Yeah those were two of the best teams of the 80s.. only the fortywhinerz were better! I didnt realize those were also popular in UK at that time, so that explains why somehow either the raiders or dolphins always seem to be.sent to that London game..

Commercially it makes a lot of sense. The big teams here were the Dolphins, the Raiders, the Redskins, as you say, and The Bears. Although Bears fans were usually dismissed as newbies, even though those of us dismissing them had only been watching it for a few months ourselves. The Dolphins were the glamour team, the Raiders were the tough team, don't remember why the Redskins were big, and the Bears were winning things and had the refidgerator. That was the perception here, anyway. If the organisers at Wembley could've hired Cameo to do the half time stuff it would've been a pure nostalgia-fest for all the 40 somethings in ill fitting Marino era shirts.

The Prem so far looks like it'll be a straight race between Man C and Chelsea. The relegation battle looks wide open again. Newcastle are the big flop team so far but they've been in trouble for ages. Man U have an awful defence but a forward line that could score against anyone.

West Ham are reassuringly average (ie probably just about good enough to avoid relegation)

Player-wise, Balotelli hasn't done much at Liverpool so far and Falcao hasn't really established himself at Man U yet, but Di Maria looks really good and Costa's been sensational at Chelsea.

next week it's everton vs man u so i'm going to try to catch that & see what's what. i hope it's not a pre-dawn game (in my time zone).

and maybe too soon for wild predictions but how about man c doesn't make it out of the group vs. bayern + roma?

also, we have some epic CL matchups coming up:

psg/barcelona (domestically barcelona is doing great, psg not so much)

man city/ roma (roma has won all games in serie a, is 2nd only by goal difference)

atletico madrid / juventus (juve is first on serie a's table, no goals scored against them in 5 games)

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on top of this, juve/roma play next weekend--- it will be a massive week for both teams!

Ha! Yeah I'll give him that one.

Yeah I suspect the Everton/Utd game will be, as it's a 12pm kick off here.

God do I love the champions league.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if they don't; it's a massively hard group they're in, and there's lingering doubts about their mental strength. Of all the English clubs, Chelsea look like they have the best chance. Although it'll depend a lot on whether Costa stays fit.

Early prediction is that Barca wins it this year. I was going for Real but they look weakened after selling some key players, plus the reports of unrest amongst some still there - namely Ronaldo. Rumours of him maybe returning to Man U seem unrealistic though, even if they could afford the 160m Real would apparently want for him.

No doubt Bayern will be up there as contenders but they're a bit of an unknown quantity for me. And obviously the CL is a bit of a lottery even for the best teams.

Speaking of free kicks, you're gonna love the second goal here. (starts 22 secs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH1-F3RHqDY

did you see this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCwb-QhBLTU

and that one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBdbZeT8dHA

ha ha ha that dog!

haven't seen those videos yet


busy this morning (deadlines) caught the last few bits of bayern/cska moscow. they played in an empty stadium (closed due to racist russians last year, plus the rumble vs. roma this year). weird!!! ghost-like. you could hear the coaches screaming in various languages. bayern won by a measly 1-0 (by a penalty i didn't see).

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ETA:


pretty!!


haa haaaa the poor bastard. thanks!

[must spread more butter before i spread again]

Found that dog pic while looking for something else. But this is him watching Football

ill check it out after the barca/psg -- 1-1 so far. LIVELY

came to say -- check it out (everyone) if you can!

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later: seriously, barcelona / psg was EPIC!!! psg won 3-2. never a dull moment in that game. and this even without zlatan (who's out injured). having watched it today i felt like i won a little lottery prize or something.

I agree to paris.st.germain vs.barcelona.being an epic match. Barcelona had mesmerizing ball handling but in the final 20 minutes psg.played.championship defense. Great game.and nice.to.see the.villain lose

i don't know how they were villains except for their blinding lemon-lime uniforms. if anything, psg is the one-percenter nouveau-riche team, awash in qatari petrodollars. barça is member-owned and very much a team of the people. but regardless, super fun game!

The worse anyone can say about Barcelona is they're not as 'nice' as their reputation suggests. Only the most ardent Real fan would describe them as villains, though. Perhaps that's it - suchfriends is a closet Madridista. Poor sod probably sleeps under this



staring up at this

that bed…!

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anyway, watchu guys watching today?

i'll definitely sit in front of juve / atlético madrid live, and will catch the dortmund & leverkusen games on repeat. maybe curious about arsenal later.

Missed all yesterday's games but it has to be Atletico-Juve for me too tonight. Hope both teams qualify for the knockouts.

I dont follow league futbol but in LA we collectively think of barcelona as a villain, maybe just because their roster is loaded ;) to be sure beyonce and jay z were there supporting Barcelona, enough said!

haha what????

they were sitting in the psg box right next to beckam

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mandzukic has a broken face! (wearing a mask)

oh man this game gonna be bananas. buffon did kissyface with some madrid guy (who?).