DanW

It's being shown on delay Stateside. It's better than not shown at all, so we're all somewhat happy. Thanks for the heads-up Rut. I was planning on watching it with one other person. We'll figure it out differently now.

This was an amazing goal:

Sounds like Cardiff are really controlling the last 5 or 10 minutes.

After watching that press conference I am reminded at how difficult language and culture barriers can be. I am well aware that many many players have moved to countries where they are not speakers of the language but that doesn't make it any easier. Tadanari is going to have a loooonnnngg adjustment period and I hope we can be patient as he learns. Considering that he himself stated that the English game is so different than the Japanese game that he feels like it's a different sport, can you imagine having to re-learn a sport at age 26? I really hope that he's brought a support system with him in terms of off-the-field life. Friends, family, etc. And translators! I think he's a great pickup and I'm glad to have him on the team so I want him to get comfortable as soon as possible. It's very likely that he's more of an investment for next year than he is for this year, but I can't wait for him to score that first goal and see his celebration.

Hired him in Football Manager and he helped us get promoted. FM is always exactly correct, right? Seriously I think this would be a useful move. A promising young keeper is always a good luxury to have around.

I watched it. I wish I hadn't. Blech.

I have always hated the Patriots because of what Belichek did during his tenure with the Cleveland Browns, so I naturally root against them. However, I live in NYC and find that Giants fans are insufferable, so I am in a lose-lose situation. I don't really care who wins the Big Game this year - but it should be a good one and fun to watch if nothing else. In fact, both games yesterday were very good games to watch. I feel for Cundiff and Williams, but it was otherwise some great football.

Let's just split the difference. How about we win all of our games 3-1 and call it a day?

Or Zaha!

Back to the rotation that we saw earlier this season.

Potentially we have The Harbaugh Super Bowl (SF-Bal) or Rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl (NYG - NE) or Rematch of the 2001 Super Bowl (or was it 2000?) (NYG - Bal) So the only one without a story line is SF vs NE... and I guess if that happens the media will say that NE will have to beat both Harbaugh's to win the title. Weird final 4 in my mind. Was really looking forward to having the Saints or the Packers still in it (maybe both) but alas it wasn't meant to be. The Giants played incredibly well, as did the Patriots, and with those two teams one has to say that if they play that well again it'll be them in the Big Game.

You don't need to wait. It says here: http://www.thefa.com/Competitions/FACompetitions/TheFAYouthCup/Fixtures that the next game will be played on 11 February at 19:00 at SMS.

The winning trivia team name at the pub on Sunday night was "Even Jesus thinks Tebow needs to take it down a notch."

Wooops! Hah. Sorry - yes, you're right and I ended up with a sentence that makes no sense because I started writing about one thing and changed my mind halfway through it. Then I forgot to edit. D'oh! I meant to say that the Broncos squashed the Steelers comeback when often in that situation the team with the lead starts crumbling because they see the world collapsing around them. The Broncos withstood that charge and to do so is certainly a worthwhile achievement.

Do you think he's retaining his coaching duties, too?

Some fun football this weekend. The Broncos comeback against the Steelers is obviously the highlight of the weekend but I enjoyed all 4 games to various extents. I don't think I can say much about Tebow and the Broncos that hasn't been said before, but I will say that on the final play it wasn't Tebow or anyone on Denver that won that game. It was the Steelers' defensive coordinator who called a play in which there were no safeties. There was no one deep! In Overtime! How do you even call that? I don't care about who was lined up where, or what had happened up until that point, or what your best plan was going to be. You can't leave NO ONE deep! Yes, the Broncos made a nice play and especially a nice read and Demaryius Thomas of course earns cudos for that stiff-arm on #24 and outrunning everyone else, but still - I think that loss goes on the defensive coordinator more than anything. Otherwise - the Texans thoroughly took out Cincinnati. I wasn't too surprised about this as I mentioned a few posts ago, but I was surprised at how effectively they pulled this off. They do have a legit running game over there and perhaps they can give Baltimore a run for it. The Giants destroyed the Falcons. I couldn't even watch this game it was so lopsided. I hate the Giants because I live here and root against them just so I don't have to hear their fans anymore, but this was the one time I could root for them: the Cleveland Browns (my team) have the Falcons' #1 pick in the upcoming draft so I was pleased to see them lose. My favorite game of the weekend was the Saints - Lions matchup. I really like the way the Saints play and of course Drew Brees is a likeable guy. I like how Sean Payton calls the game - he makes smart decisions rather than "safe" decisions. He'll go for it on 4th down or he will do a crazy kickoff or something. He gives his players legit chances to win games. So seeing the Saints advance is pleasing, even if they do have a weak defense which I think will be exploited at some point. I don't know if Alex Smith and the 49ers are the team to do it, but someone will. As for the Lions - my Browns have a similarly tortured history and in fact aren't even that far away from Detroit physically (it's what...a 3 hour drive?) that I was kind of rooting for them, too. So it was fun overall. Good times and looking forward to next week.

5 goals is incredible... but just as interesting is that former Saint Oscar Gobern scored Huddersfield's other goal. I always liked that guy. Okay, maybe that's not "just as interesting" but it's something even if I don't know what. *edit: gah! Ninja'd. Oh well - sorry to waste your time.

I will raise a glass to you from my couch. Unless you can talk her into visiting NYC - then we can raise the glass from my couch together. (do note: I would never recommend to anyone to visit NYC in January or February. It's frightfully miserable these months.)

I'm definitely going for number 1! I have to lose 3 hours of work, but I can make those up in the rest of the week easily enough. Woo!

Sorry I missed this earlier. I think of the teams that are remaining these two are among the least interesting. Yes, when you put it the way you do it sounds better, but the Bengals had plenty of chances to prove themselves worthy this year and blew them all. They only beat one team that was over .500 this year, and that was a team that finished 9-7. They just can't beat the good teams. Dalton to Green is an exciting play in the future, but Dalton faded terribly down the stretch so I'm thinking that his play in this game will be more reminiscent of his performances 'down the stretch' rather than at the beginning of the season when he was a rookie-of-the-year contender. As for the Texans - they were doing great until injuries hit them, and IMHO they are in the playoffs because of the pre-injury performance. The players that will be playing this weekend are the reservists so I don't think they will look particularly good. While everything I've said here translates into a close game, which will be fun, I don't think the football will be particularly pretty. That's why I'm not into that game so much. Of course, you're right about the Bengals coming out of nowhere to surprise folks. It's been a nice story for the league and the city. I lived there for 5 years and watched the fans suffer year in and year out - I hope they do well, but I say that as a Browns fan and therefore rival so it is a little bittersweet.

I went with DC's goal vs Boro too. Love team efforts like that.

There's already songs about Mr. Lee. The Bobbettes come to mind first, although that's obviously a bit dated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-qUhGHm2A

Yeah, I think the Broncos are the worst of the teams left, from what I've seen/read/heard. Obviously the Texans-Bengals game is a less than interesting matchup, but I think either of those teams would beat the Broncos. Of course, we've all been saying that all year so who knows? I love that the Broncos to win the super bowl is actually longer odds now that they are indeed in the playoffs than it was at the beginning of the season.

Love it. The recognition is nice and it's always fun to hear it from a voice outside of SFC's usual media.

He's probably my favorite player on the team right now. I think this is mostly because of the way he plays but also because he 1) seems so well spoken in interviews, 2) really seems to love the club or at least being in Southampton, 3) is really funny on twitter, and 4) seems to go the extra mile to relate to the fans and thank them for the support. All of these elements make Jos standout to me. Plus, you know, he's 6'4" so he stands out anyway.