The Big Match...and some other matches...

I'm up early to make a run up toward Buffalo for some wedding dress alterations today. So, I'm just getting things started here and will only be around for just the beginning of the West Yorkshire Derby.  I'll be DVRing the big match - Chelsea v. Citeh, which comes up later at 12:30pm EST. So, have a good footie morning, lads, and wish me luck at David's Bridal. Cheers!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Cup Update

Hi there, lads - I'm back this week with a special Cup update on the PPP game. There is no change in points scores or rankings but with the 4th Round of the FA Cup this past weekend and the League Cup semis this mid-week, there is plenty to talk about. First, the shock wins for Bradford City, Middlesboro and Leicester, those who picked Chelsea, Citeh and Spurs have also been knocked out of the FA Cup. The situation is even more stark in the League Cup where only Simon (who chose Chelsea to win) has the chance to pick up the six points for the League Cup. Otherwise, we're where we were last week. Here are the standings:

1. Blue Devil - 41 points
2. Chelskilad - 36 pts
3. STrose - 34 pts
4. Swansong - 31 pts
5. The Red Dragon - 29 pts
6. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 28 pts
7. Gooner71 - 25 pts
8. The Red Devil 1FCK - 23 pts
9. Yellows - 22 pts
10. United We Stand - 20 pts
11. Someone Said - 19 pts
12. Man Utd Rules - 16 pts
13. West Ham Rising - 9 pts

The Draw for the Fifth Round of the FA Cup

Crystal Palace v Liverpool or Bolton Wanderers	Arsenal v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa v Leicester City	West Brom v West Ham
Bradford City v Sunderland or Fulham	Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City
Derby County v Reading	Preston NE or Sheffield Utd v Cambridge Utd or Manchester Utd

The draw for the Fifth Round of the FA Cup was made and it looks to be rather interesting. Alan Pardew's return to the Palace also reunites him with an FA Cup draw vs Liverpool . Will Palace upset Liverpool again in the Cup as they did in the Prem earlier this season? The Gooner should be pleased with a home draw vs Middlesbrough, but shouldn't take anything for granted as the Teesiders won at the Etihad on Saturday. Johnno may not be pleased as the Hammers have a tricky tie at the Hawthorns against the improved Baggies. It's a return to Ewood Park for Mark Hughes. If United win their replay at OT then they have a trip to a League One side challenging for promotion. Bob will definitely support mine and UWS's United if the match is at Bramall Lane. Finally, Bob will be thinking about  what might have been as Leeds could have had a West Yorkshire Derby on consecutive weekends. Gary Lineker must have ESP as Fred had been going after my chicken and now his Black Cats will have a trip to the Bantams if they win a tricky replay at the Cottage. Those are the highlights of the Fifth Round which starts a few days before the CL and EL resume. Will that affect anything?

Sunday in the Cup

I'm back on Sunday morning to follow the 4th Round Cup action. It's going to be hard to beat the action-packed drama of yesterday's fixtures. It's a day of Premiership v. Championship today. First up is West Ham's visit to Bristol City. The in-between one at 10am is Villa vs. high-lying Bournemouth. Then the late one is Arsenal away to Brighton. By the end of the morning we should have sorted out the age-old question of which league is the most competitive. Join me for a cuppa and a chat, eh?

The Fourth Round Continues....

The FA Cup Fourth Round continues this morning with Citeh v. Boro and a Brummie derby at 10am on the Fox Soccer channels. I'll admit it - it a was a long, hard first week back so I had a lie-in through the early one, which Championship side Blackburn won 3-1 over Premiership side Swansea. Settling in now to watch a potential upset with high-flying Boro taking on injury saddled Citeh. Join me for a natter on the LOB, won't you?

Which Side are You On, Boys?

Ah...the romance of the Cup. You can smell it in the air today as the mighty Manchester United travel down to East Anglia to visit our old stomping grounds at the Abbey Stadium to play Cambridge United. Are we in for a classic upset? I doubt it - but it will be a fascinating encounter. Join me from 3pm onward to follow all the 4th Round Cup action.

Led Zeppelin Played Here

A couple of years back, the Gooner passed on to me a genius documentary called "Heavy Metal Parking Lot," filmed outside a Judas Priest show in the early 80s. I recently heard that the director that little gem has produced another metal related doc called "Led Zeppelin Played Here" about a legendary Zeppelin gig on their first US tour in January 1969 in a high school gym in Maryland on the day of Richard Nixon's inauguration.

Check out the trailer here: http://vimeo.com/102566495

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 22 Update

Hiya, chaps - another week and another update on our PPP doings. Not a lot of change this week, to be very honest. The Premiership table is identical in terms of top and bottom. Ipswich and Derby have swapped places in the Championship and Diego Costa scored another brace at the weekend. The result of that is a point added or deducted here or there but no major change in this table:

1. Blue Devil - 41 points
2. Chelskilad - 36 pts
3. STrose - 34 pts
4. Swansong - 31 pts
5. The Red Dragon - 29 pts
6. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 28 pts
7. Gooner71 - 25 pts
8. The Red Devil 1FCK - 23 pts
9. Yellows - 22 pts
10. United We Stand - 20 pts
11. Someone Said - 19 pts
12. Man Utd Rules - 16 pts
13. West Ham Rising - 9 pts

Marching On Together...without the Crazy Italian!

What roller coaster ride we Leeds fans have been on this week. Just yesterday, the FA came down with one of the most absurd rulings we've ever seen from them - and that's saying something! - when they turned down Leeds boss Massimo Cellino's appeal and banned him from ownership of the club...for three months! I initially thought that this turbulence in the ownership of the club would've affected the form of the side negatively. But...football is a funny old game, isn't it. We've taken four points from the past two matches. First, we earned a very serviceable draw at the weekend against Birmingham with a come from behind effort. Then today - our first win of the calendar year against a Bournemouth side that's currently sitting on top of the Championship. We rode our luck in the waning moments after Luke Murphy's first half goal - with the Cherries hitting the post twice, Bellusci getting himself sent off and giving away a penalty and then what sounds like an epic penalty miss by their top scorer rocketing one off the bar. Phew! We are Marching on Together!

The Toffees vs the Baggies

 I called in to spend the day with my girls, who are off today. we are back from a family outing and ready for a Monday night football match . It's the Toffees vs the Baggies . A draw doesn't help either team. The winner moves up to a mid table position while the loser gets sucked into a relegation battle. The Baggies should be more organized since they hired Tony Pulis while the Toffees are called the Toffees because ???? Well they have a soft centre.  we shall see what gives.

It's a Typical Sunday Double Header

It Starts With Fat Sam's Hammers vs Brucey's struggling Tigers and then the big one as second placed Citeh host the Gunners . Let's be havin' You.

Wahay! It's Saturday!

Morning, chaps. After a long week at work, it's a pleasure to have a morning of Premiership footie ahead of us to start a three-day weekend good and proper. No early match in the Prem - just a rubbishy Championship match - so the Premiership gods must have known that we needed a lie-in. Join me here for QPR v. ManYoo at 10am and Newcastle v. Southampton at 12:30.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 21 Update

Hiya, gents. After a busy New Year's program of fixtures, it's high time to check in on our game. The main shift in the last week has been the reappearance of Diego Costa as the top of the pop in scoring stakes, edging out the crocked Sergio Aguero. That helps out a few of us who are still shaking our heads at Southampton's continued top four form. Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 40 points
2. Chelskilad - 36 pts
3. STrose - 34 pts
4. Swansong - 31 pts
5. The Red Dragon - 28 pts
- What's Up Wheaton Simon - 28 pts
7. The Red Devil 1FCK - 24 pts
- Gooner71 - 24 pts
9. Yellows - 22 pts
10. United We Stand - 20 pts
11. Someone Said - 19 pts
12. Man Utd Rules - 16 pts
13. West Ham Rising - 8 pts

Happy Birthday To Our Leader

Happy Birthday Bob, I hope you can get away from the snow at some point this year. 51 is going to be a great age for you... doing anything important this year?
Have a great day... have a great year!

UWS

A mid winter Sunday Double Header

 It's Sunday morning so it's a Premier League double header. It starts with Arsenal vs Stoke from the EM where the main news is that we won't be sing Su Su Sudio as Wenger dropped his starting keeper, replacing him with David Ospina. Wenger said he was dropped , not for smoking , but for poor form. The late match is United vs the Saints at OT where one time Dutch friends , but now archenemies , LVG and Fat Ron face do battle at OT. It sounds like a must watch Sunday.

Snowed in with the Prem

We're expecting between two and three feet of snow this morning in WNY, so I'm bunkered in to enjoy some Premiership footer. First up, it's Sunderland v. Liverpool at the Stadium of Light. Then the 10am fixtures, highlighted by a must-win match for Leeds away to Bolton. Then we wrap things up with a late thriller between United and Southampton. Join me for all the fun and send me some warm rays, won't you?

RAF MILDENHALL WILL BE NO MORE!!!

Hey Guys,


Just got a message this morning from Tony telling me that it was announced today that RAF Mildenhall will be closing in the near future and moving operations to Germany. He said so many businesses are going to be devastated by this news
I'm gutted....I know we aren't there any more but there are a lot of great memories
There will be no Mildenhall Forest crushing everyone who stood in front of them
Your thoughts


UWS

FA Cup Fourth Round Draw

The draw for the Fourth Round of the FA Cup was made this afternoon. Here is the draw:

FA Cup fourth-round draw
Southampton or Ipswich v Crystal Palace	Cambridge United v Manchester United
Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City	Chelsea or Millwall v Bradford City
Derby County v Scunthorpe or Chesterfield	Preston NE v Sheffield United
Birmingham City v West Brom	Aston Villa v AFC Bournemouth
Cardiff City v Reading	AFC Wimbledon or Liverpool v Bolton
Burnley or Tottenham v Leicester City	Brighton v Arsenal
Rochdale v Stoke City	Sunderland v Fulham or Wolves
Doncaster or Bristol City v Everton or West Ham	Manchester City v Middlesbro

Time to Exorcise Some Demons

I'm back in The Cottage this morning and ready to enjoy at least part of the best weekend of footer action every season. The main attraction today? For footie historians, it's got to be Leeds' trip to the Stadium of Light, which will bring back dark memories of 1973 for the LUFC elders. It's time to put that curse to rest, lads. Join me here on the LOB to see it happen, won't you?

The New Year's Resolutions Thread

This is the time of year when we share New Year's Resolutions in this space. After a 2014 that saw me get tenured, start my new job as department chair, get a book contract and become engaged, 2015 is going to be a hard follow-up act. However, there are plenty of things I’ll be working on this year. This includes:

1. Get Married - June 20 is going to be the most important date for me this year. when I’ll be marrying Kate Douglass at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA. It’ll be one hell of a party.

2. Finish the Book - Now that I’ve got a contract for my book on the images of social studies teachers in Hollywood films, I have to finish the manuscript by December.

3. Break the 50 Lap Mark - I’ve been swimming in the Fredonia pool at lunchtime more consistently since the fall in order to break up my long workday. So, it’s high time that I reached my goal of 50 laps during the hour.

So, what's on your list - do tell.