Evenin' Casey......soccer?? you mean football surely!!
Being from just over the Irish Sea myself, I can talk about football all day long. An avid Plymouth Argyle fan, not quite Liverpool, but after tonights cracking 3-0 against Barnsley the premier league looks like it might at last be a realistic possibility. So long as we get there once before i die i will be happy!!
World football though, what a bad time to talk about that if you are from the UK. Not sure whether or not you guys in the US have heard about this yet, but the Premier League here have decided that it would be a great idea to add one extra game to the season and play it over seas. The top five teams would be seeded and so wouldnt play each other, and the games will count towards the result at the end of the season.
Crazy is all i can say, and is there really a market. I can understand getting great support in Asia for a team like Manchester United, but can you imagine anyone in say Chicago wanting to watch Derby against Reading? There are barely enough people here who care about that. Also given that 3 teams get relegated from the premier league every year, imagine if you are teetering above the relegation zone, and you get drawn against Man U or Liverpool, who you end up effectively playing 3 times, whereas your nearest rivals play say, Wigan and Bolton.
The Premier LEague is destroying football in this country, becoming a soleless, money machine ruled by people who care little for the game and a lot for their wallets. The guys who own Liverpool now, Hicks and Gillette know nothing at all about the game. We are in real danger of sanitising what is a great game - but i suppose at the end of the day money talks!
On a more American theme - what do you guys think about the Beckams does anyone care any more?
Look forward to hearing more of what you have to say Casey.