The state of the 17-14-0 Canucks.

Big ups to Brandon for breaking the Davises/Do 3,000,003 day post strike!

After the Canucks bested the Atlanta Thrashers at home last night (thank you NHL On The Fly for the highlights on my DVR this morning) with a nice 4-2 win, I decided it was time to explore where this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team are at after 31 games (and with 51 to go). Coach Alain Vigneault has gone out into the media saying that he never knows which Blue & Green team is going to show up on the ice, and the fans have become well aware of that fact as we work toward the midway point of the season. Last night, it was Daniel Sedin showing the rest of the squad that he's still the goal scoring boss that we missed while he was on the DL, scoring a gigantic hat trick (the third of his career). Roberto Luongo was straight up solid between the pipes, with the only two goals coming on rebounds (one he had absolutely no chance of getting). One amazing steal with the glove, a couple of sweet fights (Glass and Ryp), and a tip in goal by Ma$e rounded out a beautiful victory over this Eastern squad.

Orca Nation has become frustrated with the ups and downs this season. For example, on our last roadie, we beat New Jersey and Philly by a combined score of 8-2 before losing to the NHL worst Carolia and a Nashville squad by a combined score of 9-5. The first two teams hold a record of 35-21-1, the last two teams are sitting at 25-29-7. Fans around the Nation were disappointed with the way the trip ended, and a bunch of people started jumping of the bandwagon, bailing after a couple of little bumps. We were able to come home and get things back the way we needed with last night's win, with one Canuck blog going with the headline "We finally have a pulse," but the question I want to answer is: What should we expect from this team as the season goes forward? My answer? Playoffs.

Now it's time to prove all the doubters wrong. As I type, the Canucks are #9 in the West, tied with Columbus, and just 1 point back of playoff basement dwellers, Dallas. Hopefully that means it won't be too hard to make my point. People seem to be low on the Vannies this year, and it is really because of their away record sitting at 6-10-0. However, at the Garage my boys are 11-4-0! The only Western Conference team with a better home record this season are the (blech) Chicago Blackhawks (ranked #2 in the West). We're dominating in the Pacific Northwest, and we don't seem to be letting up, if recent results indicate anything. Meanwhile, the Vannies have a goal differential of +16. Are you ready for the list of top 8 teams that have a worse goal differential? #4 Los Angeles, #5 Colorado, #6 Nashville, #7 Phoenix, and #8 Dallas. We're top 3 material! In terms of players, Henrik Sedin (picking up the slack for his recently returning brother) is #2 in the Western Conference when it comes to points (just -4 of Joe Thorton). Something you don't know is that newbie Canuck (and recently traded for on my NHL2K10 Wii game) Christian Ehrhoff leads the Western Conference in +/- with his +16 rating this year.

Of course, there are a couple of things that make me think twice. The Canucks are ranked #1 in the West for team penalty minutes. This has been a problem I've been talking about all season long. When you are ranked #26 out of 30 teams in killing penalties (which the Canucks are), you really can't afford to be the most penalized team in your entire Conference. Are you kidding me? Show some freaking discipline.

So, you take the good that I talked about, and mix it in with the bad, and what do you think? Here's what I think. The Canucks have been an up and down team all season. The reasons are that the offense is solid, which keeps us in a lot of games, but the special teams have been lacking, which when combined with a ton of penalties, takes us out of a lot of games. In the end, the reason I think we're going to start playing better (meaning, more consistently) pretty soon is because I think we have yet to see the best that Roberto Luongo has to offer here in '09/'10. Our masked captain has a 2.42 GAA this season in his first 24 games. Over every season since he has been with Vancouver (starting in 2006, if you can believe it), he has had a lower GAA. Last year he was 2.34, 2.38 in 2007/2008, and 2.28 in his first season in Vancouver. Even his save percentage is worse this year (.915 vs. .920 last year). He is going to turn things around and bring more consistency to this squad in the games to come. He'll average out to his usual top goalie in the West kind of stuff, and that'll carry this team to a hefty playoff spot. With my thoughts that Colorado will still come crashing down eventually, I'm going with the 'Nucks finishing at least 5th in the West this year. Mark it down.

So, Canucks fans, stay faithful as we march forward. While we'll continue to have ups and downs here in the season, we are overall on a path forward and to the playoffs. Have confidence, have faith, and enjoy the puck.

It is a Bad TIme to be a Dodgers Fan

I hate to break the streak with a miserable post like this, but then again, what is the name of the site? The Dodgers are ruining themselves and I'm not just talking about the McCourt fiasco that I've payed next to no attention to (at least the specifics). What I have been noticing is that it has already affected the Dodgers and will continue to for years to come. As Tommy mentioned, the Dodgers "lost" Randy Wolf today. I've always really liked the guy, but an even better reason we should have kept him was that he was good. Not the best, Kershaw is clearly better, cheaper and locked up longer. Billingsley is probably better, too, though Torre worked wonders on that kid's confidence last year (see also Orlando Hudson) so we'll have to see next year.

The fucking [sic] debacle here is the fact that the Dodgers had chances. The Dodgers could have offered Wolf arbitration, landed him for 8 million (super cheap for a quality pitcher) or received draft picks (first round and supplemental) if he signed elsewhere. Even now it is reported that Wolf would have re-signed, had we had the drive, for 2 years/14-16M. But clearly this McCourt thing is affected every penny spent. What is also just as bad is that we didn't tender Hudson (first round and supplemental if he signed elsewhere). In fact, the Dodgers had a chance to tender four Tpye B free agents and they offered arbitration to none. That's a potential 4 second round and 4 supplemental picks. Putting all this together that is 10 total first two round draft picks lost. And no one will remember because we're going to be good next year, and probably the year after.

Just please sign Matt Kemp to a multi-year deal, or put me out of my misery......

The LSF's Twitter Focus.

So here is the deal: I'm crazy busy as Karen and I continue to get ready to be parents. Because of that, I've had a really tough time finding opportunities to drop my usual long posts on the LSF. And because of that, I've started upping my LSF Twitter usage because it's fast and easy to do directly as things happen from my phone. It's great for me because I can drop my opinions quickly, and I found a way to get the Twitter posts to show up on the top of the traditional LSF blog, which is great for all of our loyal readers.

Of course, the LSF will never go down, so this blog will continue to run on until my first born son can take over the posting someday, and I (along with the other LSF authors) will continue to drop posts as often as possible. However, my main focus will probably be dropping micro posts through the LSF Twitter feed. Hope you enjoy.

'Nucks lose a serious LSF rivalry.

When the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks get together, things are crazy. The latest version of this highly contested LSF rivalry went down Sunday night and ended with a 0-1 loss for the good guys. It was a pitching duel that had plenty of action (cross sports reference!), plenty of fighting (as usual between these two teams), and a Chicago backup out dueling Roberto Luongo.

Despite losing to a team I've grown to hate since last year's playoffs, there were some positives to take away:

1) The defense was finally here! We shut out a fairly decent team through 41:12 of game time, and that is something to be proud of. Our mighty captain finished with 16 saves on 17 shots, which highlights the fact that the Vancouver defense was on point during the game, keeping the Hawks out of the zone. The shots were 6-7-4 period-by-period, and that kind of shows how the Orca really should have been in control, being that we put 30 on Niemi.

2) Alex Burrows led the way as the beast of the game. My main man AB put 7, count 'em 7, shots on goal in the game, really trying to tickle the twine. While Niemi was somehow able to keep him out, he led the way in the shot department for either team, and made me proud with the effort. On a team with plenty of talent at the LW position (AB, Mason, and Daniel Sedin-welcome back, by the way), Burrows continues to stand out as much more than the "pest" title that NHL Network would have you believe.

In a tight loss, of course, the negatives outweigh the pluses:

1) Nothing on the power play. Despite all of the calls handed out, Vancouver finished 0 for 2 on the man advantage in the game. Going up against the likes of Chicago, we have to make good on the advantages, and we just didn't. The Twins need to be under the spotlight in these situations now that they're back together.

2) Giveaways. This is something I've been harping on all season. The Vannies gave the puck away 9 times to the Hawk's 5. Giveaways have been a big problem for BC this season. Injuries to solid passers may be one excuse, but everyone is pretty much back now (save Po Po), and we need to be hanging on to the puck a little better.

3) Henrik failing us in the circle. The usually solid H-Bomb won just 54.5% of his face offs in the game (compared to the second line center, Ryan Kesler, wining 9 out of 12). Our top line is going to have go earn that puck when is drops, because possession makes all the difference in the world. Looking up and down their lineup, Chicago isn't really an amazing team in the circle this season, and we should have been taking advantage.

The loss really puts a halt to the Canucks plans of getting the season off the ground a little bit. The narrow defeat has us a 12-11-0 (24 points, and still racist against overtime losses) still has us searching for our identity this year. Are we destined to be a team that just kind of floats through the season around .500, hoping to get hot enough at the end to earn a #8 spot into the playoffs? I hope not, because that would be pretty infuriating. Either be good or be bad so I can enjoy the season with less stress, in my opinion. The Canucks have a couple of key games the remainder of this Thanksgiving weekend to try and gain that identity we sorely miss. Thanksgiving evening we battle the 13-9-2 LA Kings. The Kings are a -2 in goal differential, while the Vannies sit +7. LA came storming out of the gates before falling a little flat, but they are still quite the dangerous team. While we have a sickly looking 9-11-0 record against the West, they play at an 8-6-2 clip, showing the can get up for big games. With the weekend wrapping up with back-to-back games against Edmonton (-1 of the 'Nucks in the table) and the San Jose Sharks (16-5-4, leading the Pacific), my boys are going to have to have some spot on play if they have any hope of being one back of division leading Colorado (currently +7 on the Canucks) by the time I return from my trip up North.

Let's hope they can do it.

Weekly football post #62.

Why not go for 62? Well, it's not all good news, that's one reason why. We go on, in spite of all that.

Fountain Valley didn't hold up their end of the Friar/Baron pact this weekend, falling out of the Pac-5 playoffs with a 24-431 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (Servite, meanwhile, held up their end of the bargain and go against LB Poly next week). After opening the season 8-0, FV finished poorly, with two straight losses. The bow out in the playoffs against ND was expected. In the loss, Kyle Middlebrooks had a 50 yard TD run, a 57 yard TD run, and a 6 yard TD run. But he was doing all the work, and it wouldn't be enough. In the end, it was a big second and fourth quarter for Sherman that knocked us out. KM finished with a strong 273 on the ground, but despite that big time performance, we are left wanting more in 2010. Hopefully we can finished as strong as we start next time around. Farewell Barons of '09.

Speaking of teams who has given up, how about Notre Dame. They started with high promise, despite losses to Michigan and USC, and then decided to give up on the season starting with the Navy game. The latest installment of the pain and suffering at South Bend was a 30-33 OT loss to former Irish backup QB Zac Frazer and the UConn Huskies. The loss has media all over the world calling for Weis' head at ND, with ESPN guaranteeing that he won't be back on the side line in 2010. That may be, but for know we have a season to finish. ND started strong, with Golden Tate (8 yard TD pass) and Jimmy Clausen (1 yard TD run) pushing us ahead by 14 part way into the second, and we were able to hold on for a 14-10 lead at the half. Should have been a time for slight adjustments, and an easy stroll to a win, right? Well, after getting a rare Irish FG we went up 17-10, and were feeling good. Then, Jordan Todman went 96 yards on the kickoff to send us to the fourth quarter tied at 17. Trading field goals, the Irish marched into OT with their heads down, and it showed. In the second over time, David Ruffer nailed his third field goal, and then the Irish couldn't stop the Huskies. It was over. I mean, our chances at a solid season have been over since losing to Navy in reality, but you'd think we would have at least played the season out, right? Jimmy "Hopefully Going Pro" Clausen finished 30/45 for 239 and 2 TD, Armando Allen Jr. went 24 carries for just 106 yards (and added 64 in the air), and the Golden/Floyd combo went 227 yards on 17 catches for 2 TDs. Of course, the glaring questions were on defense. Defense!!! The loss drops Charlie's Irish to 6-5 on the year, a pitiful penultimate record after such a promising start, and the final week of the season isn't looking pretty. The Domers will line up against the surprising Stanford (7-4). The Tree have come away with some shocking wins this year, and Notre Dame will have to have Jesus on their side (providing some divine intervention) to have any kind of chance against this year's West Coast Wonders. I'll be in Nor Cal for the weekend, so hopefully I can bring some ND love to the situation.

Despite Kurt Warner getting knocked out of the game for the Cards this weekend, the Rams still found a way to love 13-21. Keep in mind that this happened also despite the fact that Arizona didn't score a single second half point. Can the Rams actually be this bad? Steven Jackson did all he could, getting 116 yards on 24 carries to turn in his fourth straight 100+ yard rushing game after a poor start, but like Kyle Middlebrooks, he couldn't do it all. Marc Bulger again left us wanting more, going 19/37 for 215 yards 0 TDs and 1 INT. When will we give up? Like we talked about this weekend, maybe if the Rams draft Jimmy Clausen in next year's draft. I would cry out loud. The receiving duties were split among three, with Avery, Gibson, and Amendola getting 65, 61, and 61 respectively. Amendola is an underrated Texas Tech graduate, who can hopefully bring us a little bit of hope. Despite all the hoping, though, the Rams are 1-9 on the season (outscored 113-270 in their ten games). Next week they go up against the second worst team in the NFC West in the Seahawks (3-7). This could be a chance to steal win #2, especially with the Hawks being 0-5 on the road. You must protect this house!

The BC Lions finally figured out that they didn't belong in the Grey Cup Playoffs this weekend, with a rough 18-56 loss to Montreal. The Grey Cup will now be a battle between Montreal and the Rough Riders. Should be a good game. Can Jon's Sask's take it all? The Lions 3rd string QB, Casey Printers, went just 20 for 40 for 234 yards, and amazingly, Martell Mallett ran for just 6 rushes and 5 yards. What the hell happened? No receivers went over 100 for BC, and it was just an all around horrible outing. But, with the season we had, and all the injuries we've suffered, I'm just proud that we made it this far. We'll see-F-L you next season.

In the soccer world, Celtic got tripped up by Dundee 1-2 off of a 90th minute goal. The Celts took the lead on a Barry Robson penalty in the 72nd minute, only to have in cancelled 11 minutes later by the Crocs. Then, when things were getting down to business, just brief moments away from a respectable draw, Darren Dods came away with a 90th minute winner for the bad guys. It's a tough loss for Lukasz Zaluska in net for the Hoops, but they simply didn't have the pressure of Dundee to make good on the game. We also got called for offsides 4 times to Dundee getting the flag just once. The loss actually dropped us behind the Protties of Rangers by 1 point, at 7-2-3 (24 points). 1 freaking point back of Rangers! Ahhhhh!!! Next week it's a battle with St. Mirren (3-5-4, 13 points). Should be a much easier game than this week against Dundee (22 points), but we need Mowbray to focus the boys on getting this easy win done right.

Newcastle United still hasn't played yet this weekend, as they set up for a big Monday Night battle against Preston North End. This should be Newcastle's last game without brand new signing Fabrice Pancrate. Pancrate is a 29 year old Frenchie who signed with the Magpies on November 14 and will be rocking the #21 jersey, and he put in 12 goals in his last 5 seasons (spent mostly with Paris Saint-Germain). Can this Winger bring us some luck to push forward to the EPL after this season? Well, without him we're 3-2 over our last 5 and Preston are 1-2-2 over their last 5. A win would put us back into the #1 spot in the ELC table. Come on boys!

As you know, Chivas USA isn't doing much outside of having picnics at Mile Square Park this weekend. This shocking MLS Cup match gets under way in about 15 mintues, as the hated LA Galaxy go head to head with the shocking Real Salt Lake. Between those two teams, who most of Goat Nation hate with a passion, how can you choose? F the MLS Cup this year.

The G's, the C's, and the Irish.

It's hoop time my babies.

We'll start with my Mighty UCSB Gauchos (who, by the way, have updated their website to amazing reviews). UCSB went head to head against Weber State earlier this week, earning their second win of the season in as many games. This time around it was a 66-57 victory at the Thunderdome that had the Gaucho faithful rocking. Sophomore Seaside, CA native Orlando Johnson was amazing, earning the double double. OJ had 19 points and 10 boards in the game, going 6/11 from the field including two trees. Laguna Beach native (I swear he used to be from RSM) Jaime Serna made us all proud with 9 points in the game, and that was matched off the bench by super senior Paul Roemer. We're 2-0 on the year, and go up against USF on Monday before getting a family battle on against my cousin's LMU Lions.

Notre Dame welcomed Long Beach State into South Bend today, and came out with an 82-62 win, just a straight drubbing. My main man Luke Harangody put up 29 points to lead the Irish with 12 boards in the win. He was helped out greatly by Michigan's Tory Jackson (13), Senior Ben Hansbrough (11), and junior sub Tim Abromaitis (11). This team needs to strike this season, as many of the Irish are Seniors this time around. Can this be the year Notre Dame fans have been waiting for? Well, we're off to a 3-0 start, with our next game Sunday against 1-3 Liberty. Let's keep it rolling before we get into difficult conference play.

Finally, the Austin Celtics bested Golden State yesterday with a big 109-95 win to keep myself pretty happy when it comes to the NBA. Paulie was the leading scorer with 19 points, with five of his best buddies getting in double digits as well. Rondo, finally happy with the team, got 18 for himself, K-Perk and Ray Allen each had 15, and KG was big with 12 points and 6 boards. OFf the bench it was everyone's favorite sub Eddie House getting himself 11. The underrated player of the day is Rasheed Wallace and his +8 rating to go along with his 8 points. The C's are 9-3, leading the Atlantic Division by 3.5 games and get the Magic (also 9-3) as a huge test tomorrow night. The Big P may lead the team with 18.4 points per game, but he's listen as day to day on the injury list as I type, and that may present a problem against a solid team as Orlando. Of course, we're all waiting for 12/27/09 when we go head to head with the Clippers for the greatest rivalry in all of sports.

Meanwhile, the Canucks go for part 2 of their extended home in home series against the Avs tomorrow night. Can we build off of our 8-2 win last Saturday?

Weekly football post #61.

It may have been 124 days since Brandon, Jon, or Andrew has dropped a post on the LSF, but we're still keeping the weekly football post in full action. Again, though, it isn't going to be pleasant.

After starting the season 8-0, the Fountain Valley High School Barons went out with a thud. One week after their perfect season ended against Edison, the Barons fell again to Los Al to end the season. The 22-31 defeat handed Baron fans an 8-2-0 record here in 2009, and a playoff berth, but don't you feel left wanting more. I guess that depends on what happens in the playoffs. Despite losing, Kyle Middlebrooks was still the main attraction, scoring 3 TDs, including a 58 yard TD run and an even more exciting 57 yard punt return for a TD. He finished with 176 yards on the ground and 16 through the air to end the regular season. Dominic Rag Time Band threw for 66 in the game, but Los Alamitos stood tall and beat us down. The Pac-5 playoffs are upon us, and as we look at things we discover that we have a potential semifinal matchup between the Barons and the Servite Friars. Wouldn't that be special? We have a lot of winning to do before that happens, though. Fountain Valley will open the playoffs up against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks (is that a sign?) next Friday. A win would get us into the Quarterfinals against either Mission Viejo (bring it) or Long Beach Wilson (eek). Meanwhile, Servite goes up against San Clemente and would have to face either Los Al or Long Beach Poly if they get a win. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. Focus on the first round against Notre Dame. Go Barons!

Speaking of Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen continued the "I'm not going to be that special QB you were hoping for" tour in Pitt this weekend. The #12 Panthers beat up on the Irish way more than the score would have you believe, winning with the final of 27-22. Of course, the Irish were down 9-27 with 12:44 remaining before getting a receiving touchdown from Golden Tate and a punt return TD from Golden Tate. Then, with the defense stepping up, JC and the Irish got the ball back with over 3 minutes remaining down by 5. The final drive should have been a drive of glory, another chance for our Junior QB to have the type of game that makes a collegiate career. The type of game that fans talk about long after you've left for the money of the NFL. Instead, it played out this way: 1) 5 yard pass to Armando Allen, 2) 8 yard pass to Allen (so far, so good), 3) 9 yard pass to Golden Tate, 4) A penalty on that play for a clear chop block that set us back 15 yards (so here is the adversity on the drive, how can we deal with it?), 5) Incomplete pass under pressure, 6) An attempt to force a throw as he's getting taken down again which fell incomplete, only to be reviewed and changed into a fumble, game over. First of all, if you read the LSF Twitter page, you would know that I couldn't believe they changed the ruling to a fumble, because I was pretty sure that they shouldn't have been able to do that in that situation. Second of all, is it Jimmy or our offensive line that has seemed to collapse lately when we have a chance to march down and win it all? Both? Either way, we were outplayed for the majority of the game, and would have never had the comeback chance if not for the amazing Golden Tate (please don't leave early). In the end, Clausen still left us all scratching our heads, wondering if he's the right guy for the job after almost 3 complete years in the books. JC finished with a 27/42 evening for 283 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Armando Allen, back in action, led rushers with 14 carries for 77 yards (the next closest was Golden Tate with 2 yards, which may shed light on the reason we lost). Tate and Floyd picked up the slack for missing Rudolph, with Tate getting 113 yards on 9 catches (as well as 101 yards returning on 2 punts) and Floyd getting 107 yards on 7 catches (included a sweet 45 yarder on a 4th and 1). Can I also point out the latest attempt for a field goal kicker, David Ruffer, isn't any good either? What's with Notre Dame not getting any solid kickers over the last 3 years? Either way you break it down, it was a loss, and the Irish are now 6-4 on the season after such high hopes (even up until the Navy loss). We have 2 games remaining on the schedule. Next week we go against Connecticut (4-5 and a hopefully easy win), and the following weekend we finish up against the recently dangerous Stanford (some how 7-3 after wins against Oregon and SC). A couple of last minute things: 1) Can we stop believing the hype created by ESPN about how Charlie Weis is on the hot season? They will easily give him at least 1 more year to prove he can right the ship with his own recruits, probably more. I don't like some of his decisions either, but let's stop pretending he's playing for his job every week. 2) Explain to me how a 7-3 USC team (with loses to Washington, Oregon, and Stanford) are still ranked 22nd in the Nation. Same goes for Clemson at #18, and even really Stanford being #14 at 7-3. Also, don't look now, but we have 6 undefeated teams.

The Rams had me so excited this weekend, I was dropping "tweets" at halftime because we were tied with the Saints and I started to believe in magic. The thing about magic, though, is that you always know it's fake . Still a 23-28 loss to the undefeated Saints isn't really anything to be upset about. The Rams were tied 14-14 at the half, and only trailed 21-17 after three, but the Saints were able to overcome their mistakes and hold off my poor little Horned Helmets. Reggie "George W." Bush scored two TDs in the game, which was matched by Donnie Avery of the home team. Marc "I used to be Catholic" Bulger had easily his best game of the season, going 26/40 for 298, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, and a combination of Steven Jackson's best game of the year (131 yards on 26 carries and 1 TD) and a couple receivers finally joining the party led to the Rams solid loss. German national Brandon Gibson came in at WR and earned 92 yards on 7 catches to show us something new, and Donnie Avery added in 67 yards and 2 TD catches to help keep things as close as any of us could have hoped. There was never really any chance that we'd beat a team of the Saints' caliber, of course, but losing by just 5 is a win to Ram Nation. At 1-8-0, and the dregs of the NFC West, we get ready for a matchup with the division's #1 team next Sunday as the Cardinals roll into town. Arizona is 5-3-0, despite currently losing to the Seahawks 7-17 in the 2nd quarter as I type. A win would be a complete shocker, so don't bet on it.

To CFL news, the BC Lions shocked all of Canada with a 34-27 overtime win against the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the first round of the playoffs this weekend. Third string QB and TCU grad Casey Printers hit Grey Cup Champion Ian Smart on an 8 yard TD pass to earn the dramatic win for the Orange and Black. It was just the second play of the extra session, and it sealed the deal for a continued run toward the Grey Cup. Hamilton scored late in the fourth quarter to force OT, which is surprising because nobody expected the Lions to put up much of a fight with their two top QBs on the DL. In the end, Printers went 24-35 for 360 yards and a TD, Arkansas Pine Bluff grad Martell Mallett (same hometown as Torii "Silver Slugger" Hunter) went 11 rushes for 68 yards, and Alcorn St. alumn Arceneaux (120) and University of Maryland all-time WR Geroy Simon (111) went big on the receiving end. The Lions now prepare for next week's Semifinal matchup against the Montreal Alouettes (who finished 15-3-0 in the regular season). Somehow, we're just 1 win away from the Grey Cup!

Not much to report for Tony Mowbray's Celtic side. With the week off, the Hoops are looking toward next weekend's clash with Dundee to continue to solidify their top spot in the SPL (+2 on Rangers currently). In other news, it was officially voted on by the EPL that Celtic and Rangers will not be allowed to move into England's top division "at this time, or at any point in the future," despite rumors that the move would be happening in 2010. I'm fine with the decision because the SPL is more fun anyway.

Newcastle also had the week off after beating Peterborough United last weekend 3-1. The Magpies await next Monday night's clash against Preston North End to try and solidify their spot in the top of the ELC (+2 on West Brom). It's so much nicer to have the Toon on top. In other news, rumors are swirling about Sol Campbell coming to play for the Bar Codes by Christmas. The former Totts and Arsenal player could be a welcomed addition.

With Chivas USA's season over, there is nothing to report for on the pitch action. However, it has been reported that Head Coach Preki has decided to part ways with the Red & White with his contract expiring. Surely his successful tenure will garner him some attention from organizations around the soccer world, not just the MLS, and you can't blame him for hitting the road. Chivas is reporting that their search for their next (and fifth ever) head coach begins now.

In brief: Guadalajara lost 0-1 to Cruz Azul this weekend, after a 90th minute goal from Cruz's Emanuel Villa. Unbelievable to give up a game winning goal that late. The real Chivas are now 5-8-4 on the sorry season, trailing Toluca by 16 points. The season is over in Mexico, believe it or not, with the next campaign starting January 16th. No more Chivas at all? Ay yi yi! In Ireland, Sligo took care of business with a 3-1 win over lowly Drogheda this weekend. The win helps the Bit O' Red finish in the #6 spot in the Ireland Premier League, a very respectable spot for my boys. Their season is also officially over. Finally, Lazio also took the week off in Italy, with next week's match going against Mike Napoli. Napoli (5-4-3) are far better than Lazio (2-5-5) this year, but we'll hope for the best.

I liked this story from Sports Pickle.

Enjoy your week.