Movies of 2015

The movie industry continues to confuse me. On Christmas Day, I saw “Carol” at the AMC Shirlington, an ultra swanky theater with five screens in the DC suburb of Arlington, VA. Each of the movies showing there - along with “Carol” was “The Danish Girl,” “Spotlight,” “Trumbo,” and “Joy” and “Brooklyn” were all big studio films made by celebrated directors such as Todd Haynes and David O. Russell. All are based on big, serious topics. All are destined to be Oscar nominees and showered with awards in the next few months. Yet, all of them are difficult for average Americans to see, as they are categorized as “limited releases” and are only screened in big cities such as NYC, LA and DC in a few art house cinemas. Meanwhile, the big multiplexes across the country are showing the likes of the Alvin and Chipmunks sequel, a cheap horror film based on the Krampus character and of course Star Wars on multiple screens. None of those movies will win awards in the spring and yet Hollywood is forcing Americans who love the experience of going to the theater instead of streaming their movies on tiny devices to choose from one lousy option or another. Despite this, I still had the chance to see some great movies this year, even though I had to go out of my way to see them. Here are my favorites: 

1. Love and Mercy - This Brian Wilson biopic used two actors - a volcanic Paul Dano and an understated John Cusack - to show the messy but brilliant life of the Beach Boys front-man at different stages of his life. The scenes that depict Wilson in the studio directing The Wrecking Crew during the recording of the backing tracks for what will become “Pet Sounds” are so incredible that they alone elevate this one to the top of my 2015 list.

2. Brooklyn - A lovely adaptation of Colm Toibin’s novel of Irish immigration, featuring Saoirse Ronan as a young Irish girl trying to make her way in a new country. The film shows the pull of the old country and the promise of the new in profound detail.

3. What Happened, Miss Simone? - Nina Simone is a largely forgotten figure now, some years after her death; however, this documentary should change that. Using never before seen archival footage of Simone performing, it brings her artistry to life. Of course, the film gets dark in places when it deals with her rocky marriage and bipolarity. Yet, that doesn’t detract from the main subject.

4. Trainwreck - Judd Apatow returns to form in this Amy Schumer vehicle. It’s a delight to see Apatow using a female lead - and Schumer shines throughout. Bill Hader is effective as an understated male counterpart but LeBron James really steals the show as Hader’s sidekick. Of course this is well-traveled rom-com material and we’ve all seen Apatow’s “start dirty and finish romantic and sweet” routine, but this is the only movie I saw this year that actually made me laugh out loud.

5. Carol - Todd Haynes crafted a drama of manners set in the 1950s so rich in nuance that it was almost impossible not to sympathize with all of the major characters, but especially with Rooney Mara, who - as Therese - glimmered like Audrey Hepburn.

6. I’ll See You in My Dreams - If there were any justice in Hollywood, Blythe Danner would be nominated for several awards for this lovely and well-drawn drama about a widow who befriends her pool boy and begins a new phrase of her life. Her romance with Sam Elliott is particularly charming.

7. Far from the Madding Crowd - A faithful and pretty adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel with Carey Mulligan as the heroine Everdeen and a new German actor as her obvious love interest. Michael Sheen and others contribute is a fine film, which is only marred by the slightly choppy editing.

8. While We Were Young – Noah Baumbach’s new film will have people talking for hours after they see it. Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts play a childless couple in their forties who, by chance, meet an intriguing twenty something couple. At first this connection inspires them but gradually it begins to take on a more sinister character. This is what American film should be all about.

9. The Wrecking Crew - Ever since I saw a clip of this at the Opera House, I was dying to see this one. As with the Motown backing band, “The Wrecking Crew” was responsible for some of the most indelible music, including most of Phil Spector’s biggest hits and the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” album. This is a fitting tribute to a brilliant group of musicians.

10. Woman in Gold – Helen Mirren stars as an Austrian Holocaust survivor who sues the Austrian government in order to retrieve a priceless Klimt painting that had hung on the walls of her family’s home until the Anschluss. A terrific story, well told.

Notable Others: 

* Burnt 
* Glen Campbell: I’ll be Me
* The Hunting Ground
* Joy
* Keith Richards - Under the Influence
* The Second Best Majestic Hotel 
* Sleeping with Other People

Those I Haven’t Seen Yet: 

* Amy
* The Big Short
* The Danish Girl
* The End of the Tour
* Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
* Mistress America
* Spotlight
* Trumbo

Disappointment: 

• A Walk in the Woods - Some 20 years after Bill Bryson’s book - my favorite of his - was published, we have this new adaptation by Robert Redford. Redford plays Bryson sans beard, while an incredibly grizzled Nick Nolte plays his sidekick on his walk along the Appalachian Mountain Trail. The film offers some spectacular views, particularly of the Smokies, but it’s somewhat flat and uninspired in the end.

I’d love to hear what films you enjoyed this year.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Holiday Update!

Happy holidays, chaps - it's time to take stock of the PPP standings after a hurly burly schedule of Christmas fixtures. All of those congested matches have produced a new side at the top of the pops - Arsenal FC. You know what that means, then - Gooner is our new leaders. So, get the missus to start measuring the wall space, my brother, the shield may be winging its way to Alexandria.

Here are the current standings:

1. Gooner71 - 31 points
2. Blue Devil - 28 pts
3. Swansong - 27 pts
4. Someone Said - 26 pts
5. The Red Dragon - 24 pts
6. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 22 pts
- Yellows - 22 pts
8. Man Utd Rules - 21 pts
9. The Red Devil 1FCK - 20 pts
10. Chelskilad - 19 pts
11. The Saint - 18 pts
12. United We Stand - 16 pts
13. West Ham Rising - 11 pts

Some More Holiday Premier League Football

It's another round of holiday footie starting with Watford vs the Spuds on NBCSN . Actually it looks like they will go to all the grounds. This is followed by what is supposed to be the MOTD at OT where United hosts Chelsea . Join me for all the action

"Jingle Bells, ManYoo Smells, Chelski Ran Away....

...Oh what fun it is to see Leeds win on Boxing Day-ay!" La la la!

Happy Boxing Day, chaps. I'm here to get us going this morning with United traveling to the Britannia to meet stoic Stoke. Later we get top of the table Leicester against Klopp's new look Liverpool and we finish up with Newcastle v. Everton.

I'll be around or the first one but Kate and I will be joining Dad for the rest of the day. Join me for the early one, won't you?

Merry Christmas from The Blue Devil!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you in the LOB family. Enjoy the meal tomorrow and I'll look forward to chatting with you Boxing Day morning. Cheers!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 17 Update

Hiya, lads! I'm here on Tuesday of Christmas week with the latest update of our Premiership Plus Predictions Game. Not a lot of movement this week, in actuality, with Leicester doggedly hanging on to top spot in the Prem. United have slipped to 5th and Swansea City have dropped into the relegation zone. Otherwise, we're unchanged from last week. So, though he's lost points this week, Swansong still sits atop our standings:

1. Swansong - 36 points
2. Yellows - 32 pts
3. What's up Wheaton Simon - 31 pts
4. The Red Devil 1FCK - 29 pts
5. Gooner71 - 25 pts
- Man Utd Rules - 25 pts
7. The Red Dragon - 24 pts
- Chelskilad - 24 pts
9. West Ham Rising - 23 pts
10. Blue Devil - 22 pts
- The Saint - 22 pts
12. United We Stand - 21 pts
13. Someone Said - 20 pts

A Big Christmas Week Match-up!

Matches don't get bigger than today's clash between Arsenal and Citeh. It's a wee bit early to speak of "title deciders," but this one will certainly indicate who is likely to end up on top in May. Join me for all the action from the Emirates this afternoon from 2:45pm onward on NBC Sports Channel and here on the LOB!

Blatter and Platini Banned for 8 Years!

Excellent news out of the footer world today. Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were barred from participating in world football for eight years (yes, 8 years!) on Monday morning after being found guilty of ethics violations. Their ban should finally put an end to Blatter's attempt to resuscitate his career as FIFA president and could well trigger the end to the Qatar 2022 World Cup. We can only hope.

Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/sports/soccer/fifa-bans-blatter-platini.html?_r=0

Cribs, Richard Keys style

Shout out to the Guardian for pointing me in the direction of this cringe worthy beIn "cribs" video of Richard Key's gaff in Doha. The wee frightened dogs, the inspirational fridge poetry? Notably, comments are disabled for this you.tube. Enjoy https://youtu.be/Ggt4j9zYwI8

Mourinho Walks the Plank!

Christmas came early to us at the LOB this year with news today that Chelsea Football Club have sacked Jose Mourinho. This comes after Chelski lost their ninth Premiership match of the season and sank to within a point of relegation. Are the Blues in free fall? Your thoughts, gents?

Music of 2015

The picture above is of concert-goers at the Bataclan in Paris moments before many of them were pointlessly murdered. No other photo this year has taken my breath away quite as sharply because of its juxtaposition of innocent fun and the horror that followed. This picture looks pretty much like every crowd I’ve been in at any show I’ve been to since I turned 14. Horrible, horrible, horrible, and I can’t stop thinking about these victims. For me, 2015 was the year of Bataclan.

2015 was a year where I ended up catching up and buying records that had whooshed by me because I’m still not able to keep good track of what’s being released. I still read music blogs, and I’ve tried signing up to artist email news, but those seem to be lost among the 1500 daily messages I get from Pottery Barn because I once bought something from a friend’s wedding registry list years ago.

I found out this year that Bill Frisell put out “Guitar in the Space Age” in 2014, and “Big Sur” in 2013 and I supposedly get his emails. Also from 2014, I first heard Austin’s Magda Carda’s “Likeitis” which sounds like a record the Roots could have made if they’d teamed up with the Digable Planets. Teleman is a fantastic band from London who sound like the best parts of Stereolab and Belle & Sebastian one minute, and a Brian Wilson fronted Velvet Underground the next. They put out great record “Breakfast” in 2013 and I only caught up to them this past year. And I’ve completely lost track of contemporary Brazilian music which I loved to bits when I had access to brick and mortar stores and their bins of mysterious discs.

Still, through music blogs I got wind of a Zambian Artist from the 70’s named Chrissy Zebby Tembo who in 1974 put out a low-fi fuzzed out record “My Ancestors” which growls its way through stories of how very careful fishermen should be when they go angling by the river in Zambia or about someone who watches while their coffin being constructed.

I’ve also been busily Shazaming the TV that I’ve been watching because of how expertly shows like The Hour, Mad Men and Fargo are curating their music. Yamasuki’s “Yama Yama” from 1971 was a cool discovery.

The biggest rabbit hole I fell down into this year was after I read Amanda Petrusich’s “Do Not Sell At Any Price” about obsessive 78rpm record collectors. Her enthusiasm for the roots music and the stories of artists like Skip James, Charlie Patton, Angelas LeJeune and nutso “Magical Shellac” aficionados like Harry Smith was completely engrossing. I spent happy hours this year hunting down Mp3’s of the seminal tracks from the book. My Holiday gift to you is to tell you to load “Skokiaan” and “Bulawayo Sweet Rhythm Band” into YouTube. Something deliriously brilliant awaits you.

I bought several 2015 releases this year too. Jack Rabbit and the Dreamlanders have a enjoyably louche sound on their eponyous record. Robert Forster’s “Songs to Play” reminded me of how much I miss the Go Betweens. Dawes' “All Your Favorite Bands” capped the highlight year that Taylor Goldsmith had. His contributions to 2014’s New Basement Tapes “Lost on the River” were my favorites from that record. Another contributor to that NBT record, Rhiannon Giddens, put out a great record of her own, “Tomorrow Is My Turn.” There’s an infectiously upbeat Minneapolis band “The Persian Leaps” that put out an EP “High & Vibrate” which was a shot of adrenaline. So too was Potty Mouth’s EP “Potty Mouth.” The Bad Plus added Joshua Redmond to their trio and they put out an outstanding record “The Bad Plus Joshua Redmond” to celebrate their new addition. Redmond has added a texture to their music that you didn’t realize wasn’t there, but which now seems compulsory. Erykah Badu one-upped Drake by taking his “Hotline Bling” song and shaking the Canadian’s dullness off it completely with her mixtape “But You Cain’t Use My Phone” and the sizzling riposte “Phone Down.” BC Camplight’s “How to Die in the North” was another absolute favorite of mine.

I still digest most of my music as individual songs however. My favorite songs from 2015 that I heard were these, in no particular order (but if you pressed me, it’s a three way tie between D.R.A.M.’s “Cha-Cha,” Kurt Vile’s “Pretty Pimpin”, and EL VY’s “Return to the Moon” where Matt Berninger sounds surprisingly non-suicidal for once). Special mention, however, goes to Titus Andronicus and “Fired Up” as the song that speaks the loudest to teenage Steve.

What grabbed you by the lapels this year, huh?

The List:

Cha Cha -- D.R.A.M.
Spoken Jewelz -- Main Attrakionz 
HomieZ (Featuring Outspoken) -- Chimurenga Renaissance Kudada Nekuva Munhu Mutema 
Cherry Picking -- Potty Mouth 
Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, with Crescendo) -- EL VY 
Fired Up -- Titus Andronicus
The Legend of Chavo Guerrero -- The Mountain Goats
Rock and Roll is Cold -- Matthew E. White
Emily -- San Fermin
Pretty Pimpin -- Kurt Vile
Things Happen -- Dawes
What Part of Me -- Low
Under the Lilacs -- The Persian Leaps
Sprinter -- Torres
Ship To Wreck -- Florence + The Machine
The Scene Between -- The Go! Team
Feel the Lightning -- Dan Deacon
Can't Have -- Steven A. Clark
God It -- De La Soul feat. Nas

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 16 Update

Hiya, chaps - Blue Devil here with the Monday round-up of PPP results and standings. The big story this week was East Anglia. Norwich slipped into the bottom three of the Premiership while their country cousins Ipswich headed back in the opposite direction, slipping into sixth in the Championship. Apart from that, we're all the same. Here are the latest standings:

1. Swansong - 39 points
2. The Red Devil 1FCK - 31 pts
- What's Up Wheaton Simon - 31 pts
- Yellows - 31 pts
5. Gooner71 - 29 pts
6. Man Utd Rules - 27 pts
7. The Red Dragon - 26 pts
8. Chelskilad - 25 pts
- West Ham Rising - 25 pts
10. Blue Devil - 22 pts
- The Saint - 22 pts
12. Someone Said - 20 pts
- United We Stand - 20 pts

Sunday Soccer Fest

Good morning, lads! We've got a busy Sunday schedule ahead of us this morning. First up is struggling Villa against title-challengers Arsenal. Only in the Premiership can you have surprises when top and bottom meet. That's followed by the Baggies vs. Liverpool as well as Spurs vs. Newcastle. Drop on by for a cuppa and a chat about the footer this morning.

THE DRAW

Today is the day that 24 teams know their destiny for this summer. An almost full house of the British Isles are going to be there... Who will each of the get? Here are the Pots.
Pot 1: France, Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, Belgium
Pot 2: Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine
Pot 3: Czech Rep, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary
Pot 4: Turkey, Rep of Ire, Iceland, Wales, Albania, Northern Ireland

Top two of each group plus runners up in some go thru to the knockout stages

Join me for the draw
ESPN2 at Noon...forget United against Bournemouth

UWS

The Premiership Weekend Starts Here!

Morning, chaps. I'm joining mid-way through the Norway v. Everton match, as I chose an extra hour of sleep over the first half. Later on, we get City v. Swansea and then the tantalizing fixture of Bournemouth v. Man Utd. Join me for all the action today, won't you?

Europa League Group Stage Wrap-up!

The Europa League Group Stage wrapped up yesterday evening (wot - you missed it!). To be honest, I don't give a toss about the EL until it hits the knock-out stages in the spring - I just can't be fussed. But here are the 24 sides that have advanced:

Group A:
1. Molde
2. Fenerbahce

Group B:
1. Liverpool
2. FC Sion

Group C:
1. Krasnador
2. Dortmund

Group D:
1. Napoli
2. Mitjylland

Group E:
1. Rapid Vienna
2. Villareal

Group F:
1. Braga
2. Marseille

Group G:
1. Lazio
2. St. Etienne

Group H:
1. Locomotiv Moscow
2. Sporting Lisbon

Group I:
1. FC Basel
2. Fiorentina

Group J:
1. Spurs
2. Anderlecht

Group K:
1. Schalke
2. Sparta Prague

Group L:
1. Athletic Club
2. Augsburg

Add to that list, the 8 clubs who came third in their Champions League group and you've got the (snooze....) 32 clubs still left in the Europa League:

1. Shakhtar
2. Man Utd
3. Galatasaray
4. Sevilla
5. Leverkusen
6. Olympiacos
7. Porto
8. Valencia

I'll be totting these up and adding them to the PPP standings for next week.

Books of 2015

In years past, I had the chance to read upwards of fifty books a year; these days it’s half of that. So, I’ve had to be more selective in my reading habits, cherishing a book over the course of a month at times and passing over books that casually interest but don’t quite captivate me. I’ve also taken to putting books aside when they don’t rope me in within the first 150 pages or so. But here are the ones that made me the happiest this year: 

 

1. Jon Ronson – So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed: British journalist Jon Ronson’s new book tackles one of our most pressing issues for us as a society: how to engage in civil discourse in an age of lightening quick social media.   

 

2. Jonathan Franzen - Purity: Franzen has over the course of his last three “big books” become one of the most important and celebrated novelists of our time. His latest charts the course of a rudderless young woman who joins a Wikileaks-style organization. 

 

3. Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me: An elegant treatise on the state of race relations in an age of Ferguson and Baltimore and the Black Lives Matter movement. A book that one would hope that every policy maker read this year.

 

4. Andrew Hartman – The Struggle for the Soul of America: Hartman, a historian at Illinois State, outlines the major fault-lines between the Left and Right in the United States today, many of them motivated by cultural values. An important book for understanding the upcoming election.

 

5. Nick Hornby - Funny Girl: My favorite novelist casts a nostalgic eye back over the heyday of British television comedy with a loving look at Britain’s answer to Lucille Ball. A must read for those of us who grew up watching the likes of “Fawlty Towers” and “Dad’s Army.”

 

6. Patton Oswalt – Silver Screen Fiend: Alternative comedian Patton Oswalt’s funny rumination on his love affair with movies, art cinemas and film-going in Los Angeles. I spent a lot of time in 2015 writing about movies and their impact on viewers; this gave me some important insights.

 

7. Paula Hawkins – Girl on the Train: British writer Paula Hawkins’ debut novel was a whip-smart thriller, with multiple narratives, about a random incident witnessed by a depressed, alcoholic woman on a train into London one morning. You won’t be able to predict the twists and turns.

 

8. Michael Berube and Jennifer Ruth - The Humanities, Higher Education, Academic Freedom: Berube and Ruth, both veterans of shared governance negotiations on their campuses, recount the negative trends in higher education with regard to tenure, contingent faculty and de-professionalization. It’s a sobering read but vital nonetheless. This one made for an interest book discussion at Fredonia this semester.

 

9. Anne Tyler - A Spool of Blue Thread: Anne Tyler’s latest novel was a sprawling domestic drama about the Whitshanks, an old money New England family with lots of dysfunction and quirkiness. A new Tyler book is always a reason to celebrate.

 

10. Roddy Doyle - Two Pints/ Two More Pints: Roddy’s two slight books that detail the profane conversations about footie, politics and celebrity deaths between two Irish pub denizens were the perfect beach books for me this past summer. 

 

Notable Others: 

* Bill Bryson - One Summer: America 1927

* Renee Knight - Disclaimer

* Elizabeth Warren - A Fighting Chance

 

Disappointments: 

* Robert Christgau – A Kid in the City: Having grown up reading Village Voice senior music critic Christgau’s work, I looked forward to reading about the seminal records that made him want to write about music, the live gigs that he witnessed in 60s and 70s NYC (CBGBs - hello?) and the ins and outs of editing the yearly Pazz and Jop polls. Instead, we get ruminations on Dostoevsky and unflattering details of his love life. What were you thinking, Bob? 

I'd love to hear about what you've enjoyed reading this year.

Champions League Group Stage Round-up

I haven't had a chance to watch any of the footer this week, so slammed have I been at work, so I thought I'd round things up tonight. It's been quite a week. British football fans going into this week were fearful that as many as three of the British sides might be eliminated. In the end, only Man Utd. bowed out, with Man City and Arsenal pulling off heroics on the day. So here are the final sides going into the knock-out stages:

Group A:
Real Madrid
PSG

Group B:
Wolfsburg
PSV

Group C:
Atletico Madrid
Benfica

Group D:
Man City
Juventus

Group E:
Barcelona
Roma

Group F:
Bayern
Arsenal

Group G:
Chelsea
Dynamo Kyiv

Group H:
Zenit
Gent

All Songs Considered Music of 2015

It's that time of the year when musos all over the country are making their lists of favorite albums and songs from the past year. As your making your lists this week, have a listen to the boffins at All Songs Considered who have kindly put together their "Year of" pod featuring the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Lin Miranda, Sleater Kinney and Courtney Barnett. Check it out on iTunes and the usual podcast platforms.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 15 Update

Evening, chaps - I'm here on the Monday evening as usual taking stock of the Premiership weekend we just experienced. With City losing at Stoke, it's pesky Leicester City on top again, spoiling all of our PPP scores. A lot of us also lost points due to Bournemouth's heroics at Chelsea, which lifted the Cherries out of the drop zone. All that means is that we've got a new table-topper this week - Swansong, who is a point ahead of MUR now. Here are the current standings:

1. Swansong - 36 points
2. Man Utd Rules - 35 pts
3. The Red Devil 1FCK - 28 pts
- West Ham Rising - 28 pts
5 What's Up Wheaton Simon - 27 pts
- Yellows - 27 pts
7. Chelskilad - 26 pts
- Gooner71 - 26 pts
- The Red Dragon - 26 pts
10. The Saint - 25 pts
11. Blue Devil - 22 pts
12. Someone Said - 20 pts
- United We Stand - 20 pts

Sunday's Match of the Day

Morning, chaps - I've taken advantage of the lack of an early match in the Prem to have a much-needed lie-in. A good night's sleep and a stack of pancakes later, and I'm well and truly ready to enjoy this morning's big match - Newcastle v. Liverpool. Will the Wally's men turn it around? Will Klippety Klopp's men continue their good run of form? We'll see next. Join me this morning, won't you?

"Top v. Bottom" day in the Premiership

Morning, chaps. The Premiership has stolen some more sleep from us this weekend. I'm up early doors once again. The theme of the day is "Top v. Bottom." We get started with Stoke v. Man City at the Britannia. Then we've got a number of mismatches, including Arsenal v. Sunderland at 10am EST. Finally, we round off the day with Chelski v. Bournemouth. Wait...scratch that. That one is "Bottom v. Bottom." Tee hee. Join me for all the fun this morning, won't you?

Pop Culture Trivia of the Week

I was listening to a Fleetwood Mac tune today, which reminded me of a pop culture quiz I had been meaning to post here. Here it is:

"Name the television show that used the following pop songs as their main themes:"

1. Fleetwood Mac - "The Chain"
2. Andrew Gold - "Thank You for Being a Friend"
3. Billy Joel - "My Life"
4. Frank Sinatra - "Love and Marriage"
5. The Who - "Who are You?"
6. Boots Randolph - "Yakety Sax"
7. Waylon Jennings - "Good ol' Boys"
8. Johnny Mandel - Suicide is Painless"
9. Joe Cocker - "A Little Help from My Friends"
10. The Presidents of the United States - "Cleveland Rocks"
11. The Rembrandts - "I'll Be There For You"
12. Bud Flanagan - "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?"

Good luck, lads!

Capital One Cup Update

The Quarter-final round of the Capital One Cup wrapped up tonight, with Liverpool joining Everton, City and Stoke in the semis after destroying Southampton 1-6 at St. Mary's.

Here's what it means for the PPP. These competitors are already out, having had both their winners and runners-up picks knocked out in previous rounds:

Chelskilad, Gooner71, MUR, Someone Said, West Ham Rising, and Yellows

The following have their potential winners still in it with six points to earn:

Red Devil - Liverpool
Swansong - Liverpool

The following have their potential runners-up still in it with two points to earn:

Blue Devil - Liverpool
The Saint - Stoke
Simon - Liverpool

And these geniuses have both their potential winners and runners-up still in with eight points to earn:

Red Dragon - Liverpool and Stoke
United We Stand - Liverpool and City

In the past two seasons, Capital One Cup picks have been crucial to wins. This should be fascinating.