You'll Have To Excuse Me, I'm Still Shellshocked From Speed

So I'm just going to pretend like this weekend in the English Premier League didn't actually happen. Seriously. I don't want to talk about the games themselves (or else I might put myself in the hospital with a popped blood vessel over the Manchester City match). Yes, tomorrow and Wednesday are the second round of the Carling Cup, so I'll just talk about that instead. :)

The bottom eight survivors of last year's Premiership drop into the tournament in this round (plus the three promoted sides).

The games to watch are:

- Barnsley at Burnley: A bottom dwelling team in the Colaship hosts the sixth place team from League One. This one could be the upset of the day.
- Luton at Reading: Could be a preview of the playoffs in the Colaship (of course I believe they haven't even played each other regular season).
- Cheltenham at Sunderland: A match against a mid-table League Two team could be just what's needed to get the Black Cats their first win of the year in any competition. If they lose, they might as well just forefeit their match in the FA Cup.
- Wolverhampton at Watford: Wolverhampton tries to prove they're the big boys and Watford's a fluke on the road.

Um, yeah, it's a pretty thin list unless you've got a vested interest in the match (goodness I hope Fulham doesn't lose at home to Lincoln City). The only Premiership team who can even be considered slight underdogs are West Brom who face Bradford City at home. Dean Windass may be using this match as a trial for a transfer to a Premiership team in need of offensive help. And poor defensively challenged Albion may serve as an opponent to showcase his skills against "Premiership" competition.

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Luckily there's plenty of other action around Europe. If you haven't looked at La Liga recently it's gotten really odd (this message was brought to you by the Console A Poor Real Madrid Fan Association). After three games of the season, the table has gone haywire. Using North American style record lines for Spain's Champions League participants, Barcelona is 1-1-1 (9th), Real Madrid is 1-2-0 (15th), Real Betis is 1-1-1 (12th), and Villarreal is 0-1-2 (19th). Getafe, Deportivo La Coruna, and Celta Vigo sit top of the table!

I think this weekend may have been the first time in years that both Real Madrid and Barcelona both lost on the same weekend!

It's gotten so strange and not-worldy in Spain that David Beckham was accused by an Espanyol player of slapping him during Real Madrid's weekend match.

Now, logic would say that if Sven were in the crowd, Beckham was just trying to prove that he was tough enough to be a defensive midfielder but as far as I know he wasn't. :)

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Congratulations to FC Dallas for finally winning at Pizza Hut Park yesterday. Nothing wakes a team up like threating to pour a little Real Salt in their wounds.

Speaking about MLS in a tangential form, does anyone else notice that the big buyout doesn't seem to be Mexican investors looking for a stake in the MLS, but Russians looking to purchase everything they see in the United Kingdom?

While it's worked wonders for Chelsea and Hearts (though their owner has Lithuanian citizenship, I'm pretty sure he was actually born in Russia proper - though at the time of his birth both countries were part of the U.S.S.R. of course).

Now they've come for Aston Villa. Or, well, the rumor mill is flying that a Russian consortium is looking to buy the Villans. The confirmed fact from the club is that they've been approached but it's in the very early stages of negotiation.

So, that means basically you can start coming up with witticisms now. Personally I like Villanov Park.

Villa's been holding out for some time from a number of buyers but Doug Ellis is about one cheeseburger from selling off the club away from his own volition and in the estate courts so this one may be the real deal.

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This afternoon was the FIFPro Awards. And, of course, no Americans were anywhere near the podium but the world's favorite role model was. :)





Which brings to mind something we do in the United States that the rest of the world should really adopt. Get rid of the Young Player of the Year Awards. I mean they're just silly. The same player can win the award for seemingly years even though there are players coming up behind them that may deserve some recognition.

There needs to be a Rookie of the Year Award pure and simple (or since "rookie" lacks the class that European awards like to put on things call it "first year player" of the year). It should be awarded to one player under 20 from the countries whose leagues are allowed to vote in the FIFPro awards if it is their first full season in any of said leagues.

And for pete's sake! If they're going to keep the Young Player of the Year Award, at least only give out one! I'm sorry but Christiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney shouldn't get young player awards from two different categories!

I'm just wondering how much advice poor Mr. Rooney had to put up with. I mean, the list of people who have come out in the press offering free conseling is just stupendous. Even David James got into the act over the weekend stating that Wayne Rooney needs professional help (but in the nicest way possible).

In the end though, where I think Rooney really needs help desperately isn't in his behavior but in the selection of his tie. Obviously he didn't call David Beckham for advice on that (though thankfully he didn't call Beckham for advice on how to slap an opponent either).