This ain't your Daddy's EPL

Who could have imagined that eleven matches into the EPL season,
Liverpool and Arsenal are not qualifying to compete for any hardware,
City are not only unbeaten, but sitting atop the EPL table by five
full points and coming off the worst beating of Man U since (insert a
non-offensive analogy here), and the Blues are already so far back of
the leaders that moves are being contemplated on how to get back into
the mix. It’s the type of season that perpetuates the fairy tale for
the fans of a second division club being promoted and someday actually
becoming relevant while having the football purist calling for another
pint at the pub to help eliminate any remaining traces of the latest
failure to get a decision. All the while an entire generation is
turning over in their graves over what has become of the old guard
this season, no doubt this is not your Daddy’s EPL.

I suppose it should be stated that I’m not a cynic but I would be
remised if I didn?t state the obvious that there is a serious lack of
parity that has become as prevalent as those who never walk alone,
strolling with the Gunners down in 6/7th place. If you look at the
correlation between the top of the table and those facing regulation
it looks like oscillating stock market days this year with Everton,
Bolton, Blackburn, and Wigan with three wins out of the last 18
combined, while City, U, New Castle, and Chelsea are the exact
reciprocal, and the middle of the pack is not much of a middle at all
with 8th place Aston Villa needing to double their season output and
still be one point out of the top spot. It is truly some big fish at
the top getting fat off a lot of feeder fish at the bottom.

Understandable the season isn’t half over and I’ve already eliminated
75% of the field but unless some sides make dramatic moves or the top
of the table suddenly forget what got them there, this is going to be
a three maybe four horse race for the majority of the campaign with
the only drama being who qualifies to salvage their season with
tournament hardware and who fights to stay above the water level, and
that’s not worth watching. You may not agree with me but your father
would understand.

See the top highlights of the week with Smacchat Videos on Demand

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook as well.

View the other Smacchat Blogs:
NFL NCAA Football NBA NCAA Basketball MLB NHL NASCAR

Early surprises from the first month of the EPL

If week one is any harbinger of things to come then we are in for one wild EPL campaign. True, the rich got richer and Manchester United looked like they never took any time off starting the new season with nine points in three matches including a dropping an 8-spot on Arsenal over the weekend, forcing them into “rebate mode” to keep the fans from boycotting. However it is a bit of a surprise to see Wolves up near the top of the table unbeaten after three matches but we’ll have to wait and see if they come down to Earth or if challenging for a chance to win some hardware will become the norm. They have an opportunity to really get off to a great start as their next two matches are at Molineux, and another six points should get them back into the top three but the true litmus test will come on the 24th when they travel to Anfield to take Liverpool and their singing supporters. The Blues came out flat to start the season and paid for it by only picking up one point at Stoke, but have since won two straight but may be without the services of Didier Drogba took one on the chin (and head) against Norwich but should have him back in time for the Sept 18th showdown with the Reds from Man U. Although the afore mentioned sides have stolen the recent headlines the biggest story/disappointment may be how Spurs are still stuck in the gate after two matches. Great things were expected from the High Road natives from London after finishing in the top five for the last two years. It’s not so much the 0-2 start that’s disturbing but having the 2nd worst goal differential at -7 in the EPL shows there’s quite a bit of work to do on the defensive side if they’re going to climb the table and get back to where they’ve been the last three years. A dearth of offense has scored only 1 goal in two matches so pick your poison on where you’re to begin your work but they’d better do it fast as the schedule doesn’t get any easier as they’re on the road to take on the upstart Wolves, then come home to host Liverpool, and sandwiched between them is a Europa League qualifying match. What do you think is the biggest story of the young season? Let us know here and in any of the quick links.
See the top highlights of the week with Smacchat Videos on Demand

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook as well.

View the other Smacchat Blogs:
NFL NCAA Football NBA NCAA Basketball MLB NHL NASCAR

Move over Billy you’ve got company

A recent poll asked what sportsfans felt was the biggest choke in sports history with the top ten put to a multiple choice. Options included the Oilers collapse against the Bills in the AFC Championship, Scott Norwood’s wide left, Greg Norman’s Master’s collapse, etc. At the top of the list (which I personally disagreed with) was Billy Buckner’s 86’ World Series through the legs error. Well, misery loves company and now Billy has some after the US Women’s Soccer Team literally gave away the World Cup on Sunday.

In addition to dominating from the opening kickoff, which they stole and had a golden opportunity to score in the first quarter minute, they outshot the Japanese 12-5 in the first half but most of the good opportunities did not even end up on goal. Like so many other monumental upsets, if you let the sleeping dog lie around long enough they will wake up and bite you and that’s exactly what happened here as Japan was winless against he US in 24 previous attempts. Despite the plethora of scoring chances the US never had more than a goals worth of separation and when presented with the opportunity to simply go into ‘lock down’ phase and hold possession they failed not once but twice. Allowing goals inside 11 minutes in regulation time to allow the tie and then amazingly repeated the feat at the end of extra-time inside 4 minutes on a corner to send the match to PK’s where they simply didn’t show up scoring only once.

After calling their shot stating they didn’t want to be compared to the 99’ team that hoisted the cup, they failed to “back the smac” and instead were the winners of front row seats to the Japanese Cup celebration. Furthermore, Hope Solo’s rant after the last US cup exit at the hands of the Brazilians and persisting that she’s the man, ends here career in a dubious position never reaching the heights of Bandice Scurry whom shut down her opponent in the shoot out leading to that 99’ Cup championship that now still stands as the greatest moment in US soccer history. It’s true this team did erase the memory of the 99’ club but not in the way it anticipated.

Is this the biggest choke in US sports history? Let us know here and in any of the quick links.

See the top highlights of the week with Smacchat Videos on Demand

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook as well.

View the other Smacchat Blogs:
NFL NCAA Football NBA NCAA Basketball MLB NHL NASCAR