Monday Night Football Live!

Are you ready for some football, chaps! Well, if you're watching this afternoon marquee match between United and Arsenal, tune in and log on here for a bit of a Monday afternoon natter. Cheers!

It's Time to Watch Football!

Morning, chaps! After a long workweek, it's a pleasure to settle into my favorite chair to watch some of the good stuff. First up are the league leaders, who are away to the Evil Blades in a lunch-time kickoff. I'm hoping that they put 10 by the Sheffield club. No mercy.

Then we've got the 10 o'clockers, including Chelsea v. Brighton on NBC and my beloved Leeds away to Charlton in another Championship six-pointer. Unfortunately, no coverage of the men in White today.

At the end of the day, we get struggling Everton v. Citeh. Can the Toffees nick some more points off the champions? Let's hope so, but I doubt it. I'll look forward to the pleasure of your company.

The Vinyl Outlet Game!

My favorite game these days involves inserting alternate lyrics whenever the telly commercial for The Vinyl Outlet, an outfit here in WNY that builds decks, porches and the like. You see, the ad features a maddeningly catchy jingle - "The Vinyl Outlet: Let Us Transform Your Home" - which is perfect for improv. Here's how it works - just take the "Let Us" part and add four words (or syllables) to the end to suggest that the Vinyl Outlet is promising to do increasingly silly or inappropriate things on your property. For example - "Let us jump on your roof!" or "Let us climb up your tree!" My favorite recent effort, though not my fair Katie's, is "The Vinyl Outlet - Let us poop on your lawn!"

So, have a go and send me your best entries!

The Third Round of the League Cup

The Third Round of the EFL Cup starts today . The teams that qualified for the CL and EL begin today. The matches on Plus are the South Coast Derby as Pompey hosts Saints, PNE vs Citeh,  Colchester vs Spurs , and the Gunners vs Forest. The match from the EM kicks off at 3, with the others kicking off at 2:45. Join me for the match of you r choice if you can.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 6 Update

Happy Monday, PPPers! I'm back with the usual weekly update on our humble game. It was a bad week for all of us in the domestic leagues as the usual favorites continued to underwhelm and the upstarts continued to play above their station. The result of that is a marked drop in all of our points. Liverpool continue on top with a perfect record but have a look at the rest of the top six - Leicester? West Ham? At the bottom, some of our favorites for relegation are surviving while Wolves - a team some predicted for a European spot - are mired in the drop zone.

In the Championship, I'm happy to report that my beloved Leeds are still on top of the pops, despite a heart-breaking draw due to a last minute goal by Derby. In Europe, the likes of Leipzig, Inter and Athletic Bilbao (yes!) are riding high in their respective leagues, while Barca are languishing in 8th! What has happened to the footie world?

Man City may not be top but they keep on scoring bucketsful, including 8 against hapless Watford on Saturday. That means that Sergio Aguero is the top scorer on 7 goals and his mate Tintin is leading the assists charts on 7 assists.

Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 33 points
2. MOT the Hoople - 30 pts
3. Swansong - 24 pts
4. West Ham Rising - 21 pts
5. Someone Said - 19 pts
6. Gooner71 - 15 pts
-   Red Dragon - 15 pts
-   The Saint - 15 pts
9. Red Devil 1FCK - 13 pts
10. Pink Kits - 12 pts
-   United We Stand - 12 pts
12. Yellows - 11 pts
13. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 7 pts
14. Man Utd Rules - 6 pts
15. The Bee's Knees - 4 pts

Another Big Match Sunday

I don't know how the Premier League suits keep doing it but they seem to be able to schedule a big match every Sunday at 11 or 11:30. This weekend, it's Liverpool v. Chelsea. Can Frankie Lamps' Chelsea put a stop to Liverpool's incredible run of form or will the Reds continue their march to the tittle?

Before that we've got the undercard match of West Ham v. ManYoo. Join me for all the fun.

A Crucial Weekend in the Prem

It's a big day in the Premier League, with loads of interesting clashes that will help to the clarify the picture in the league. We start with Spurs, fresh off a disappointing Champions League start in midweek, traveling to Leicester for a tricky fixture. At the same time, I'll have my eyes firmly planted on my beloved Leeds in their home match with Derby.

At 10am, we've got Soccer Saturday and the usual fleet of matches, including Man City v. Watford on NBC Sports. Just in case that's not enough footie for your Saturday morning, we head into the afternoon with Brighton v. Newcastle.

Join me for all the action here on the LOB!

Europa League Action

It's the start of the group stages of the Europa League. Fortunately, I can watch the Premier League teams on the Spanish language channels. We start with Eintracht Frankfurt vs the gunners. The later matches that are being televised on the Spanish language channels include wolves vs Braga and United vs Astana. Join me if you can.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 5 Update

Hi there, PPPers! It seems like an age since I updated our humble game, due to the interminable international break. With yesterday's drab 0-0 draw between Villa and West Ham, we came to the end of Round 5 of the domestic season. Just a few changes to matters at top and bottom. Liverpool continue to dominate the Premiership and have now extended their lead at the top to five points. That's good news to the Scouse supporters in our pool. More of the big clubs are now in the top five, with only Leicester slipping in to the mix now, which is good news for all of us. At the bottom, Newcastle have swapped places again with Norwich, due to the Canaries' big win against City.

In the Championship, my beloved Leeds United are back where they belong on top of the pops, with Swansea and Charlton in hot pursuit. The European leagues continue to confound our predictions, with Sevilla, Leipzig and Inter continuing on top of their respective leagues. No points there for us.

Tammy Abraham and Sergio Aguero are now top of the scorers, with 7 goals apiece from the first 5 games - cor! The Ginger Winger Kevin de Bruyne continues to rack up the assists, with five now - double cor!

Finally, poor old Javier Gracia won the sack race during the break, with Watford dispensing of his services in favor of inexplicably bringing Quique Sanchez Flores for a second term in charge at Vicarage Road (is there a record for the number of managers sacked by one Prem club in one season?).

So, all in all, here are the latest standings:

1. Blue Devil - 38 points
2. MOT the Hoople -34 pts
3. Someone Said - 33 pts
4. Swansong - 30 pts
5. Yellows - 24 pts
6. West Ham Rising - 23 pts
7. Gooner71 - 19 pts
-   Man Utd Rules - 19 pts
-   Red Devil 1FCK - 19 pts
-   Red Dragon - 19 pts
11. The Bee's Knees - 17 pts
-   The Saint - 17 pts
13. Pink Kits - 16 pts
-   United We Stand - 16 pts
15. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 15 pts

Time for the Bounce Back

Last time up, my beloved Leeds United slumped to their first defeat of the season, losing a big six-pointer to promoting rivals Swansea at Elland Road. We'll need to brush that off and win big on the road to Barnsley today. A 2-0 win would take us back up to the top of the Championship.

Arsenal similarly could use a win today on the road to Watford. It's a day of redemption for our teams. Drop on in with a cuppa to watch it all.

Back to the Prem!

Morning, chaps! Well, it seems like ages since we had a Premiership Saturday morning, given that interminable international break. We're back at it this morning, starting with the league leaders Liverpool taking on relegation threatened Newcastle. That's followed by the 10 o'clock kickoffs, including Spurs v. Palace on NBC Sports and Man Yoo v. Leicester on the Gold package. Finally, it's Norwich v. Citeh, an intriguing match-up to wrap up the day's activities.

Join me for the usual Saturday morning action.

England vs Kosovo From St. Mary's

So far so good for the Three Lions as they are three for three  in Euro qualifying. This afternoon they host a surprising Kosovo side in a match between the two undefeated sides in the group. England lead the group by a point over Kosovo, but the Three Lions have a game in hand. An England win puts them firmly in the driver's seat. Kickoff is at 2:45 PM on the Deuce.Join me if you can.

Hot Ones!

Thanks to the recommendations of a couple of fellow foodie friends, I've recently come across a YouTube series called "Hot Ones." The set-up is simple. Celebrity guests are challenged to answer interview questions while eating a series of 10 progressively spicier chicken wings. The results are humorous and addictive. To get started, try the episode with Brit celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey.

England v. Bulgaria Live!

England have gotten off to a perfect start with two wins in their first two matches. During this international break, the Three Lions have two home matches. First up is this afternoon's affair at Wembley against Bulgaria, who are currently bottom of the group. I'm hoping for a goal-fest.

Join me for all the Euro 2020 qualifying fun on the Deuce and here on the LOB!

"Useful Idiots" Podcast

I've recently discovered a new Rolling Stone-sponsored podcast featuring one of my favorite political writers Matt Taibbi called "Useful Idiots," so I thought I'd mention it here. If you're looking for a critical take on the 2020 Presidential campaign, check it out.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 4 Update

Happy Labor Day, everyone! I'm checking in with this week's update on our PPP Game. Another week in and Liverpool have continued their perfect record with a stonking 0-3 over Burnley, which means that Blue Devil, MOT, Swansong, West Ham and Someone are still riding pretty on top. The rest of the pack is some 10-15 points back but would immediately bounce up were Liverpool to falter.

We're all losing points at the top given the presence of Leicester and Palace in the top four, while the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd and Spurs are faltering. At the bottom, Newcastle have jumped out and Norwich and Villa have dropped in, creating points for some and not for others. In the Championship,  my beloved Leeds United have dropped to third as a result of a six point loss to Swansea at the weekend, so some of us lost a point there.

The European leagues continue to confound with Atletico, Leipzig and Inter now at the top of their respective leagues. Only the maverick Pink Kits has picked up points there for her Leipzig pick. Sergio Aguero is now on top of the goalscoring charts with 6 goals, giving Red Devil 6 of his 9 points. Aguero's teammate KDB is on top of the assists charts with 5, giving a couple of us 2 points.

So, here are the current standings going into the interminable international break:

1. Blue Devil - 33 points
-   MOT the Hoople - 33 pts
3. Swansong - 28 pts
4. West Ham Rising - 27 pts
5. Someone Said - 24 pts
6. United We Stand - 15 pts
7. Gooner71 - 13 pts
-   Pink Kits - 13 pts
9. Red Dragon - 11 pts
-   What's Up Wheaton Simon - 11 pts
11. The Saint - 10 pts
12. Red Devil FCK1 - 9 pts
13. Yellows - 7 pts
14. The Bee's Knees - 6 pts
-   Man Utd Rules - 6 pts

Sunday Derby Day

Morning, chaps! Who's up for some North London Derby action? Yes, the footie gods have served us up another tasty morsel for our weekend ending. The undercard - Everton v. Wolves - is an intriguing mid-table clash as well. Join me for all the action, won't you?