Thats On Point: The Web Site

Canal Kings

2012-01-25T23:27:00.000-05:00

U.S. 1, Panama 0. First thing's first, there is a special ring of purgatory reserved for an American soccer blogger/writer with the temerity to poo-poo a result on foreign soil ... even in a no-stakes friendly. In that regard, let's say a hearty well done for Graham Zusi for being Johnny on the spot and scoring inside of 11 minutes and the rest of the U.S. players for holding off a

Royale with Cheese

2012-01-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

The Human Meme strikes ... again. Jerk. Good grief Charlie Brown, where on earth to begin after that highest of high incident Premier League weekend? That was a five-course seven-course meal and not even a dash of Piers Morgan could ruin it. Hell, where do we even start? * Manchester City's 95th minute win over Spurs? * Manchester United beating Arsenal, again? * The coverage on FOX? *

Gauging expectations.

2012-01-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

Smiles mandatory, umlauts optional. "You want it to be one way ... but it's the other way." -- Marlo Stanfield. Back in the spring of 2010, during my epic, streets of Bodymore, Muderland-tinged World Cup preview, that quote was used to describe a lingering sentiment hanging around certain corners of the U.S. National Team fans. In short, there's anyways going to be a segment of the USMNT

Who dares wins

2012-01-20T12:00:00.001-05:00

A Flock of Seagulls had better hair than a herd of Swans. "I'm not afraid any more." -- Kevin McAllister. Is there parity in the (English) Premier League in 2011-12? Should it matter? Do we care? Do we even want it? Here's some evidence for parity, using the old "Big Four" prism, with Manchester City replacing Liverpool. (Sorry.) First place Manchester City has lost to Sunderland and

Swan Lake

2012-01-16T11:55:00.000-05:00

... and I missed the Knicks game, too. Oh Arsene, my Aresene. God bless you. After a thoroughly forgettable weekend in the Premier League, you gave us the gift that keeps on the giving -- the ArseneFAIL -- losing 3-2 at Swansea City Sunday. Problem is, this one is hard to laugh about. There are no referees to yell at or cynical tactics by the opposition to blame. No reason to throw your

Second Half Crystal Balls

2012-01-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

The Big Book of British Smiles thanks you guys. After an admittedly much needed break for the FA Cup, we're back in action this weekend in the Barclay's Premier League -- aka the most important sporting league in the galaxy, well, aside from Premier League Darts. Wait, err, thought you said world's drunkest sporting league. Darts wins that in a triple bullseye. That said, let's take a

Refresher course

2012-01-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

And ... I'm a ginger, too. It's fitting, isn't that the final two matches during the Premier League's rock 'em, sock 'em, player fitness be damned, 30-matches over 10 days "Holiday Program" included Newcastle United smacking Manchester United around the ground formerly known as St. James Parks, as well as American goalie Tim Howard launching a ball 100 yards, hitting the perfect angle and

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

Anything can happen in the WWF, err, EPL. Bar none this was the best weekend of Premier League results. It began with Manchester United losing at Old Trafford to last-place Blackburn and finished with Sunderland pulling an absolute shock at the death against first-place Manchester City. There is so much to mull over and ponder, yet I frankly had zero free time to do it this weekend and form

Last Post of 2011

2011-12-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

In the last couple weeks my friends Jared and Mike -- each fans of the Premier League -- have both referred to me as an, "expert" in term of my vast soccer knowledge chest. Not sure the level of sincerity involved in either case, but hey, you take compliments anyway you can get them, even if they aren't entirely accurate. Before getting too ahead of things, let me throw out a quick (promise)

Boxing Daze

2011-12-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's Boxing Day in the United Kingdom. My gift to the loyal, hardy, salt-of-the-earth readers of this little blog? A picture of Mario Balotelli. Think that should suffice, considering it's a holiday period and I really don't feel like sitting in front of my keyboard and trying to form sentences or come up with lame, strained egg nog jokes. Basically got away from ham and turkey and all

Holiday Cheer

2011-12-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

Mouth-watering affair, eh? Once again we hit the point in the English Premier League season when the weather gets cold, the pitches get icy and the powers that be decide its best to cram in as many games as possible hell be damned for the players. We'll get into that a little more later, but for now it's games ... games ... and more games City of Blinding Lights Kind of unfair to "hed" this

Welcome Back Lando

2011-12-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

In short, wrote this long and winding essay on Thursday, woke up and re-read it on Friday at it was ... awful, just a big trainwreck of half-formed ideas, lame tangents and basically a gigantic waste of your time. So like a chef at a restaurant with a couple Michelin Stars instead of serving you, dear reader, slop I'm sending it back to the kitchen for a little more time to marinate. What

The Swede

2011-12-12T11:03:00.003-05:00

"I am ... the Swede, bro." -- My friend Jared.How does slang involve from basically an inside joke among friends to part of the cultural lexicon ... or at least to an entry on Urban Dictionary.com?Without delving too deep into that query -- you probably need somebody like the kids are listening to like that Little Wayne guy to say ... err "drop" it for your funny little term to achieve rapid

What the eff happened to Manchester United?

2011-12-09T11:55:00.001-05:00

"Pressure? What pressure?" -- Jose MourinhoThe crisis.The sports phenomenon where a team loses a game or two and all of a sudden the sky is falling, left is right and everything is wrong with the world. It's certainly not something exclusive to European club soccer, the New York Yankees deal with 100s of reporters at EVERY game with the fans ready to punch somebody on the Seven Train after one

Four Score

2011-12-05T11:10:00.001-05:00

Yuuup (tm) ... Yakubu, yes, that Yakubu scored four goals Saturday for Blackburn Rovers in a 4-2 win over Swansea City. That's one of those great sports photos that tells the entire story, as the Swansea players are seemingly in as much shock as everyone else on planet Earth. Alternately, the standing still, jaw dropped, eyebrows raised defense probably (stress probably) isn't the best way to go

Sick Picks

2011-12-02T11:45:00.002-05:00

A question of ethics -- can you get mad at your 90-year-old Grandmother for getting you sick on Thanksgiving when you spend 40 minutes in the car with her driving her back to her home?A question of insanity -- can you start snorting the crystals in Thera-Flu packets in Kenny Powers fashion?A question of practicality -- can you try to assemble a weekly EPL preview-o-rama when every three seconds

Mixed emotions

2011-11-28T11:15:00.000-05:00

Before we dig into our leftover stuffing and cranberry sauce this Monday morning, a moment of digital silence for Gary Speed, who apparently hung himself Sunday ending his life at 42.Simply a sad development and almost unfathomable that an active manager of a national team would do this while he was employed.Without glossing over too much, I'll always remember Speed for being "old" when I first

Gobbling

2011-11-25T12:05:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's Thanksgiving week in the States ... meaning the comings-and-goings of the Premier League take a backseat to turkey and gravy, that is unless you're Frank Lampard! (See, get it, he's allegedly 'fat'.)Wait, let's get a take two on punchline.Unless you're ... Ronaldo?Ronaldinho?Eh, let's just move on.This is an easy holiday-themed trope.EPL TURKEYS of 2011.* Carlos Tevez -- Yep, it's a

Back in business

2011-11-21T11:35:00.001-05:00

The Premier League in England returned after the international break and it's like nothing changed. More specifically, through the nine fixtures played Saturday and Sunday, we didn't gain any huge revelations.Instead, there was confirmation of what we already thought we knew about the league this season.* Robin van Persie can score.* Manchester City are still the best team.* Chelsea don't want to

Power picks

2011-11-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

We're back after the (welcome) international break, so let's take a couple quick hits around the world before settling back in for the long haul leading up to Christmas.* This topic will be explored at length at a future date, but if you were starting a Premier League team from scratch tomorrow, who would be your first pick? In the past, that answer was pretty easy since you'd likely opt for a

European Vacationed

2011-11-15T10:45:00.001-05:00

U.S. at Slovenia (today, noon, ESPN2) ... inquiring minds wants to know where will Koman Coulibaly be watching this match? And what's the over/under on amount of times ESPN replays Maurice Edu's goal that wasn't a goal at the 2010 World Cup?Since this is probably the final match from the U.S. in 2011, let's at least cobble together a couple quick thoughts, considering time is at a premium these

French vanilla

2011-11-11T11:15:00.002-05:00

"I guess I'll to have, I guess I'll have to wait and seeeeee." -- Holy Ghost!, "Wait & See."Kind of a weird time for the U.S. National Soccer Team, isn't it?We're still about seven months before the team plays a game that "matters," although back-to-back friendlies with former World Cup champion France, along with Slovenia -- both on hallowed European soil -- are a nice diversion. (For everyone's

Excuses are like ...

2011-11-07T11:40:00.001-05:00

"I was punched in the face. What's your excuse?" -- Max FischerIn the many years since I've started clattering away in this corner of the World Wide Web, I'd like to think we've established a solid rapport. Me, the crackpot blogger, you the patient, much appreciated reader. So with that said, it doesn't seem necessary to attribute that quote any further.As we know, excuses are a bane in sports at

Picks, picks, picks

2011-11-04T11:30:00.000-04:00

***One of those weeks, folks, the stars didn't quite align, the genius didn't filter down through my fingers. No sense lying about it, right?Instead, threw up a couple videos from the best Premier League goals from earlier in the year. Figure that's basically just as good as whatever rambling I come up with.Saturday:* Newcastle United v. Everton -- (Live, ESPN2, 8:45 a.m.) After the Magpies beat

Let's All Laugh at John Terry

2011-10-31T11:40:00.000-04:00

... In which we come to bury John Terry and wonder if Robin van Persie wore Charlie Kelly's old Nazi officer outfit on Halloween.Singing the Blues:John Terry will be 31 in December. I'll be the same age in November. Somehow it feels like Terry is double, maybe triple my age. Guess years of sleeping with teammates wives/girlfriends, having a terrible haircut, drinking, racial abuse and being a