current form. Will the team get its first League win of 2012? Doesn't seem like it if we look at the manner in which Arsenal have dropped points in recent games, or the way Blackburn came from behind to win at home earlier this season, or the fact that Steve Kean is yet to lose against Wenger or Ferguson in the Premiership (2W, 2D)!

It was all just an excuse to see R.R. Drenthe's hair up close, I swear to ya! January transfer madness came and went in England and it was ... as mild as a game of "Marble Madness." (insert groan here.) Unless you're a person who spends 99 percent of his waking hours playing "Football Manager," it's tough to get revved up for David Pizzaro moving on loan from Roma to Manchester City.

By Eric Beard

Today, along with his wife Lindsay, Bob Bradley joined the thousands of mourners in Cairo's Sphinx Square to express his sympathy to the victims and families affected by the clash between rival fans of Al-Ahly and Al-Masry in the Egyptian city of Port Said.

In the preview I wrote, "there will be goals in this game for sure". I don't know how, but both sides managed to keep the ball out of their opponents' nets when scoring would have seemed like the easier option. Arsenal had a lot of chances, very good ones. And they missed them all.

Twitter went mad after the game, as it usually does after a disappointing result I guess.

In September, I wrote how Fox Sports choice to show Barclay's Premier League games on tape delay was a brilliant idea. Two weekends ago, Fox took it the next level by showing Manchester United vs. Arsenal live as a lead into the NFL Conference Championship Games. Sure the rating where not great. According to ESPN, the match was seen by 1.

CSP Seeks Tournament Director
Since 1997, Commonwealth Soccer Programs has been a soccer management company based in Richmond, VA, dealing with club consultation, tournament management, camps, team training, and more. We are currently operating 10-14 tournaments, with several of those being in Florida.

Fine margins

February and all we've collected from 2012 is a solitary point in the league. Unfortunately for a club the size of Arsenal and the ambitions that we harbour, that is not good enough. 7th is where we are right now in terms of the league standings and hopes of staying with the top pack and clinching that vital Champions League position is not mathematically out of grab.

""Football can go to hell if this is the situation.""
-

Those were the words of Al-Ahly's star player Mohamed Aboutrika in the wake of the tragedy in Port Said, calling for the Egyptian league to be suspended indefinitely. "Crowds are dying in front of us, and there aren't any police or security forces," he said.

I love playing sports for a long list of reasons, but I especially love sports because they help define who we are:

• Sports give you confidence.
• Sports give you strength.
• Sports give you a voice (hence, the nickname Loudy Foudy). :)
• Sports teach teamwork and leadership.

Time for a rest?

Midweek Premier League match. Haven't had that in a while. Tonight, Arsenal travel to Bolton looking to capitalise on the yesterday's results. I say results when it's actually only a single result. That of Chelsea's draw away to Swansea. Effectively, they've gained a point over us, both by the result and the fact that we lost ours when we went to Liberty Stadium.

Erlan Mealla's Bolivian wondergoal

If you knew who Erlan Mealla was before seeing this, well, I simply don't believe you. The words "must see" have lost their meaning over the years, but this is must see for anyone that can appreciate a tremendous goal. It comes from the Bolivian Campeonato Clausura, and Erlan, a 23-year-old Nacional Potosi striker, scored a 20-yard scorpion kick that ended up being the match-winner against their opponents who go by "The Strongest" No, really.

Liverpool have hit some sort of form since Gerard has returned from injury. Chelsea stole a point late in the game at Swansea and are now six points ahead of Arsenal. This season has always been about a battle for fourth an it's time for the Gunners to buckle up and pick up the points in games like the next one at the Reebok, many much tougher games will anyway see Arsenal dropping points in the coming weeks.

Pretty much. Unless you're a QPR fan, nothing worth knowing went down. Though fake stories, false sightings of players on trains to [insert your city], and "Carlos Tevez to Aston Villa!!!" twitter hoaxes were in abundance. If you are interested, that's fine. Our friends at The World's Game summed up today's events succinctly enough.

... but he still makes millions and has won both the Euro and World Cup. (Dammit!) Strange dealing, no, in England with the Premier League in full swing in the midweek as the January transfer window comes closing down. We'll explore it more on Friday when I have a little more time to blog the night away.

Nothing beats knocking a Premier League side out of the FA Cup when you are a lower league side. Brighton did that by knocking out Newcastle 1-0 over the weekend. The fun of the Cup was shown by Brighton's Adam El-Abd as he dances with an FA Cup mascot after the win. This is my favorite moment of the weekend.

The day after U.S. soccer fans celebrated the women's CONCACAF win and their Olympic qualification comes word that the WPS is on ice for the 2012 season.

Word began to filter out via players and bloggers on social networks like Twitter Monday morning, and the league officially made the announcement midday.

The tackle that started the comeback

The team needed a lift after results of recent weeks. A 1-0 win is great but coming back from 2 goals down to win it, is surely going to give the team the boost that we so desperately need. A game of two halves is the old cliche but certainly applies in this scenario.

If you carefully select portions of this game you can make a video highlighting many of Arsenal's major problems. With another selection you could also show the reasons that make the Gunners such a great team to watch and support. It was a classic Cup tie and one that will remain in fans' memories for years to come if it can spark a run of form.

Likely starters

There's a trip to Bolton looming in midweek, where we'll continue our climb up the league table in search of that Champions League spot. But first there's the matter of the FA Cup to deal with. A small matter or a big matter? Depends on the individuals. Arsene Wenger loves a bit of this competition but not over qualification to Europe's premier competition.

There is a glimmer of hope amidst the sea of negativity that Arsenal have been swimming in recently. Some players are close to making their return after serious injuries. Of course, as we have seen with Wilshere recently and with others in the past, getting hopes up when it comes to injuries and Arsenal is not a smart choice.

The long substitution

It's finally confirmed, the news that we did not want to hear. That Jack Wilshere has had a setback and would not be available in the date that we initially had hoped he would be back for. AC Milan's games were touted as his return period but that will now have to be extended.