The Carling Cup Live!

It's Arsene Wenger's Arsenal's first chance of silverware in six years. But first they've got to get beyond Alex McLeish's hard-working and well-organized Birmingham side. Both sides have key injuries, so it should be an absorbing affair. Join me for the morning's events.

It's On!

We're down to 12 matches left in the nPower Championship and this is a big one - a six pointer. Swansea in 2nd and Leeds in 6th at the start of play. It starts early but it should be epic. Don't miss it. Oh - and there's the usual Premiership rubbish later in the day (yawn). See you in the morning.

All Songs Considered Revisits the 90s

Host Bob Boilen and the rest of the ASC gang reminisced about 90s music for over an hour of pod magic this week, including gems from Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Lauryn Hill and of course Nirvana. You can download it for free from iTunes.

Champions League - Round of 16 Live!

It's another day of Champions League fixtures, but my eye is fixed permanently on the Championship where Leeds travel to Barnsley today looking for three points. Join me if you're watching Chelski or following the Championship results. Come on, you Whites!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 25

It's been a busy week in English footie with fixtures all over the map, so it's high time that we checked in on the PPP standings. United's still on top, Wolves are still on the bottom so the table is relatively unchanged. Here it is with roughly thirteen matches to go:

1. United We Stand – 27 points
2. Matthew – 23 points
2. Someone Said – 23 points
4. Thomas – 21 points
4. Man Utd Rules – 21 points
6. Simon Burke – 17 points
7. Gooner71 – 14 points
8. Blue Devil – 13 points
8. West Ham Rising – 11 points
10. AZ Kicker – 10 points
11. Blubber Boy – 8 points

West Ham v. Burnley

I woke up this morning to a foot of snow on the car outside and made the wise decision not to trudge into work today. If you're around this afternoon watching the 5th Round FA Cup fixture between West Ham and Burnley, join me for a bit of three-day weekend footie.

A Footie Cornucopia!

What a day! We start out with a bit of left-over 4th Round Cup action between Everton and Chelsea, then we're straight into the 5th Round action alongside some key Championship fixtures highlighted by Leeds hosting Norwich at 10am EST. And it's all rounded off by humble Crawley Town visiting Old Trafford. If we can't set another blogging record today, I'll be shocked!

Greeks get merked by photoshopped Citeh team photo

Good story, this: Greek club Aris hosted Citeh in the Europa League and published this photo of the visitors in their program. Only problem is that the squad pic they selected is a photoshopped competition entry to the Guardian's weekly themed competition. If you look closely, you'll find Zlatan, Buffon, Hamcik, Kaka, Ljungberg, Nani, Skippyano, Drogba, Iniesta, Xavi, Rooney, and others, including goal keeper Toldo wearing the distinctive hooped sweater, bobble hat and NHS specs of Waldo, from "Where's Waldo."

Need a closer look? Click Here

New Radiohead!

It's already been a stellar new year in music - we're only six weeks deep and we've seen strong new releases from Iron & Wine, the Decemberists, and PJ Harvey with new discs from Fleet Foxes and Death Cab for Cutie coming right along. And now we have news out of Blighty that Radiohead have offered their new album "The King of Limbs" a day earlier than expected on their website. The attached video is for the lead single off the album: "Lotus Flower."

You can download the album (for a fee) here: http://www.thekingoflimbs.com/

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!

Milan v. Spurs Live!

The Champions League knock-out stages get started in earnest this week with two crackers. First up is Tottenham's visit to the San Siro to meet AC Milan. Back in the fall, Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart put Inter's defense to the sword in the same stadium. Unfortunately, Bale is unavailable tonight. Is Harry Redknapp's squad deep enough to make further progress in this tournament? We'll soon see - join me for the action this afternoon!

Fulham v. Chelski Live!

I won't be around for the duration today - and will no doubt have pesky students popping in during the first half - but this is an interesting match-up and I like to keep the Net cops busy, so I'll be dialing up an online speakeasy and blogging along too. Go on, the Cottagers!

2011 Grammys Live!

The Grammys rarely speak my cultural language, mostly rewarding commercial hacks - the Biebers and Rihannas - while ignoring the true artists. Yet, as someone who takes seriously pop culture, I always watch, and I'm occasionally rewarded with a moment or two of genius. If you're watching tonight, join me for some musical banter.

Championship Sunday

It's another early start with a big match this morning. 1st v. 5th in the Championship as Forest visit Loftus Road and the league leaders. Later we've got Bolton v. Everton as well. Join us!

The Derby Weekend!

It's the Manchester Derby. 1st v. 3rd. Fergie v. Mancini. Rooney v. Tevez. And that's just the start of what should be another enthralling weekend of footie in the Premiership. Don't even think about sleeping in. Join us on the LOB.

WHU Hammer Spurs on Olympic Stadium Bid

Relegation strugglers West Ham United were handed a morale-boosting victory this week when the Olympic organizers picked them ahead of Spurs to be housed at the Olympic Stadium after 2012. Or were they? How many Irons fans will really want to hike out a big bowl of a stadium with a giant athletic track around the pitch? Your thoughts, gents?

Read more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/feb/11/west-ham-spurs-olympic-stadium?INTCMP=SRCH

Best Moment Ever on "Family Feud"

Enjoy!

England v. Denmark Live!

I'm back from a tedious meeting and settling in over lunch to enjoy this afternoon's friendly between England and Denmark. Lamps is the skipper today, so come on you Three Lions!

Fabio Gives Lamps the Nod

Don Fabio has made Frank Lampard the skipper for tomorrow's friendly clash with the Danes. At the same time, he's announced that Jack Wilshere is the man for the future of England. Any contradiction there? Oh - and who the hell is David Stockdale?! Here's the squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Robert Green, Joe Hart, David Stockdale

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Glen Johnson, Joleon Lescott, John Terry, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Stewart Downing, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Ashley Young

Strikers: Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Carlton Cole

Your thoughts, gentlemen?

Wikipedia sacks Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera sang the wrong words to the Star Spangled Banner at last night's Superbowl. Today it was revealed that she performed the anthem with the words as they are written on Wikipedia!

So I'm wondering, what entry in Wikipedia could you hack that would be picked up by a celebrity and performed or repeated in that form?

RIP Gary Moore: 1953-2011

Sad news this morning that legendary Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore has died under suspicious circumstances in a Costa Del Sol hotel room. I prefer to remember him ripping it up with Phil and the gang on gems such as "Jailbreak," "Whisky in a Jar," and "The Boys are Back in Town" in their 70s heyday. Slap one of those on the stereo as a tribute to Gaz, won't you?

Read his Guardian obit here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/07/gary-moore-obituary?INTCMP=SRCH

Another Big Premiership Weekend

Come Sunday, these two will be on the same side of the pitch as El Nino lines up for Chelski against his old club. Meanwhile, we've got a load of great matches to watch today. We start slowly with Stoke hosting Sunderland in a few minutes. Then there are the usual 10 am kick-offs highlighted by Arsenal's visit to Carroll-less Newcastle. Finally, United travel to Molineux for the late match. Join me, won't you?

The "Bruce" Game

No, this hasn't got anything to do with Monty Python sketches about Australians...or about Bruce Springsteen. When I was in Belize recently, I had a very entertaining (and profane) roommate named Tim who's favorite game was to substitute the word "Bruce" for the word "you" in love songs or just songs in general. So, we spent two weeks in the hotel room coming up with good ones and bellowing out the likes of "WITH OR WITHOUT BRUUUUCE....WITH OR WITHOUT BRUUUUUUCE. I CAN'T LIVE WITH OR WITHOUT BRUUUUUUUCE."

The best ones, we found, were ones in which "Bruce" is elongated such as in the U2 example above or when the "Bruce" doesn't come up right away but sneaks up on you in the second line, such as:

"I'm all out of love/I'm so lost without Bruce." (Air Supply)

I was also very proud of:

"I want Bruuuuuce...to show me the way." (Peter Frampton)
"Hey! Bruce! Get offa my cloud." (The Stones)

So how many goodies can you think of?

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 24

A mid-week edition of the PPP update for you to take into account the midweek Premiership action. The main change in the standings has to do with Liverpool finally having snuck into the Europa League places, while the relegation zone is now owned by the "Three W's." Here's where we are after approximately 24 fixtures:

1. United We Stand - 26 points
2. Thomas - 23 points
3. ManUtd Rules - 22 points
4. Matthew - 21 points
5. Someone Said - 19 points
6. Gooner71 - 16 points
7. Blue Devil - 14 points
8. West Ham Rising - 13 points
9. Simon Burke - 12 points
10.AZ Kicker - 10 points
11.Blubber Boy - 9 points

Premiership Action Post-January Transfer Window

It's another exciting day of Premiership and Championship action, made even more so by the end of transfer window flurry. From what I can tell from the papers, Fernando Torres has completed his move to Stamford Bridge for £45 million. Nicolas Anelka, who seemed to be part of the deal yesterday heading to Anfield, is in the starting XI for Chelski today, so he seems to have stayed. That match at Sunderland should get pretty interesting this afternoon. So too Arsenal v. Everton and ManYoo v. Villa. In the Championship, I'll be cheering on my Whites away at Hull today. Join me if you've got a snow day off today, won't you?