Well, Thursday turned out to be just a sneak peek of the nastiness that was Thursday night. Uggh. Of course TS1 got sick too, though with a different bug, and we had to nurse each other. So much for today’s plans to see Transformers in IMAX up in the City.
Then again I did get to watch plenty of football, of the English, Spanish, NCAA and NFL varieties (I’m still peeved at losing Australian Rules games when FoxSportsWorld converted to FoxSoccerChannel). ABC ought to consider renaming Saturday Night Football to The USC Football Show since the Trojans are featured if they’re playing.
Liverpool was not available but since they had another 0-0 draw to a team they ought to have demolished I’m not so upset; I did see their Champions League this past Tuesday and remain convinced that Rafa Benitez is mistaken about Jermaine Pennant’s value. Arsenal was entertaining with a 5-0 drubbing of Derby, not quite up to the 6-0 thrash Liverpool gave the bottomdwellers a couple of weeks ago. I was rooting for Fullham, or Team America as they’re also known with four American players and an American owner, but they were unable to make a 2-1 lead stand up and had to settle for a 3-3 draw with a surprising Man City.
Even better was today’s ManUtd-Chelsea clash, the first game of the post-Mourinho era. I probably should have been rooting for a draw or for the Blues since the new man is Israeli but just couldn’t get myself behind them because of their style of play; when Mikel was dismissed, Tevez got the header off a sweet Giggs cross and Saha put the penalty past Cech I was happy. Frankly, I thought Cech was the only man on his team who put out the extra effort needed to get a result in this tough situation.
I also caught the last 30 minutes of Barcelona-Sevilla. Ronaldinho wasn’t on the field but Lionel Messi made sure that the hosts took all three points with a lovely blast and a PK and I saw some of the spark and speed that has many people raving over 18 year old Mexico national teamer Giovanni Dos Santos. I also saw one of the funniest kits, the road outfits worn by Sevilla:
Trust me, they looked even sillier on TV. Though the uniforms worn by the Philadelphia Eagles today were pretty darn strange too!
USC really showed up last night. Last week at Nebraska was a good result but, mainly due to the defense not finishing the game, I wasn’t as impressed as what I read and heard in the media; if I was less subjective LSU might have gotten my vote as the top team, especially given their domination of Virginia Tech.
But I watched the LSU game yesterday as well and now my view is not divided. The Tigers seem much more dependent offensively on Pat Flynn–he was the holder who made the sweet no look toss to kicker Colt David for the gadget play TD–and when the O line couldn’t keep the rushers out on passing plays, his injury-limited mobility caused poor results. I’m not saying LSU are not deserving of the #2 ranking, not at all, just that I think USC quality is deeper at most positions. Mario Sanchez may not be the running threat Ryan Perrilloux is but he’s a much more complete QB and there’s just no comparison with the running back and receiving corps.
Notre Dame, 0-4. What can I say?
Niners never really got going against the first quality opposition of the season so far, Raiders were of course blacked out at home but across the league results were strange with many 0-2 teams getting their first W and many 2-0 teams their first L. Winning were the Giants, Jets, Raiders, the Chiefs and the aforementioned Eagles, and losing were the Niners, Broncos, Redskins, Lions and Texans. The Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Packers remained undefeated while the Bills, Dolphins, Cardinals, Rams and Falcons are winless (Saints and Cowboys have their respective zeros still on the line ;).
BillSaysThis 