Where To Begin

Let's see...Soccer, a sport near and dear to me. I play it quite a bit, and even found two leagues in New York to play outdoors in the winter in (I am pretty solid when it comes to playing). I'll remember to wear my Goretex. I love nothing more thant watching English Premier Soccer (along with South American and Italian soccer) around Noon, in a crowded Euro-crowd bar in the city. That being said, the qualifying round for Euro Cup 2008 is complete, and England failed to make it.

England? England!!! How could this happen, given their ridiculous payroll? Well for one, they choked against Russia last month - a game that I watched in Nevada Smiths. They were sluggish in Midfield, and they didn't control possession. Russian players, and their coach, then went on the boast to the media for weeks about how the England "playboy" team was lazy and didn't deserve to make the finals. This was followed by Russia inexplicably losing to Israel in Tel Aviv. Oops. All Russia had to do was beat the soccer powerhouse Israel (NOT), and they were in and Russia was out. Instead, England was given a second chance, where all they had to do was tie Croatia, and they advanced.

Now, they were playing croatia the day before Thanksgiving, and I got out of work to watch the second half. They were inexplicably down 2-0 at the half. David Beckham came on and set up both goals, but England's rookie goalkeeper, who the manager, Steve McClaren chose over the vetran starter, couldn't prevent Croatia's go-ahead goal. Needless to say, he was fired in less than 24 hours after the match ended.

The real reason why England, the birthplace of the game, failed to advance? They had the wrong players on the pitch, and all of the players they had available were exhausted. The first half of the premier league is over, and the Champions Cup and FA Cup are well along. Some players have played fifty 90-minute games now. You could see how slow they were moving. And don't forget, Rooney, Carrick, Terry, and Owen were all hurt, thanks to overuse along the way in the permiership. Still, not advancing, when given that second chance against Croatia, was completely unacceptable.

Keeping with Soccer, Manchester United inexplicably lost to Bolton on Saturday. Ouch. Perhaps that's because they only had one forward to play, instead of their normal two. Apparently Tevez was too tired from his two international games for Argentina, despite the fact he only played 23 minutes in the second game before receiving a red card for kicking a Columbian in the head. Oh well.

Too bad College Football is wrapping up, what with the NFL consisting of only four good teams (Indy, New England, Green Bay and Dallas) and a slew of mediocre and awful teams. Maybe they should adopt the relegation concept of Soccer, where the two worst teams are dropped. So Miami and the Jets would be gone. On second thought...

Apparently LSU lost to Arkansas in Quadrupple overtime. Too bad the game was played on a Friday at 3, when I was at work. I guess Les Miles was thinking about Michigan already, though I heard some Michigan boosters don't think he has the Michigan style. Does the Michigan style consist of loosing to OSU and blowing Rose Bowls? And of course there was Appalachian State too.

At least College Basketball is starting soon. Thank God, given that things are pretty baron in New York right now. I heard the Knicks still reside in MSG, which is too bad. Can someone explain to me why Isiah Thomas is still employed, given their record and his off court leisure activities. The Rangers might be worth watching, given they are in first place, but does anyone care about the NHL? (I love hockey, but admit the league has overexpanded - Columbus has a freaking team now).

Is anyone else alarmed the Yankees have built the exact same team as last year, which, by the way, again failed to advance beyond the first round. And what's more, the Red Sox are pursuing Santana. Great, I need to start drinking again.