I've got a problem

I root for Liverpool. Sigh.

Rafa Out at Inter

Kind of ironic really

and no Liverpool doesn't want him back.

Have fun in the Qatar League!

Don't let it happen Spurs!

Chelsea is said to be after Spurs Luka Modric. The one artistic player Spurs have, say it isn't so. Chelsea started out the season on fire and looked to be running away with the title but lately their form has been slightly better than Liverpool's. Spurs are making a run at the title, currently in 5th place and just 4 points behind Chelsea and 7 behind League leaders ManU. Please don't let one of your stars go to the enemy! Spurs are alive and well in the Champions League and still have a shot at the title in the Prem.

Alisher Usmanov is a part owner in Arsenal and wants to increase his share to 29.9%. It looks like he's moving to try a takeover bid at Arsenal which would put the club in the hands of a Russian just like Chelski. It's looking like the Prem is going to be completely made up of foreign owners. Bloody 'ell. The English invented the game and now it looks like they may be completely run out of it. The horror! Well at least they've got Wigan.

This is your brain on FIFA

Homosexuals "should refrain from any sexual activities" while attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. -- FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

There. Problem solved. Just don't have sex in Qatar. If you are gay. Or not married. Now, on to the problem of playing soccer in the scorching temperatures of summer in the Middle East.

FIFA's general secretary Jerome Valke is open to the idea of staging the 2022 World Cup in Qatar during the winter.

Wow. Amazing. I'm sure a winter World Cup won't inconvenience the players or their clubs, despite the fact that they will be in the middle of their season and will have to drop everything for the Cup. Just brilliant, I tell you. These guys deserve a briefcase full of Euros. Or a second briefcase, for those FIFA officials who already got one.

Really (again)?

Venky's, a chicken company in India (really) buys Blackburn Rovers and sacks Sam Allardyce. Rovers are in 13th place at the moment. Big Sam is a proven quantity. Who are they going to get that's better. Talk about upsetting team chemistry! This after Newcastle dumps Chris Hughton who lead the Magpies (although they beat Liverpool in their first game under Alan Pardew) out of the Championship and back to the Prem. You're only as good as your last game I guess. Big Sam deserved better. Are there any teams in the Prem owned by the English?

Benny Is DC United!

Ben Olsen is the coach of DC United. ESPN's Leander Schaerlaeckens has written a very nice piece on Olsen and the task ahead of getting United back on track. Now if only we could get a stadium.

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

REALLY?

A better title than "Are You F-ing Kidding Me?" I guess. When "let's make a ton of money" gets trumped by "let us the voting members personally make a ton of money by picking absurd locations with a lot of filthy rich people willing to pay for it", merit be damned. I should have known when they picked Russia for 2018. England being the obvious choice, easy to get to, convenient, great stadiums, lot's to do when there are no games going on. But no, Russia, the infrastructure capital of Eurasia. One of the drawbacks to the USA bid was that the country was too big, not easy to get from one locale to another. Russia is way bigger and you can't get from one place to another unless you know really important Russian officials and how to bribe. The Russia selection was a real bad omen. And then - Qatar. Really? A place that truly fits the mold - unstable area of the world, you can't get there from here, 120 degrees in the shade, no water, no stadiums, beer sold at the games but nowhere else (what will the English do?). The country with the worst risk assessment of any country bidding on either the 2018 or 2022 event. What, Angola wasn't available? FIFA could have made an enormous amount of money by putting the games in England and the US. Instead they decided to put an enormous amount of money in the pockets of the voting members and to hell with the dignity and the coffers of the organizing body. 2014 in Brazil (a logical choice), 2018 in Russia, 2022 in Qatar, means that 2026 will definitely be in Europe. 2030 would be the earliest that the US could get. America spends a ton of money on sports. Soccer clubs across Europe are in financial difficulty. Getting 300 million Americans to really buy in to the sport would seem imperative as opposed to 1.7 million Qatarans. How many jerseys can they buy? How many games will they go see? Two years ago I saw 80,000 people go to Baltimore to see a friendly between Chelsea and AC Milan. Stupid me, I thought that these decisions would be made based on merit. Apparently bribes are all that matter.

Let's get real!

World Cup 2022. USA. What else needs to be said? We have the stadiums. We will fill those stadiums. We have the security. We have the advertisers. We have the booze. We have the money. "Show me the money." That's always worked before and no place else on earth can show the money like the good old US of A. Let's get down to brass tacks, FIFA will make more money if the World Cup comes to America. End of story. Short of Armageddon this is a no brainer. FIFA do the right thing and get filthy rich in the process. How hard is this to understand?

The World Cup Bids

December 2nd is the day of reckoning, the day FIFA picks the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts. England is the favorite over Russia, Belgium/Netherlands, and Spain/Portugal for 2018. The USA is up against Australia, South Korea (bombing, hello), Japan, and Qatar (really? It's 120 in the shade). The USA was ranked a "medium risk." Really? We have the best facilities, good transportation, security, beer sponsership, no vuvuzelas. What more do you want. Only Germany can match us and they just had the Cup in 2006. South Korea and Japan hosted in 2002, the USA in 1994, Australia never, and Qatar, jeez it's 120 in the shade! Time for the World Cup to come back to America. FIFA you will make so much money you'll gag! Be resonable. USA 2022!

Don't Tread On Me (unless you're Jurgen Klinsman)

Gee Bob, we really like you. No seriously we really like you and we want you to continue on as the coach of the National Team because we couldn't get Jurgen Klinsman to agree to terms. Well yeah he was our first choice but don't let that get you down. You were always our backup plan and we're behind you 100% unless you screw up in the next two years. I hear Maradona is available, and Sven too! But don't let that worry you, as I said we're right there with you. The US team needs a US coach unless a good European comes along, not that we would ever think of that. Maybe Jose would do it to prove that wining the World Cup is easier than winning the Champions League. But we're behind you all the way Bob don't you worry. Don't lose that friendly in South Africa though.

La Liga Reorganizes

La Liga has decided to reorganize their divisions based on the competition level of the member clubs. Division One will consist of Barcelona and Real Madrid who will play each other 20 times to determine the championship. Division Two (or the Loser Division) will be compromised of the remaining teams: Valencia, Sevilla FC, Mallorca, Getafe, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña, Espanyol, Osasuna, Almeria, Real Zaragoza, Sporting Gijon, Racing Santander, Málaga, Real Sociedad, Levante, and Real Betis none of which have a hope in hell of competing with Barce or Real.

On a side note, Jose Mourinho moves on to manage Real Madrid because winning 3 league titles in Serie A and the European Championship with Inter is simply too boring for him. Serie A must suck if the prospect of playing in a two team league is appealing. Here's hoping Madrid has enough space in town for that massive ego. If he wanted to prove how great a manager he is he should have gone to Ajax and revived that great club (or Liverpool).

The Season Starts!

Herndon Youth Soccer U16 Shadow starts the season with a draw and a win, the best start ever for the Shadow! Meanwhile DC United starts the season 0-4 with no sign of improvement. The Shadow have defense, speed, an attack, and a Keeper. DC United, not so much. The Barra Brava need to come out and support The Shadow. We are the Black and Red!

Doom & Gloom in Liverpool

Make this season go away. The Reds are out of the FA, the Champions League, no chance of winning the Prem, not likely to make it into the top four to get into the Champions League next year, everybody's injured, make it stop! Maybe Liverpool is in one of those "blow it up and rebuild" phases. Right now it's just painful.