Quick Hits from 116th Street

Good luck to the Premiership in trying to nail down that "39th fixture": when Asian and Oceanic clubs attempt to keep you out of their stadiums (and your dirty paws out of their revenue), when that Everton-Middlesbrough fixture isn't selling so well in Toronto, and when your entire fan base is pissed off at you for selling them out, you'll wish you had simply scheduled a couple of friendlies in New York and LA featuring the Big Four (oh wait, they can already do that themselves; what do they need you for, Richard Scudamore?). Sure, Arsenal and Manchester United could sell out anywhere; but what about Derby County and Newcastle? The reason it worked for the NFL is that American football is played in very few places abroad; soccer is everywhere and is built mostly upon local allegiances. The Premiership plan seems doomed to fail.

Speaking of failure, Manchester United picking up 1 point in its last two Premiership matches has to really infuriate the Reds, seeing as how Arsenal keeps on picking up results without having played their best for a little while now. This should have been United's chance to make a move to the top, with their already-superior squad depth getting a boost by having little to no one away on African Nations duty. Instead, Arsenal keeps fielding threadbare lineups, moving players out of position and still winning. 5 points clear and with Kolo Toure and Robin Van Persie soon to return, Arsenal has to be feeling pretty confident at the moment.

I have officially had it with FIFA 08: if you catch me playing this god-forsaken game one more time, feel free to smack me upside my head. The players don't make intelligent runs, they just watch the ball go by, switching to a defender causes him to stop running, it's damn near impossible to tackle and there's this bug where I will occasionally try to make a pass and the ball goes entirely in the opposite direction. When does PES 2008 come out in the US?

Hooray, we are even closer to MLS expansion in Philly! Hooray, the USA will play England! Hooray, it looks like we've got Spain and Argentina lined up as well (hooray for potentially going 0-for-3?)! Let's keep playing as many top-20 teams as we can...