chatster

May 24th, 2015 at 8:34 AM ^

Just when I thought I'd need only ten TV sets to catch all the matches on Championship Sunday on the NBC Family of Networks, it's time to cash in all those Memorial Day Weekend Sales and grab an extra TV to catch EVERY one of the eleven matches on Championship Sunday.

Hoping that Michigan can beat Maryland in regulation, so it doesn't get decided on penalty kicks. Go Blue!

 

superstringer

May 24th, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^

No. Five do. Soton, Spurs and LFC are fighting for the 2 Europa spots. Southampton needs (1) draw + Tottenham loss or (2) win + Luverpool draw/loss. More exciting than waiting to see how quickly MU crushes Hull's hopes.




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FGB

May 24th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^

neither Liverpool nor Spurs care at all about a second tier continental tournament.

Europa spots are like NIT invites.

In fact those teams would probably rather NOT be in Europa just to not have to worry about another set of games (and it'd be better for the EPL's coefficient if a team like Southhampton were in it who would take it seriously, the league is gonna lose its fourth spot for the Champions League in a couple years).

chatster

May 24th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^

FGB, I don’t know whether I’ve been watching Premiership matches for at least as long as you’ve been alive; but I recall watching when the Premiership was known as the First Division and games were being shown on tape delay in one-hour format on PBS in my part of the world in the 1970s, with Mario Machado as the studio host.
 
So, I was more than well aware that there were just two matches today in which relegation to the Championship was on the line; but, as superstringer said, there were other interesting story lines in other matches. Even though the outcomes might not have been as significant as The Hull City-Man U and the Newcastle-West Ham matches.
 
Regardless of whether Championship Sunday is considered as just a media-created event, as a long-time follower of football in England, I think it’s a clever way to draw attention to the final day of a very long season, with all 20 teams playing at the same time.
 
Like you, I don’t care very much about UEFA’s Europa League, but it’s a competition that allows players who aren’t getting enough playing time in Premiership matches to have some time in game competitions.
 
Among today’s story lines that I considered interesting were the final EPL matches for Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba – and I thought that it was a nice sendoff to see that each of them were named captains and that Lampard and Gerrard scored goals. I wanted to see whether Raheem Sterling would make a difference for Liverpool – and he didn’t, because he didn’t get off the bench, while Liverpool fans showered him with abuse. I wanted to see whether Harry Kane would match or eclipse the goal-scoring record for a Spurs player in Premier League games (a record shared by some guy named Jürgen Klinsmann) – and Kane scored on a header to tie that record.
 
I root for Arsenal, so I also was interested in seeing how Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere would perform in the starting eleven and whether the Gunners’ goal drought at the Emirates would end – and with Walcott’s first-half hat trick and Wilshere’s rocket goal, I wasn’t disappointed, though I would’ve liked a clean sheet for Ospina.
 
So, now it’s on to the FA Cup and Champions League finals . . . and then the FIFA Women’s World Cup and Michigan’s 2015 Big Ten schedule.

Austin Blue

May 24th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^

question - is the Big10 baseball tourny still double elimination at this point, or is this game winner take all?  If it is double elimination, has Maryland lost a game yet (wondering if Blue might have to play three today . . .)

rob f

May 24th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^

to left, a double smoked off the wall by Glines that should have plated a run, then a flyout to center by Benedetti as Michigan strands Glines on 2nd.  0-0 after 1.