Moneyball won't win the Premiership 2012-13

i think so too - a very deft touch to the shin

xpost

and the Torres one is the definition of "The lad felt some contact and he's gone down". It was tap on the shin and it wasn't enough to make him go down the way he did. It's probably still a foul but it's not the atrocious decision some are making it out to be

the tip of Jonny Evan's boot, gently caressing Torres's shin like a drop of morning dew rolling down a petal in Spring

which caused the flower to explode and collapse into a heap of hideous carnage so grotesque that it would bring a grown man to tears.

it's pretty clear that the refs have been told to crack down on diving too cos there's been way more cards for it of late. Like i said before, there's a good chance Clattenburg forgot he's already booked him but that shouldn't influence his decision anyway. Valencia's yellow was a way worse call but that was probably a misguided attempt at redressing the balance. Anyway, i don't really care tbh. The whole thing was pretty hilarious and i'll take a win at Stamford Bridge by any means necessary

this didn't happen in the united chelsea game but what happens with regards to offside if a player is off the field of play? e.g. if they're behind the goal line?

unless they've recieved permission from the ref to leave the field they're still playing them on

ah i was thinking the person who would be offside if they're behind the goalline - i see the rule is "closer to the goal line" than 2nd to last defender/ball etc. so i suppose you can be slightly further back from the goalline than your opponents

i guess, what i'm asking is.. is wee pea offside here?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/kenjuggle3/weepa.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OKlD7.jpg

rvp and cech both admiring the big bottom serb

not all over the newsy wewsies enough imo

http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/24719/nbc-nets-us-english-premier-league-football-rights.html

really goddamn excited for this, won't have to pay extra for the best league in the world anymore

How big a thing is this?

Well I imagine Fox is wondering what the hell they're going to do with their two soccer channels.

IK, this deal is 3x larger $wise than the last, on a much more accessible batch of channels. NBC says they'll show multiple games at the same time across channels, with pre and post shows. big step up in production values, accessibility, and $$. tv numbers for soccer have traditionally been terrible in this country but nbc's willingness to put time money and reputation into it will start to change that, hopefully.

my lens is how much this will raise the profile of the game here, get more kids into it, trickle down to USMNT and MLS. it's a big win looking at it that way.

also yeah lol fox

i sort of resent that it is tblitw despite being so grotty so often

what is the time difference/are games shown(/going to be shown) live in america?

5 hours to the East Coast most of the time? So early Saturday kick-off around 7:45am.

Pretty brutal if you're on the West Coast. I don't think I'd be getting up for a 4:45am start.

i have yet to get up that early for a game. even the 7 am (3 pm traditional start) games are pushing it for me. appreciated the late start for chelsea/manu.

I would be the lord of the DVR if I lived on the West Coast. Central time isn't too bad, most of the time.

I was in Canada for most of the 2006 WC and, through a combo of unfamiliar surroundings and what my feeble British skin thought of as 'heat', woke up in good time for matches to kick off around 7am most days. it was neat tbh

My instant reaction is: if this works, and it might be pushing at an open door because soccer genuinely does seem to be on the brink of actually happening in the US, then this is it, tbiltw wins forever. We're not getting our baw back.

It feels SPOILER a bit like the end of 1984, when the Oceania forces finally scythe through Eurasia or whoever.

British public transport might be the only thing holding it back now; and maybe the Olympic opening ceremony has broken down even that particular curfew, so we might get games at the Britannia finishing at 2am to suit you lot.

La Liga seems tailor-made for the US, with Spanish language & those late late kick-offs

The Al Jazeera sports network has La Liga rights.

really goddamn excited for this, won't have to pay extra for the best league in the world anymore

― dansplaining (dan m)

I'm pretty sure some matches will still be behind an extra pay wall. In the Sports Illustrated article they say...

Lazarus said the remaining 180 games will be made available "digitally or through some sort of arrangement with MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) on some sort of pay television package."

It still sounds like it will probably be a step up from what Fox has been doing. I know for me, some of the channels they say they're going to use aren't in my package, so I'll be paying more there too, unless directv changes things around (right now just to get a package that includes NBC Universal would cost me $14 more a month).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/richard_deitsch/10/28/nbc-confirms-epl-deal/index.html

I hope they do a digital package. Word is they're going to do an oline pass for F1 so I hope they do for this too. I've never tried FoxSoccer2Go but it's a good idea.

Well I imagine Fox is wondering what the hell they're going to do with their two soccer channels.

― Gukbe

Probably going to be rebranded FoxSports 1 & 2, and start covering a larger variety of sports. They still have Champions League too.

but where now for Warren Barton?

where's european championship (inc. golden boot), champions league, & FA cup winner nando on the ballon d'or list

he's just not as personable as our Wayne

Good to see that former Superhoops hero Mark Lazarus has popped up as NBC Sports Group Chairman. I believe Big Mickey Leach, "the Pelé of the Hammersmith Broadway", is doing a similar job ast ABC.

Arteta interviewing Cazorla on Revista tonight.

Did you see the Spanish Swansea players doing this last week? Kept throwing in BLITW and laughing.

Ah no I missed that. I'll see if it's online anywhere.

Forget which player it was who was doing the interviewing but he was throwing some pretty tough questions at his teammates, first dude on the receiving end told him he should quit football and take up journalism cos he was obviously good at it!

More on the NBC deal: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thegoalkeeper/176347831.html

So apparently neither of the Chelsea players supposedly abused by Clattenburg actually heard the alleged comments themselves.

18 to 20 games over the air is pretty weak but still 18 to 20 more than we get now.

John Terry lip-reading?

xp

O'Neill is convinced Cattermole can still improve and mature into an England record, if he can stay on the pitch. 'He has definite ability and is still remarkably young but he has played a lot of games. There is room for great improvement in his game. He occasionally wants to play the killer ball, whereas it might be better to just keep it simple and get the ball again. He plays the game way he plays five-a-sides and wants to be involved all the time which is a nice attribute to have.

martin o'neill, for whom lee catermole is too daring and creative

sunderland have the loweest number of shorts in the division by some distance

they have to swap them over at substitutions

haw oh dear

doesn't help that carlos cuellar and john o'shea shit themselves whenever someone run at the them amirite bantz bantz bantz lol

if the Chelsea complaint turns out to be unsubstantiated then now might be a good time to get a bet in on di Matteo's sacking