Musings from an American Expatriot in Dublin (and Reigning Fantasy EPL Champion)

A few random thoughts . . .

Ok, Wigan's manager (whoever that is) wants a US style salary cap - dooh - not a good idea unless FIFA or whoever rules international soccer mandates a cap for EVERY country's top flight. If the EPL brings in a salary cap than all the players will move to countries without a cap - Spain, Italy, Germany, etc. That being said - I am 100% for a currency adjusted salary cap for all top flight divisions in all countries so that there are more than 2-4 teams that even have a glimmer of hope of winning their respective leagues (can you say Green Bay Packers - the NFL has a good model - the Packers winning the Superbowl is like fecking (Father Ted reference) Portsmouth winning the premiership (well, actually, Neal could probably come up with a better analogy but I think that one works)).

Andy Johnson SO should have left Crystal Palace.

West Ham rocks.

4-5-1 - wow - so much debate and controvery - seems like Chelsea's tactics are like the Neutral Zone trap in the NHL (before the strike that is) - or at least some think so - however - Chelsea do seem to be scoring goals of their own which people seem to forget. In life, EVERYONE copies what works, whether they have the skils or means to pull it off - it happens in all of the sports leagues in the US. But more importantly, will MANU get their act together and become an exciting attacking team now that Roy Keane is out?

FIFPRO XI Awards show - where to start on this debacle. An ESPY's like sports award show, but misses on every level. "C" level American stars (Anthony Lapaglia, that weird looking girl (Veruca Salt's Mum in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other small roles, and others that I can't even name) presenting awards for the top 11 players in the world. They also awarded Rooney the Young Player of the Year Award - his acceptance speech consisted of more tugs on his ears and nose than intelligible words - too funny. I was hoping he would "mock" applaud the people for his award - but alas - that was WAY to much to hope for . . .

Will someone please explain Soccer / football / fubol to me? How can all of these Premership teams lose to these teams that are the equivalent of The Longest Yard Prison Guard semi-pro teams? Would / could this happen to NFL, MLB, NBA teams?

Cricket, The Ashes, kinda like baseball, but one game / test / whatever can last days and when it ends seems to be something they totally make up when they feel like it.

Rumour / Rumor Centeal - Chelski will table a 70 million pound offer for Adriano in January - saw it in NUTS magazine - the UK equivalent of Maxim (though its not nearly as cool - but it does have TONS of bare breasts)
on a final note, the following article is a great amusement - a chartered flight of soccer fans faked an emergency to get to a match - classic . . .

IMA (Reuters) - A plane carrying Gambian soccer fans to Peru made an unauthorized detour and faked a fuel emergency to land in time for the West African nation's game in a world youth tournament, officials said Wednesday.

The Rum Air plane carrying 289 fans bypassed immigration formalities in Lima by landing in the northern city of Piura about two hours before the African youth champions kicked off against Qatar in the World Under-17 Championship Tuesday.

The apparent emergency sparked a red alert in the coastal city with fire fighters and police racing to the airport and hospitals were told to prepare for an emergency.

"They faked an emergency to land in Piura. They were coming from Brazil and the should have landed in Lima first," Ramon Caminate, a tournament organizer in Piura, told Reuters.

Piura newspaper El Tiempo quoted one fan as saying Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh had chartered the plane.

Long Tambong Tamba, apparently a government official traveling on board, told reporters: "The president gave me the responsibility to lead the team (of fans) here."

A spokeswoman for CORPAC, the state body that runs Peru's airports, said the Tri-Star L1011 plane with 12 crew on board had raised the alarm, saying it did not have enough fuel to fly to Lima and would have to land in Piura instead.

CORPAC said it would issue a statement later on the incident. It was not immediately clear what penalties the airline could face.

Caminate said residents were astonished to see such a large plane. Piura's little airport is for domestic routes only and all international flights to Peru go to Lima.

Immigration officials checked documents in Piura and the fans went straight to the stadium to see their team beat Qatar 3-1 and qualify for the quarter-finals.

Some fans wore just tunics and trunks in the national colors of red, blue and green stripes separated by white bands, and had their faces painted.

The fans later took over five hotels in the small city while the plane was impounded at the airport.

Local prosecutor Carolina Neyra told reporters the stop in Piura was not authorized.

Well, that's it for now . . .

GO RED DEVILS!!!

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