Confession time

Hi, my name is Amanda, and I am a Columbus Crew fan. Because I'm a glory-hunter. No, I am not from Columbus. Nor have I ever visited there. Mostly I think I love teams who will inevitably let me down, and with Columbus currently leading the Eastern Conference, there's no way they're not gonna disappoint me by the end of the season. So, I admit it. I am an MLS fan. Specifically of a team that has never won a title and hasn't even made the playoffs the last two seasons. In a league where over half the teams get to the postseason, that takes some doing. Judge away; I know I'm judging myself.

Other things I am ashamed to like: books written by the Beckhams, The Hills, and any sort of drink with "sour" in the name and a cherry on top. Like I said, feel free to judge.

Oh my god.

Dear Mssrs. Hicks, Gillett, Parry, and Benitez:

Shut up. All of you. This has been going on for far too long, and really. You couldn't stop attacking each other in public for a day? Not even this week? Gross. I don't care who's right anymore, I just want you all to stop talking and go away. Maybe go on vacation together. I bet y'all could work something out then. And if not, at least the pictures would be amusing.

No love,
Amanda

Quick hits

• This is the greatest post ever. Kickette and Go Fug Yourself combine for commentary on WAGs. Brilliant and hilarious.


• An interview with Galaxy defender Julian Valentin. I liked him at the u20 World Cup this summer, and even though he went to the wrong ACC school, I've got to respect anyone who takes a boot to the face, gets stitches, and then gets upset that he can't return to finish out the game. And he seems like a good guy, too.


• And the reason I don't do game previews? Oh You Beauty does them so much better.

Oh, MLS

I guess this is the only way West Ham is going to win the league, though. They've fixed it now, but for a while, West Ham was leading the MLS Western Conference.

(Thanks to Goalscoring Robot.)

Dashed expectations news

So, a combination of Wednesday afternoon classes and being too poor to afford FSC means that the only game I've managed to watch live this week? Chicago Fire - New England Revolution. And I don't even like either of those teams, and the ESPN2 broadcasts aren't the same without Eric Wynalda doing his drunk-uncle routine, but you know, sometimes you go with what's there. It did make me realize that since I don't like Chad Barrett, Justin Mapp, or Can't-Spell-It Blanco, I should probably go all the way and just admit that I don't like the Fire. (This is also how I came to discover I didn't like Inter -- I tried, but I realized I couldn't stand most of the players, so I had to call it.)

I have managed to see highlights of the Champions League games, though, and I think Liverpool are going to be the ones advancing to the semis. If we've learned anything since 2005, it's that Rafa has turned Liverpool into a team that's excellent at getting a 1-0 at home and clinging on for dear life. Since they could advance with a 0-0 at Anfield, I don't expect that game next week to be one for the ages, but honestly, after the rest of the season, I don't care so much about aesthetics as results. (This is why I'm not an Arsenal fan.) It's pretty sad, but if they can finish fourth and get to at least the semis in the Champions League, I think I'll be satisfied with that. And no, I'm not looking forward to another freaking Chelsea-Liverpool semi, but maybe Fenerbahce will take care of that for me.

In other news, I scored three at my rec team's practice the other day. I guess you could say, like John Terry or Ashley Cole, I score a lot for a defender. Except that I don't do it with underage girls. Or throw up after.

Test

Okay, does anyone know why this video will play the ad before, but not the actual content? I've been able to watch ESPN videos before, but not this one, it seems.

In other news, water is wet

Derby relegated.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised that it took this long. I guess they still have something to fight for -- beating Sunderland's points total from 2003 in order to not be actually the worst team ever to play in the Premier League. They'd need 20 points to do that. They currently have 11. Good luck, boys. It's pretty clear you'll need it.

In which I say something nice about USsoccer.com

New away kit? Thumbs up. When I first saw this, I thought it was navy blue, but it looks like it's actually black, which is just fine with me. I'm not the hugest fan of the random red collar thing, but I can live with it. And really, anything is better than the new home kit. It's kind of nice to see them getting away from red, white, and blue; while I understand it's patriotic and I'm sure everyone there loves America, limiting yourself to three colors isn't generally a good idea. Though I just realized -- what will this mean the keeper kit looks like? Since those tend to be really different from the regular jerseys, I fear poor Tim Howard and Brad Guzan will have to wear neon yellow or something. But overall, I approve. Which I'm sure is just what Nike was going for.

LOL

The YNT blog hates me. Dudes, not my fault you got scooped on the final Olympic qualifying roster.

Question of the day

So, say you were one of the U23 players who decided to get pedicures today. Yes, that's the U23 men. Put yourself in those guys' shoes. (The blog doesn't name names, but my guess? Sacha Kljestan.)

Here's my question: you're most likely an MLS player, which means you're probably about to start the preseason. Why, then, would you decide to get your feet all smooth and pretty when you'll be playing soccer five days a week and they're just going to get all callused and blistered and gross again?

Seriously, I speak from experience. It's a bad idea.

(If you're here from the Fanhouse, hi! This is pretty much what it's like all the time around here.)

Too sexy for this shirt

But that's not hard, because this shirt is FUG.

I've defended the fashion choices of the USMNT in the past, but this thing? No. No no no. Every girl knows that horizontal stripes are almost uniformly an awful idea. While I'm all for pinstripes, these are not pinstripes. This is a collar-less version of the rugby shirts my brother used to wear. When he was five. Put a collar on it, and this is the shirt every guy in every bar in town wears when he can't commit to an actual button-down. In other words, this isn't a jersey. It's a shirt. It's not iconic, it's not distinctive, and it's not even particularly good-looking. I realize they have to change jerseys every few years on order of their Nike overlords, but is there any reason they have to go from a decent jersey to this thing?

Also, the stripes don't even go all the way around the back. If you're going to be ugly, at least be consistently ugly. Apparently that's so you can put a name and number on the back. Uh-huh. Because that's such a problem. This thing is ugly ugly ugly, and I feel sorry for the players that have to wear it.

More discussion at:
Sideline Views
Soccer by Ives
Goalscoring Robot

True confessions

I know I should care about the African Cup of Nations, but I don't.

Still alive.

What she said.

I'm sorry for the silence over here, but with how Liverpool's playing and all the behind-the-scenes drama has been too depressing to write about. I fully expect whatever bizarre and fully-rotated squad Rafa puts out to lose to Havant & Waterlooville. Because that'd really be this season in a nutshell, wouldn't it?

So on a lighter note, pictures of the Liverpool costume Christmas party. My favorite is Fernando Torres as ... Fernando Torres.

This blog is 50% effective

I'm pretty sure he's talking about Liverpool for the stats-obsessed "big team." And yeah. What he said. I don't know a whole lot about baseball (except drinking in the stands is fun), but it seems like positions are a lot more defined there than they are in soccer -- you have strikers making saves and defenders taking shots pretty much all the time in soccer, and I don't think you have shortstops playing right field in baseball. So I'm doubtful about how much the stats really say about a game; doesn't everyone know by now that possession statistics are meaningless? And the team with more shots doesn't always win (As Nate pointed out). So. I'm skeptical. Especially if stats mean Liverpool doesn't start Torres every game. Because, honestly.

...In Spain!

I love Sid Lowe. That's really all I've got today. We're not talking about the Carling Cup. Or the Premiership.

Most pointless blog post ever, I know.