Anyone?

[peeker643]

DVRd the Manchester U v. Manchester City match from Saturday morning to watch with the two younger ones.

Really falling for the sport and the Fox Soccer network that shows premier games every night at 11pm that I've been watching for a few weeks.

Anyway, did any of the soccer fans see Rooney's game winner Saturday? The bicycle kick off the pass from Nani? Unreal and nothing I've personally ever seen in a match, much less a rivalry match like that.

Tremendous. Unbelievable athleticism at the Premier level. Guys like Nani and Wolcott would be All Pro NFL receivers/DBs. Dudes can fly.

Also, I simply love the brutal honesty of the commentators. So great to hear,"That was a completely horrific pass" as opposed to, "The pass rush was intense but I'm not sure what Anderson was looking to do there".

The soccer commentators basically stop just shy of calling dudes bitches.

[motherscratcher]

Here's the clip. I don't get soccer. They don't even pump in any Joan Jett or anything. And where are the lasers?

[Spin]

I haven't been able to watch since we switched to DirecTV.

The trade-off is we now get the NFL Network. And NHL.

[paulcousineau]

FS Soccer shows games on Saturday morning, which are nice background for getting the day off the runway.

There used to be a show that put one fan of each team in the broadcast booth to "comment" on the game. Obviously, it turned into a giant burnfest with the camera jumping to the "booth" whenever anyone scored and the fan of that team would go berserk. It was called "Fanzone" and you could lose a couple of hours watching these guys going nuts on each other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNCCVcKMwi4&feature=channel

[peeker643]

I haven't been able to watch since we switched to DirecTV.

The trade-off is we now get the NFL Network. And NHL.

Heard on Mike & Mike last week that when Yankees played Red Sox last season there was roughly $450m in the dugouts by way of payrolls between two teams.

When Manchester U played Manchester City there would be $850m on the rosters of the two teams.

That's effing mind boggling. Rooney's SALARY is $41million.

The more I watch the more I like, especially the fact there are no commercials but mostly the phenomenal skills of these dudes.

I could still do without guys getting brushed on the chest, falling down and writhing around on the grass holding their ankle like they just stepped on a mine.

[RickNashEquilibrium]

Every Saturday morning you will find me glued to the couch watching ESPN 2. Saturday morning football with Grey and McManamann is outstanding. The EPL has been exciting, as well as very weird to watch, this season. 3 weeks ago I saw 2 of the strangest and unbelievable comebacks I've seen in any sport within hours of each other. First, Sunderland dominates the match against Stoke only to lose the game in the 93rd minute. Huth played awful for the 1st 50 minutes but turns out to be the hero with both Stoke goals in the 2nd half. Hours later, Arsenal all but carts Newcastle's dead corpse out of St. James Park except for the fact that a match is 90 minutes long and you actually have to take the pitch for the 45 minutes AFTER the half. Wenger's club blews a 4-0 lead to a bottomdweller in the last 23 minutes. Taking a draw after being up 4-0 is bad enough, but giving up 2 penalties to the home town hooligan with a bad porn stache is insult to injury. Pathetic.

[Cease]

Rooney's goal was ill. ESPN signing EPL for Saturday morning broadcasts is a stroke of genius. Perfect place for EPL to have a home while not trodding on the US Majors and College ball. Love my Saturday Morning EPL. Love no commercials most of all. And no in stadium hype-man or GE Smith band, thank the Lourde.

I am still looking for "my" EPL team. Can't seem to sink my teeth into one.

And, add "Attending an EPL match" to my sports bucket list. Ever catch a crowd shot at those games? No one is even in the aisles, every seat filled, people paying attention. Looks like heaven for a fan.

[peeker643]

I'm dvr-ing UEFA games every day/night on FSoccerC

It's bad.

Last night I watched Tottenham beat AC Milan 1-0 when Peter Crouch scored in the 81st minute.

The British have a certain accent as you may know and my wife, sitting at the computer desk, asked why any parent would name their kid Peter Crotch.

Anyway, Gennaro Gattuso is certifiably fucking crazy. See if that display is on YouTube somewhere of him losing it 30 times during the match and then head-butting a Tottenham assistant after the match ended (and seconds after the would-be tying goal for ACM was rightfully disallowed for a clear and blatant push).

I already have the DVR set for whatever game is on today. I don't care. I'm simply amazed by the skill level and the varying strategies/lineups, etc.

Me and the youngest sit there glued. And yeah, she's a huge Browns fan too. Perfect filler while football season is over.

Can someone tell me some basic stuff like when the season starts and ends, do the various leagues play off, how many english teams are there, etc. I need a primer on the UEFA or a link.

EPL is what exactly in terms of fitting in on the soccer landscape?

[British_Pharaoh]

I haven't been able to watch since we switched to DirecTV.

The trade-off is we now get the NFL Network. And NHL.

The more I watch the more I like, especially the fact there are no commercials but mostly the phenomenal skills of these dudes.

I could still do without guys getting brushed on the chest, falling down and writhing around on the grass holding their ankle like they just stepped on a mine.

Everyone hates the play acting and acting as if you've been shot but the problem is most of the time if they don't exaggerate (because the problem is so pronounced now) the referee will not give a foul. Some players who stay up when they are hacked at will not get the call especially in the penalty box.

The problem is worse on the continent (especially Spain) rather than in the EPL

[Cease]

EPL is what exactly in terms of fitting in on the soccer landscape?

Local tastes in the game and how it should be played will vary, but EPL is easily on par or better than the elite leagues in the world.

Other top European leagues are La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy, Budesliga in Germany and Ligue 1 in France. Don't know the South American, African or Asian leagues, but their top players tend to head to EPL or Europe (as do top US players).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League breaks down EPL's role in UEFA.

EPL is easiest for me to follow due to language, but other Euro leagues are as passionate and as competitive with greatly varying cultural tastes and styles of play.

[RickNashEquilibrium]

I'm dvr-ing UEFA games every day/night on FSoccerC

It's bad.

Last night I watched Tottenham beat AC Milan 1-0 when Peter Crouch scored in the 81st minute.

The British have a certain accent as you may know and my wife, sitting at the computer desk, asked why any parent would name their kid Peter Crotch.

Anyway, Gennaro Gattuso is certifiably fucking crazy. See if that display is on YouTube somewhere of him losing it 30 times during the match and then head-butting a Tottenham assistant after the match ended (and seconds after the would-be tying goal for ACM was rightfully disallowed for a clear and blatant push).

I already have the DVR set for whatever game is on today. I don't care. I'm simply amazed by the skill level and the varying strategies/lineups, etc.

Me and the youngest sit there glued. And yeah, she's a huge Browns fan too. Perfect filler while football season is over.

Can someone tell me some basic stuff like when the season starts and ends, do the various leagues play off, how many english teams are there, etc. I need a primer on the UEFA or a link.

EPL is what exactly in terms of fitting in on the soccer landscape?

This wiki link (and additional links on the page) is the best source to understand what exactly the "Champions League" is and how it is made up. The EPL is strictly teams from England, and as another poster put it, Spain, Italy, and Germany have the other "Big Leagues" in Europe. Those 4 make up the best of the best.

The great thing about the Champions League is that teams continuously have to qualify for it by playing well over the course of a number of years. Liverpool did this in extraordinary fashion back in 2004 and followed it up with a Championship in 2005 over AC Milan which is one of the best games I've ever seen. Go look up Liverpool vs Olympiakos. Liverpool went down 1-0 early, and with Monaco winning 3-0, they had to score 3 goals and win by at least 2 to move on. Here is a live blog of that game and take notice to the substitutions and what they did for Liverpool. And find the goal by Gerrard to seal the deal. Beautiful.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2004/dec/08/minutebyminute.olympiakos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League