But I'm talking about another type of football - I'm talking FUTBOL!!!! (Ok, I'm talking soccer...)
The English Premier League kicks off the season this weekend w/ a full slate of matches. I love watching soccer. Well, I love watching quality soccer, i.e., no MLS. If you have a chance, and you get the Fox Soccer Channel or Setanta Sports, flip on over this weekend and take in the first weekend of matches. Here's the lineup. No real great matchups, but Liverpool is always fun to watch. Same with the always powerful Manchester United. Along w/ Chelsea, they're basically the Yankees and RedSox of the EPL (obscene spending, constant attention), and I've grown to hate them as much...
My squad, Tottenham Hotspur, if coming off of a fairly disappointing season, but there were glimmers of hope in the 2nd half of the year, after they canned their manager and brought in Juande Ramos (the savior!) to salvage the season and get it back on track. We actually won the Carling Cup (a somewhat prestigious in-season tournament involving other English League teams). While they got rid of their top scorer from last year, Robbie Keane, they still have my boy, the electric and silky-smooth Dimitar Berbatov. Rumor has it that he wanted to go to ManU in the offseason, which pisses me off, but I'm gonna enjoy him playing for us while he's still here. Although I can't blame him for wanting to experience some more success with his level of talent. If Tottenham (I'll call them the "Spurs" on occasion) get off to a bad start, I wouldn't hate him (too much) if he pushes for a move to ManU in the January transfer window (aside from the offseason, the January transfer window is the only time teams can make moves during the season). But we've got a solid sqaud overall, great forwards in Berbatov and Darren Bent (even though some people think he's overrated, Bent's still got skillz - with a "z"), a plethora of exciting and talented midfielders, and a decent back line of defense. Defense is what killed us last year. We scored as many goals as the top clubs, but gave up just as many, thus the 1tth place finish (out of 20 teams).
As far as predictions go, you have to first understand something about the Premier League. Over the past several years, there's been the big four, and then everybody else. The big four - ManU, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal - have finished in the top 4 of the league for several years running. They all have a bunch of talent, and they all spend a bunch of money. To say that another team will finish in the top 4 of the league is pretty much a long shot. Before Tottenham's 11th place finish last year, they finished just outside the top 4 for two straight years (5th in 2005 and 2006). Now I'm not saying that Tottenham will break into the top 4 this year, but if Berbatov stays and the defense get a bit better, with the plethora of new talent we brought in at the end of last year and in the offseason, and w/ Juande Ramos having a full season for his team to gel, I like the Spurs chances. At least they'll be one of the most exciting teams to watch, as they have been for the past 3 years (which is why I started liking them in the first place).
So if you've got some extra time this weekend, flip on over to Fox Soccer Channel and take in a bit of a match. It's not like there's anything else on between 9am and 2pm on Saturdays, so give it a shot. Maybe you'll grow to love it like I have over the past several seasons. But if not, I won't hate ya for it....
