And yet more preseason randomness

1. Liverpool is the best team in the Premiership. Nice to have my suspicions confirmed. (Also, Chelsea's place in the table might be the best thing I've seen all day. That's how it should be, kids.)

2. All the Serie A cheaters get their sentences reduced. That is some bullshit. Sorry, but an eight-point deduction, for trying to fix games? Like, and they get to be back in the Champions League next season? Oh no. I don't care that they were the least culpable of the four dirty teams. Eight points is less than three games lost -- that's all they get for destroying the integrity of the league and calling the last two seasons into question? And even worse than that is that Lazio and Fiorentina get to play in Serie A next season. It's completely ridiculous -- I guess money and prestige still talk. The last thing these clubs need is to have their sentences reduced. Fixing matches, no matter how it's done, is the worst thing that a team can do. As far as I'm concerned, bust them all down to Serie B, and Juve, who were really behind all of it, to Serie C. Ban them all from Europe. That's the only way to stop things like this.

3. Amateur team to play the LA Galaxy in the US Open Cup. This is like a non-conference team beating Liverpool and going on to meet, say, Man City. The Galaxy aren't the best MLS team by a long shot, but it's still worth celebrating that they got this far. I gotta say, I'm cheering for the minnows. Let's go, Dallas!