toonarmy

This Blackburn/Stoke match makes me want to gouge my eyes out. There's no way you can call this a game of football. It's not even rugby. It's just...a disaster.

cleared off the line. of course.

game over. for real this time.

this was...unexpected. not exactly typical Liverpool-Chelsea. Game on, 7 mins + stoppage time left.

Aurelio was out wide, nearly 30 yards out or so. Just curled it into the near corner on one bounce. Cech anticipated a free kick floated onto heads in the box on the far side, never got close.

Cech showing once again why he's very overrated, just playing on his reputation. He's said to be among the best by default, but he really hasn't been all that great since his head injury.

I can relate to this. I never knew this article existed until today but I have to admit I used the same basic method to choose Newcastle as the team I would support. Plus the fact that there is "stottie" bread (which is almost like my last name) clinched the deal. I've watched English football off and on since the 70s (WPIX in NYC used to have a prepackaged game of the week show) and quite a bit more since the advent of FSC. I couldn't watch these games any more without picking a team to root for and Newcastle was a natural fit. I actually feel bad because me rooting for a professional team is like the kiss of death. The New York Mets and New York Jets are heartbreaking teams to root for. Poor management, epic choke jobs and dreams of glory dashed upon the rocks have become routine. I mean, you guys can blame me for Allardyce and the ensuing mess simply because I started rooting at that time. And I know you guys will never look at me as a true fan. I'm not a fan like you when it comes to Newcastle but I am a fan like you when it comes to the American teams I grew up with. I've lived and died with the Mets and Jets for 40 years so I know how you feel about your team. Quite frankly, if Newcastle are relegated I would never be able to root for someone else. Even after just a couple of years i could never turn away because I've already invested too much emotionally to walk away. That's the kind of fan I am. All I have to say is thank God for the UConn Huskies because after 20 years of rooting for them, they ve given me two NCAA championships in the last decade. I guess I'm not a total loser You're lucky-I have the Mets and Jets, as well as the Knicks, Islanders, Newcastle, and Penn. In my lifetime of about 23 years, not a single one has ever won. Heartbreak is my way of life. But I'm with you in that at this point, I'm too invested emotionally to ever be able to root for someone else. I may not have ever been to Newcastle, but with modern technology (watching games at Nevada Smith's and through other means, and this forum), I'm able to live and die with the team as much as anyone, thus putting me on a tier only below those who live and die with them AND go to all the games. It's amazing how a club can do that to you so quickly, in a span of just a few short years.

Nah it's popular everywhere. In recent years, it's become very trendy among average young professionals everywhere to say that Newcastle is their favorite beer (classy, tasteful, not too cheap, but not too obscure, expensive or weird). After saying all that...it's my favorite beer too.

Dont mate, cause when the good times come round again you'll be glad you chose NUFC. I don't really regret it, just one of those "I can't believe I went with the team that destroys my soul every single week" moments when epic mistakes would be made by Bramble, Babayaro, Ramage, Taylor, Butt, et al. At this point, I could no more push away Newcastle than I could any of my hometown teams.

You'll be surprised how influential this piece was. Simmons is almost certainly the most widely read sportswriter in the US, or at least among the most widely read nationwide. For many younger fans, the 2006 World Cup was their first real introduction to the global game, and literally by the thousands, they picked up the Premier League after that. As I've written before, this article was the first time I'd ever heard of NUFC, and was the main reason I started to learn more about Newcastle and eventually became a fan. (Sometimes I regret the day this ever happened). I was looking for a reason to become a real fan, and this was the perfect excuse to get involved. For Americans with no ties to England, getting into the league that was clearly exploding in popularity stateside would have been difficult otherwise. I personally know at least 15 friends that wanted to become fans and used this particular article as the launching point. Many simply opted for a Big 4 team due to the exposure (mostly Arsenal and Liverpool), disregarding the fact that they would be called a bandwagoner by Simmons. Others actually simply followed Simmons advice and latched onto Spurs (I know a few of these people myself). Personally, I immediately was attracted to Newcastle, as they seemed to have a history and following similar to the other teams I support. So, looking back on it now, I realize how misguided and "American" it seems, but it was certainly among the most important sports articles of the last decade regarding soccer for Americans.

bolton has a shot cleared off the line to finish! what a crazy finish

bolton scores again 3-4!!!

nowhere near as important as the macheda goal, but bashem scored for bolton. down 2-4 now

o'brien scores fro bolton 1-4 cech is fucking terrible now. he's nowhere near as good as he used to be.

Drogba 4-0

I'd say so. everyone knows WBA are going down, and if they can keep pompey in the mire for a little longer while doing so, then great. Realistically, pompey are most likely going to stay up, but you never know.

penalty for chelsea. terrible call, arm wasn't extended at all, that shouldn't have been handball. lampard scores 3-0

chelsea score

it feels like deja vu all over again with that goal

what a goal by adebayor

I agree. I still wonder though how Bob Bradley can possibly judge him effectively as coach. It has to be nearly impossible to be the national team coach and treat his son the same as the other players.

Wish Newcastle had signed him instead of Xisco. Nothing against Xisco, as I don't think anyone here can judge him, ,but for about the same price, Altidore would have been awesome. Jozy + Nile = Champions League 2015 Jozy just makes sense for the EPL, possibly the first forward from the US that ever has. He's got the size, physicality, skill and speed to potentially succeed in this league. And he's still only 19. I think there's a very good chance he's here in a few years somewhere. With him and Torres, the younger Americans for the first time seem much much more like they could be world-class players than any in US history as far as I remember. I'll be very interested to see how the team does in 2010, it has a very solid mix of veterans like Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra and Frankie Hejduk, and youngsters like Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Torres and Jozy. Clearly the class of CONCACAF, not that that means much, especially with the general terribleness of Mexico. So it's time to see what this team can do against the top teams of the world.

Up at the crack of noon? Still in some kind of quiet, stunned disbelief myself. Too scared to be hopeful. Hehe recently becoming unemployed and hungover means getting up any earlier would be completely unreasonable. I just don't know what to think or how to react. I'm a combination of scared, excited, confused, hopeful, and disbelieving. I'm fearful of getting too excited one second, and yelling at myself for being so pessimistic the next second. My irrational side is sure that the prodigal son will save us, and my logical side thinks that even he can't save us now with so little time and with the players available. Both feelings are mixing together to create some kind of incomprehensible belief that Shearer will both save us and fail at the same time. Then again, this may just all be the leftover alcohol in my bloodstream talking.

Well this is quite a lot to wake up to and digest here in New York. I'm in shock, my head is spinning, heart is racing. I'm fucking over the moon! And I have absolutely no idea what is going on here. Never a dull day in Newcastle...

The problem with MLS is that you can be a horrible team, lose half your matches, and still make the playoffs and get on a hot streak and win the whole thing. There is no meaning behind the regular season matches, especially with the West/East divisions. That being said, DC United do relatively well, they generally make the playoffs - but that's not saying much. They've still got two great supporters clubs in La Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles though. That's just the way North American sports work and what fans would expect, it's always all about the playoffs, just like the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. The key would be to reduce the size of the playoffs, hopefully with 18 teams soon, getting into the playoffs will prove that you are at least a decent team. As it currently stands, the regular season is a total joke, since almost everyone makes it into the playoffs like the NBA. Make it more like the NFL or MLB, where getting in is itself a huge accomplishment, and then both the regular season and playoffs have value. If it's just 8 out of 18 or 8 out of 20 making it, then I can live with that.