Steven Gerrard is busy

I guess I made some dumb vow to post at least once a day around here. I'm pretty uninspired, so here's something from With Leather on what Steven Gerrard of Liverpool is doing lately.

I can't top this

Great post on With Leather regarding Two-Meter Peter and his hella-attractive girlfriend. Snippets (but definitely click the link to see pictures and read it all):

Most notably, striker Peter Crouch went to the Caribbean with girlfriend Abigail Clancy, who you may remember from that time she wore a see-through dress or that time she frolicked on the beach or that time my boner tore through my underwear.

...and...

So Crouch, a scarecrow-lookin' dude who isn't particularly good at what he does, gets to date the lingerie model with low self-esteem. If anyone needs me, I'll have my head in the oven.

EPL news site

I somehow stumbled upon this site, and it may be my new home for Liverpool news.

Lame studying

Exam season is upon me once again, and I am starting extra early this time. If I pass it's the last one I ever take, so postimg will be light around here for the next couple of months.

Anyway, I found some time to watch sports today, too. The highlights:

In EPL action, Arsenal scored with a minutes left in injury time to get out with a 1-1 tie against Aston Villa.

Wright State pushed Valpo into OT, but the Crusaders eked out the win.

Georgetown also went into overtime in Milwaukee against Marquette, but the Hoyas won.

Texas Tech knocked off #5 Texas in Lubbock for Pat Knight's biggest win yet.

Soccer announcers are stupid

So as I sit here at home watching the Liverpool-Middlesbrough game, the announcers on Setanta just had what was quite possibly the dumbest conversation ever. I am recording the game, so maybe later I'll try to do a complete transcript (but that's unlikely).

The gist was that one guy asked the other if he thought that the crowd at Anfield (Liverpool's stadium) was more subdued during day games than night games. The second guy agreed. Then they tried to figure out why it was, and couldn't come up with a good answer.

Now...

Any American sports fan knows that a night game on the weekend is going have many more fans who have been drinking all day, making them louder. I think we can assume that English soccer fans take the drinking part of the sporting event even more seriously than we do. The obvious answer, then, as to why the crowds at the night games seem more boisterous is that they are hammered.

It's possible that the announcers know full well that this is the reason, but the EPL doesn't want to talk about alcohol and their fans since in the past they have had so many problems with fan hooliganism. You think these guys could come up with artful euphemisms rather than play dumb, though.

You've got to love the London papers

News and photos from Liverpool's Christmas party.

You can tell it's in England because the OBL costume wouldn't fly here. I like the picture of Fernando Torres, though.

In the meantime...

...Middlesbrough, who is facing relegation, just went up 2-0 on EPL leader Arsenal in the 73rd minute. That takes some of the sting out of Liverpool's loss yesterday.

This isn't one of those usual games between two teams on the opposite ends of the standings. Middlesbrough has outplayed Arsenal the whole game, with 11 shots (4 on goal) versus Arsenal's 4 shots (0 on goal).

EPL on Sunday December 16

Next Sunday will be quite the EPL doubleheader, as the big four teams play each other. At 7:30 AM is Liverpool vs. Manchester United on Setanta. Then at 10 AM is Chelsea vs. Arsenal on FSC. It's safe to say this will probably be the best week of the year in the league.

Liverpool - Champions League Update

Liverpool pounded FC Porto yesterday 4-1 in UEFA Champions League play. After starting pool play horribly, they needed a lot to go right with two games left for them to advance to the knockout (tournament stage) round of 16.



Well, step two of that happened, as group last-place team Besiktas beat Marseille also yesterday. The standings look like like so (Group A):

Marseille 8 points
FC Porto 7 points
Liverpool 7 points
Besiktas 6 points

The points system works like this: a win is worth 3 and a tie is worth 1.

The final games in pool play pit Liverpool at Marseille and Besiktas at FC Porto on Tuesday, December 11. The odd thing is that every team can still advance. For Liverpool, Marseille, and FC Porto, if they win they are in (Marseille can also get in if they tie, and I don't know how various tiebreakers will work so this is simplistic). Besiktas needs to win and they need the other game to end in a tie. The way this pool has worked out, I wouldn't count against anything happening.

Setanta does not yet know what games they will be showing on that day, but it may be worthwhile to return frequently and check.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Big Four in the EPL wil advance, also, as Man U, Arsenal, and Chelsea all have enough points to have locked up their spots.

Nerds buy English soccer team

Ebbsfleet United has been bought by a website of soccer fans (as best I can figure out from this article). Pretty cool stuff, I think. 20,000 members ponied up 35 pounds each to do so:

As a result they will all own an equal share in the club and have a vote on transfers, player selection and all major decisions. They will also have an option to buy all the club for a fixed price in future.

It took a little digging, but Ebbsfleet United is in the English Conference, which I think is the 5th highest league in England. Over time, with good play they could move up to the Premier League, which would be loads of fun for these guys who bought the team. For now, they get to play such teams as Droylsdon, Forest Green, Kidderminster, and Rushden & D'monds, whatever they are.

Sunday morning notes

I am barely hungover, and thus doing better than most Sundays. I should go in to my office to work on the Mod 3 exercise and just finish it up, but laziness will probably kick in.

Meanwhile, I am watching Man U and Blackburn. Man U just scored 2 quick goals within 2 minutes at 35:00 and are now in control. I can't believe this is the same Blackburn team that played Liverpool so tough last week.

Finally, last night Eric Friedman had a house party. It was a small but festive gathering. Highlights include some people (let's call them "Rony" and "Meema") separately having a little too much fun with the booze. It was a nice time for all. "Meema", Plothow, and I went to Sedgwick's at around 1:30 AM, but I had an overwhelming urge to relieve myself and had to immediately go home.

Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur - LIVE

So I gots Reuter here, as Neyer is staying home and can't make it. That's life with a kid and an open house.

Anyway, the game is 1-1 at the half. I've been drinking Goose Island Harvest Ale, and it
s fantastic!

Sunday - Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur

So the next Liverpool game on TV is Sunday, October 7 at 9 AM. It's against the thoroughly crappy Spurs on FSC. We'll see if Neyer is having people over; if not, I'm willing to host.

Liverpool live and in person

If you haven't read it, check out Reuter's experience at the Liverpool-Reading game Tuesday night in Reading, England.

Liverpool vs. Birmingham City

The game is on Setanta at 9 AM on Saturday. I'll host if there is interest. I'll also buy some Sugar-Free Red Thunder. An e-mail will appear later this week

Liverpool vs. Portsmouth - Sat 9/15/07 UPDATED

This game is on Setanta Xtra, I just found out. I'll be in Tha ATL that weekend, but this is a special note to all those Liverpool fans to head to a bar to watch. Setanta Xtra is just another Setanta channel on DirecTV, so I bet any bar that shows EPL games would have it.

UPDATE: I've been told that my intent above is not clear, so let me try again. Setanta Xtra is just a spillover channel they use to put extra, conflicting games on. It's like Comcast (channel 640 on DirecTV) and Comcast Plus (channel 668). Hence, any place or anyone that has Setanta also has Setanta Xtra, as far as I can tell. Interested parties may want to contact their favored bar for confirmation.

Liverpool 6 - Derby County 0

Wow, this game was a pounding. I know Derby's not very good, but scores like these are still pretty rare.

The Pool may be ready to take the League this year.

Sunderland v. Liverpool - running diary

So the game this week starts at 6:45 this morning, and Reuter and possibly Faber are coming by to watch. Tony said he might come, but I got a text message from Fubar last night saying he and Tony were doing karaoke at Full Schilling at 12:30 AM, so he is doubtful.

6:30 - Watching the weekly EPL preview show on FSC, which I recorded early this morning. Also still pounding water. I'm trying to put away a gallon before people show up and I have to start with the mimosas.

6:35 - Reuter's here, and he's soaked. That poncho is a little short.

6:45 - Gametime, and Reuter is pouring the biggest mimosa EVER. That's what happens when the host doesn't own champaign glasses.

6:47 - Pool almost scores in the first minutes. Sunderland's goalie looks like he knows he's going to get bombarded today. And that's with 4 Pool starters resting!

7:06 - 0-0. Reuter is expecting a blowout and he's getting REALLY cranky.

7:25 - Pool scores FINALLY at 36:00. Reuter is excited, to say the least.

8:15 - Still 1-0 Pool. Reuter just spent 15 minutes trying to find EPL games near London for his weekend there in September, but such a task will take all of his sober Google skills and the resources of PwC at his disposal.

8:32 - 2-0, Pool ay 86:00. Vronen (or something) on the goal. We are excited, because it means another Jagerbomb before 9 AM. Also, it's a nice insurance goal.

8:45 - Game over, 2-0 Pool. Last update in this post. 1.5 bottles of Andre and 3 JB's apiece, and now another big game is coming on with Arsenal v. Man City. We're only getting drunker! Have a great day.

Upcoming Liverpool games on TV

With the addition of Setanta to my DirecTV package, I'll now have the ability to watch any and every EPL game televised in the US. Fox's schedule of games on FSC only goes through September, and Liverpool has no more games on it. Setanta, on the other hand, has games through November on their site. Here's what's coming up for the next month or so:

Saturday, August 25
Liverpool at Sunderland
6:30 AM

Saturday, September 1
Derby County at Liverpool
9 AM

Saturday, September 22
Birmingham City at Liverpool
9 AM

With the ridiculous Iowa-NIU tailgate at Soldier Field on September 1, maybe people will want to come watch the next day.