Month: August 2006 (Page 2 of 2)

Back Amongst the Living

I’ve finally crawled from the deathbed and am easing myself back away from the light. I thought my pain wracked state was brought on by mighty Ipswich Town’s dismal start to the season (nary a point in 3 stabs). The medicos say that had nothing to do with it, but it wasn’t helping things. In my near death condition I couldn’t even discern between the two Milan’s. Luckily the miraculous recovery has occurred just in time for the Premiership to kick things off.

Browns owner Randy Lerner has finally sprung for Aston Villa after much wrangling (pending a quirky waiting period that’s required by British law). Most Villa supporters seem to be pleased, but some are concerned that the Browns have been so poor. They should have no worries about that–the Browns are poor mainly because that’s the American football team I support, of course. He won’t be handicapped by a salary cap in England, and he gives his football people free rein. They’ve already landed the most sought after unemployed coach in the country in Martin O’Neill. They’ve gone from a team that was looking at sure relegation this year to solid mid-table status, and even brighter things should be on the horizon.

I was also pleased to see that the next coach to be fired from England’s national team, showed who was running things for now by dropping a nearly useless David Beckham from the squad. ‘Second choice’ Steve, as the sooner than not to be sacked coach has been dubbed, has actually seemed to right most of the wrongs made by Sven as far as squad selection goes. The next coach should appreciate his efforts.

With the Premiership season getting under way at the end of the week, I’ll attempt to shake out the rest of cobwebs and sort out what I really think about the season ahead in a day or so. Even off the medication now, I still think Chelski will surprise the world and finish second best.

Champions League Kicks Off

The Champions League gets things kicked off today. So the wait is coming to an end finally. These early qualifying matches aren’t anything very interesting and are very unlikely to produce any surprises. They’re never meant to. At least we can finally begin to watch matches that count for something again.

Arsenal faces Dinamo Zagreb today. Liverpool will get Maccabi Haifa tomorrow–this leg is in England, so there’s no danger of Hezbolla disrupting things yet. Both England sides should take comfortable leads into the second legs. That goes for AC Milan as well. The undisputed powerhouses of the disreputable Serie A shouldn’t need to break a sweat against Crvena Zvezda on Wednesday. They may even be able to give Chelsea reject, Hernan Crespo, a decent run-out.

Unless you have access to Setanta Sports Channel, though, you’ll have to follow the results on the internet. Satanta is usually only available on the Dish Network or in pubs. They also have snapped up many of the Premier League games for this season along with the Champions League, The Championship, and various other leagues and tournaments. They are the channel you need if you want to follow football live.

Unfortunately, Setanta remains a little difficult to get. No major cable outlets offer them. I’ve heard there is something called IPTV which is supposed to let you get it without a dish for about $14/month. I’ve been trying to look into that in time for the season, but there’s not a lot of information on it yet. The Fox Soccer Channel is slipping under this stiff competition, so an early (and lengthy) trip to the pub will practically be a necessity for most Americans wanting to follow European football.

I should mention Ipswich will also be going for loss number 2 against Wolves today. The good guys look even worse than I feared–even through cringing eyes.

The Community Shield match between Chelsea and Liverpool will give us a taste of the Premiership a week early on Sunday. A match that will be carried by the Soccer Channel. Liverpool is picked by many to be the main competition for Chelski this year. I may be alone in this, but I think Chelsea will get nipped at the post for the title this year–and that’s not just wishful thinking.

Newer posts »