Football

I'm an EPL guy for the most part, big time QPR fan (I know, I know). I must say, everything surrounding Chelsea and Benitez right now is pretty damn funny.

Thoughts on the US tie yesterday? The refs made some real bad calls in the box, Mexico should have pulled out the victory.

Anyone of you is going to watch the champions league final today?

I, too, was rooting for Dortmund as they were the big time underdog. I can't stand Bayern, I see them as the Man U of Germany. Dante's "kick in the ribs" should have AT LEAST been an automatic yellow, if not a red card, which would have changed the entire dynamic of the game. Oh well, EPL off-season is damn short at least (even though my team just went down).

Sorry to hear about Queens Park (well not like I just found out, they have had one foot in League One since prarctically Easter) but I was hoping that they would do well, especially after they added one of my favorite canteros in la pirata.

Anyhow, the last week of in La Liga is shaping up to be a fascinating one. Only a mere two points seperate Mallorca at 20 and Super Depor at 17. And each team; Mallorca, last year's second half miracle team Real Zarragoza, and the Gallego rivals all play at home. I have been rooting for Depor to survive, primarily because Juan Carlos Valeron was a part of the great generation of Spanish midfielder of the early 2000's that actually attacked with the ball unlike more current iterations, and I would hate to see him finish of a truly tragic and beautiful career going down to La Liga Adelante on the final match day of the season.

Sadly, they are the only team of the bunch playing against competition that has any realy motivation of showing up and playing. As they face a la Real squad (Sociedad) that has had a wonderful season that could finish with them earning a spot into the UCL if they win next Sunday and if Valencia loses. Hopefully Valeron can roll back the years against the players of Sociedad, some of whom are young enough to be his children, and ride out in glory (kind of).

If you lived in Portugal you wouldn't be sorry at all. I don't care about Benfica the slightest, but to kick a smile out of those presumptuous grins is oh so sweet.

For the last month or so they acted like the treble was in the bag, banners were hanged in major plazas saying "RESERVED!", as in, this place is reserved for our celebration party. Their president was already talking about gunning for the Champions League title next season. Facebook, twitter, etc, had become unbearable. And you should see the media, it's like Marca, As, Sport and Mundo Deportivo all combined but for the whole country and in all platforms. CEO's and top government agents had come forward saying that their win would benefit the country and the GDP. And that is just a small description of how obnoxious it had become.

And their despicable sore loser behavior once again came to the top, turning their backs and walking away before their opponents raised the trophy. Just like when they turned off the lights and activated the sprinkler system when Porto beat them at home.

No my friend, no sympathy for them. Plenty of schadenfreude is all I can spare.

Porto fan here.

Porto, as any portuguese club, is run at a deficit. That means that they rely on buying young talent, nurture it, and then sell it for exorbitant fees when they´re ripe. If not for that they would have gone under like Sporting is risking to do. Benfica is in a less dire situation as they produce much more cash through TV, sponsoring and gate revenue but they have as much debt as almost all the others combined.

Clubs strategy nowadays is kind of a conveyor belt of talent. You have players at different maturing stages, when they´ve become too valuable to hold you sell them and use the money to buy the next young prodigy and cover the budget deficit. The player who was playing second fiddle now becomes the starting man and the one who was getting his feet wet becomes the second choice. And on and on ad infinitum. They´re like the A´s in that aspect.

Fans have grown accustomed not to become attached to players, all they want is the silverware they leave behind. As they say, pennants fly forever.

The guy who probably bothered most people more when he left was André Villas-Boas, and that was a manager. But man did that team play well together.

Imagine the beanball festival if MLB hitters did this after a HR.

Massive choke job, very very disappointing. The Reds will need an equally massive choke from Man City to have a chance. Really hoping Gerrard can add an EPL title to his great career. But those chances took a huge hit today.

To be completely fair, the only shot they had was trying somehow to bring down the goal differential. No way in hell City loses to Asston Villa or West Ham.

Regardless, bravo Reds for the season they had. They are the only football team I care about.