Only in America...Only With Becks

First, I just have to say that only in America that a story like this one have to be published anywhere.

But thanks SI.com for informing all the ignorant ones out there what a "loan" means.

Seriously though, I don't get all this "surprise" or "negativity" laid towards the one that was supposed to elevate the status of football (soccer) in America. Yeah, I'm talking about That One. I'm talking about David Beckham.

Becks wants to go to AC Milan in the January transfer window on loan, so that he can stay competitive for his country and play in a few more World Cup Qualifiers. And that's perfectly fine with me.

I don't understand why there's such an outcry, especially from those cohorts of American soccer.

Why do people think that Beckham is going to shun MLS and leave forever? Why?

Why is it more important for Beckham to stay in America during the offseason and do what? Kick a few balls around? Make a few appearances?

And the people who are doing the crying are the ones who understand soccer the most, which makes all the negative attention given to Beckham the last couple of weeks so hard to understand.

In the world of football, playing for country and winning the World Cup is way more important than club glory. I bet you ask anyone who has raised the European Cup at least once in the last decade if they would give up their club medal for one that is shared with his country, the majority of those (if not all) players would gladly trade that Champions League medal for one that says "World Cup."

That's the way the game has been structured. That's the way FIFA want us to believe the game should be. And clearly, it is.

When FC Barcelona told Lionel Messi he couldn't play in the Olympics, what did Messi do? He (figuratively) said "Fuck off Barca, I've got a gold medal to win for Argentina." Messi didn't listen to his club (one of the most recognizable in the world) and instead competed in Beijing, where he led Argentina to the gold medal.

Country > club.

So, when Beckham says he's going to Milan to stay fit for England, I saw more power to him.

Sure, Beckham said he's going to bring soccer to America--that he's going to make it as popular as it is around the world. And maybe that's why there is so much of an outcry. People see Beckham turning his back on a promise; turning his back on America and turning his back on potential soccer fans in this country. He's also turning his back on his huge contract.

But for Beckham to not try to play for the Three Lions, to not try to play for his national side and try to win a World Cup, then he'd be turning his back on the game.

It is only a loan, for now. If (and when) he does transfer back to Europe, then we can all bitch about it.

This is My NBA Preview

The NBA starts tomorrow.

Could there be a boring-er opening week for the Association?

Could there be a boring-er opening week for any sports league in the world? (Actually, yes. It's called Major League Soccer and the NHL).

Somehow, after one of the best NBA Finals in recent history, this opening week has lost it's pizzaz. It's so ho-hum. This is also after the USA men's basketball team brought home international gold for the first time since 2000.

Maybe it's the midweek start. Maybe it's the fact that so many other things are going on (and not just in the world of sport). Maybe it's because nothing huge happened in this offseason.

My top 5 questions for this year:

1) Will Chris Paul take the Hornets to heights never seen in New Orleans?
2) Can Andrew Bynum an Pau Gasol work together?
3) Is Philly really a contender in the East?
4) Will Jerry Sloan finally be named Coach of the Year as he leads his Jazz to the Western Conference Finals?
5) Will Kobe Bryant still be a (really good) bitch?

The Week That Was Week 8 in the NFL

Where's the outrage? Where's the public outcry? Where's the demand for justice?

ESPN reports that eight NFL players tested positive for a banned substance. All eight will probably be suspended. But, no one cares. Well, I should say, no one cares as much as if this happened in baseball.

What fueled baseball's steroids purge was that marquee names, and not just any marquee names, but the biggest names in the sport (McGuire, Bonds, Clemens) were all caught or made to look unfaithful and untrustworthy by the entire steroids saga the last six years.

Here, the biggest name to get caught so far with any type of performance enhancer was the San Diego Chargers' Shawne Merriman. That was two years ago. Merriman admitted fault, took his suspension and came back to the Chargers without any fanfare.

No one cared.

And maybe what makes baseball's steroids scandal more glamorous is the fact that those stars of the game have vehemently denied any allegations. For the most part, in the NFL, anyone who's tested positive has taken his suspension.

So, the NFL has eight players who just tested positive and no one cares.

To the rest of the week:

• Aaron Rodgers > Favre, for this week (and only because Rodgers had a bye and Favre threw three picks).
• Ugh...the Patriots are back in first place.
• Welcome back Brian Westbrook.
• Boy does Dallas (and T.O.) miss Tony Romo.
• The West Coast team's need to learn how to suck it up when they're on the East Coast.
• Drew Brees is good.

Extra point:

I'm tired of waiting for the Chargers to turn it on. Actually, I'm waiting for that defense to turn it on.

Did Wade Phillips really mean that much? Did Merriman really mean that much? Apparently so.

The team has played uninspired under defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. It might be the same scheme, but something just isn't clicking.

Added with the loss of the firey Merriman, the defense looks awful.

The Bolts have eight games left. The team is 3-5. To match the record they had last year means they'll have to go undefeated after their bye week. To win the division, I imagine, they'll have to win seven more games.

What happened to this team? All the talent in the world and it plays as if they've proven something already. It seems like they go through the motions, especially on defense.

The Chargers are still electric on offense. Hopefully, this bye week recharges San Diego's defense.

The Headlines Week 9: What a Mess We've Got

We're pretty much through half of the Pac-10 campaign, and nothing is settled yet. Nothing.

Southern California might be the highest ranked team in the conference, but there are four teams with only one loss in conference play--including the Trojans.

November will decide who gets to coveted BCS bid--one that USC has held a strangle hold on for a really long time.

The Trojans and Oregon are atop the Pac-10 with 4-1 records, but Oregon State and California are right behind them with 3-1 records.

The Duck already lost to USC. The Trojans already lost to the Beavers. The Bears are the only one that hasn't played the other three yet, but that changes this Saturday. Cal starts a three-week journey against the Pac-10's leaders starting with Oregon, then at Southern California and then at Oregon State.

If the Bears survive, they'll be smelling roses.

The Headlines:

• Arizona: Just So Close
  
• Arizona State: I knew We Were Overrated
  
• California: Sometimes, the Offense Doesn't Need to Click
  
• Oregon: Running Roughshod
  
• UCLA: Stifled Craft-Work
  
• USC: No Monumental Upset in the Desert This Time
  
• Washington: Poor Tyrone
  

Farewell Jake...

I know it hasn't happened yet, but it seems inevitable right?

The San Diego Padres are in a predicament. Their team sucks. The fans probably won't show up next year. The team has to cut cost, right?

Goodbye Jake Peavy. No doubt your No. 44 will be retired when your career is all over by the Padres. You're probably the best pitcher that has ever pitched for them after all. Probably.

But apparently Jake, you've got to go.

The Padres are in trouble because they're a mid-market team. They have some money, but not a lot. They've also sucked at developing talent, so San Diego has relied on signing journeyman ballplayers (that's redundant in this era of Major League Baseball) to fill in the roles. Those journeyman (like Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron) brought the Swingin' Friars success. But with those guys gone and a reliance on kids from the farm, the Padres tanked. And they tanked bad.

And that means you've got to go Jake.

The team has no choice. It's in a lose-lose situation here. The team will hemmorage money and field a losing team with you on the payroll Jake.

If Peavy stays and the team continues to lose, the fans will be pissed. If Peavy gets traded, the fans will still be pissed. The team's in a catch-22.

They've got nowhere to go. Their fan base won't let them. They've tasted a little honey and now the fans want more. They paid for part of the new fancy ballpark that the Padres can't win in, so the fans want more.

No more losing. San Diego has had it up to here.

But what is a team like the Padres to do? If I had a real answer, I'd be in the front office and not Kevin Towers or Sandy Alderson.

They've got to think of the future is what the Padres need to do. Tim Sullivan points out how the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays got to the World Series: a decade of futility. But that futility was able to give the Rays plump prospects. They've developed over time. With the additions of a couple key players, Tampa is now in a position to win a World Series before San Diego.

This is what the Padres have to do. San Diego has to eat it. They have to ride through the tough times and low attendance figures. They have to say, "Fans, this is what we're going to do. We may not win today, but we'll fucking win a World Series within the next five years. If you bare with us, you'll get that championship parade."

Eating it also means keeping Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell. It means keeping Chris Young. This is the nucleus that will get the Padres to the next playoff run. The Padres have to eat their contracts and their money, while developing talent.

And hopefully, in a few years, after years of pain and shitty attendance and multiple all-star appearances for Peavy and Gonzalez and Young, the team will be ready for a mythical playoff run like the one the Rays are having now.

We just have to be patient.

But, it probably won't end that way Jake. We'll see you in Atlanta.

Since I've Been Gone...For A Long Time

Sorry I've been away.

Works been hectic and I've been everywhere. But hopefully, I get to sit down and blog some more.

So I'm back. I've missed a few things. I've missed a lot of things.

My thoughts of what's gone on since I've been gone...

• Thank goodness the Rays are in the World Series and the Dodgers are at home, sitting on their couches like the rest of us.
• This isn't the NFL we all thought we'd see.
• I still don't think the Titans are for real.
  
• The eyes of Texas are upon us and are upon the BCS title game.
• How the hell are USC and Ohio State rearing their ugly heads again?
• Stephen Garcia better be embarrassed.
• So, how about them Cowboys?
• The NHL is back?
• The Three Lions look might good under Fabio Capello.
• Mexico, on the other hand, does not.
• And wave of the future? Please, but those young Americans have to look better and fare better than they did against T&T
• It sucks to be a Chargers and Cal fan. It makes you pull your hair out.
  
• Don't trade Peavy.
  

Only Manny Makes This Interesting

The battle for the Senior Circuit's pennant begins (or actually began) tonight, with the Dodgers playing the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Now, the only reason why this matchup is borderline interesting is the fact that Manny Ramirez plays for Los Angeles, and brings his circus-like antics with him. Though I'm not watching the National League Championship Series, I cannot wait to see the highlights on SportsCenter or read the recaps on blogs to see if Manny was just being Manny during the game.

This is what you get when a team like the Phillies, who have no real luster to them, and the Dodgers, who finished in EIGHT PLACE overall in the National League standings this year, but finished first in the N.L Worst, to earn a playoff spot.

Philadelphia is that team the was able to not choke at the end and take advantage of the Miracle Mets' downward spiral for a second year in a row. The Dodgers, well, they're the Dodgers. An underperforming bunch boosted by the man known as Manny Ramirez.

Manny gave Los Angeles the Division, and he may very well give the Dodgers the pennant. But he's the only reason why to tune in.

Do I care who wins? No. Will I watch? No. This is as boring as when the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2006. No one cared then, and no one will care now (except for those in the greater Los Angeles area and in Philly).

But, thanks Chicago Cubs. This is what we all get for you choking another playoff series away. Thanks Cubbies. We'll see you choke next year, when the drought will be a 100 year and counting.

A Sporting Economy

This whole economic free fall is also going to take its toll on the greatest of all great distractions that keep people sane in a harsh world--the world of sport may never be the same.

Now, the professional sports leagues and even the NCAA look like they'll be okay. There aren't going to be stories about how the NBA or the NFL will be cutting games from their schedules because of a lack of funds. The leagues and the teams (mostly) will be fine.

What might change because of this economic mess that we're in is the fan who attends the games. The common fan, the common fan family, may not be able to afford to go see a team that they've supported their entire life. The great guys at Sports Illustrated cover this (in a way that brings them back to their old glory days) and also cover how sports is dealing with this economic crunch with stories about NASCAR, the NBA, the NHL, high school and college sports.

The main article highlights how hard it is for true sports fans to go to games because of a shitty economy and rising ticket and food prices and ballparks and stadiums. The other stories, in this fashion, are a little bit more worthwhile to read.

The "changing face of the fan" story could have been written a couple of years ago or hell, even a decade ago. It's been a slow process, but this economic downturn has accelerated that.

How did this happen? Simple. The new state-of-the-art stadium/arena/ballpark. Don't get me wrong. Fans, teams and everyone enjoys these new facilities. And we kind of need them, especially in places that play in dark, damp, ugly things (like Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego).

But with these new facilities comes higher prices. Most of these new ballparks have smaller seating capacities, causing tickets prices and the like to go up. There are also luxury boxes, eliminating room for the averaging fan at these smaller parks.

And slowly, the demographic attending games went from the die-hard fan--who could be someone in the lower, middle or upper echelon of society--to the casual, almost not-even-caring fair-weather fan which mostly comes from that part of society where $100 bills are pocket change.

You can see it when you go to professional games now. The fans are muted. The fans may not even be watching. They're more interested in talking to their pals than to see "their team" win a game.

I've seen this in San Francisco at Giants games. Seen this in Chicago at (WTF?!) Cubs games. I've seen in Washington, D.C. and in San Diego.

Most of the fans there go to games for the stuff in the periphery. They're more interested in what kind of funnel cake the concessions stand has than who's pitching.

It's not all like that. Not yet. The die-hards, the true fans, they still exist. But now the process has been sped up. And now, it's only a matter of time before T.V. stations and radio crews have to pump artificial crowd noise into their broadcasts because the crowd at the game won't even know what the fuck is going on.

But thankfully, it's not like that now. Except for in Anaheim. Did you see all those Botox-injected, blonde, 40-year old, mothers at Angels Stadium during this playoff run? I sure did.

And in the future, all of our stadiums might be filled with'em.

It's Been Some Awful Football

It plagues me to be a supporter of both the San Diego Chargers and the California Golden Bears, because they're almost exactly alike.

Play styles are a bit different, yes, but not that different. Yes, one is a professional team and the other is the football team that represents the best public university in the entire world. A sure, one plays in Brutalist architectural nightmare while the other plays in a stadium older than most of the teams in the NFL.

But they're essentially the same team and the parallels are striking. Both are underachieving, should-be-contenders who haven't reached the promise land and may never.

For the Chargers, that pinnacle is the Super Bowl. For the Bears, it's The Rose Bowl.

Both are teams that are trying (or have been trying) to unseat the major player in their respective Leagues. The ghosts of New England haunts San Diego, while it's Southern California that torments Cal.

And then both teams give piss poor efforts sometimes that it makes you think "Are they really that talented?"

That's what's happened for most of the year for both of these teams. The Bears own a better record and are in better shape than my Chargers, only because in college football, sometimes you can afford to play like shit.

Sure, the offense for Cal got to a fast start Saturday in defeating overly-hyped, uber-overrated Arizona State. But that offense stalled and stalled and stalled and stalled. Thanks to the best defense I've seen in four years, the Bears were able to defeat the Devils 24-14 when the score should have been nearer 48-14.

And the Chargers. Oh those Chargers. "Most Talented Team in Football" is term that has been tossed around to describe them. And they might be. But effort. Where's the heart guys? Where's the determination? Where's the sense of urgency?

San Diego should be 5-0. There's no way that the Chargers should have been beaten on the last play against Carolina or Denver. There's no way that San Diego leave opportunity after opportunity on the table against the one of the worst teams in the professional American football.

But the difference is that I think in San Diego, it's on the players. When the Chargers defense holds a team to 17 points, they should win the game. When the Chargers score more than 30, they should win the game.

It's true and cliche and tired, but San Diego hasn't played a complete game. And it will be scary for opponents when they do.

For Cal, it's the coaching. And it isn't the motivational bullshit or the chemistry problems. No, not this year. That was last season, when the entire nation saw a team implode on itself after being ranked No. 2 in the country (No. 1 for a bout 90 minutes). They've learned and now there's accountability on that team.

What the problem is that the Bears coaches aren't putting their team in a position to perform at the highest level. There have been times when they've been outcoached. There have been times when the team was unprepared. And in Cal's only loss of the year, it wasn't because of a lack of effort. It seemed to me that the Terps were just a step ahead.

But coaching can be fixed. And so can effort. I don't think the Chargers possess any kind of on or off switch where they can automatically play well. But if there was one, a team like San Diego has the closest thing to it.

It's okay that my Saturdays and Sundays look exactly the same--I'm just tired of watching the same awful football, that's all.

These teams should be doing better. Let's see it.

The Week That Was Week 5 in the NFL

So the Tennessee Titans don't need Vince Young. The former Houston Oilers are now 5-0 and are the only team in the old American Football League that is undefeated.

But how good are they? Of the five teams Tennessee has faced this year, only two are even close to being legit, Jacksonville and Baltimore (which the Titans defeated today). The other three are a combined 1-12. That is one win, 12 losses. And all three are in the cellars of their respective divisions.

So, are the Titans for real? For now they are. Wins are the only thing that matters in the NFL. No style points are given out, like in college football.

But after Tennessee takes its bye week, it has a tough five-week stretch, playing at Kansas City, home against Peyton and the Colts, home against Aaron Rodgers and the Pack, at soon-to-be frigid Chicago and then at rival Jacksonville.

If the Titans survive that portion of the schedule, we'll know they're for real.

As for now, they have to be the de facto best team in the AFC.

To the rest of the week:

• Rodgers > Brett Favre (Favre did have a bye week, btw).
  
• Now, that's the Trent Edwards that I know.
• I think we've all been saying this for like five years, but this definitely has to be the year for Arizona.
• Speaking of the NFC West, don't we all wish that the Carolina Panthers were still in that division?
• I think Sage Rosenfels has been watching too many Knowshon Moreno Youtube videos.
• The NFC East is just fucking crazy. I mean, Hail to the Redskins?! REALLY?! The Giants aren't a fluke?! Too bad not all four of those teams can sneak into the playoffs.
• That may have been the sorriest second half by the Chargers that I have ever seen. How many chances do you NEED?!

Extra Point:

Back to Tennessee and Vince Young. Maybe he just isn't ready yet. Tonight on Football Night, Peter King suggested that the Titans might open up the quarterback competition next summer and that this should be Kerry Collins' team.

Yeah, Collins should be the guy for now. But to cut Young lose if he loses the starting job to Collins next year is absurd. Isn't Collins a bit younger than Brett Favre?

What I'd do is keep them both. Let Collins play as long as he's playing at this high a level and let Vince Young study Collins. And when age finally catches up with Collins, you insert a wiser, more sage and more mature Young.

It only seems natural.

A Little Bit of Patience Never Hurt

It's been a week since Major League Baseball's regular season ended. That means it's been a week since my San Diego Padres ended their nightmare of a season.

And it seems to me that the fans are about to revolt, and that just comes from reading all the user comments on the stories published on the San Diego Union-Tribune's website.

They're about to revolt because this team, to them, was supposed to contend. This team, to the fans and possibly to the Padres upper management, wasn't supposed to lose 99 games.

But the writing was on the wall before the season started. The Padres, contenders or champions of the National League west the three years prior to 2008, saw a lot of subtraction in the offseason and not a lot of addition. So to think this team was going to contend was a stretch. I didn't expect it and was surprised everyone else though they would.

What's more surprising is that the fans are ready to jump off the Sandy Alderson ship.

I guess with the success of the other professional sport team in the city (the underperforming San Diego Chargers), Padres fans expect more. They expect to win now.

C'mon kids, this isn't New York, Chicago or Boston. The Padres aren't going to buy themselves some wins, or should I say enough wins to get the club where we want it to be.

Alderson was brought here by John Moores to do one thing, improve the organization as a whole. Alderson has been in San Diego for just under three or four years. To me, that's not enough time to cultivate prospects and build a crumbling minor league system that needed saving.

The Padres minor league system was consistently one of the worse in baseball before Alderson came into town. And it's the reason why the club isn't as successful as it is today.

If there was one thing we've learned from the Yankees, the Red Sox, the A's and any other semi successful team in the Majors since the turn of the 21st century is this: a major league club's core has to come from the farm system; the base of the team has to come from there. Then, you fill in what you need through trades and free agency. As the Yankees have shown, you can't build a winning team through just dropping loads of cash. And as the Sox, A's, Angels and the Rays have shown, you build winning clubs with the talent you have in the minors.

And so, the Padres aren't there yet. The farm system is almost there. The big league club has its stars, now it just needs everything else to fill in around them.

And to dump Alderson now would be a mistake, that would set the organization back years.

Alderson did lead the A's to four division titles, three American League pennants and a World Series victory while he was in Oakland. I'd give him a little more time.

I'd let him do what needs to be done, without all the bitching, because, he knows what he's doing.

And sure, some fans are ready to dump Alderson and his use of statistics, which was a precursor to Moneyball.

But, how many World Series Champions flags fly above Petco Park?

If you don't remember, why don't my fellow Padres fans walk over to 19 Tony Gwynn Drive and take a look. They won't see a single one.

So I'd have some patience.

The Headlines: Week 6, Trojans Say 'No Way'

It was funny watching John Saunders, Doug Flutie and Craig James after watching California top Arizona State yesterday.

They were talking about the Pac-10 and they seemed flustered. I don't remember which one of them said this, but I know one of them did. Out of the mouths of one of those three, probably Flutie or James, came "USC needed Cal to win to help legitimate them and the Pac-10." Not those exact words, but something like that.

Just think about that. Instead of talking about how the Devils' Rose Bowl hopes were done or how the Bears could be contenders in the Pac-10, the ABC postgame crew talked about legitimating the Pac-10.

So maybe Cal's win does help Southern California, but that postgame show reminded me at least of the perception of the Pac-10--it's the Trojans and everyone else.

The Headlines:

• Arizona: It's Easy When Locker's Not Around
  
• Arizona State: Totally Overrated
  
• California: Rudy Carpen-Nothin'
  
• Oregon: How Did the Beavers Do It?!
  
• Oregon State: Playing At Home Is So Much Easier
  
• Stanford: We're Still Douchey-er
  
• UCLA: Better Win That One
  
• USC: This Is Our Conference
  
• Washington: Kicked When Down
  
• Wazzu: Kicked When Down, Part II
  

A City in Panic

If you looked around Chicago and read the papers, troubles a brewin'.

If you walked around Chicago, go around Wrigleyville or the South Side, you can feel it. What "it" is is panic and it's panic because even though, for the first time in 102 years that both the Cubs and White Sox are in the playoffs, excitement has been replaced with fear, anguish and disgust.

The National League Chicago team is down 0-2. And after losing to the Rays in St. Petersburg tonight, the American League side is also down 0-2. Chicago is 0-4 in the playoffs. And there goes the hopes for the "Red Line" World Series.

Today's Red Eye got it right with its front page. There is anxiety.

And not just because the Cubbies and Sox are both losing, but because of who they're losing to.

Let's face it. The Dodgers are only playoff-worthy because the National League West is the worst division in baseball. The Bums had the EIGHTH, that is the number that comes after seven and before nine, EIGHTH best record in the National League this year. 8TH!!!

The Dodgers had only 84 wins. If the Mets had been out west, then they wouldn't have had another meltdown. The Astros, who had the best record baseball after the all-star break, would have been in the playoffs. Hell, the Toronto Blue Jays would have been division champs if they played in the NL Worst.

And the Cubs, well, they had the best record in the National League. They've played two games at home. And they've gotten their assess handed to them. I've heard a lot of criticisms about Cubs fans, but I would also be silent at Wrigley Field, probably in shock, after seeing the Cubs' performance against Los Angeles.

Wrigleyville has been silenced.

Tampa is legit. But the White Sox had to play three consecutive de facto elimination games against Cleveland, Detroit and Minnesota just to punch their tickets to get to the playoffs. Now they stare at another elimination game Sunday.

But then again, it's the (Devil) Rays. A team who hasn't even seen another spot than the cellar of the American League East since their first year in 1998, until this year, when Tampa Bay finally won the division, going from worst to first.

It's a feel good story. But this is a club that no one believed in, even their own fans. The Rays' fans barely started to show up in September.

A baseball city like Chicago shouldn't be treated like this. One of those teams should make it to the LCS.

But, that's the beauty of baseball. And that's the albatross that hangs around Chicago. And it's the pain that plagues its fans.

102 years has been a long time for both the North Side and South Side of the city to get excited about October baseball at the same time.

The city was excited on Tuesday, when the Sox clinched the AL Central. They were excited at 5:30 local time Wednesday, when game 1 for the Cubs and Dodgers series started.

That excitement is gone, replaced by angst-ridden self-pity, anger and hopelessness.

But, if you were a Cubs or White Sox fan, don't you feel like that all the time?

Not Walking Alone

My favorite football (soccer) chants comes from Merseyside club Liverpool. Yes, it is awe-inspiring to see Anfield filled with fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" before every match.

But my favorite has got to be Liverpool's snide chant for Chelsea.

Fuck off Chelsea, you haven't got no history. Five European Cups and 18 Leagues, that's what we call history.

It's short and simple and really fucking awesome.

But the Reds haven't added to that chant in some time. The last major title Liverpool has won was the FA Cup in 2006. They were champions of Europe in 2005. But those 18 Leagues? That part of the chant hasn't been updated since 1990.

Liverpool is currently tied with their London rivals a top the Premiership standings. Liverpool is also undefeated in the Champions League.

Can it be? Are prospects high at Anfield? The European Double? Can they do it?

It sure looks like it. That expensive attack--Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel, Robbie Keane and of course, England's best, Stevie Gerrard, is finally gelling and looking to be an unstoppable force.

Granted, England's Big Four all have amazing offensive-minded individuals. But Liverpool is beginning to finally play like a unit.

However, it's a long, long time before we get to may.

But, If they keep this up, they'll be chanting "Fuck off Chelsea, you haven't got no history. Six European Cups and 19 Leagues, that's what we call history."