1/19: Wednesday

And now a quick thought on one of the best competitions in the whole wide world of sports. It is called the FA (Football Association) Cup. Every year in England, every team that plays soccer enters this tournament. This year, that means over 600 teams. Think about it, you are on a team that plays for fun on the weekend, and if you win enough games, you could win the right to play Manchester United or Arsenal. It is truly a one of a kind event.

The top level teams (Premiership) do not play until after Jan 1, but all of the other teams play each other to earn their way into this tournament. Imagine all of the teams in professional baseball getting to play eachother in a single elimination tourney. Rookie League teams play the Yankees and Dodgers. Triple A plays Single A and whoever has a better team advances. This of course is played on off-weekends during each team’s respective season so many teams at the top level attempt to win games without using their top players. If you use your top players each game of each competition, you wear them out. So, your rationale is that you can beat a low level team with your substitutes playing. Nice theory, but it doesn’t always work.

Example #1
Burnley 1, Liverpool 0 …That is right, my Liverpool lost to a AAA team, basically.

Meanwhile,
Manchester United plays Exeter today …Because they already tied them at Manchester. Exeter is a level 5 team, or the baseball equivalent of a rookie league. I would imagine Manchester will not play with fire again today and roll out a solid lineup and try to win by 6. 1:30 on Fox Sports World.

Cross town rival, Manchester City was eliminated last week by Oldham Athletic from AA. It would sure be fun to see the baseball teams do this over here, but of course, affiliation is a major difference. The baseball teams are all related (All MLB teams have a AAA, AA, A, and Rookie league team), whereas the soccer teams over there are all independent.

There, more soccer knowledge for my reader, even though my reader generally does not care about it…


Links:



History to be made in the NFL Sunday …


For the first time in NFL history, black quarterbacks will be starting for opposing teams in a conference championship game, Vick for the Falcons and Donovan McNabb for the Eagles. It will not be the first time they have played against each other -- they met in the divisional round of the 2002 playoffs with Philadelphia winning, 20-6 -- but the stakes are considerably higher, as is the significance of their roles in such a big game.


Lebreton is buying what Hicks is selling …


Texas still unclear about Tucker’s status …


Gillispie given 8 years!!!…Which begs the question, given the extensions Franchione and Gillispie have received for minimal accomplishments and major promise for the future, what would a coach have to do not to get a huge extension down there?


Aggies pounded late by Oklahoma …


Mavs route Wizards …And, thumbs up to both throwback uniforms last night…


Orlando Sentinel’s obligatory Mr. And Mrs. Christie story …

"Doug is allowed to look at females," Jackie explained to the Times. "I would prefer he didn't."
On Tuesday, she said that quote is dredged up too often and doesn't accurately characterize her feelings.


"Women are everywhere, they're going to see him and he'll see them," she said. "If you had a girlfriend and guys were looking at her all the time, how would you feel? If they were asking for a phone number right in front of you, wouldn't you be uncomfortable?"

Naked Survivor guy, Hatch in trouble for tax evasion …


Peter King makes the case against Art Monk …


Borat project put on hold …


NHL silence is deafening …