Migration

Gents~

my tinkering nature has gotten the best of me. in the interest of flexibility, features, sweetness, ease-of-posting and potential for broader exposure, i've created a new venue for our footy banter: http://americnfootball.colesletten.com.

each of you should have an automated email inviting you to the new blog already, and i'll be sending a further one later with a few more thoughts.

the new blog allowed for a straight import of all the previous stuff, so we're not going to lose anything. jump on over when you get the chance, sign in and let's keep this thing going.

joga bonito.

I hope he breaks his ankle.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=659400&sec=europe&cc=5901

80,000 people? Holy freaking crap.

Imagine if the Broncos signed a free agent and Mile High Stadium FILLED UP just to see the guy in his new uniform. Freaking insane.

I really hope he breaks his ankles. I also hope he gives Kaka Herpes.

So..........

......are you saying then that Chelsea is this kind of modern liberal christianity that accepts "alternative lifestyles"? Just saw this pic and was wondering.

A vision from the LORD!

I come to you all with a heavy heart today.

I spent some time in the prayer chapel yesterday before TNL, and the Lord and I spent some good quality time together. When I got up to leave, the Lord struck me with a clear revelation, and its message has left me feeling heavily burdened. You know that feeling when you have bad news to give someone, and you really don't want to? That's where I have been all day.

Anyway, when I was leaving the prayer chapel, I noticed that the church has several depictions of lions in the room (stained glass, statue, etc). That's when the Lord struck me with this vision.

In case you don't know, C.S. Lewis, author of the great Narnia Chronicles (among other well respected works of fiction and non-fiction), chose to create an allegorical story in which Jesus was represented by a massive and awesome lion named Aslan. You may have seen the movies, if you haven't read the books (shame on you). Just about every person I know and respect in the world looks on Lewis's work with a great deal of respect, and most generally agree that his writing was God-breathed in many ways. Many of the posters in this little community have shared in conversations with me in the past in which we have discussed these very things.

So, as I was leaving the chapel, and I saw the lions, I thought to myself "lions are sweet...they remind me of Aslan, and Aslan reminds me of Jesus...I should get more stuff with lions on it." That was my first thought. My second thought was this: "you know, I do have SOME stuff with lions on it...Chelsea's crest is a regal looking lion...cool".

This was the first vision that jumped into my mind:

Notice the similarities. the first picture is Aslan. the second is the representation of Aslan on a Narnian sheild as envisioned by the filmakers. The thrid is obviously Chelsea's crest. Clearly, the Lord was revealing to me that, in fact, Chelsea is a team that is blessed by God, and that anyone who supports Chelsea supports Jesus.

If that was as far as my vision went, I would not feel so heavy hearted. But, alas, the Lord had more to reveal to me.

My thoughts then jumped to other teams and their crests. Of course, I immediately thought of Liverpool. Liverpool's crest features a long beaked bird. That is where the lighting bolt struck me and I realized with horror what the Lord was trying to tell me.

You see, C.S. Lewis used many other animals and creatures in his stories. Most of thsoe animals and creatures were good, but some were bad. One creature in particular appears in his final installment of the Chronicles of Narnia (The Last Battle). That particular creature shows up as the avatar of a being known as Tash. Tash is, essentially, the allegorical representation of the anti-christ. Satan. Tash is very, very bad, but he gets many many people to follow him (even some people who are good, but they are deceived by Tash and follow him instead of Aslan). It is very sad, and lots of bad things happen because of Tash.

Here's a depiction of Tash:

Uh oh...

Here's a picture of Liverpool's bird:

Uhhhhh....did anyone else just get the shivers? I mean, there are red flames of hell all around the bird. Good LORD!

That my friends, is the sad revelation I bring to you today. Anyone who supports Liverpool clearly is being decieved, and in essence, they are supporting the antichrist. The message is clear; supporting Liverpool=supporting Tash=devil worshiper. C.S. Lewis can't be wrong.

Support Chelsea FC. Turn to the light. Turn to the Lion. Turn to Jesus.

Poor Roman

So apparently Roman Abramovich has had a hard year this year. The economy has sucked 40% of his wealth away, and his beloved Chelsea FC remains gayer than ever and denied of any important trophies this year (FA Cup.... meh). Here's where you need to start feeling really bad for him: Apparently he has had to cut a bunch of staff from the MULTIPLE boats that he owns. This one pictured above, a 550 ft. ship he uses for vacationing on occasion and trying to woo young 19 year olds like Pato is about to face some seriously hard times. I mean seriously? Who is going to man the small hospital on board? Or the missle detection system? (You think I am kidding about those things, but I'm not, check the article):

http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2009/06/16/roman-abramovich-shows-he-is-better-than-you-with-300m-superyacht

How is Chelsea going to spend any money this year on players? It's going to be so tough, because Roman is hurting so much.

Debunking the "Liverpool fans should quit crying about cash cause all big clubs are the same" argument...

As much as i hate to push the "Pato's on a Boat" link down, i'm in need of some footy banter and have a tasty can of worms i just HAD to open. So financial giants Deloitte have published their yearly "08/09 Premiership Team Salary Rankings" and the results are illuminating:

Chelsea 172.09m
UTD 121.08m
Arsenal 101.30m
LFC 90.43m
Newcastle 74.56m
Portsmouth 54.68m
Man City 54.22m
Spurs 52.92m
Villa 50.44m
Everton 44.48m

Several things of note here:
1. This is WAGES, not transfer fees. Since transfer fees go to the club, this is probably a more accurate measure of "ability to attract top talent."

2. clearly, chelsea absolutely blow everyone else out of the water in terms of spending power. it's not just that they spend more money than liverpool, they spend ALMOST DOUBLE what liverpool does. and what does all that money get them? an fa cup and a cozy third in the prem table, behind the mighty reds. lame. what fun it must be to root for a bunch of loaded underachievers, huh sim?! don't worry, we'll still take you on the liverpool side when you want to jump off the flaming blue ship.

3. newcastle. the epic fail they just pooped out gets more impressive every day.

4. arsenal. don't drink the kool-aid kids... for all that talk about "low wage structure" and thriftiness, they manage to blow 11m MORE than liverpool and still can't even get a sniff of silverware. overpriced, underachieving kids are just as lame as overpriced, underachieving veterans, just with less back hair.

5. couldn't find italy or spain, but i'm curious how a real madrid might slot in here...

CONCLUSION:
Clearly, the playing field is not level. Whether or not that's a bad thing is a different debate for a different day, but the evidence is irrefutable. Compared to the rest of the big four, liverpool is a significant underdog before a ball is even kicked. You may not like to hear liverpool fans bitching about not having the spending power of chelsea or manU (and you're probably right), but it's simply not true that the "the big clubs are all basically the same".

so bring it! and roll on 09/10 already!

++colazo

Pato's on a Boat

this is beyond phenomenal... dirty tackle does it again...

get the f*** up! it's about to go down!

Are those denim shorts I see?

We can all officially stop making fun of Frankie "I have retared style" Lampard.  Why, you ask?  Quite simply, because Brian Gray's man-crush Fernando "I wish I could look more like a girl" Torres has just quite possibly outdone Frankie for heinousness in fashion land.  Observe:

Yes...apparently below-the-knee denim carpenter shorts coupled with a tight T-shirt overlayed with a oh-so-subtle skull and cross bones is all the rage in Spain right now.  The hair helps complete the ensemble, I think.

Notice that his apparent new wife looks a bit miffed/embarrassed to even be walking next to him, let alone holding his hand.  Poor lady....guess she will need to buy biger boobs to try to feel better about her situation.

Maybe if Torres had won any silverware this year he would be able to look at himself in the reflection and realize his poor fashion sense.  Then again, maybe not.

F...

How can a team go from glory, joy and happiness after this:

To sadness, gloom, and despair with this:

All in the course of two days?  I feel schizophrenic!

Nothing good can come of this.  Nothing.  The only hope now is that Roman listens to the wisdom of his skipper and goes out to get Ribery and Villa....  http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=651675&sec=england&cc=5901

Bah.

Allow me to beat the rush...

In anticipation of what I'm sure will be a mad rush of slack-jawed yokels trying to find reasons to make fun of my beloved Blues, allow me to be the first to post this:

Yes....these may be the gayest jerseys ever.  Yes, Malouda's hair is ridiculous.  Yes, Lampard looks like he is practicing his "Blue Steel" face after rubbing a bunch of fake tanner on in patchy splotches.  Yes, Essien is a bad ass.

There is no need for everyone to get all hot and bothered about it.  New jerseys = retarded.  Enough said.  Move along now.