EPL Power Rankings

There is really so much to cover in the world of international football right now, that I couldn't possibly write about it without boring the death out of you. So instead I introduce my Power Rankings through the first 7 round of the EPL season. I'll try and keep it short and sweet. By the way I have discovered a great show on Fox Soccer Channel. Every Tuesday night you can catch Fox Football Fone-In at 8PM (time varies depending on games and such.) The show is hosted by two very knowledgable, very likeable Brits, and they discuss EPL, Champions League, and MLS. On to the rankings.


1. Manchester United (1st in table; 5-1-1; 16 pts)
The fact that Rooney has been playing in very poor form and this team is still at the top of the table speaks volumes. The brilliance of C. Ronaldo has been spectacular, he and Saha are carrying this team.

2. Arsenal (8th; 3-2-1; 11 pts)
I know this seems odd here. They started the season very rough to say the least. And there are 6 other teams in front of Arsenal on the table, but this team is fuego. Cesc Fabregas is unbelievable, Arsenal fans are really enjoying Gallas.

3. Chelsea (2nd; 5-1-1; 16 pts)
Their one loss was very flukey at Middlesborough. The draw against Villa says a lot about that club, but this team just has not clicked. They have not shown the chemistry and the quality we have come to expect from Mourinho coached clubs.

4. Aston Villa (6th; 3-4-0; 13 pts)
I am so impressed with this team. I can't tell you how well they have played despite all the controversy they had coming into the season. David O'Neill is without question the best manager right now. The draw at Stamford Bridge was hard fought, this team is going somewhere.


5. Everton (5th; 3-4-0; 13 pts)
I put Villa ahead of them simply because of the win at Chelsea. This team can play just as well, if not they are better. Cahill and Johnson are playmakers in every sense of the word. I promise you they will be in the top portion of the table at the end.



6. Portsmouth (4th; 4-1-2; 13 pts)
This team started fuego, and have since been cooled off significantly, by insignificant opponents. They had better get back to the pace they started off on. I think they are playing back to their true form.

7.Bolton (3rd; 4-2-1)
I probably should have placed this group of guys higher, I'm not 100% sold on them yet. I love Big Sam, I think they are playing well together, and they have made the Reebok an impregnable fortress. Ask Liverpool.

8.Blackburn (9th; 3-2-2; 11 pts)
Started really slow, but starting to come together. This team plays dirty, and are uber-dislikable. Every time I watch them I like them less and less, and their manager is a real pompous prick. Still they have been catching fire since Chelsea spanked them.

9. Liverpool (10th; 3-1-3; 10 pts)
This team is garbage. The excuses are coming out now that they are really a European style team, not English style anymore. That is why they perform so well in Europe and not so well in England. Whatever the case, they don't look good.

10.Reading (7th; 4-1-2; 13 pts)
Yeah, you read that correctly. Reading, the new boys up, are playing unbelievably well. Rumors are surfacing now that they are in the lead to get Freddy Adu (very strange) and he could be wearing blue and white by January.

11.Fulham (11th; 2-3-2; 9 pts)
This team plays so hard, but they just don't have that much skill. It'll be interesting to see how long they can keep up that determination and the hard work to keep level.

12.West Ham Utd. (16th; 1-2-4; 5 pts)
This team has spun wildly out of control. I don't get it, they started the season solidly, then they picked up the Argentinian duo and have just completely lost it. Rumors are circulating that the team is about to be sold, and Big Phil may come over from Portugal to manage. I still think they are good enough to compete.


13. Newcastle Utd. (13th; 2-1-4; 7 pts)
Ugh, please play to your potential. I think it is slowly coming to the realization of everybody that Glenn Roeder really isn't that good. I like him as a person, I think he's a decent manager, I just don't think he's cut out for this.



14.Tottenham Hotspur (14th; 2-1-4; 7 pts)
They really miss Michael Carrick more than anyone thought. Lennon comes back over the fortnight's break. They're finally starting to pay well, it's about time.

15.Manchester City (12th; 2-2-3; 8 pts)
These guys are terrible. They finally won their first game since the first round on Saturday, they are by no means even mediocre.

16.Watford (19th; 0-4-3; 4 pts)
I think this team is really good, when they are at home. They give everyone a good fight, including Manchester United. Watch the Fulham game from Monday and tell me you don't love the way those teams play.

17. Middlesborough (17th; 1-2-4; 5 pts)
It's shameful that their only win is against Chelsea...shameful for Chelsea that is. These guys are mis-managed and undercoached. They have the personnel, Garteh Southgate just isn't ready yet to manage.

18. Wigan Atl. (15th; 1-2-3; 5 pts)
I haven't had a chance to watch them play, but from all accounts I haven't missed much.

19. Charlton Atl. (20th; 0-1-6; 1 point)
As bad as that record looks, this team is not that bad at all. They have shown flashes of quality, they have had a couple of really tough losses with PK's and such. Darren Bent has been playing great.

20. Sheffield Utd. (19th; 1-2-4; 5 pts)
When you watch this team you just get the feeling that they are not anywhere near as good as the competition. I feel bad for them, it's going to be a long year just to get to relegation.

All Football, No Pink

Ew. This is the grossest NFL season ever. We are a quarter of the way through the season and I don't think there is a single team that looks like a legitimate Super Bowl champion. Every team I want to say looks great, ends up showing up a number of flaws the next week. It's a nice feeling if your team hasn't been performing particularly well (I'm looking in your direction New York Giants), knowing that a team can't be that far behind. So let's take a look at some of the "best" teams in football.
Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Chicago are the only three undefeated teams left in football. Can anyone remember the last time when so few teams were really good? Even looking at those three teams, has anybody really been that impressed? Chicago looked unbelievable against Seattle the other night, but let's not forget that Seattle's biggest weapon was out. It was incredible that nobody gave any credence to the fact that Shaun Alexander wasn't in the game. Chicago also barely escaped Minnesota with a win the week before, so let's relax before we annoint Rex Grossman as the greatest QB ever. The defense looks excellent, just like last year, but I'm not sold on this team as Super Bowl champs just yet.
Speaking of defense, wow the Baltimore Ravens know something about that. Can anybody find out exactly what drug cocktail that Ray Lewis is on? Has anybody scared you this much, ever? But that offense is STILL TERRIBLE. If I have to hear or read one more thing about how "Steve McNair is winning games in Baltimore," I'm going to vomit. That guy is barely holding on in Baltimore. He should be writing thank you books to Ray Lewis and everyone on that defense. On the other hand, this defense won Baltimore a Super Bowl a few years ago with Trent Dilfer and Tony Banks calling the shots. I do think McNair can contribute more than those guys, so it'll be interesting to see where this team can go. Their schedule is pretty light not including that brutal AFC North. Either the Ravens, Steelers, or Bengals are missing the playoffs, and if Ben Roethlisberger doesn't start playing the way he should it's going to be a lonely January in Steeltown.
And when you think of lonely Januarys, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and overevaluated teams; you have to think of the Indianapolis Colts. I am not getting hooked into this Indy trap again. I am simply not impressed with these guys. Yes, Peyton drove the field in the clutch against the Jets the other day. Yes, the Colts passing attack is more potent than ever. That lack of a running game is going to get to them soon (the game against the Jets was really the first time Addai and Rhodes looked remotely competent). Their defense is non-existent to boot. I don't care how good your passing attack is, without a running game and a solid defense, you can't win football games. I've watched about 10 quarters of Colts football, and just have not once said to myself, "wow, this team looks unbeatable." The Giants and Jets offenses were able to pick that defense apart. If not for a few lucky bounces against the Giants and the Jaguars, and the determination of Peyton against the Jets this team would be 1-3. I know it's not fair to point out woulda, coulda; but it merrits a mention.
Parity has caused the league to really bunch up a good amount in the middle there. Even the teams that are 0-4 haven't looked god-awful to me...except the Raiders. They are bad, like really bad. They play the Niners this weekend, I'd rather watch pee-wee football.

Games to Watch
Cowboys at Eagles, 4:15 FOX
Obvious reasons there. I can't wait to see what that Philly trash does to O.D...I mean T.O.

Giants at Redskins, 1:00 FOX
Giants must-win, Redskins have to get on a consistent track.

Steelers at Chargers 8:15 NBC
This is a biggie. Let's see if Phillip Rivers can bounce back from that heartbreaker in Baltimore...oh yeah and the Steelers season could be on the line.

Baltimore at Denver 9:00 ESPN (Mon. Night)
I promise you that Baltimore loses this game. I also promise you that the Under is the safest bet I've ever seen.

I'm Back

To the overwhelming uproar I have recieved from my devoted fan, I am sorry. This is my first post of September, it has been a while to say the least. A lot has happened since I last posted, for one, the Premiership season is now 6 rounds in. European play has opened, to interesting results. The NFL season has opened up as well, and we have all had a good look at the best quarterback in football (you know who I speak of). Also, the political world is in an uproar as we gear up for November midterm elections. I should be posting on all these topics in the next week, and hopefully I will squeeze in a review of the new Lupe Fiasco CD. It's nice to be back in, look for an article on Monday.

Playoffs

Playoffs

NFC AFC
1. Panthers (12-4) 1. Patriots (12-4)
2. Giants (11-5) 2. Steelers (12-4)
3. Seahawks (11-5) 3. Broncos (11-5)
4. Bears (10-6) 4. Jaguars (11-5)
5. Eagles (10-6) 5. Chargers (10-6)
6. Falcons (9-7) 6. Bengals (9-7)




NFC Wildcard

Falcons at Seahawks
Wow, Fox must be salivating at this matchup. Gross city. Seahawks should make quick work of this team at “The Loudest Stadium in Football.” I like the Falcons, just not enough to believe they can beat a real Super Bowl-caliber team.
Seahawks over Falcons

Eagles at Bears
This is proof of how bad the NFC is. I don’t think anybody would actually want to watch either of these wildcard games. This is a rematch from a blowout of a few years ago. That Eagles team was pre-T.O. and they dominated, more of the same against a ‘happy to be here’ Bears team.
Eagles over Bears

AFC Wildcard

Bengals at Broncos
Now this is a playoff matchup. How sad is it that I sat here for 10 minutes debating a fake predicted playoff game that wouldn’t happen for another 4 months anyways? My prediction? I figure if the Bengals have made it this far, Palmer must be healthy. Like I said, if he is healthy he could be the best quarterback in the NFL. As scary as Mile High is, I’m going with the Bungles.
Bengals over Broncos

Chargers at Jaguars
This will be an interesting game. I’m going to give it to the Jags for two reasons. One, I think Byron Leftwich is going to announce his abilities to carry a football team right here. Two, home field advantage definitely helps out, especially when you have to cross the country. Finally, I think that Jags D is a little feistier than the Chargers D. Either way, I’m already looking forward to this game.
Jaguars over Chargers

NFC Divisional Playoffs

Seahawks at Giants
This game is going to be played in Seattle, week 3. I gave the bye to the Giants because I think they will win that game. I think they will win this one too. No way Eli goes down in the playoffs again. His name is Eli, not Peyton, he’s the clutch one.
Giants over Seahawks

Eagles at Panthers
This is a rematch from the NFC Championship game in January 2004. This time it is in Carolina, and this time Carolina is the favorite. I think this game will be very close. McNabb isn’t just going to roll over and die, expect him to really give the Panthers a run for their money. Logic tells us though, Philly just doesn’t have the horses to keep up with Carolina.
Panthers over Eagles


AFC Divisional Playoffs

Bengals at Patriots
Remember those games when the Colts used to go up to Gilette and get wiped out. All the hype about Peyton and that great offense, and they used to go up to New England and get pooped on by Belichick. (The Colts won that Monday Night game last year and everyone forgot that it took 7 tries, the Colts still can’t beat a healthy Patriots team). Well prepare to see the same thing happen to the Bengals. A stellar offense is going to stroll into that stadium in New England, and get beat down.
Patriots over Bengals

Jaguars at Steelers
This is going to be an old-school football game. I’m going to predict a final score of something like 10-7. This is going to come down to who can move the ball with the running game. I don’t think either team really will be able to very effectively, but the weather and home field will give the Steelers the nod over the Jags.
Steelers over Jaguars

Championship Weekend


NFC Championship: Giants at Panthers
I hate the Panthers. Did I tell you that already? I’m in a tough spot here. Personally, I fully believe the Giants are good enough to beat this team, but I know I’m really just being a homer. I don’t want to write that the Panthers are good enough to go to the Super Bowl because I don’t know if I believe that. The two teams meet up in December, in Carolina, I think Carolina wins that game, and this one.
Panthers over Giants

AFC Championship: Steelers at Patriots
It had to come down to this, didn’t it? Can Big Ben get them over the Pats when it counts? I mean really these teams aren’t incredibly different from each other. Both have excellent coaches, solid but not great running backs, and shut down defenses. The big difference comes at the quarterback position. As good as Big Ben is, no Steelers fan can argue that he is as good as the best in the league, Tom Brady. Throw in home field for the Patriots, and I think that seals the deal. This will be a good game though.
Patriots over Steelers

Super Bowl XLI
Carolina Panthers vs. New England Patriots
Yeah, it’s a lame pick to make for the Super Bowl. Looking back at this entire preview, it lacks a little bit of creativity to be honest. I’ll pick the Patriots because of the AFC’s remarkable superiority this season (again). It’s a Super Bowl game so you can’t put too much thought into it. Unfortunately a lot of the strategy and thought get taken out of the Super Bowl, because it becomes such a nerve-wracking spectacle for the players. My 2006 NFL Champions are the New England Patriots…again.

NFL part 2

NFC

NFC East

Washington Redskins (7-9)
Every year since 8th grade I have heard about how good the Redskins are going to be. “They got so many great players in the offseason, blah, blah, blah…” A fossil of a man who still thinks it is 1985 coaches this team. They have Mark Brunell as their quarterback; that would have been awesome in 1998. Clinton Portis is already bruised up (A quick note here. I picked Portis as a keeper for my fantasy league literally two days before he went down. Here I am now, torn between my devotion to the New York Giants, wanting to see him fail; and my desire to thrash people in fantasy football. Life is hard.) Randle-El is not THAT big of a pickup. He is an exceptional slot receiver, nothing that is going to bring a team to the Super Bowl. Until they prove me wrong, I will have this team pegged for mediocrity.

Dallas Cowboys (8-8)
I get really excited when I watch Sportscenter updates about Bill Parcells and T.O. I’m waiting for the day I can turn it on and see Parcells calling T.O., “A piece of $^*#” Is that so wrong? Again, this is the same situation as the Redskins. This team isn’t good. It is an old coach, with an old quarterback, and a few ‘big’ pickups. Did people see what happened to Bledsoe under a little bit of pressure? He folds up like a cheap suit. I don’t think Julius Jones is all that, definitely not a superstar back. They will finish similar to last year, and then we can all wave goodbye to Bill Parcells forever.


Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Yeah, don’t doubt this team. People actually think that losing T.O. is going to make them a 4 win team now. Don’t be foolish. Andy Reid made a lot of questionable decisions last year when I watched him, I actually remember openly ridiculing him for the first time ever. But this guy also won 12 games one year using one of the brothers Detmer, and A.J. Feely. With Donovon McNabb super refocused, Westbrook vowing to return to former full strength, and a defense that should still scare the bejesus out of anyone, I think this team is one of the scariest teams in the NFC. It could just be a habitual fear of the Eagles because of the way they have owned the Giants since 2001, but this team is definitely a lot better than a lot of people give them credit for.


New York Giants (11-5)
Don’t act like you didn’t know this was coming. COME ON BIG BLUE! Eli Manning has me on the brink of wetting my pants with excitement. I love hearing people hate on this guys talents, but fact is he DID have a stellar first half of the season last year. If for no other reason, every Giants fan has to love this guy for his clutch factor. He lead game-winning or game-tying drives against Dallas, Denver, and Seattle last season. He came up with big plays when he had to, and he has the supreme confidence of everyone on that squad. I don’t want to jinx it, but this year could be a really special year for this team. For the Giants to succeed they need their defense to continue playing the way they have this preseason (2 touchdowns in 3 games, I know it’s preseason, but that has to get you a little excited.) They also need Tiki Barber to have one more year left in that tank. Look, every year I doubt Tiki’s ability, and it is just foolish. I never bought into the fumble hype that used to follow him (that tag followed him around unfairly, he had a couple bad games, and his arm was wrapped for a few times when that happened) Still, he isn’t 28 anymore, he is definitely over the running back hill. There is a little concern in that department. This team is good for 11 though…I hope.


NFC North
Before I write about the individual teams in this division, let it be known this division is AWFUL. There is not a redeeming quality in this division to be had. If you can avoid watching these four teams, do so.

Chicago Bears (10-6)
You know how in sci-fi stories and movies and stuff, sometimes there is a race of people that are hated by the rest of society, like the PigMen or something. Well the PigMen always have a King right, like the best of the worst. Well, here you are. The Chicago Bears are the King of the PigMen.

Green Bay Packers (4-12)
Just retire, man. You are not good anymore. What you are doing is kind of sad, I understand you’re a legend in Green Bay, but you are legitimately hurting your team now. I hope at least you will tutor Aaron Rogers, and help him become the next starter of this team.


Minnesota Vikings (4-12)
Christ, this team is trash. Chester Taylor is not a starter, neither is Brad Johnson. Minnesota should quit now.

Detroit Lions (7-9)
Intriguing. They need a year to gel under Mike Martz’s offense. They could be deadly though. If these guys actually live up to their potential from the last few years, they could be dangerous. Still have a terrible defense, and Jon Kitna is their quarterback. They are a few steps off in Detroit, but certainly headed in the right direction.

NFC South

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8)
I think they were lucky to make the playoffs last year. I think Cadillac is the real deal, and I think he will be deadly, unfortunately Chris Simms is the quarterback. Great defense and solid running game will bring them far, but just short of the playoffs in such tough division.

Atlanta Falcons (9-7)
Until they put Mike Vick in the system he wants (Jim Mora Jr. refuses to give up on this West Coast thing) they will not break through. They are dangerous of course. They have the second most underrated running back in football, Warrick Dunn. If their defense was playing up to par last season, they would have made the playoffs. People love hating on these guys, especially Vick, but you have to give them credit. They have competed every year that he has been there. They went to the NFC Championship a few years back, don’t forget that either.

Carolina Panthers (12-4)
As much as I hate this team, and believe me I really hate this team. I have to put them as the cream of the NFC crop. They are the team to beat in the conference. DeAngelo Williams answered any doubts I had in DeShaun Foster as a starter. That kid has been proving all preseason that he is extremely real. Picking up Keyshawn is huge for that offense too, and that defense is still lethal.

New Orleans Saints (8-8)
Very interesting team. Reggie Bush…man that guy is good. Drew Brees will help add leadership and guidance to a team that desperately needs it. I think that it is going to be clear that with those two guys taking over, this team is heading in the right direction. I really didn’t like their hiring of Sean Payton as head coach (he used to be an offensive coordinator for the jints…Jim Fassel stripped him of his playcalling privileges. If that doesn’t tell you what kind of coach he is, I don’t know what will.) If you wanted to brighten the situation I guess you could say they have an athletic, potent offense, and an offensive minded coach. Their defense is mediocre at best though, a secondary that can be chewed up by anyone who has a mind to do some chewing. Also, I still don’t know when they are allowed to start playing normal home games again. You remember that whole Katrina thing last year?


NFC West

San Francisco 49ers (2-14)
You want to know the only thing Niners fans have to look forward to over the next 12 months? “Ladies and Gentleman, with the first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select, Adrian Peterson from the University of Oklahoma.”

Seattle Seahawks (11-5)
I wouldn’t say that I really believe in this. But, the Madden curse definitely does have some credence to it. I mean, it has worked every year. 2001, the first year of Eddie George’s decline. 2002, Daunte Culpepper throws for more interceptions than touchdowns. 2003, Marshall Faulk hasn’t run for 1,000 yards since that cover. 2004, Mike Vick broke the hell out of his leg in preseason. 2005, Ray Lewis missed a quarter of the season to injury, even when he was playing his tackles and sacks were both down. 2006, I think we all remember what happened with Donovan McNabb. With all that said, they also lost a big member of their offensive line. I think that the mental state with that team and their fans since the Super Bowl has been pretty negative, and that definitely has an affect on a team after a little while. They are still bitching about that pass interference call, that mentality will bring them down. But, they play the Niners, Rams, and Cardinals twice.

Arizona Cardinals (9-7)
Yeah, this team is good. You can hate all you want on them, and I think a lot of people are. That doesn’t stop how good they are going to be on the offensive side of the ball. Edge is nasty man, and he is playing with a MEGA chip on his shoulder. Add that to two receivers who are just FILTHY. Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin make up the nastiest one-two receiver punch in football. If Kurt Warner can be half the man he used to be, this team could be devastating. If not, than maybe Matt Leinart can. Their defense leaves a lot to be desired, they got torched by everyone last year. Good enough for 9 wins in this cupcake division though.


St. Louis Rams (5-11)
Stephan Jackson is overrated. After that, is there anyone good on this team? Of course Torry Holt is great, but a receiver is only as good as his quarterback. Marc Bulger is absolute trash. He should be mowing my lawn on Sundays, not playing professional football. Good luck struggling to 5 wins this season St. Louis. Isn’t it kind of nice to have the Rams back down where they used to be, pre-Faulk.

NFL Preview

2006 NFL PREVIEW

In the undying words of Booker T., “CAN YOU DIG IT? SUCKAAAAAAAA!” The NFL season is officially less than one month away. ESPN is officially showing round the clock coverage of preseason, the NFL Network is showing practice scrimmages, and I can’t get enough of either. Before I dig into this preview let me make this clear, although I feel I know a decent amount about the NFL, I try to avoid putting too much thought into these picks. For the most part, when one uses too much thought about new draft picks and free agent pickups, that turns into mental hype. Mental hype inflates picks and makes people believe that the Oakland Raiders may make the playoffs because Randy Moss is “focused” this year. So, I added basic knowledge of every team, added in a bit of knowledge about how these things usually turn out, and came out with a prediction. Nothing scientific here, just some basic common sense. I want to touch on one other thing before I dig into this preview. I want to take a vote on what is more disturbing; New Referees uniforms, or the Kevin Bacon and Michael Jordan Hanes commercial? They both destroy basic principles of my life, and they need to be stopped. Let’s start a letter writing campaign to the NFL and let’s just murder Kevin Bacon. Anyone? Fine you’re right, the letter writing campaign would be too much work. Let’s just murder Bacon. Nope, I’ve never read Bill Simmons in my life.

AFC EAST


New York Jets (6-10)
I have the Jets winning 6 games, which is more than most people think they will do. History tells us that rookie coaches do not fare well. History tells us that back to back shoulder surgery does not help quarterbacks. History also tells us that running backs stop running when they are 34 and there is bone on bone contact. Yikes. They have a cool defense led by Jonathan Vilma, though. And I don’t care how young your head coach is, he is better than Herman Edwards. So I gave them more victories.

Buffalo Bills (6-10)
Honestly, I don’t really know too much about this team. I don’t really care to know much about them either. They have Takeo Spikes, Willis “I’m still overrated” McGahee, and if I’m not mistaken JP Losman is their quarterback. JP Losman does not win football games. They always have a good defense though, and if Willis plays up to his potential (he has to at some point right, or it stops being potential) than they could win 6 to 8 games.

Miami Dolphins (9-7)
Apparently it is really cool to say the Dolphins are going to be good this year. Everyone likes to say that they could compete with the New England Patriots. This team cannot compete with New England. Culpepper was showing signs of struggling without Randy Moss last year, before he went down with his knee injury. You know, the knee injury that ripped his knee up in three different places? Culpepper is overrated, and he doesn’t have any targets besides a slightly above average receiver in Chambers. Ronnie Brown has never in his career been the lone guy, this will be his first shot at that. Solid defense as usual, no real changes there. I think this team stays at 9-7.

New England Patriots (12-4)
The Patriots aren’t as dominant as they were 3 years ago, but they are still damn good. This is still the team to beat in the AFC. Sorry Steelers fans. I respect the Steelers, but until they can beat the Pats, New England is still the top dog in the AFC. They lost a few big names on defense this year, but Bill Belichick still gets the respect of absolute faith. Until his moves start backfiring, I don’t think this team is going down to anyone. One drawback to them? Losing Vinatieri will hurt more than a lot of people think.


AFC NORTH

Cleveland Browns (6-10)
This team does not have much to offer. From what I saw of their quarterback Charlie Frye, I like him a lot. He seems to have all the mechanics, and the ability to succeed at the position. He also has a great coach in Romeo Crennel who was able to drag a few wins and a lot of close games out of this team last year. If Kellen Winslow stays healthy this year and lives up to his lost potential, this team could make a little noise. Not playoff noise, but maybe enough noise to annoy some people.

Baltimore Ravens (8-8)
Steve McNair is old. Did everyone forget that he was considering retirement a few months ago? This is what I was talking about with mental hype. People threw rational, common sense out the window, and started getting excited about Steve McNair. Tennessee cut him! Hello! Tennessee is garbage! They had to decide between Billy Volek and another 4 win season, or rolling the dice with their homegrown legend, Steve McNair…they chose Volek. How does this add up to a playoff season for the Ravens? The Super Bowl year was over 5 years ago now, that team is just about dead. Let’s get over the Ravens thing please. Ray Lewis still scares me though, so I gave them 8 wins.

Cincinnati Bengals (9-7)
This pick is really pending on one thing. If Carson Palmer is healthy they could win 13 games, if he goes down week 2, they could win 3 games. So I put them at 9-7, I have no idea what’s going to happen with him. I know that I have him on my fantasy team, and I really want him to be healthy.

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
I would love to put this team at 8 wins, I have no idea how they win games. Last year I pegged them to win 7 games and struggle all season. They did struggle through chunks of last season, but they clawed and fought their way into the Super Bowl in one of the greatest runs I have ever seen. Out of fear of disrespecting them again I am giving them 11 wins for no legitimate reason. If you are a Pittsburgh fan though, you have to be somewhat concerned about losing Kimo vonOlhoffen, and Bettis. Randle-El won’t hurt as much as some think because I think they did a good job drafting his place. It’ll be interesting to see how Cowher reacts to winning a Super Bowl, and how Roethlisberger reacts to having his face torn off.

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans (4-12)
Well, they are the Texans? Is that enough of a reason? Their new head coach is Gary Kubiak, he was important in Denver I guess. There is no redeeming quality about this team. At least they get to watch Reggie Bush, right? Oh…they didn’t draft him? Really? Well I’m sure that will work out fine for them.


Tennessee Titans (6-10)
I know that they don’t have a running game, again. I know that they’re defense is still extremely young. I know that they play in Tennessee. I think Vince Young will be a great pro though. I don’t care what scouting reports and athletic scouts say about this guy, he is a winner. If I was a Titans fan I’d be a little bummed about losing Air McNair as his mentor.

Jacksonville Jaguars (11-5)
Byron Leftwich is nothing but heart. That kid is fun to watch, he is going to become one of the NFL’s big deals this year. They also have an extremely athletic defense that seems to love hurting people. (Ask Jets fans about that…I hate Jets fans) Fred Taylor is their running back. I think he’s been in the league since I was four years old. We’re still waiting for him to play a full season.

Indianapolis Peytons (8-8)
Oh yeah. You read right folks. Some people are going to say I’m doing this just for shock value, or just to be able to say, “I told you so” in December. You know what? They are all 100% correct. There is some rational thought behind this. I have seen what a devastating playoff loss does to a team. (Niners vs Giants, January 2003. Has to be one of the worst feelings of my life. I would do anything to be able to go back to halftime of that game. I still think the Giants could have beaten that Bucs team and won the Super Bowl against a sub-par AFC team) That Giants team just never bounced back from that game over the next season. Blowing that lead when the game was locked up like that, teams just don’t bounce back that easy. I also think that Tony Dungy lost control of this team with that loss. The defense isn’t really that good, they are all smoke and mirrors in the secondary. The loss of Edgerrin James is going to kill this team. I don’t know why this hasn’t been made into a bigger deal. That guy was MONEY. I don’t care how good Peyton Manning is, but people just will not fear Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai. That frees up an extra defensive player to drop back to defend the pass. There is one more thing. Don’t you think that all this talk about choking has officially gotten to Peyton? At this point, not only is it true, but it is in his head too. I think he is going to get frustrated and struggle a little bit this year. Mark my words, the Colts are going to slip up this season. Then again, they won their first 13 games last year.



AFC West

San Diego Chargers (10-6)
Nope. I don’t think Phillip Rivers is good. I think he will be trash. I am hoping he will be trash. But I put this team at 10-6, because they can play some football. They have a great defense. They are fun and exciting to watch, they all swarm the ball, and love hitting people. LaDanian Tomlinson is the best running back in football, I don’t care what anyone else has to say. This is indisputable. He does so much for this team out of the backfield. They can do the two things football teams HAVE to do in order to win games. Play defense and run the ball. They also have Marty Shottenheimer as head coach, so they should have a solid regular season. They should also lose in the first round of the playoffs.

Kansas City Chiefs (8-8)
I originally had this team winning 12 games. Then I remembered something. Herman Edwards is their head coach. I think a lot of people forgot that. You know who will not forget that? Chiefs fans. That man cannot coach professional football. I have my doubts on whether he can coach high school football. Add to that, their offensive line (the bread and butter of Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson) is falling apart in front of our eyes. Trent Green is a little older this year, and that defense is still suspect. Still, I will give them 8 wins for having a two-headed super monster at running back, and a reasonably potent offense.

Denver Broncos (11-5)
If you aren’t a Broncos fan, is there any reason you would want to watch this team? Are they exciting at all? What does this team offer to the casual fan, or even the hardcore fan who doesn’t have a game to watch. Every year they are basically the same story. Somewhere between 9 to 11 wins, and an early playoff exit. Last year they went to the Conference Championship, but nobody can tell me they actually thought this team was good. Ron Dayne is starting this year, I always said he’d be good on another team. The Broncos make every running back good though, and that is because their offensive line cheats.

Oakland Raiders (3-13)
This team STINKS. They are odorous. Aaron Brooks isn’t a starter. Randy Moss is going to kill someone by the end of this season. Art Shell hasn’t been around football for what, a decade? You know what is hilarious, the only team that is worse than them, plays less that 30 miles away.

NFC to come tommorow, and Playoffs the day after.

Oil

Before you get mad at how long it has been since I last posted, understand that this isn't the easiest undertaking in the world. I have been trying to compile as much factual information on this subject over the last week. It's tough sifting through the overtly biased trash that is out there. Don't get me wrong, I hate these oil companies as much as the next person, but it is tough deciphering what is quality information. That coupled with the fact taht Madden NFL 2007 dropped on Monday night...well I have been busy to say the least. On to the article.

Now, Oil is a pretty broad subject. I'm going to try and limit the article to the four "supermajor" companies, and the current administration's handling of said companies. In case you were unaware, the supermajor companies include Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Total. ExxonMobil is the largest of the four in terms of revenue. You know, they were rolling around in $10Billion in profits last quarter. Read that again. $10Billion in profits. Please explain to me how that is not robbery. They are taking advantage of the rise in oil prices on every one of us. It is unfair to point out ExxonMobil and leave the other companies out. Royal Dutch Shell is the biggest of all these companies, in terms of size. You can find that famous Shell logo everywhere from South Africa, to Singapore, to Rwanda, and right down the street from my house. They all have the same thing in common though, they jack the prices on their customers in the name of political strife. All these companies have several things in common. They have absolutely no interest in finding alternative fuels, no matter what they say. They have no reason to want to see the political situation in the Middle East simmer down. Keep in mind, as long as the Middle East is in complete turmoil, they have their reason to keep prices jacked at the pump. Let's not kid ourselves and actually believe that Oil companies have a desire to find a solution to the environmental and financial disaster looming overhead. It will cost money in research, it will cost money in revenue, and it will cost money in implementation. Big business HATES losing money. Big business loves $10Billion in quarterly revenue.


With that said, the reason I started this big business series was because of a Bush act on oil in April, or should I say lack thereof. President Bush decided that he was not going to support a move to tax oil companies on there record revenue, he said it was unfair. I understand that, fine. I agree that it is not the government's job to unfairly tax business like that, actions like that hurt business and are against fundamental capitalism. It is the next part that hurt me so bad. The tax money was supposed to go to research on alternative fuel methods, hydrogen etc. Bush said no. According to him it would go againt American values for the government to do that. He prefers his method of, "encouraging American companies to find alternatives to the current oil problem coupled with the expansion of current oil reserves." Let's get this straight right now. Every expert on this subject, I mean everyone, agrees on one thing. Digging more oil is absolutely the worst solution to this problem, ever. It is the equivalent of putting a band aid on an amputated leg. It's just not going to work. All it will do is further exhaust whatever remaining resources are out there, and increase those all-important revenues.

How can the President of the United States not address this current crisis? How is this not massively important to these people? There is resounding agreement that something must be done to force these companies to change their methods, they will not do it on their own. Still, the current administration prefers to wait it out. The issue here is not to just get mad because these companies are making a tremendous amount of money, but what they are doing with the money is what is truly terrible. They are destroying our economy, destroying middle-class America, but our current leadership thinks that interfering would be anti-American. Why not establish a tax break for researching and developing alternatives? Or if access to oil reserves is what they want, give it in exchange for a break at the pump. Show Americans that the price at the pump reflects the price per barrel. There should be a proportional exchange rate here, just because the price per barrel goes up by one dollar, doesn't mean the price per gallon should go up 5 cents. I agree with fundamental conservativism, and I am a staunch capitalist. But what these companies are doing is endangering the American quality of life, and when that happens the government's job is to protect. Some could make the argument that American companies deserve protection from the American government as well. Of the four "supermajors", only one is American. Royal DUTCH Shell is quite obviously a Dutch company. Total is a French company, and the leader in European petrol. BP, or British Petroleum, is a British company although you would think that a company that soiled so much quality land in Alaska would at least be American.

I want to write one final note about ExxonMobil, Republicans, and dirty politics. Al Gore, a man I admire and would vote for any time I was asked, recently pushed a film out called "An Inconvenient Truth." For those who don't know, the movie was about the abuses these major oil companies have perpetrated against the environment. Gore has always been a champion of the environment, one can trace this back to his days as a representative from Tennessee. Well, a video was released on Youtube.com that spoofed the movie. At first it was just considered a funny amateurish video. However, the Wall Street Journal did a little reasearch on the subject and came up with a different answer. Apparently, there are ties between the video and people at the DCI Group. The DCI Group is a lobbying firm and a public relations group. Their biggest PR clients? ExxonMobil. http://youtube.com/watch?v=IZSqXUSwHRI

Week 1 Premier League Picks

Here are my week 1 picks for the EPL. Home team in CAPS.

Saturday
liverpool over SHEFF UTD. (2-0)

ARSENAL over aston villa (2-0)

EVERTON over watford (2-0)

NEWCASTLE over wigan (1-0)

blackburn over PORTSMOUTH (1-0)

READING draw middlesborough (1-1)

WEST HAM draw charlton (1-1)

Sunday
MAN UTD over fulham (3-0)

CHELSEA over man city (2-0)

Big Business: The Mini-Series

Over the next week or so I am going to write several pieces covering different aspects of big business. First, I will cover the businesses that currently have the biggest stake in our day to day lives. The obvious targets here will be oil, defense contractors, and pharmaceuticals. I will assemble the argument as to how these massive corporations are destroying American life. I will follow that up with an article covering America's biggest enemy: white-collar crime. Many Americans have been decieved these last few years that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are our biggest threats. Sadly, this is untrue. The biggest threat to Americans' pursuit of happiness is Enron, not Nasrallah. The FBI estimates that $300 billion is lost annually to white collar crime. The National Health Service of England costs roughly $175 billion in budget costs annually. I'm not saying that we could just transport this money into health care with some magic bill from the President. But if we could crack down on half of that, it would definitely be a start. The last piece to the series will summarize the first four pieces, analyze the current administration's attempts to deal with big business, and even be so bold to offer a few possible corrections to the system. If you are a blind supporter of the current administration, you will not be happy with what I have to say. However, I challenge those people to read what I have to say, and respond with comments, emails, phone calls, etc. I want to be wrong on everything I have to say here. I want somebody to leave a comment and prove to me that this administration really does care more about bettering the quality of human life, and not just about dollar signs. I used to believe that it was cliche to pan Bush and Co. about this topic. I used to actually believe that the people in power really were doing what they believed would most improve the quality of life. I now have my doubts. I know this won't be the most interesting topic to a lot of people, and I know it will come off as a long-winded diatribe by an unqualified person. Stick with this, though. We are on the eve of a massive midterm election. The wheels of change can start turning in November. I'm not saying that everyone who reads this should vote Democrat or Republican, but make a vote that you believe will actually improve our situation. And know why you are making that vote. (I know, I know, I'm really preaching here, but this is something I really believe in. Besides I'm sure a lot of you are happy it isn't another football article)

Wiretaps, Patriots, and Presidents

The United States Constitution. The greatest piece of literature, ever. That is an extremely pro-American, perhaps biased, view. I believe it though. It is a great piece of writing. The English may have invented democracy, but the American experiment perfected it; and then wrote it down. The Constitution is the fundamental argument in any political discussion. The terms conservative and liberal spring from a person's view on the Constitution. The fight between Democrats and Republicans is in essence, a fight over the interpretation of the Constitution. Conservatives will look at the Constitution and say, this is exactly what its supposed to be. No interpretation, no allusions, no confusion. What they said in the Constitution is what they meant, nothing outside; and if it is meant to be changed then pass an amendment. Liberals say no. A liberal perspective will say that the Consitution is meant to be interpreted and adapted. There are pros and cons to each argument. I agree that the Constitution should be able to adapt, and be open to modern interpretation, but the danger there lies in mis-interpretation and abuse. The reason I bring this up, is because of the recent ruling in the wiretapping case. For those who don't know, after 9/11 the Bush Administration administered a program through the National Security Agency. The progam allowed for the wiretapping of phone conversations of suspected terrorists, without a court order. This is seperate from the infamous Patriot Act, which allows for the wiretapping of conversations for a limited number of days.

The problem here is that this is extremely illegal. Conservative or liberal, this is just downright unconstitutional. It slaps the Constituion in the face, and rubs dirt on it. My real problem? People on tv who are supposed to be conservatives, republicans, etc., are defending the program. Saying that it is perfectly constiutional, and that it is a biased attack by a liberal Carter-appointed judge. This is disgraceful. I would love a real Conservative (a person who actually believed in core Conservative beliefs that is) to come on and show these people how wrong they are. The essence of being a conservative, is to absolutely HATE this program. The essence of conservativism says that the government is supposed to stay out of our private business, and just serve its role as a protector. This is not a conservative program, nor is it a liberal program, it is a Bush program. It is another attempt by a militant, right-wing administration to strip us out of our liberties in the name of fear. Their explanation, as usual, is simply, "We have to fight the terrorists." This is a blatant stripping of the basic principle of free speech. There is no judge of who can and cannot be tapped, without a court order there is no need for any sort of proof of terrorist activity, and that allows the government free reign over us.

This program strips Americans of our right to free speech, and the shameful thing is that people are falling into the trap. It is sad to see Americans agree with programs like this, falling into every word that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez says. Agreeing with President Bush, that this measure is necessary to fight the terrorists. Than turning to blame democrats and liberals for helping terrrorists. These people follow their "conservative" captains blindly, not caring at all for what they are sacrificing on the way.

Let me be clear on what I am about to say. I am in no way saying the Bush Administration are Nazi's, I am not saying that they believe in Nazi policies, or that they have gone anywhere near as far as the Nazi's once did. However, it should be noted that national catastrophes, like the one on 9/11, often lead to quick abuses of power by a national government. The Nazi's used the burning of the Reichstag to seize emergency power of the government. Less than a year later they had stripped communists and Jews of all their rights, in order to protect the people. We all know how this story ends. Let us learn from that awful mistake. We all remember the gung-ho patriotism after 9/11. In hindsight, we may have been a little too loose with our liberties. Programs like this were approved in sweeping numbers after those attacks, and most recieved unanimous support in Congress. They also recieved unanimous support from the public. It is scary to think what can happen to our basic rights and liberties after events like that. The beauty of democracy is that the people control their own destiny. After 9/11, the American people handed that control over to the government monster. Thanks to people like this circuit judge, and the ACLU, we are starting to get some of that control back. Maybe next time, we will think twice before we hand it over so quickly.

Liverpool 2, Chelsea 1

FA Community Shield



Yikes. That is two uninspired games by our boys in blue. I'm not sounding the alarms just yet for a few reasons, but there are worries starting to creep up. If anyone did not see the game yesterday, you did not miss much. Liverpool played very well, they beat Chelsea straight up. Actually, if it weren't for a few excellent saves from Carlo Cudicini, Liverpool probably would have won by more. A note about Liverpool though, if Bellamy doesn't fully develop into the striker they desperately need, I think they will have serious problems up front. Peter Crouch is NOT a dependable striker. I don't want to hear the argument about it anymore. Just because someone is 6'7" does not make them a lead striker. Liverpool had many opportunities to bury the ball in the net yesterday afternoon, and they failed. This problem poked around last season too, and that was with Cisse and Morientes. It could be interesting to see how Anfield reacts if Liverpool struggle to score goals. To see what a real finisher looked like, we had to go no further than across the field to Chelsea's superstar Ukranian. Andriy Shevchenko sent shivers down the spine yesterday. I haven't been this excited about an athlete since watching Eli Manning explode onto the scene last year. Shevchenko is deadly when the ball is near him. Credit again to Liverpool for playing the offsides trap beautifully, frustrating Shevchenko throughout the match. The Lampard cross to Sheva for the equaliser in the 43' yesterday was what every Chelsea fan in the world was hoping for. It made our mouths water at the thought of what was to come. Andriy took an excellent first step at earning that big pricetag from Abromavich, I cant wait to see what else he can show. Unfortunately, he was the only bright spot on a very bleak looking Chelsea squad.

Jose Mourinho started his excuses the night before the game, claiming Chelsea had not been given enough time to prepare for the upcoming season. He said that Liverpool was 'supposed' to beat Chelsea because Liverpool were at 100% while Chelsea were still recovering from their USA trip. The rivalry between him and Rafa is growing with every match between the two, but a little bit of respect wouldn't be too much to ask from the Chosen One. I love Jose Mourinho. I think he is a genius of the game, and I even enjoy his mind games he plays. But there are times when he is a bit much, and really he comes off as a bit of a wank.

Hopefully, he is telling the truth this time about Chelsea not being quite there yet, where he would like them to be. It was very clear to me yesterday that the problems of the backfield still have not been solved. I was pleased with Geremi's performance, but Carvalho, Ferreira, and JT were all looking like a real mess. This backfield is a liability to the team, especially with the midfield still coming together. Chelsea need to find a piece to shore up the defense, at least temporarily until Mourinho figures out what his best midfield combination is. I don't know if Ashley Cole is the answer to this problem, I definitely do not think he is worth the 25 million pounds that Arsenal are demanding. I would prefer to pick up another centre back who could help JT. Wayne Bridge and Geremi can duel it out for that right back position, they are both perfectly suitable there.

As for the midfield, they are still gelling together. It did not help that Michael Ballack left the game so early, personally I would have left him in. It seemed to be a minor cramp that he was able to run off almost instantly. Yes it is a preseason game, and it doesn't really count; but it was a game against a major rival, and his introduction to proper English football. He needs to get some time in with Lampard so that system can start clicking the way it is supposed to. Until those two are working on the same page, attacking AND defending, this team will not succeed. The season opener is on Sunday afternoon, against Manchester City. Luckily, they are no Liverpool. This team has to make some serious changes before they are ready to play another top team like Liverpool.

Events to Watch

Here are a few things that I will be watching for this week. I won't write it for everyday, but I do start every morning with American Morning on CNN. (They should pay me for an ad that good)

Monday, August 14
NBA Hardwood Classics- 6:30PM NBAtv
USA vs. Cuba
Any time you get a chance to watch the original Dream Team, take it. If you are a fan of basketball or not, watch this game, see why basketball is such a great sport. Please watch this game.

Monday Night Football- 7 PM ESPN
Raiders at Vikings
Coverage starts at 7pm. Normally I would never, ever promote the watching of preseason football, but it will be interesting to see what ESPN's coverage will look like.

WEEDS- 10PM Showtime
Excellent show on Showtime. Season 2 Premiere.

Tuesday, August 15
Under-21 International Football- 3PM FSC
England vs. Moldova
I know, it doesn't look like the most interesting game in the world, but it will allow a good look at Cup bust Walcott. It's also fun to take a look at the future of football.

Mets at Phillies-7pm SNY
Pedro's pitching, and he's 15 k's away from 3,000. He probably won't get it here, but it is worth a watch anyways.

Wednesday, August 16
International Friendly Football- 3PM FSC
England vs. Greece
First game of the Steve McClaren era, also the first game without Becks. Definitely worth a watch. Congrats to England captain John Terry.

Thursday, August 17
NFL Preseason- 8PM NFL Network (NBC-TV Local)
Chiefs at Giants
Eli and co. get game number 2 of the preseason.

Friday, August 18
Yankees at Red Sox- 1PM ESPN
Yankees at Red Sox- 8PM WWOR
You know what this is about, they play 5 times from Friday to Monday. That is a gauntlet of baseball.

Saturday, August 19
World Basketball Championships-1AM ESPN2
USA vs. Puerto Rico
It starts at 1am, so this is assuming I am awake and home. But if those two things are happening I would love to tune into this game. Last time these teams met up, USA got lit up by Carlos Arroyo.

English Premier League- 10AM-4PM FSC
Newcastle at Wigan
Bolton at Tottenham
Reading at Middlesborough
Opening day of English football. I am way too excited for this.

MLS- 7:30 PM FSC
Columbus at New York
First MLS game for Bruce Arena as Red Bull coach. Should be interesting. I'm making a more concerted effort towards MLS. I feel its snobbish of me to look away from our own domestic league.

Sunday, August 20
EPL-11AM FSC
Manchester City at Chelsea
Oh yeahh, Stamford Bridge opener. This is when it counts, all that time and money...please don't fail.

Yankees at Red Sox- 8PM ESPN
Self-explanatory.

Hahaha

I'm sitting here working on an NFL preview. It's going to be intensely long, and I don't care. We're lookin at 4,000 words. Hopefully, it'll be ready by the end of the week. Anyways, in my work I was looking for pictures, and one of the pictures I came up with was this lovely little picture of Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger. I put this picture up specifically for the enjoyment of MC Abstract Douchehipster. Doesn't it look like Warner is really drunk and asked Roethlisberger if he could kiss him, and Roethlisberger is having that awkward "get out of here" conversation. You know like when you are nowhere near drunk enough to allow this to happen. Regardless, we all know how Big Ben got his nickname...from overrated, washed up, christian evangelist quarterbacks.

And This is David Beckham!

Steve McClaren announced his decision today to drop David Beckham from the England squad. It isn't a permanent move or anything, but most likely we will not see Beckham suit up for the Three Lions ever again. It's sad really, David Beckham's place in footballing history will forever be one of question marks and what if's. If I had to liken him to any athlete in American sports it would have to be Alex Rodriguez. No matter what these two guys do, and as good as they are (and they are good, there is no questioning that) they will never be able to perform up to what their reputation and popularity demand. Because they are so famous and they make so much money, they are expected to perform on the level of athlete Gods, and the demand is unreasonable. Beckham's most famous moment in International play will always be the red card in St. Etienne against Argentina. Not his 94 caps, his captaining of two World Cup Quarterfinals squads, 17 international goals, or countless assists. Rather than point out that England's lone significant striker irrationally blew his temper, we choose to point out that Becks couldn't finish out the game.



Sure he was limping and in tears at the way it ended, but a real captain would have stayed on! (I won't even bother to point out the large number of international captains that missed significant games including Zidane's red card) Forget the tremendous amount of pressure that is heaped on the poor guy from the brutal English media, he gets paid enough that he should handle a bit of pressure! The man is a legend, and his performance in the 2006 World Cup CARRIED England. Let the haters hate, but the haters are extremely wrong, and I doubt their knowledge of football when they badmouth Mr. Posh. Nobody created more opportunities for England, in a ridiculously uncreative formation. I don't want to get into Sven bashing because I think he is a very smart manager, I just think he cracked under the English media though. His desire to escape the pigeon-hole that the media placed him in, as a dry, unchanging, uncharismatic manager, forced him into selections like Theo Walcott instead of people like deFoe. Sven's biggest fault is not his tactics or his brain for football, it is his inability to handle the intense pressure of the English media. Because of the pressure leading to the Cup, and the decisions he made due to that pressure; he was never able to address England's striker problems, or the problems England had in the midfield.

This article isn't supposed to be about World Cup 2006 though, it is about David Beckham, and the greatness that is leaving the right side of the English midfield. People forget his score from the spot against Argentina in 2002, or his cross that was so beautiful it could make a grown Geordie weep. Beckham's play is everything we are supposed to love about football, and somewhere along the way people took that from him. They discounted his on-field abilities because of modeling abilities. They forgot his cross, or his accuracy because of his wife. They lost faith in a man that Sir Alex called a natural born leader and the hardest worker he had ever seen, because he went to play in Spain. When we look back at David Beckham, let's look at the man who was easily one of the 10 greatest players you will ever see lace up the boots, not the man doing Armani ads.

The Knicks are Dead

The New York Knicks are dead. This team has no soul, no spirit behind it. I have been watching old Knicks playoff games from the 90's this week, and I forgot what it was like to have a real team play in the Garden. Even if this team wins 50 games this year (not likely), they are still soul-less. Isiah Thomas has created a team of fantasy players, each one who cares about nothing more than dollar signs. There are no winners on this team, not one. With the exception of Malik Rose, nobody on this team has won a trophy since high school. On top of that, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford, and Jalen Rose are all the same exact player. They may be different sizes, come to play at different spots on the court, but they are the same exact player. Selfish, shoot early and often, whiners. Each of these guys has terrible track records in every city they have played basketball in. The other stars on the team? Eddy Curry (I'm not saying I'm hoping for his heart condition to worsen and see him retire, but man it would be nice to have him gone); Nate Robinson, and Channing Frye. The jury is still out on Nate-dawg but I think he lacks the necessary fundamentals a point guard needs, you have to love his heart though. I love Channing Frye, he shows a lot of promise and hope of being the soul of this team.

If I am Isiah Thomas, I suck up the fact that I have 4 overpaid scrubs on my team, understand the fact that this team will not win more than 25 games, and start Nate-Dawg and Frye every night. Let them grow on each other and really turn into something, please don't waste my time and the time of every other Knicks fan by forcing us to watch Francis and Marbury. Even if they turn out to play well together, we all know that it won't last for more than a year. Make no mistake, all four of the super scrubs (from now on those four players will be known in this blog as the super scrubs) can play well when they want to. Marbury showed it when he got mad in Phoenix, Francis did it his first year with Yao, and Jalen Rose used to be nice in Indiana when they were contenders; but they won't last. Give us a hope and start David Lee, Robinson, and Frye, let us believe that there is a possibility of getting the old Knicks back. A team that makes New York proud.


This is the greatest basketball city in the world, nobody can dispute that, the Garden deserves to be stacked with hardcore fans again. They can't do that without a soul, and the super scrubs have no soul. I know how popular it is to knock on Isiah and comment on how awful he is, but let's move beyond that. If he can man up and at least deliver a team that comes out to play every night, than nobody can complain. All we want to see is a team that can make us proud and play hard, not a bunch of overpaid quitters.

What a City

I can't even imagine what Las Vegas is like. Atlantic City was great, unbelievable really. Gambling, beautiful women, gambling, free booze, gambling, ridiculous trash humans, and gambling. A whole city built on dirty, underhanded, cash dealings and vice. Can you think of anything better? We left around 8 and were there by 10pm, I have never been so excited during a car ride my entire life. This city is built on crushed dreams, and I definitely contributed to that. Of course I fell victim to believing that I might actually win some decent cash, maybe take a limo ride home or something ridiculous for no real reason. As soon as we got there, I started at the roulette tables. Started up for the first 15 minutes or so, but collapsed and lost $30 after about a half hour. Not so bad, when you're gambling like that and you go down $30 you have to be kind of happy that it at least bought you a good amount of time. You can learn just as quickly that $30 can last you less than 30 seconds, so I wasn't too upset. At this point it was about 11:15 or so, and we went to go sign up for the poker tournament over at the Taj. Here was my biggest regret of the night, not signing up. It was an $80 buy-in but I decided I wanted to go learn craps and blackjack. Massive mistake. I left my 5 other friend in the poker room to go find some old friends who were coming down for the night that I used to work with from American Eagle.


With the American Eagle folks I hit up the craps tables. That is where I began bleeding cash. I lost $80 within 10 minutes, than I played out another $20 over about 15 more minutes. AGONIZING FEELING. Of course I was sitting there like a real gambling addict watching other people after I had blown $100, thinking that I could BEAT this game. Like I was the one person in hundreds of millions who had figured out how to correctly predict dice. That is the beautiful thing about Atlantic City, common sense tells you that this is all chance, and luck. There is absolutely no skill at all involved, but when you are down there playing the games...man it's hard to listen to common sense. It just gets thrown out the window right along with moral conscience, money, and dignity. So for a while after that I was just putting off playing. Having fun, drinking free drinks, flirting, generally trying not to think about the money I'd lost and how bad I'd love to recoup it. Around 1:30 or so I get the urge again to play. I couldn't resist it so I ran over to the cage to take out some more cash...on my credit card. In case you don't know, casinos have this magical license to rob the life out of you, because they can. I have never seen such blatant exploitation of gambling addictions in my life. Anyways, the casino luckily rejected my credit card because it was too small, so they didn't let me pull out an additional $100 (there was also a $16 interest charge...16% fee, that's obscene). Thank God for that, I don't know what I would have done if I had another $116 on my credit card bill. After that, I bs'd around a little more, hung around the craps tables, checked out the blackjack, watched my friend Heather just through away $15 in 2 seconds, literally. So we did that scene for a minute, than we all went for a burger and a few drinks over at a 24-hour Irish pub down the boardwalk. At this point my night was basically over, more free drinks, a ridiculous boring 2 hours watching a few of my friends finish off the poker tournament, and then a drive home at 6am. I got home at 8:10am, just enough time to shower and go to work. Needless to say, I was just stupidly tired and drunk/hungover. So to give one last review, AC is awesome, everyone should go, leave your credit card at home, and don't expect to have the girls serve you more than 3 times an hour. So..anyone wanna go to AC?

MLS All-Stars 1, Chelsea 0

Chelsea's preseason USA swing started today. It was an interesting game against the MLS XI, althought a few of the MLS guys weren't there. Donovan, Dempsey, Pope, Johnson, Mastroeni were all out with injury or laziness. Doesn't make much sense to me as this was a great opportunity to show your worth against one of the best teams in the world. Anyways, Chelsea was massively unimpressive, and downright worrysome. The scoreline is misleading because the goal was scored in the second half when Chelsea had put most of their reserves on. I don't know if anybody watched the game, but did anyone else watch Ballack and Lampard share attacking midfield responsibilities and instantly think of the England midfield situation. You know the one where we watched Lampard and Gerrard split responsibilities to the ultimate detrement of the England attack. They were never able to figure out how to work that system under Sven, and I was getting an awful feeling of deja vu watching Chelsea today. Granted, its the first time the team play together, but it was enough to worry me. On top of that, it was just downright weird to see Chelsea try to move the ball around on the attack in the 4-4-2. They were terrible at moving the ball, too many people were trying to go forward at once, really there was just no consistency at all in the attack today. The Chelsea midfield, full of stars, supposed to be the greatest in the world, looked confused and flat today; and I'd be lying if I said I was anything short of extremely concerned.

Essien, Lampard, Ballack, and Wright-Phillips started in the midfield today, that is two of the four who will be starting when the season begins. Claude Makelele? Still on vacation from the World Cup. Joe Cole? Well, he came in to start the second half, but to go with all the other wonderful events of the day, Joe Cole got injured. No word yet on how serious the injury was, but it doesn't bode well for Chelsea. Just as he was beginning to really take form as one of the better midfielders in England, he goes down with injury. On the subject of Wright-Phillips, the jury is still out. After an extremely dissapointing season in his first year from Manchester City, there are some extremely anxious people awaiting to see if SWP will begin earning his keep. Today he looked like he lacked skill and focus, his pace was exhilirating as usual, but I still haven't been impressed with the 37 million pound purchase. Michael Ballack showed signs of restrained brilliance around the ball, but I got the feeling he was holding back because of Lampard. He seems to respect the fact that it is Lampard's team for now, but we all know how well Frank handles pressure and if doubts start to creep into his mind...this could turn out extremely ugly. Lampard's performance mirrored his efforts from the World Cup, that scares the daylights out of me. Frank has been the engine of this team for the last few years, and sure Ballack could take his spot up in a heartbeat (he could probably do it a lot better than Lampard, but I am not ready to admit this to myself just yet), but I would hate to see this whole situation go down the way it is heading.

The horrendous play of the midfield caused lapses in the defense, and a lack of productivity from Shevchenko and Drogba up front. Drogba is playing the same speedy, accurate, and passionate play he always has. Shevchenko looks like he will compliment the system beautifully. This is the one spot where I thought Wright-Phillips looked excellent. With the pace and precision of the two forwards, SWP created matchup headaches for the MLS stars. If SWP can hone his skills a little more, and develop some of his handling skills, then everything I have said is pretty meaningless. SWP will fill Cole's spot perfectly, and Makelele will take over the postion of holding midfielder, alleviating some of the stress on the defense. As for Lampard and Ballack...we have the same situation we had in Germany with Sven. One of them has to stay back, one of them has to take a drop in popularity, scoring, and fame. I don't think that is going to happen. Nobody wants to be second banana.

Pictures are thanks to Soccernet.com and Chelseafc.com. First one was during the game, second is a picture of Ballack and Lampard at practice, and the third is the same thing but with Ballack making Lampard and Terry look foolish. Bit of the new guard displacing the old. The second two were both pulled off the first ten photos on the Chelseafc.com website, kinda interesting no?

Atlantic City

I am so excited. I am giddy right now. I am 3 hours away from my first trip down to one of the gambling mecca's of our universe. I'm sure this doesn't say much about my life that I am so excited to get drunk and gamble away money that I don't have, but come on its AC. What man doesn't want to go spend 4 hours and $300 playing cards and getting wasted. On top of that there are pretty strippers and hookers to look at. This is paradise basically. My casino, my addiction, my american express..(this entire trip is courtesy of American Express; in an unrelated story, I will file for Chapter 10 in less than one year). Sorry I haven't posted the last few days, have been somewhat busy, and somewhat unsure of what to post. That explains this lazy, half-assed attempt at a post about Atlantic City. I promise to post results and major stories tommorow when I get back. Until then, wish me luck, if I lose tonight I will probably have to pawn this computer off to make payments on my bills.

Terrorism

ter·ror·ism
n. The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

If a state employs these same tactics, is it not terrorism? For example, China is in violation of a laundry list of Human Rights statutes. Most of these violations come in the form of political oppression, and the squashing of political resistance. Is this not terrorism? Is this not the unlawful use of force and violence to achieve a a goal for idiological or political reasons. If the "terrorist" is recognized as state by other nations, does that free it of terrorist implications? Where is the line drawn?

Remember the title given to the strategy of the US campaign against Iraq? President Bush's famous tagline on the front page of every paper had it as Shock and Awe. Is that not using violence, or at least the threat of violence, by an organized group against people AND property with the intention of intimidating a society for political reasons. In this case, the political reason was "democracy in the Middle East." In any case, we all learned that the campaign was a lot more than just a shock and awe treatment. The Department of Defense of the United States lists civilian casualties of the current Iraq war between 39,000 and 44,000. That is a clear use of violence against people or property.


I'm not saying Hezbollah is clear of wrong doing. They are just as guilty as anyone else I have mentioned. They are without a doubt responsible for the Marines barracks bombing 22 years ago. They also have a nasty rap in Northern Israel, and have tormented innocents there for a long time. However, they too are a massive part of the Lebanese government, and the Lebanese infrastructure. They contribute health care and education to a large population of Southern Lebanese, and they also keep the area safe from crime. They are armed, they have a political and military agenda, and they are arab. Those three things seem to add up to the only definition of terrrorist that this administration knows. We have no qualms in dealing with new friends China. President Reagan and the American public had no issue with our terrorizing of South and Central America. We certainly have never had any qualms with any regime in Israeli national history.

The Israeli government is now responsible for the deaths of over 500 Lebanese civilians (estimated account, it varies from every media outlet, but all agree the number will certainly shoot up once many of the bodies are pulled from the rubble.) The Israeli government is also responsible for the decimation of the entirety of the newly rebuilt Lebanese infrastructure. They have hit schools, shelters, roads, airports, and apartment buildings. Offices and businesses, which have just started to return from the devastation of the Lebanese Civil War, have already been bombed out again. The videos and reports on CNN, Al-Jazeera, and the BBC all show no sign of Hezbollah really taking a hit from this. Hezbollah are taking a cowardly way about attacking Israel by sneakily firing rockets into civilian cities, but don't believe that Israel is really making this many "mistakes." The massive hits we have seen leveling Beirut, Tyre, and Bint Jabiel have been carefully calculated and executed attacks. Israel is employing the same tactic Hezbollah is using, but they are not labeled terrorists. Sure, the media is starting to come down on their government harder every day, but where is the outrage and animosity? When Iraq did this to Kuwait 15 years ago it took the US and the UN less than one month to counter-strike Saddam Hussein. If Lebanon was oil rich, would we be calling Israel terrorist supporters?

We need to get our hypocrisies straightened out, and open our minds a little. The Arab world is garnering more and more hate for the US, we are creating new generations of Osama bin Laden's and Hassan Nasrallah's with our blind involvement and support for Israel. It is time we take a new approach to the war on terror. The war on terror will be won with jobs, food, and peace. Delaying cease fires, expediating laser-guided missile shipments, and military occupation creates more hate and violence. Not only are we not winning this war, we are giving it away. We're retreating and leaving stockpiles of weapons. I'm not looking to support Hezbollah or any other violent group for that matter, but let us look at all the angles before we are so quick to label and destroy.

Only three nations list the entire Hezbollah organization as a terrorist group. The United States, Israel, and Canada. The United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Australia only list the armed wing of the group. The European Union, Russia, China, and the rest of the world do not. Israel is not listed as a terrorist group anywhere in the world.

The photos provided by bbc.com, cnn.com, wikipedia.org. The first is the attacks on 9/11, second one is a photo of Hassan Nasrallah, the third of body bags after the attacks in Qana yesterday.

Jimmy Fallon Must Die

I just finished my second Nicholas Hornby book in as many weeks. First, I read Fever Pitch, and I followed that up with High Fidelity. I thought both books were extremely entertaining, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading both. Fever Pitch was a little more fun because of the football (soccer) element; but that is not a knock on High Fidelity. After reading Fever Pitch though, man I am really hateful of Jimmy Fallon. Like I really don't like that guy.

Fever Pitch has NOTHING to do with the following: Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Curses, Women, Former alcoholic child stars, washed up SNL stars, and it is certainly not a love story. I haven't seen the movie, but remarkably I have heard that it contains all of those things. Fever Pitch is the greatest explanation of fandom to the person who is not a fan. Actually, it is a great explanation of fandom even to those who are fans. Fever Pitch does a great job of breaking down why we obsess over these teams. Even if you do not follow English soccer, and you have no idea about anything that is soccer, it is ok. You can read this book and understand what Hornsby is talking about. More than explaining the psyochology of the fan, it demonstrates the need that sports fills in men. I'm not going to get all into how he does this, and I'm not going to go too deep into the great intricacies that Hornsby goes into, but I will say that if you are a man you should read this book. Non-sports fans can read it too, just substitute sports in the book with your own personal obsession. Every man has one, just sub that in for soccer. That is part of the greatness of the book, that it can resonate with any man, you do not have to be a sports nut. And if you are into music, than the next book is definitely a must-read.

High Fidelity is hysterical. It is ultra hysterical. It is also intensely frustrating, and intensely sad at points. Music fans will love the book for the obscure references, and the existence of Barry and Dick. Everybody knows at least one person like Barry (you know who you are) and that alone is reason to read the book. But even if you are not a music fan, again the book will resonate. Sure, some of the references will go over your head, just like a few in Fever Pitch may go over the non-sports fan's head; but nothing that would make you not understand the book. It is essentially a story about growing up. Men will love the book because of the way it perfectly describes every relationship you have ever been in with a girl, and it especially will hit home if you are in college or about to graduate, and are getting ready to move onto..you know..that thing. Both books were excellent, some of the most fun I have ever had reading since the 2nd grade. Pick them up anywhere, both are available in paperback and they are pretty easy reads.

8 Updates and Revisions

Few corrections from the EPL preview:
1. Ruud was sold and signed today, Real Madrid picked him up on the cheap
2. Wigan's Pascal Chimbonda is actually really good, I typed really bad, but I meant really good.
3. When I wrote Everton would prove their worth for 2008, what I was saying was that they are a really young team and will show glimmers of hope for the following year, most notably against Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby
4. I wrote that Glenn Roeder promised 7 signings. That was a bit of an exaggeration, I don't know where I pulled the number 7 from. He did promise several key signings, and a bolstering of the strike team though.
5. I'm not going to change it now, but I already deeply regret putting Man City at 7...what was I thinking?
6. I should have expounded a little more on the sickness of Tottenham's Michael Carrick, like letting you know that Tottenham have now rejected two bids from Fergie for the England midfielder.
7. Mourinho came out today and said two different things. First, he wants to be a part of Chelsea leged..nice. And second, that he doesnt need to worry about defenders. Sounds cocky, but if we have learned anything it is that we should not distrust Mr. Mourinho a.k.a. the chosen one.
8. And finally, Charlton Athletic play at The Valley not The Riverside. The Riverside is home to Middlesborough. Honestly though if those clubs were any more similar, they'd be the same.

Unprofessional, Completely Biased EPL Preview

Yes yes, one month until kickoff of the EPL. August 13 Chelsea FC will go up against Liverpool FC in the annual FA Community Shield. Chelsea will thus begin their quest for English and European dominance, and Liverpool will begin their quest of catchup (literally two sentences in and I'm already bashing LFC and pimping beloved Chelsea). I am going to try and give a comprehensive preview to the EPL, without sounding too biased. I'm also doing this with one month left of the Transfer Window, which creates a few problems. For example, will Glenn Roeder ever keep his word on bringing 'at least 7 signings' to St. James Park? Does Fergie know that the Transfer Window is open? At what point will Jose Mourinho realise that he cannot sign every superstar in the world? Who kidnapped Sam Allardyce? Does anyone reading this really know or care about what I'm talking of? Anyways, I'll try and put an attempt at doing this, but please remember that I don't know much about half of the teams in the Premiership, and that everything I say will probably be wrong on some level. I'll write as much as I can about the teams, but some teams will literally get a sentence or two, while other will get full paragraphs. Ok, on to the preview.

Relegation
These teams can all but count on the drop. After sizing up the league there are really only four teams that should be in contention to be relegated. Everyone else should be safe, then again it's never predictable, just ask Birmingham

20. Watford
Nice story coming up from the Championship. They will enjoy their time up in the top flight, Adrian Boothroyd will scream a lot and make some headlines. Other than that, don't expect them to win more than 4 games.

19. Sheffield United
I don't really care for the Blades. I prefer Sheffield Wednesday, and I don't want to see this team succeed. I don't think they're really good either, they haven't done anything during the transfer window. I looked at their history in the Premiership, they tend to come up for a year or two, than go back down for a year or two. The cycle will continue.

18. Fulham
Overplayed and overextended themselves last year. Should've been dropped but they got lucky that there was so much garbage floating around the bottom half of the league. This year will be their swansong.

17. Aston Villa
I have them avoiding relegation, but they could slip down. This team is wildly spinning out of control. As of right now, their ownership is in the air, they just fired their manager which is never good, and their players are organizing meetings to tell management that theres not enough time, money, or effort being put out. Yikes. On a positive not though, 2008 will see the Birmingham derby again...too bad it will probably be in the Championship.

Staying Alive
These teams will do enough to stay alive, but not enough to make any noise. Wouldn't like to visit them towards the end of the season if it meant anything though.


16. Portsmouth
There is a great article on soccernet.com from last season about Harry Redknapp. Before the last month of last season, a lot of people actually thought he was going to get gunned down in the streets of Portsmouth (from all accounts an awful city in the south). Anyways, the team turned alive the last month, saved themselves from relegation, and he was a hero. This picture of him is one of my favorite pictures ever. Anyways, they still aren't good, and they are really excited about trying to buy Sol Campbell. Too bad it is 2006 and not 1996 for him though.

15. Wigan Athletic
Ok, here is a pretty interesting team. I like a lot of the players on the squad. I like Paul Jewell. I like a couple of the signings they've made. Only problem is..well, they're Wigan. Also, it appears that Pascal Chimbonda wants no part of the team anymore, and he seems to be pretty bad. In all honesty I don't think I have ever seen anyone play in a Wigan uni. One last comment; they signed Emile Heskey. If you don't understand the ridiculousness of that statement, go take a look at his history. There are not many Heskey fans in England.

14. Reading
The record breaking team up from Championship. They destroyed the points record in the Championship last year, I think they had something liek 102 pts, which factors for something like 33 wins or so. I don't know anything about this team really, and I put them at 14 because I figure that they are better than the crap teams out there, but not as good as the quality teams. We will see. I read an article about them trying to get guys with World Cup experience, from smaller teams and such. I'm intrigued.

Middle of the Table
Yeah, these next few spots are basically interchangable. They are all better than the bottom rung teams, not good enough to even think about Europe next year.

13. Middlesborough
I like some of the boys on this squad a lot. I don't like the fact that their new manager is Doogie Howser. Imagine the Eric Mangini of English Soccer. They're going to struggle, and Julio Arca is no replacement for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. They were spared the embarassment of Chelsea boy Huth, who failed a physical and remains on the Chelsea roster. I hate Huth.

12. Charlton
They're going into unchartered water down at the Riverside. No Alan Curbishley to come in and finagle a winning season out of overachieving second rate footballers. I still have them finishing 12 because I think the bottom half of the table is a little weak, and I really like Darren Bent (should have gone to Newcastle!) They stole Hasselbaink from Boro, good move, he is a quality player.

11. West Ham United
The Hammers seem to be doing all right for themselves. Excellent pickup in Chelsea trash Carlton Cole. I liked him, but he had no place on the pensioners. Also gotta like Nigel Reo-Coker, and 800 year old Teddy Sheringham. They will compete like last year, and Pardew will make a move here and there, look for him to make some noise in the January Transfer Window. Besides all that though, I don't see them doing much.

10. Everton
I actually think this team could be better than this, but there are so many quality teams in the top half of the table that I don't know how I could squeeze them in, and one of the others out. I really think they have great pace, and they are a young squad that could make some noise. Count on them to prove their worth for 2008 by taking Liverpool out in the Merseyside derby.

I like you, and if you keep it up you may be going to Europe
I think the heading is self-explanatory for the next group of teams. I like something a lot about all these teams, and think they could make some noise enough to play in the 2008 UEFA Cup.


9. Bolton Wanderers
Paging Sam Allardyce, paging Sam Allardyce. Where is he?? Where are his wunderkind from Africa? Isn't he supposed to be signing some unknown from a Guatemalan village right now? No news from the Reebok this year about any signings. I'm not sure what to make of all this, it's a shame too. If you watch this team from last year, you can tell they are really on the cusp of doing something special. They just missed out on the Intertoto to Newcastle this year, I think they are two or three good Allardyce-like signings away from taking the next step. Too bad nobody knows where he is.

8. Newcastle United
Again, where are my signings?!? I don't know what to think of this team. I have only been emotionally invovled with them for a year, and in that year have seen them go from near-relegation to UEFA Cup. I have seen them flirt with Ruud, Beckham, and Bent, only to come up with nothing. I have watched and heard the testimonial of Alan Shearer, and I have watched the shattering of Michael Owen. I have been promised several signings from Roeder, but I am still waiting. Damien Duff is a great start, but Birmingham showed that without strikers, you are no good. I do not know what to make of this team. They could be good enough to play in Europe, they could face the bottom half of relegation. Glenn Roeder seems to know what he is doing, but the jury is still out. If Shola Amoebi can step up to a top role as striker, they could be one of the best teams in England. That is a big IF.

7. Manchester City
Yeah, you read that correctly. I think Stuart Pearce is excellent at his job. He really knows how to get the most out of his team. If Darius Vassell comes around, you could be talking about one of the best striker tandems in English soccer. I think this team will make enough noise, and the things will line up in place for them to make a run at Europe. I also think that the other team in Manchester will slip a little, and that always does good thing for a team's morale.

6. Blackburn
I'm putting them in the same spot they were last year. I think this team is great, pure hustle. If they get Mido, they will be getting a lethal, underpaid weapon. I'm not sure if he will play as well in Blackburn as he did for Allardyce in Bolton, but I do think he will be a great addition. They sold their two best players from last year, so that is a hit, but when you watch this team you get the feeling that those parts are very replaceable. This isn't an individuals team. They're back four also play as an excellent unit, and they are still in tact.

Competing for Champions League Qualifiers
These next three have a shot at winning the Premiership, but it isn't very likely. They are really probably going to be rotating around all season to see who gets to take 3rd and 4th, which give spots to the extremely lucrative champions league.


5. Manchester United
Two things have to be said before you get outraged at where I am putting the Red Devils. First, this is an unprofessional, completley biased guide to the EPL. I am not an expert, and I don't really care about journalistic efficiency right now. Also, IF the team goes through with the sales of Christiano Ronaldo and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, one has to think that they are going to feel somewhat of an effect. We are talking about two of the most important players on Sir Alex's squad here. Now I know he knows a bit more than me, but you can't tell me he hasn't dropped the ball big time this year. No big signings, no signings at all really. And he has had to deal with a PR meltdown because of Rooney's temper, and Ronaldo's uncanny ability to stab people in the back. With all that said, you can expect Rooney to have the best season of his career, and expect a breakthrough from fellow striker Louis Saha, you know the guy who Fergie believes can replace Ruud. And although it may seem crazy, Fergie has proved he tends to know what he's talking about. If Ruud and Ronaldo stay, this is all ridiculous and you can count on Man U to contend for the title.


4. Arsenal
I think the Arsenal youth movement will really start to payoff this year. Theo Walcott, 18, seems to have a ridiculous amount of pace, and doesn't get tired. I haven't had a chance to see his finishing ability just yet, but I assume it must be there somewhere. J.A.R. will perform at a higher level then ever, and if you saw him at World Cup off the bench, that is a good sign for Gonners. Of course they have a decent striker...what's his name? Terry something or other. Anyways, he's alright. Also, they apparently signed a goalie named Michael Jordan. If nothing else, that is damn good karma. Bad karma however for the food poisoning incident with Tottenham last year. They are playing European football this year because of a fluke incident, the football gods will not be happy.

3. Tottenham Hotspur
Speaking of youth movements and food poisoning, how excited are you if you are a Spurs fan? Jermaine deFoe is playing with a chip so large on his shoulder that it can be seen from space; Aaron Lennon is sick..too sick..so sick I even considered ordering his shirt, even though he plays for Tottenham. Martin Jol is so Dutch that I'm shocked he doesn't wear wooden shoes and pigtails on the touchline. The Dutch know how to manage football, as witnessed by 4 different Dutch coaches in World Cup. Robbie Keane has been practicing new goal celebrations all year, and Michael Carrick..again so sick. I like this team a lot, they are going to be making legitimate noise. If you play them slow, or lazy, you are going to get beat. I don't care who you have in the midfield, this team is going to make quick work of unenergetic defenses...I'm speaking specifically to Chelsea with this.

The Best non-All-Star team in England

2. Liverpool
I hate this team. I hate them so bad it hurts. It really hurts to give them this much credit; and in all honesty if Rafa had made a couple more important signings, I'd put them at number one. This team is lethal when they are on the same page. That is the problem though, they are woefully inconsistent. Their FA Cup Final game against West Ham showed exactly what they are all about. Up, down, up, down, and eventually a goal in extra time, take it to penalties, and win the trophy. Have to give them credit for winning two of the biggest trophies in sports in the last two years, but I am not 100% sold on them yet. I think they are questionable in goal, and their strikers are, well, not quite there. They sold Morientes and Cisse, and are going to be starting Bellamy (look at his picture, I swear he lives in a trailer park in Onendoga, New York) and the lean-string-bean, Peter Crouch. In midfield they have the absolutely wonderful, Steven "Please give me the captain's band" Gerard. The best midfielder in England (man that hurts to right, but if you saw the World Cup you know what I am talking about), has the ability to lead this team to the top. Watch out for these guys, they are deadly and if you are the number one team, you have to watch out for them.

Wait, they have who?


1. Chelsea FC
Biased? Probably. But come on, if you make a Premier League preview, and you don't put Chelsea at number one, that is just foolish. I want to list the roster here, but odds are, Jose will make 4 more changes by the time we go to publish. Their midfield is going to be starting Lampard, Ballack, Makalele, and probably Joe Cole. Really they could put Essien in there instead, but they will probably bring him off the bench so they can start Drogba and Shevchenko up front. Just writing that give me goosebumps. What is the ceiling on goals scored? I'd be willing to bet this team breaks any English goal-scoring records that exist. But not everything is rosy in Stamford Bridge. There is a giant, glaring, question mark in the back. The question mark is..who is playing there? Reports are once again linking Ashley Cole with a move to the West End, but Wenger is categorically denying it, saying that there is no way they will sell the England international. With that said, Del Horno is gone to Valencia, Carvalho probably shouldn't stick around to see the treatment he recieves from England fans, and I have no faith in Paulo Ferreira. Of course they have John Terry wearing the Captain's band in the backfield, and he is a lights out shut down defender. And you have to believe with the new stirker/midfield operation setup, Mourinho won't be bringing Terry anywhere near as far up as a deep scoring threat. Still, the defense leaves a lot to be desired, no matter how good Peter Cech is. One last note on Chelsea, it is no secret that Roman & Co. are gunning particularly for the European Champions League. You have to be scared that perhaps this team is not built for English soccer at all, and it is really made to outrun the Italian, and more particularly, Spanish sides that will be out there. This team looks to be built particularly for upending any threat from Madrid or Barcelona, not with keeping pace with Tottenham or Arsenal. The gigantic egos and unproven chemistry must provide for a few worrying thoughts as well.

Well that is it. Watford is dropped, Chelsea wins it all. It's probable that everyone knew where this whole thing was going, but I had fun writing, I hope you enjoyed reading. Leave comments or emails about the list or about your thoughts on the upcoming season.