Quick note

I am guest-blogging today at This Is Extra Time. I don't think I'm gonna cross-post, but if y'all want to know my thoughts on ... random hot players, head over there.

Quick hit -- that's a lot of money

Yeah, this time the radio silence has been for a good reason -- the bar exam is less than two weeks away, and I am pretty much constantly studying. But I had to post about this, because Kaka to Chelsea for 80m pounds? That's 100m euros, and I don't even want to calculate how much that is in dollars. Leaving aside the question of if they need him, good lord, that's a huge number. Think he'd give me, like, a thousandth of it so I can pay off these student loans? It's not like he'd miss it. Thank god this transfer window finally got interesting -- I couldn't handle reading any more about Barry and Ronaldo.

Also, tomorrow I am going to my first regular-season MLS game ever -- FC Dallas v. Colorado. I'm going with my dad, and he keeps trying to call Dallas "F.C." for short. He tries, but. This is like how he used to call Arsenal "Armory."

Euro final liveblog

Once again, I will be joining forces with This is Extra Time to liveblog the final. Apparently Ballack's fit, but Villa's out, so I have to call this for Germany. I hear you can never count them out.

Spain/Italy liveblog

Let's see if Spain can avoid their usual routine of playing well in the group and then choking at the earliest possible opportunity. My guess: probably not. Italy's defense is kinda weak, but Spain is Spain. Here's hoping.

Italy/France liveblog

Yet another liveblog!

This time, though, not a Euro game, but the other game today. The one that no one cares about -- United States v. Barbados, in the first leg of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The United States is on a three-game scoreless streak, but to be fair, their last three opponents were England (FIFA ranking: 9), Spain (4), and Argentina (1). Barbados is currently 142nd in the world. I'm predicting a US win, but you know. Stranger things have happened. But they probably won't.

Anyway, I've given up and admitted that I like the US, so I will be liveblogging this game, along with Goalscoring Robot and anyone else who wants to join us. 5:00 ET.

I am a liveblogging machine.

This time, it's Spain v. Sweden. I think I've given up and I'm cheering for Spain, even though they'll inevitably let me down. But I'm a Liverpool girl, so I have to cheer for Torres and Xabi in the off-season, too, apparently.

Anyway. You can follow the blog here or at This I Extra Time, and like before, you can comment as well. Yay technology!

Short notice, live blog

Just a quick heads-up to everyone: I will be co-liveblogging France v. Netherlands over at This Is Extra Time. Head over there to read our play by play and post your own comments! If I can figure out how, I'll post the blog over here.

ETA: Oh, look. I am brilliant.

Euro preview, part two

Is here. This one features a little less discussion of naked footballers and a little more discussion of who we think is gonna win the whole thing. Like I said before, it was a lot of fun to do, and I actually learned some things (like, you know, what Samir Nasri looks like).

Euro preview, part one

Can be found here. As the link title may have suggested, this is actually a roundtable discussion with some awesome women who are also soccer bloggers. It was a blast to participate in, and I hope it's entertaining (and maybe even useful). Part Two to follow tomorrow.

And I think I've decided to cheer for Spain. Though I still think Germany will win it all. They're just so efficient.

I would have guessed seventh grade.

Via Dan Loney:



It must be the semicolons. I like semicolons.

Posts about the internationals from this weekend and MLS Cup are forthcoming. But I'm currently in the middle of a marathon paper-writing session, so this is the best I can do right now. Sorry, y'all.

Redesign and watch party

I'm fixing to head out to DC, but some quick things before I hit the road:

• I redesigned the blog. This also involved editing my blogroll; I had to take off some dead links and I added some new blogs that I've been reading recently. (How did I not know about Soccer Insider until now?) If you were on there before and I dropped you, leave me a comment.


• Mourinho to New York? I won't lie, this would be pretty awesome. If Bruce Arena was too outspoken for the league's taste, I shudder to think what they'd make of Jose. But at least it'd be fun to watch. I may not like him, but he's definitely entertaining.


• If you're in DC this weekend, there's a US/South Africa watch party going on. I can't promise I'll be there -- I don't do well with early mornings. But it looks like a good time, so I wanted to pass the word along.

Pre-season preview

Once again, Sven asks the questions, I answer them. Including where I would get a Liverpool tattoo, for all you pervs reading.

And so there's actual content here, I'm not sure Rafa's goatee is the answer to all Liverpool's problems. I think it's mostly a fairly harmless midlife crisis.

They can has away kits.

Chelsea's new away kit has been leaked.

See, all you Liverpool fans complaining about their new kit? It could be worse. It could have all those weird little squiggles, and be neon yellow. (Though it will be useful if Chelsea's team-bonding activity this season is deer hunting.) I guess this is the advantage to not being owned by Abramovich -- I doubt Hicks or Gillett care what colors Barcelona wear.

Of course, the disadvantage is that Chelsea steal all your transfer targets. Damn Alves.

In other news, You'll Never Blog Alone has been named Who Ate All the Pies' blog of the week. I'm incredibly flattered, so thanks!

Champions League final watch party

I know, short notice and all, but if anyone's in or around Cary, North Carolina tomorrow, Dave of Dave's Football Blog and your humble blogger will be joining many others (hopefully) at The Hibernian in Cary to watch the Champions League final.

Make an excuse at work and come on out! Hell, that's exactly what I did. Hope to see you there!

Coming soon to a blog near you . . .

So, I was thinking about doing a Champions League final preview over here, and then I realized I'd already done one. Being Sven rounded up some of the best Liverpool bloggers around (and me) to give their thoughts on the season and the upcoming final.

You can read the whole thing here -- I was especially interested to see how much agreement there was between us about some things. Anyway, it's a good read, and it was a lot of fun to do, so y'all should check it out!

And since we're previewing coming attractions here, stay tuned for the second annual end-of-season awards. I'm particularly excited for these; we've introduced a new "Clusterfuck of the Year" award, and that's about the tightest race I have ever seen.