La Liga Standings Reflection

End of the Year Standings for La Liga

              La Liga is on its two week winter break and now is an exceptional time to look and reflect on the current league standings for the 2018-19 season. La Liga has been highly competitive as FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have already suffered multiple loses. The top 4 doesn’t appear how it normally does in the past few seasons.

The Top 4

              The top four teams in order from first to fourth are FC Barcelona (37pts), Atletico Madrid (34), Sevilla (32), and Real Madrid (29). Real Madrid has played one game less than the three teams that currently sit above them in the table due to their participation in the FIFA Club world cup. Real Madrid won the international club tournament. Which is a nice moral boost to a team that is not doing well in the league especially by their standards. The galacticos have already lost 5 times this season, last season the team suffered 6 loses and finished third. And in the previous two seasons before that Real Madrid didn’t even reach 5 losses in each of their league campaigns. Based on these numbers, if Real Madrid wants to seriously compete for the league title, they will have to go on a near perfect run in the second half of the season.

              FC Barcelona just acquired Jeison Murillo on loan from league rivals Valencia CF. The defender will compete and fill in the defensive duties due to injuries from Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen. Vermaelen has been hurt since he joined the Catalan club. For the very high standards that is expected from Barcelona I would say that they aren’t playing at their best and have issues as well. Messi is phenomenal and Demebele is performing productive performances even with the hiccups off the pitch. Sitting at the top of the table while their arch rivals are in 4^th is a nice holiday gift Barcelona can give to their fans.

              Atletico Madrid are in second place and are quietly performing better as the season progress. Los colchoneros have only lost once this season in La Liga by the hands of Celta de Vigo. Atletico drew against Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, but that should not be a real surprise as Atletico Madrid have the most ties (7) among the top 4 teams. Which is a reason why they are in 2^nd instead of 1^st during the break. To me, they are the most credible challengers to Barcelona for the league title.

              Sevilla are in 3^rd and play a style that is attack minded and score goals. The Andalusian side has 30 goals scored as a team, second only to Barcelona’s 48. The team is well balanced and coached well. If Real Madrid continues to struggle, they will finish not only behind Barcelona and Atletico, but to Sevilla as well.

Relegation Battle

              The bottom of the table of La Liga is not too much of a surprise as newly promoted from the Segunda (second division), are holders of the last two places in the table. Huesca sits at the bottom of the table with 8 points and Rayo Vallecano is in 19^th with 13 points. Those two club will need a good run of games in the second half of the season with a few other factors to get out of the relegation zone.

              The surprise this season, in a shocker rather than impressive, is Villareal in 18^th with 15 points. They are in 18^th and final position that sends a team to the Segunda. Last season Villareal finished 5^th earning a spot in the Europa League competition. They do have a game in hand and are only one point away from safety. The team above Villareal is Athletic Bilbao. The Basque team is one of three teams to have never been relegated to the second division. The other two are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. However, unlike the two heavy weights, Athletic Bilbao has not had the same success and has been accustomed to playing for survival in the last season. Bilbao is a side that normally fights for a top 5 finish, but has been giving their fans anxiety as they have bobbled around the relegation zone this current and last season instead of chasing for a spot in a European competition.

My Favorites

              Valencia CF jumped from 15^th to 8^th on their last game before the winter break. Los che have 10 draws, 10! They are tied with Athletic Bilbao for the most ties this season, and Bilbao is in a relegation battle. The difference is that Valencia has 4 wins and only 3 loses. They have less defeats than the teams above them except for the top 3 teams. Last season the team performed well securing the 4^th and final UEFA Champions League position with games to spare. This year has been average in almost every aspect. Hopefully in the second half of the season Marcelino’s side perform a lot better.

              Real Betis is a fun team to watch. I am not necessarily a fan of the team but do enjoy watching them play and have followed their captain, Joaquin, from his younger days when he was marked as the next golden boy for Spain. Their coach, Quique Setien, coaches his side to play an intelligent attacking style. His philosophical approach to the game can be described as the opposite of Diego Simeone from Atletico Madrid. Betis defeated Barcelona at the Camp Nou which put Setien in an exclusive category. He has defeated both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at their stadiums. Real Betis defeated Real Madrid last season, they have yet to play in the 2018-19 campaign. Real Betis currently sit in 6th place, same position they finished last season. The way this season has gone Betis could push for a UEFA Champions League position. 

Saturday Soccer Thoughts

Saturday Soccer Thoughts #1 (12/22/18)

               I watch too much soccer, which is not a real thing, but based on how many hours and my effort to plan my daily life around to watch football matches I needed a way to outwardly express some thoughts on what I just witnessed. Why? The main reason, pretty much the only reason, is that I do not have enough friends to talk about how passionate I am about soccer without potentially losing the limited number of human contacts I already possess.

              Arsenal defeated Burnley by a two goal margin, 3-1. Unai Emery’s men won the match after previously losing two consecutive to Southampton and Tottenham. Burnley was not happy with the match officiating but the creativeness of this Arsenal side was too match either way. My takeaway was that Mesut Ozil played the full match and was effective. Speculation around the London based club that Emery did not see Ozil in his plans, but it seems that those speculations have been put to rest for the moment, after all he started the German against a smaller club, no disrespect to Burnley.

              Crystal Palace shocked the football world by defeating Manchester City 3 goals to 2. Townsend with the goal of the year, it was a beautifully struck volley that gave the City goalkeeper no chance on reaching the well struck ball. This means that Liverpool now have a 4 point lead against Manchester City. Chelsea also experienced a set back with a 0-1 defeat to Leicester City.

              Manchester United scored 5 goals in the teams first match since the firing of Jose Mourinho. Cardiff City is not necessarily a premier league powerhouse, so one should not raise the expectations too high over the 5-1 result, but it is a free feeling that United fans and players should enjoy.

In La Liga, Real Betis drew against Eibar which will keep the Andalusia club in the Europa League position for now. Atheltico Madrid won their match against Espanyol to keep the pressure on FC Barcelona. The Catalan club also won their match against Celta de Vigo, 2-0, with goals from Dembele and Messi. Real Madrid where across the globe in the FIFA Club World Cup final against Al-Ain. Real Madrid came out victorious winning the tournament with a final score of 4-1.

              Bayern Munich defeated Frankfurt 3-0 to close the gap to 6 points on Borussia Dortmund who were also victorious from their Friday night match. Dortmund defeated Borussia Monchengladbach in a 1^st vs 2^nd place teams. The defeat drops Monchengladbach to 3^rd place in the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich moves up into second. RB Leipzig won 3-2 to keep pace with the top 3 clubs. Fortuna Dusseldorf have won their third league game in a row and are steadily moving away from the relegation zone.

 In the Serie A Inter Milan earned a point away from home against Chievo Verona, 1-1. Napoli won their match. AC Milan lost to Fiorentina by a score of 1-0, which could see Milan fall out of a European position if AS Roma defeat Juventus later on today in their match. Lazio won their match which makes them the sole possessor of the 4^th and final spot for the UEFA champions league group stage.

The "Best" Soccer league

I had a conversation with a coworker of mine. He claimed that the English Premier league was the best league. Which I disagreed with in my head and continued to listen to the Chelsea fan. Then he added that La Liga is a two team league and the rest of the teams are garbage. AND that is where I was puzzled and annoyed. For the record any one can state which league is the best and which league is trash or worthless, but those of us with a position with local professional soccer teams should be slightly more knowledgeable than the average fan. He claimed that it was a debate that can't be solved and to let it be, but I replied that the answer may not be solved (which league is better) but it is definitely worth discussing in depth.

I am not claiming that La Liga is better, just interested in the why in this case English Premier league fans think that their league is better or "best."

To start, La Liga is a two team league and in the Premier league any team can beat any team on any given day.

La Liga does have two globally recognizable teams in FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The popularity is enhanced due to the fierce rivalry and the long history those two teams share. By using simply the eye test La Liga does seem like a two team league. But, lets evaluate the numbers to compare the number of English Premier league winners and La Liga winners from the start of the premier league (1992-93) *Sorry Liverpool fans

EPL has had 6 different winners since the start; Manchester United (13), Chelsea (5), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2), Leicester City (1), and Blackburn (1).

La Liga has has 5 different champions starting (1992-93) FC Barcelona (12), Real Madrid (8),  Athletico Madrid (2), Valencia CF (2), and Deportivo La Coruna (1).

The EPL has had one more team win the league than La Liga in the span of 25 years. This may seem like I am choosing a sample size due to some sort of bias, but there is some neutral logic behind it. First the Premier league is technically a new competition. Second, the sample size is at the start of the Premier league to coincide with the new champions league format in order to remove any potentially altering results due to scheduling format changes that have occurred during the really early start of English football.  Third, I will be using champions league winners as another sample size that wont go past 1993 that way the Real Madrid dominance in the 50's doesn't have an effect on the new champions league format where back then the tournament consisted mostly of knockout games among the league winners excluding second place regardless of the league. This meant that only Barcelona OR Real Madrid could participate in the early years of Europe's soccer competition.

Another way to argue that a league is better is through their intercontinental success such as the UEFA Champions league. Let's have a look. Starting in 1993. For those that want to argue that Liverpool has won more, that is true. They have won the competition 5 times. And so have Barcelona. Yet, Madrid still beats both those teams combined with a total of 12. *See why I do sample sizes?

EPL has had 4 winners Manchester United (2), Liverpool (1), and Chelsea (1).

La Liga has won it 10 times Real Madrid (6) and Barcelona (4)


Okay so the English Premier league boast that one thing that separates their league is that on any given day any team can beat any other team. Now that may be true, tagged with some excellent advertising and promotion from television networks, but lets see how that can be evaluated. In this instance, I decided to compare the two knock-out competitions that occur simultaneously with league play. Spain has the Copa del Rey and England has the FA Cup.  I see this as the best barometer that can shine light on the "any team can beat any team."

FA Cup winners 8 different teams (Since 93) Arsenal (7), Chelsea (6), Manchester United (5), Liverpool (2), Everton (1), Wigan Athletic (1), Manchester City (1), and Portsmouth (1)

Copa del Rey winners 10 different teams (Since 93) FC Barcelona (7), Real Madrid (3), Real Zaragoza (3),  Athletico Madrid (2), Deportivo La Coruna (2),  Espanyol (2), Sevilla (2), Valencia (1), Real Betis (1),  Mallorca (1)

There are plenty of leagues in Europe that are worth watching and if one wants to claim that one league is the best so be it that is perfectly fine. But, as someone who studies sports there is a distinction between analyzing data, in this case the English and Spanish leagues, and being a fan who supports and backs their team no matter what. Yes, at times some fans use numbers to demonstrate their teams superiority and that's fine too. However, that adds to muddling the two together. Full disclosure and transparency I support a club from La Liga who isn't even the 3rd best team in the league and I am aware that they probably wont win the league any time soon, but you better believe at the start of the season my belief in the possibility of winning the league runs high especially the longer the team hangs on to 2nd or 3rd place.

There are a few reasons why my curiosity brought me to do this comparison. However, one of them was not to promote or prove in any way that La Liga is better or the best league. One is I am genuinely curious in comparing the two leagues to see what I will find. Second, was to understand where some of my friends, colleagues, and a few sports TV personalities (in this case referring to the anglophone people) imply or straight out claim that the EPL is the best league. I repeat I like the EPL, I do think it is a league with great quality and has exciting football. I enjoy watching Klopp's Liverpool! Confession, what bothered me the most was that there are soccer fans in the United States that think the EPL is the standard league, that the U.S. should replicate it, which to me is baffling. There is a lot to discuss on why I think the U.S. shouldn't replicate their cousins over the Atlantic in terms of soccer, but lets save that one for another time. The same Chelsea fan who claimed Chelsea was almost relegated only to come back the next season to win it doesn't understand that, yes, what he stated is true, La Liga will probably never see FC Barcelona or Real Madrid face a relegation battle, but that the coach that came in and won it was an Italian who won the league using 3 at the back which he used in Serie A! Antonio Conte existed before Chelsea and had success prior to moving to London. Does that mean that the Italian Serie A is better than the English Premier league? Of course not (But it doesn't hurt to go in-depth on that comparison either right?). I understand the excitement aspect of the league, I just don't understand the negligence of other leagues as if they were absolutely inferior. Is it an imperialistic mind set? I am not sure. One thing is for sure, the league hasn't helped their international team succeed either.   
   

The Real Madrid-Barcelona Switch

   Barcelona and Real Madrid are Spain's two most historically successful soccer clubs that have captivated the interest of the world. The rivalry has extended beyond the Spanish borders and has always extended beyond the pitch. However, I am not here to discuss the social-political history these two clubs share-it is worth noting that the social-political interaction between these two clubs should not be ignored and is a significant subject matter when discussing these two teams. The reason for the exclusion of any past event or trauma that has affected the supporters and communities who follow Real Madrid and Barcelona is due to the topic I want to discuss. This is not to say I wont reference any past event, but by paying too much attention to the historical event will evade my main point and those events will not be described in detail that would serve justice to them.

    Now to get back to my topic, Barcelona and Real Madrid are not immune to the globalization of the sport. I am aware that soccer is the most globalized sport, but in this case I am referring to the two clubs and the transfer market. I am discussing the approach these two giants of the sport have towards their footballing philosophies. Real Madrid has the Galactico tag associated with them since they signed Luis Figo away from Barcelona. The Madrid club has the stigma of spending insane amounts of money on acquiring star players to come play at the Santiago Bernabeu. On other hand, Barcelona are known to have the famed academy, La Masia. The Barcelona academy has produced players such as Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and of course Lionel Messi. There have been plenty of players that have graduated from La Masia in the past and have gone to have stellar professional careers. I am only referring the most recent notable players. In short, Real Madrid buys while Barcelona develops. I understand that this is not a true representation as Barcelona have spent quite a sum to bring players to play at the Camp Nou and to ignore Iker Casillas, Guti, and Raul coming from Real Madid's youth academy is a serious disservice to the truth.

   At the moment Real Madrid are having a horrendous season. They recently were eliminated by Leganes in the Copa Del Rey by losing 2-1 at home. Madrid are 19 points behind the league leaders, Barcelona, which is bad, but what solidifies Real Madrid's terrible season is that they aren't even in 2nd or 3rd!  At the moment everything is going great for Barcelona who are still undefeated in league play. Bare with me I am not here to analyse in depth the success and failure of these two teams. But, alas to my point, Barcelona has taken a page from their arch-rivals approach for success.

   Barcelona have spent large sums of money in purchasing Coutinho and Dembele. And let's not forget Paco Alcacer and Andre Gomes were purchased with price tags, even at the time, to be inflated and even more so now for how little impact these two players have had. Nelson Semedo, Samuel Umtiti and their most recent defensive signing Yerry Mina are a few of the defensive players Barcelona has spent to strengthen their much needed defensive line. I am not saying that the playing style has changed for Barcelona, but to be fair Ernesto Valverde was criticized early on by the Barcelona press for moving further away from Barcelona's philosophy. It is hard to continue nagging about a cultural sport philosophy when the team sits on top of the league table and is still without a loss to their record. At the moment Barcelona only has two new recent academy products on their roster, Sergi Roberto-who scored the final goal against Paris Saint-Germain in the historic comeback- and Denis Suarez. And there is no fault or wrong doing in any of this. A club such as Barcelona has to go into every season prepared to compete and win all that they can. Whether it be to bring up youth academy players to the senior side or dive into the transfer market, a team such as Barcelona has resources to improve and can use either one. And prior to this current on going season Real Madrid was arguably the better team the past two seasons. A quick reminder Messi, Iniesta, and Busquets are still current starters if available. But, Iniesta is 33 years old and Busquets will be 30 in the summer and the sad truth is that Messi wont play forever -as much as any soccer fan would love to see him play forever, it just isn't possible. 

   All of that is future thinking attached with quite a few "what ifs." At the moment no philosophy or future analysis can take away from Barcelona's current success. But, this is where Real Madrid can repay the favor and borrow Barcelona's approach towards the game. This is a suggestion that will most certainly go unnoticed, for Real Madrid executive board members have their agendas and don't read blog post from a random southern California dude. Real Madrid's season is pretty much done aside from a glimpse of hope in the champions league. Which is why the league is a great opportunity for those in white to start integrating a few of their younger players into the squad. Managed with precision and closely monitored manner, Real Madrid can stay competitive in La Liga and qualify for next years champions league in addition to maturing a few of their youth academy players. Zidane could give a few starts to the likes of Borja Mayoral, Marcos Llorente, and Jesus Vallejo. I am aware that Jesus Vallejo isn't a Real Madrid youth product, but the 20 year old Spanish center-back has the potential to play an important role, possibly a vital defensive backbone for the club's future. 

   Zidane isn't Real Madrid's Pep Guardiola, whether he stays on the bench will depend on champions league results and Real Madrid isn't known to have a ton of patience with their youth players, but if Real Madrid wants to get back to their pinnacle of success -which was six months ago; reveals the extremely high standard expected of Real Madrid- must begin by looking internally to see what they have and what they want to do. Real Madrid has the opportunity to build a team that can last for multiple seasons. Build from their in house structure and then buy players to supplement their squad. Real Madrid is a club that will always have players who's desire and dreams is to play for the Spanish giants. So taking the second half of this season, specifically in La Liga, to rotate a few young players into the starting eleven seems like an understandable approach. Then the upcoming summer is when they can buy players that will help improve the club.

  As stated earlier I am merely suggesting what Real Madrid should do to catch their rivals who play at the Camp Nou. Plenty of what I suggested seems nice, but I am aware that Real Madrid's problems are more complicated and the situation on their hands wont be fixed by simply looking into their youth academy. Many of the players who started the champions league final have giant contracts that run through 2020. Which makes it difficult for Madrid to buy a starting star quality player without being forced to sell one of their players first. Which is why my advice was to seek internally to avoid the complexity of the transfer market. Whether Real Madrid bounces back this season or rotates younger players, one thing is for sure, and that is Real Madrid will spend this summer. I think that Real Madrid has a unique opportunity to switch the whole Real Madrid-Barcelona stereotypes when it comes to their approach towards the game. Imagine Barcelona are the new big spenders while Madrid develop their players.

Same place, different time. Valencia-Barcelona recap

   Valencia and Barcelona finished their match on Sunday to a 1-1 draw at the Mestalla. Second place Valencia hosted the league leaders Barcelona for a clash of the two best teams in La Liga. The match was a tale of two halves, but before we get into certain specifics lets address the horrendous error by the refereeing officials. In minute 30, Lionel Messi shot the ball straight towards Valencia's goalkeeper who fumbled it into the goal. The ball went over the line. That means it was a goal. Yet, the goal was not awarded.
 
   Barcelona dominated the first half. They were the more threatening and aggressive team by far. The Catalan side had around 70% possession in the first half and finished the half with 8 shots. Valencia defended as a unit, but seemed to play like a small club who respected their opponent too much. Barcelona were very frustrated and disappointed going into the half with no goals. Valencia weren't able to leave their own half for the majority of the first 45 minutes which was due to their poor passing. The valencia team had completed less than half of their passing attempts at the end of the first half. However, the second half saw a completely different Valencia side emerge from the dressing room.
 
   The second half was noticeably better for the home team who came out pressing higher lines and attacking Barcelona's goal. Los che threatened on the counter, especially on the left side where Gaya and Guedes had a great combination to score the first counted goal. Semedo had a rough day defending Barcelona's right side. Valencia went up 1-0 and almost could have extended their lead if a penalty was called on Umtiti's tackle on Guedes inside the box. The call wasn't made and play resumed and Barcelona tied the game with a superb pass from Messi to find Jordi Alba on a perfectly timed run to one time it behind the keeper and into the net.

   There were whispers going around that Valencia's Owner, Peter Lim, is going to go speak with Paris Saint-Germain on acquiring Goncalo Guedes on a permanent basis. Guedes is a talented young man who has a bright future where ever he plays his football, but Mr. Lim should also travel to Milan to speak to the Internazionale side on getting Geoffrey Kondogbia to stay in Valencia on a permanent basis as well. The Frenchman demonstrated his strength and capability to read the game from the midfield position. Kondogbia prevented Busquets from effectively passing the ball to Iniesta and Paulinho, disrupting Barcelona's midfield game plan. This lead to Busquest having to play deeper, to the point where he seemed to play as a third centerback in between Umtiti and Vermaelen. In addition to disrupting the opponents midfield, Kondogbia also connected passes that lead to quick counter-attacks. This allowed for Dani Parejo to join the forwards high pressing line. Iniesta was eventually subbed off in the second half by Valverde. Kondogbia accomplished a job where most coaches put two players to prevent Barcelona's midfield from cutting them apart with their precision passing. Kondogbia was a joy to watch from a fan's perspective.

   Obviously, Kondogbia wasn't on his own as Valencia is a well organized team that demonstrated in the second half to be real title contenders. There is still a lot of games left to play, but Marcelino's side revealed that his young Valencia team isn't undefeated by accident and has no plans on easing up any pressure on the league leaders.

La Liga: A Two Horse race ?.....again.

    Valencia will host Barcelona at the Mestalla on Sunday November 26. Barcelona is leading the Spanish La Liga with 34 points while Valencia sits in 2nd place with 30 points. It will be an enticing match between first place versus second place.

    Valencia hasn't played well in their last two matches. Their opponents were the better aggressors in those matches, yet Valencia were able to win both those matches with a combined score of 5-0. Valencia have had the biggest turn around from any team from last season that was disastrous from the start. A lot of credit should be given to their new manager, Marcelino Garcia Toral, who reorganized the team on the field and changed the locker room mind set. Veteran players were sold and a few new players were brought into the squad. Valencia is well organized and attacks well on the counter. Barcelona will be without Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez due to suspension for accumulating yellow cards. Barcelona's head coach, Valverde, said that the team will appeal to the league to overturn the players' suspensions. Valencia are not immune to suspension as they will be without their head coach due to be seeing sent off on Sunday's match against Espanyol. There was a bit of confusion why the head coach was sent off and the team plans to appeal to the league on overturning their coaches suspensions. 

   Both teams are undefeated in La Liga heading into Sunday's match and at the moment Valencia seem like the only team that can slow down Barcelona as both Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid are 10 points behind and seem to have currently dipped in form. It is too early to call, but at the moment La liga looks a two horse race between Barcelona and Valencia. However, after Sunday's matchcomes to a conclusion it can either provide the answer to Valencia's title contender credentials or establish that this was truly a one horse race from the start.        

oh no, Monday!

La Liga- Valencia beat Alaves 2-1 to stay in second place behind league leaders Barcelona who beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0. Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat against Girona. The 2-1 defeat puts Real Madrid 8 points behind Barcelona. The most recent team to make up an eight point deficit and win the league was Valencia during Rafael Benitiez years. La Liga, which is looking like a 3 team race after 10 games, is going to be one entertaining title race to keep an eye on.

MLS Playoffs- The MLS Playoffs are well on there way, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps played the first match to a 0-0 draw. All I could say about the match is that the drama concerning the Columbus Crew SC and there potential move to Austin provided more entertainment. 

NFL- The best game of the week was between Seattle Seahawks vs the Houston Texans! Russell Wilson vs Deshaun Watson put on a show for the neutral spectator and almost put their two respective fan bases to suffer from cardiac arrests. 41-38 was the final score in favor of the Seahawks placing them 1st in their division ahead of the LA Rams.

NBA- It is great to have basketball everyday, still early in the season to make reasonable prediction on how the season will turn out. The Spurs started 4-0, but lost their last 2 games, The Cleveland Cavaliers are below .500 and the Warriors lost to the Detroit Pistons. I guess even if the finals are already set in the end, as predicted by some of the most intelligent NBA analysts, the regular season will provide plenty of entertainment. 

MLB- The world series! OMG! Game 5 between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers went to extra innings, lasted over 5 hours, and the final score was 13 to 12 giving the Astros a 3-2 lead in the series. Games 6 and 7-if necessary- will be played in L.A. This world series has been fun to watch. The best part is that I get to enjoy it without the allegiance to either ball club. Yet, that hasn't prevented me from experiencing a range of emotions during a single inning. I love October baseball.               

Oh No, Mondays!!

After a event weekend of sports here are a few thoughts on the variety of games I watched this past weekend.

MLB Playoffs-The ALCS proved the paradox that one team-in this case two- can be awful and great in the same series. The Houston Astros went on to beat the New York Yankees in game 7. Both teams were awful, really terrible when either ball club played away. Yet, when those same teams were at home they each played well enough where fans could argue that their team is world series caliber worthy. It was a fun series to watch from the neutral perspective.

NBA-The Los Angeles Lakers opened the new NBA season with a loss to the other L.A. Team. Lakers are going to be thriving in the loser column this season again, but the Clippers didn't look that much better than their rivals. It's the season opener and there are months ahead to play basketball, but I wouldn't be surprised if both L.A. teams do poorly this season.

MLS-Decision Day was entertaining. Having all games be played at the same time in order to keep the suspense to the very last minute is a good strategy to give each game an extra level of importance even for the teams that may be thinking about their holiday plans. The Columbus Crew will be the focal story during the off-season unless Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi decide to quick their careers in Europe and come to the MLS.

La Liga- Valencia beat Sevilla 4-0 taking Los Che to second place four points behind league leaders Barcelona. Under Marcelino's management, Valencia look well organized on the pitch and have enough talent up front and in the midfield to make the neutral observer enjoy a brilliant tactical display. It will be an entertaining to watch the league's big two teams be challenged by a team that used to be included as the big 3 in the early 2000 years. As usual Barcelona media accusing referees in helping Real Madrid and Madrid based media accusing referees in assisting Barcelona.

NFL- The L.A. Rams shutout their divisional rivals in London. The Arizona Cardinals didn't get on the board mostly due to their poor offensive line and the rams defense shutting them down all game. Carson Palmer went out with an injury, reports reveal that he broke his non-throwing arm and will be out for two months. The rams are 5-2 now and are looking like a complete team on all sides of the football.