option+

Word. Couldn't agree more.

Yes, I did know that. I am fully aware that some Liverpool fans are complete disgraces. But arguing about who's fans are worse is completely pointless, because for every example you give me of Liverpool fans acting up, I can give you a counter example of United supporters doing something similar, which ultimately leads us nowhere except for an interminable argument. How about we just agree that it's a good rivalry and leave it at that? I guess the important thing to understand is that there are a bunch of different championships and therefore a bunch of different champions. It's not like North American pro sports where all the games played produce one singular champion.

Domestically, there are at least two competitions: the league and the cup (sometimes, there are more than one cup, and sometimes, in some of the Latin American countries, they have two league championships per year). In the league, you play each team twice, once home and once away. Three points for a win, one for a tie. The winner is the team with the most points at the end of the season. The cups are knockout competitions. The league and cup are completely different competitions. Winning the league is more prestigious, and in many countries nobody gives a damn about cup competitions anymore. Then there is European competition. The Champions League is the most prestigious competition. In the better leagues like England, Spain, Germany and Italy, the top 3 or 4 teams from the previous years league standings make it to the Champions League. France, Russia and the Netherlands (I think) usually get 3 teams each, though never four. Medium strength leagues like Greece, Ukraine, Portugal, Scotland etc. get two teams. The minnow leagues like Belarus and Albania get one team, which has to go through qualifying (and rarely make it). Then there is the UEFA Cup. The teams that finished below the Champions League qualifiers play in this competition. Again, it varies from league to league. You can also make the UEFA Cup if you win your domestic cup competition: for example, if a team finishes 15th in England but wins the League or FA Cup, then they qualify for the UEFA Cup. Also, teams that crash out of the Champions League by finishing 3rd in their groups also make the UEFA Cup. 13 or so years ago, the Champions Cup (predecessor to the Champions League) only accepted the Champions from every domestic league, so the UEFA Cup was important, certainly more important than it is today. Honestly, the UEFA Cup has become pointless - it's like getting together the teams that missed the NHL playoffs and setting up a playoff for them. There is also the Intertoto Cup. This if for teams that fail to qualify for either the Champions League or the UEFA Cup. The winners of the Intertoto Cup (there are three) win the right to play in the UEFA Cup. This is a very Eurocentric view of the soccer world, but it works much the same way on other continents. In South America, they have the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, which are roughly equivalent to the Champions League and UEFA Cup. There is also an African and Asian Champions League. There are a whole host of other club competitions such as the World Club Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the European Supercup, but I'm too lazy to explain them. Sweden came second in the 1958 World Cup, losing in the finals to the Pele-led Brazilians.

I think it's possible that Rex Grossman was shaving points - I've never seen an NFL quarterback play that poorly. Still - their QB turns the ball over 6 times and they still win the game? Scary. That is a very, very, very good team.

I would accept Sundin on the Habs in about a second. Hell, I'd even throw him a party.

Couldn't agree more. It is put up or shut up time for Mr. Streit.

Honestly? I think that sometimes being a woman would be an advantage in the booth. It seems likely to me that women would steer clear of all those testosterone-laden clichés that men like to bandy about when talking about professional sports, and concentrate on breaking down the game in front of them.

I dislike Don Cherry because of 1) his xenophobia and 2) how smug and self-congratulatory he can be. He actually is capable of insightful commentary, but hasn't bothered for about ten years now - all he has to do is act like Don Cherry and his fans will tune in. I watched Coach's Corner during that Leafs-Habs game and half of the segment was devoted to replaying old footage of him saying good things about Kyle Wellwood. There was no analysis explaining what Wellwood does that is so good, no clips of Wellwood doing good things, just slogans like "that Kyle Wellwood... boy what a player!" and I-told-you-so's. I understand that Don Cherry is very popular and therefore will always have a job at the CBC (as long as he doesn't let fly with another "visor" comment or something)... but can the CBC at least stop pretending that he's a serious analyst? He's a colourful character with strong opinions about the game that rants and raves a lot... nothing more, nothing less. That's all well and good, but I prefer something a bit more substantive during the intermissions.

Didn't Danielle Sauvageau do colour for SRC for a while?

Lats needs to stay with the big club. The biggest flaw in his game right now is that he's simply an abysmal defensive player - going back to Drummondville isn't going to help that. The O will come. I'd like to see him get some PP minutes. No offense to Begin and Downey/Murray, they're not exactly elite offensive players. A minute or two a game with the skill guys per game would only help his development, I think.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=180984&hubname= Streit takes his place, Rivet sounds like he'll go on Tuesday.

I can't stand the guy, but that's just me.

I hate the shootout too. I also think it lacks drama... it's not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. For every highlight reel goal, there are 10 instances of someone skating up halfheartedly and burrying a shot into the goalie's pads. I'm curious as to why Samsonov hasn't gotten a shootout chance yet? He's has good hands, I'd think he'd be able to successfully deke some goalies.

Reason #54954854 why I hate the Leafs - their nickname is grammatically incorrect. Everyone with a brain knows that it should be the Toronto Maple LEAVES.

People that went to elementary school with me have 8 year old kids. One has a 9 year old. I don't know how many friends/acquaintances of mine have kids, because it's too common to justify counting. Oh yeah, I'm 24. Hooray for the Great White North!

Looks like SRC doesn't show Saturday night games in the NWT. Radio for me!

We are indeed awesome.

I make my own. You never know what's in take out or store bought stuff. Mine are better, anyway. AWESOME avatar, by the way.

Wow, that will be interesting if Kovalev is out. Of course I'd prefer it if he played, but it would be nice to see what Latendresse could do on a scoring line.

Be objective Killer Carlson (and yes, I'm a Liverpool supporter). There are plenty of Man U supporters who act as stupidly as the idiots at Anfield - for example the ones who have made it their life's duty to sing songs about Hillsborough.

I'm not a metalhead per se, but there have been some amazing metal albums released this year from the likes of Mastodon, Manticora, The Sword and Slayer.

Israel plays in UEFA as do other non-European countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. All of those teams can play in Euro 2008, assuming they qualify (which they certainly will not, with the possible exception of Israel). I'm rooting for Greece. Greek-Canadian and all. If I had to put money on a winner though? I'd pick Germany. I watched clips of that 5-1 demolition job against Slovakia in qualifying... awfully impressive, especially considering the same team lost 2-0 against Slovakia in a friendly last year. They're getting better awfully quickly.

So... um.... is SRC showing the games or not?

Stealth, what do you think of the Canucks/Oilers rivalry? Mind you, there hasn't been any playoff games or anything, but all the games are crazy intense and there are is definitely a little mutual loathing going on there, too.

It's definitely too early to draw any conclusions about the Sens... but the signs are not good. They've looked awful this year, completely uninspired, almost like they're already playing out the string. They even looked flat in that opening night win over the Leafs. There is definitely some problems in that dressing room. It'll be an interesting year in Ottawa.