Midlands Derby Day

It's a quite Sunday, but there are two Midlands Derbies.First, it is forest vs Derby County in an East Midlands Derby followed by Villa vs West Brom in a West Midlands Derby on FSC. Come join us!

Saturday Morning in the UK

We're up and enjoying Soccer AM, which usually starts at 5am our time, in anticipation of a cracking Saturday of Premiership and Championship action as a swan-song to our trip to London. First up is Arsenal v. Chelski from the Emirates. Then the 3pm/10am kick-offs around the country along with Soccer Saturday and finally the late one between United and Spurs from Old Trafford. Join us!

Footie Trivia Question of the Week

With the League on this week, I had a bit of a brainwave about a new trivia question. Here it is:

"How many different names has the English League Cup gone by over the years? Name as many of them as you can."

Good luck, chaps!

More Capital One Third Round Action

The best match this evening must be Manchester United vs Newcastle. The other good match is West Brom vs Liverpool in a repeat of that opening day 3-0 debacle for Pool. I may be around, but it should be an interesting evening.

League Cup - Third Round Live!

We're relaxing at the end of another busy day here in London with the promise of the League Cup 3rd Round in a couple of hours. It's Leeds v. Everton live from the sacred Elland Road turf tonight on the box, which will mean some tasty links for those of you Stateside. We'll be putting our feet up with a couple of bottles of Fuller's London Pride. Won't you join us?

John Terry Hangs Up His England Boots

One day before the FA takes its anticipated action against serial racial abuser John Terry, JT has decided to retire from international footie. That is, he's gone before being pushed. And good riddance to him. I'd much prefer that the so-called Golden Generation buggered off and made way for the next generation. Despite their massive egos and inflated paychecks, they never won anything and my hope is that the likes of Joe Hart, Gary Cahill, Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck can do a better job for us.

Your thoughts, gents?

Four Big Teams, Two Big Games

Two huge matches today in the Premier League on FSC. We have United visiting Anfield followed by Arsenal visiting Man City. On top of that we have a London derby between Spurs and QPR and Newcastle hosting Norwich

COME ON UNITED!!


Join me

UWS

On the Way to Blighty

It's still dark here in WNY as I'm up to watch as much footer as I can get in before I'm whisked off to the airport by a friend on the way to grab my dad. In a week's time, we'll be happy to head back to the States with him in tow. It may break our tie with London and the UK for the time being but not for long. For now, I'm sitting back and relaxing with Swansea v. Everton on the box. Join me?

The Champions League Group stages is Back

After a long wait the Group stages of the Champions League is back. The marquee match is Real Madrid vs Citeh at the Bernabeu, which is televised live on FSC. Also Arsenal has a trip to the Vermont capital to take on Montpellier.I am sure Arsene is more concerned with three points than viewing the spectacular autumn foliage. Seriously it's a trip to southern France. Comes join us if you can.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 4 Update

The Premiership is finally taking shape with some slightly more predictable sides at top and bottom. That means there are more abundant points splashing around our predictions and no one is on nil points, thankfully. RVP is still on top of the scoring pops, albeit alongside Michu and Defoe now, on four goals, so the Mancs are still picking up 6 points for that guess. Here are the current standings:

1. AZ Kicker - 22 points
2. United We Stand - 19 pts
3. Man Utd Rules - 18 pts
4. Someone Said - 15 pts
5. West Ham Rising - 14 pts
6. Blue Devil - 13 pts
-  Matthew - 13 pts
- The Red Devil - 13 pts
9. Chelskilad - 12 pts
- Thomas - 12 pts
11. Gooner71 - 11 pts
12. Simon Burke - 8 pts

The Blue Devil...In Flash Mob Appearance!

Against my better judgment, I jumped at the chance to live out my superhero dreams by donning the sacred Fredonia Blue Devil mascot costume and perform in a flash mob to mark the beginning of the investiture week for our incoming president Virginia Horvath. You can see the full performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PijXhGrxmP8

Cricket on ESPN Classic

Tomorrow, from 9am-9pm, ESPN Classic is broadcasting "Classic" Cricket matches. Today, they broadcast, "Fire In Babylon" a fantastic documentary of the late 70's and 80's dominant West Indian cricketing team. It's available on NetFlix and well worth watching

The Premiership is Back!

This latest international break seemed to last an eternity, didn't it? But we're back with the good stuff today, starting with Norwich v. West Ham at 7:45am. No telly coverage of that one alas, but all eyes will be focused at 10am on the local derby between QPR v. Chelski. Finally we round up the day with the train wreck that is Liverpool F.C. Join me, won't you?

Another Day of Brasil 2014 Qualifiers

Remember this moment from the last time Ukraine and England met? Well, John Terry won't be on hand to clear them off the line this afternoon. Neither will I, as I'll be teaching. But I'll be checking the scores during my class breaks and will be on hand to blog the US v. Jamaica match tonight on FSC at 8pm. Come on, England!

Angus Podgorney wins the US Open!

Congratulations to Andy Murray who tonight won his first Grand Slam title when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the US Open final, ending years of frustration and once and for all proving that the Scots aren't completely crap at tennis and that the blancmanges won't be winning Wimbledon any time soon.

They Think it's MOLDOVA.... IT IS NOW!!

So the Road To Rio is beginning.  England face a trip to Moldova to start their campaign tonight and then host Ukraine on Tuesday.  I won't be around for either because of the boys soccer... I will be here in spirit.
There are qualifiers all over the world but COME ON ENGURLUND!!!

Your College Band

The All Songs Considered pod started another fascinating discussion this week on the top of the band that was most influential to you during your college years, a particularly important time for musos trying desperately to find our identities as fans and people. As usual, I thought I'd play along:

I was at Boston University from 1982 to 1986, a period that music critics usually think of as a dead zone between the end of the punk and the beginning of grunge. Still, I was found at Planet Records on a weekly basis buying vinyl (yes!) by the armload. While there were a lot of important albums during that time - Elvis Costello's "Imperial Bedroom" (1982), Tom Waits' "Raindogs" (1985) and the Smiths' first LP (1984) to name but a few - that were rarely off my turntable, my band of that era was most definitely The Style Council, professional Mod Paul Weller's 80s band after the break-up of The Jam. First, they felt like my band because I didn't know many others who were into them. They also were clever in packaging their EPs and singles in a way that coaxed me to part with my cash on a regular basis. But most importantly, they were a gateway band, as Weller's mission for the band was to explore styles of the past, often name-dropping in liner notes, in the guise of "The Cappuccino Kid," important jazz, funk and northern soul acts whose music was inevitably greater than The Style Council's versions, which in retrospect sound a bit twee and more than a little pretentious. No matter - I'm off to blast a bit of "A Solid Bond in the Heart" as a tribute to Paul and the gang.

So, what about you lot - which band or artist meant the most to you during your college years?

20 Top Selling Beers in the US

Every once in a while I'm shaken out of my comfortable bubble when I read that, for example, the most popular comics in America are Jeff Dunham and Larry the Cable Twat or that the best-selling periodical is TV Guide. But when I read the attached article listing the 20 Top Selling Beers in the country, I really started to lose hope for the future of this culture. Bud Light - #1 - seriously, people? With the advent of the micro-brewery revolution, there simply isn't any reason to drink that piss.

If you want to torture yourself with the full piece, you can access it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/03/top-selling-domestic-beers_n_1846582.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=1196391,b=facebook

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 3 Update

Happy Labor Day! It's time to check in on our Premiership Plus Predictions game before we get into the workweek again. Chelski are still top of the pops, so AZ Kicker is still riding high on that pick. However, three LOBers have picked up 6 points based on their love for a certain Dutchman who scored his first hat-trick for ManYoo yesterday. It's still very early in the season, though, so we have a lot of anomalies, including Swansea in second and Liverpool in the relegation zone. So, I'm hoping to better my miserable 2 points at some point. Here are the current standings:

1. AZ Kicker - 17 points
2. United We Stand - 12 pts
-- ManUtd Rules - 11 pts
-- West Ham Rising - 11 pts
5. Someone Said - 10 pts
6. Matthew - 8 pts
7. Thomas - 7 pts
8. The Red Devil - 6 pts
9. Blue Devil - 2 pts
-- Simon Burke - 2 pts
11. Chelskilad - 0 pts
12. Gooner71 - 0 pts

The Weekend's Here!

Wahay - Saturday has swung around again, and this morning we've got a chance to immediately assess the impact of Transfer Deadline day yesterday. West Ham picked up Andy Carroll and Fulham picked up, well, everyone else. Join me for the usual LOB Saturday morning banter.