The Leeds Kid Responds to the Gradel Move

The Window is Closing

The transfer window officially closes tomorrow at mid-day on the East Coast, so I thought I'd post a thread where we can chat about what will likely be a flood of moves in the next day.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 3

By 'eck - normal service has been resumed with last year's champions back on top and this year's upstarts down to second. We've still got an odd relegation zone with the likes of Spurs in there. As usual, the points for the PPP match reflects all of this chaos. Here are the current standings:

1. Simon Burke – 23 pts
2. AZ Kicker – 22 pts
- United We Stand – 22 pts
4. Gooner71 – 20 pts
- Matthew – 20 pts
6. Thomas – 18 pts
7. Yellows – 17 pts
8. Blue Devil – 16 pts
9. Man Utd Rules – 15 pts
10. West Ham Rising – 10 points
11. Someone Said – 9 pts

A Mancy Old Sunday

It's the first big Sunday of the season with both big Mancy clubs on offer. First up is high=flying moneybags Citeh against a Spurs side who have yet to get started this season. Then there is the big one - United v. Arsenal from Old Trafford. It doesn't get any better, gents. If you've got power this morning, join me for all the LOB action.

Damn the Hurricanes - it's the Premiership Weekend!

Batten down the hatches and get ready for some roof-raising Premiership action because we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto! I'm here extra early for the start of another exciting Premiership weekend. Crank up the generators, nail a few more boards on the windows and join me for all the action, won't you?

Come on, Irene!

This classic seems appropriate today. Stay safe, East Coasters. Enjoy!

The Champions League Draw

Today is the day we find out who Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and of course Arsenal will be drawn against in the group stages of the Champions League. No team can be drawn against their home country. Here are the pots
POT 1
Barcelona
Manchester United
Chelsea
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Real Madrid
FC Porto
Inter Milan

POT 2
AC Milan
Lyon
Shakhtar Donetsk
Valencia
Benfica
Villarreal
CSKA Moscow
Marseille

POT 3
Zenit St Petersburg
Ajax
Bayer Leverkusen
Olympiakos
Manchester City
Lille
FC Basel
BATE Borisov

POT 4
Borussia Dortmund
Napoli
Dinamo Zagreb
APOEL
Trabzonspor
Genk
Viktoria Plzen
Otelul Galati

Come on, the Arsenal!!

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger may be downplaying importance of today's return leg in Udine, but it's a huge night for the Arsenal. I hope we will all be honorary Gooners for one evening. I'll be pedaling home after my 1pm meeting to hole up in Blue Devil HQ this afternoon. Join me from about 2:30pm onward. Come on, you Arsenal!

Carling Cup - Second Round

Today's footie is pretty much a write-off for me as I've got three classes back to back this afternoon. But I'll be checking in from time to time during my class breaks with a particular eye toward our titanic Yorkshire clash against Donny in the Carling Cup 2nd Round. Come on, you Whites!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 2

It's been an odd old season so far. Wolves in a Champions League slot? Spurs on the bottom? Southampton with perfect record in the Championship. And this is reflected in the scarce points in the PPP game so far. Here are the latest standings:

1. West Ham Rising – 13 points
2. Blue Devil – 11 pts
3. Simon Burke – 8 pts
4. United We Stand – 6 pts
5. AZ Kicker – 2 pts
6. Yellows – 0 pts
- Someone Said – 0 pts
- Thomas – 0 pts
- Gooner71 – 0 pts
- Man Utd Rules – 0 pts
- Matthew – 0 pts

Monday Night Football

The Champions open up their home campaign this evening. Spurs open up their entire campaign.
Should be a good match on ESPN2.

Join me

UWS

Mind the Gap!

For fans travelling to West Ham...

Newham Police (Metropolitian Police Service) have issued the following message ahead of our game at West Ham United on Sunday (1.15pm).

"During the West Ham vs Leeds game at the weekend, supporters will notice a strong police presence in and around the ground to ensure the safety of the fans and general public.

"Police will be taking a robust approach with anyone who causes anti-social behaviour or disorder during, before or after the game. Our main priority
is the safety of the local community and supporters coming to enjoy a game of football.

"We ask for the co-operation of all fans to positively represent their football clubs and ensure it is an enjoyable day for all."

West Ham's safety team have also asked us to inform our travelling fans that there will be no alcohol on sale in the away section at Upton Park.

A busy EPL Weekend

Come join us for some exciting EPL image starting with Liversox vs The Gunners. when the teams met at The Emirates at the end of last season, it was a dull match until stoppage time when both teams each scored a penalty in stoppage time and the match ended 1-1. Arsene Wenger was so incensed that he tried to pick a fight with Kenny Dalglish and the Liverpool manager responded by cursing at Wenger. The pair refused to shake hands. will we any fireworks today. You will not know unless you join LOB for all the action!

Tournament of all-time greatest club teams continued and concluded

I posted the first two pieces and you can find them in the LOB archives.

Part three is HERE

and Part four is HERE

The Tuesday Night Club

It's another big Tuesday evening of footer action today, lads, with another big Yorkshire derby for the Leeds boys against Hull City. Arsenal also have that irritating CL preliminary battle against Udinese. I'll only be around for the first half as I'll be jetting off to see the Motor City Madman himself tonight - Ted Nugent! Way hay!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 1

Thanks again to all of you for getting your predictions to me in a timely manner. We're off to a rip roaring start with the domestic footie season and it's been reflected in the first update of the PPP game. West Ham Rising has jumped out to an early lead, largely given to his bold prediction of Citeh for the title. Still, there are 37 weeks to go, mate. We're all chasing you!

Here are the standings after Week 1 of the Premiership:

1. West Ham Rising – 16 points
2. Yellows – 10 pts
3. Blue Devil – 8 pts
4. Someone Said – 6 pts
5. Thomas – 4 pts
6. United We Stand – 4 pts
7. Gooner71 – 3 pts
8. Man Utd Rules – 3pts
9. AZ Kicker – 2 pts
10.Matthew – 0 pts
11.Simon Burke – 0 pts

Are Citeh the Real Deal?

We've got a fascinating match on tap this afternoon between the pretenders to the Premiership throne who've been throwing silly money around all summer against a side that got promoted through the playoffs and are everyone's favorite for the drop. Something's got to give here and there should be goals in the offing. Join me for all the action from 2:45 pm EST onward.

Happy Birthday, Bivalve!

Have a great birthday, Bivalve!

The Big Kick Off

Here we go fellas!!
I hope to be around for some of the time


LET'S BE HAVIN YA!!


UWS

Who the &%$# Said That?

I did my usual penance for the civic education cause by watching the Republican clown car rally tonight in Iowa. As usual, the candidates did everything except to bite into a raw corncob in order to pander to the local Hawkeye audience. But I was struck again by the sheer amount of craziness on display, which moved me to create this humble matching quiz:

*Match the absurd statement with the ridiculous candidate below (Hint: some of the candidates were doubly absurd tonight)*

1. “If you can find a specific plan from President Obama on any of these issues, I’ll come to your house and cook you dinner…or if you prefer I’ll mow your lawn.”

2. “I introduced the Lightbulb Freedom of Choice Act so that people could use the kind of lightbulbs they want.”

3. “We’re inches away from not having a free economy.”

4. “I will never apologize for saying that Shariah law should never belong in the courts of the United States.”

5. “As I tell people when I’m traveling, you’ll see me in your hometown but you won’t see me on your television.”

6. “If you want to build a facility in the United States, you can’t because of the EPA’s regulatory reign of terror.”

7. “I agreed to put aside the talking points tonight, Chris, and I wish you would put aside the ‘Gotcha” questions.’

8. “We need honest money - a gold standard - not paper money.”

9. “We can be a country with high fences and wide open doors.”

10. “I’m not going to eat Barack Obama’s dogfood.”



a) Michele Bachmann

b) Herman Cain

c) Newt Gingrich

d) Jon Huntsman

e) Ron Paul

f) Tim Pawlenty

g) Mitt Romney

h) Rick Santorum

Willie's corner kick

Have you ever seen this clip? I just came across it.

Another Bleedin' Yorkshire Derby!

The draw for the 2nd Round of the Carling Cup was made today and the bodkins at the Football League have tossed another bleedin' Yorkshire Derby against Doncaster Rovers to sap our already stretched resources and morale. What's next - Huddersfield!

Matches will commence August 23 and 24. Here's the draw in full:


Millwall v Morecambe
Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday
Bury v Leicester City
West Ham United or Aldershot Town v Carlisle United
Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion
Crystal Palace or Crawley Town v Wigan Athletic
Peterborough United v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa v Hereford United
Bristol City or Swindon Town v Southampton
Exeter City v Liverpool
Everton v Sheffield United
Brighton & Hove Albion v Sunderland
Shrewsbury Town v Swansea City
Charlton Athletic or Reading v Preston North End
Norwich City v Milton Keynes Dons
Northampton Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers v Nottingham Forest
Bolton Wanderers v Macclesfield Town
Burnley v Barnet
Scunthorpe United v Newcastle United
Leyton Orient v Bristol Rovers or Watford
Doncaster Rovers v Leeds United
Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town
Queens Park Rangers v Rochdale

Your thoughts, gentlemen?

A Day of International Friendlies

Come join us for a day of international friendlies. We were looking forward to England vs Holland , but it has been cancelled due to rioting in London. There is other action, including the U.S. vs Mexico from Philly which airs at 9 PM on ESPN 2. Jurgen Klinnsman makes his debut as manager of the U.S. national team. The only competitive match is the EURO qualifier between Norther Ireland and the Faroes from Belfast. It is a must win match for the Ulstermen if they have any hope of finishing in a playoff spot. A win would put them one point ahead of Slovenia and one point behind Serbia , with a game in hand over the Serbians. The quarterfinals of the Under 20 World Cup are in progress as England faces Nigeria.

Real Madrid v. 109 Chinese Kids

I think I've seen everything now. In what looked a bit like a Monty Python sketch at times, the Galaticos of Real Madrid played a "match" against 109 kids in Guangzhou, China yesterday. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Enjoy!

Carling Cup - First Round Live!

By 'eck! We've only just got started with the season and it's Carling Cup time already. London may be burning, but as far as I can tell, the poor man's knock-out tournament will get kicked off tonight. I'll of course have my eye fixed on the Yorkshire Derby between Bradford City and my beloved LUFC. We need a bounce back from Saturday's debacle. Come on, you Whites!

Songs That Make You Feel Good

After recently doing a show about "Songs That Make You Cry," the boffins over at NPR's All Songs Considered had the bright idea of doing an upcoming companion show on "Songs that Make You Feel Good."

My choice - Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up," which you can hear here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z66wVo7uNw

To participate, go to ASC's blog and hit the comment form: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/

Super Sunday is Back!

I'm over my "Opening Day of the Season Hammering" case of the grumpies and looking forward to better fortunes today as the Happy Hammers meet up with Evil Cardiff this morning. That gets us started at 8am EST. Then at 9:30 am, FSC start the season with the traditional curtain opener - the Community Shield match from Wembley - and it's a Manc Derby classico! Join me if you're not walking the dog, eh?

Who will score the first Premier League goal of the season?

Who will score the first Premier League goal of the season?

Football is Back!

The race is on starting early this morning for a chance of grasping the gold ring of promotion to the Premiership. I'll be around from 7:45 am EST onward for a full day's commentary on the Championship culminating in Leeds' opening match at St. Mary's. I'll look forward to the pleasure of your company.

It All Starts Here!

Join me this afternoon from 2:45 EST to celebrate the start of the Championship season. Hull and Blackpool get us underway on the long and winding road, at the end of which is the promise of promotion to the top tier. We also have United v. a pick-up NY Cosmos team on hand. Who know - maybe Georgio Chinaglia might strap the boots on again. Way hay - football is back!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game 2011/12

With the 2011/12 season a mere few days away, it's time to get those crystal balls out again and make choices for who will win, who will lose and who will score the goals. Our resident Texan, MUR, won the challenge last season by correctly predicting the top seven in the exact order. Can he do it again? We'll soon see. Here are the rules for this season:

* Champions (8 pts)
* Champions League Qualifiers (i.e., #s 2-4 in EPL) (3 points each plus a bonus point for correct order)
* Potential Europa League Qualifiers (i.e., #s 5-7 in EPL) (2 points each plus bonus point for correct order)
* Relegated sides (2 points each plus bonus point for correct order)
* Promoted sides from Championship (2 points each plus bonus point for correct order)
* Carling Cup winner (6 points)
* FA Cup winner (8 points)
* Europa League winner (6 points)
* CL Winner (10 points)
* Premiership top scorer (6 points)

If you've got any suggestions for additional categories or think the points are not quite right, let me know.

Happy 30th Anniversary, MTV!

Get More: Herbie Hancock, Music, More Music Videos

MTV celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this week. I'm old enough to remember when they actually did play music on the channel. I thought that I'd post my favorite early MTV video and encourage all of you to do the same. Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" was an immediate favorite for me, combining some state of the music making with video technology. How about the rest of you? Post a link to your favorite MTV video in the comment box. Enjoy!

Liverpool vs Valeranga

I know this is short notice, but Liverpool is playing Valeranga from the Ullevall Stadion in Oslo. If you are available please join me for some friendly banter.