Trader Jack

February 6th, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^

Clearly by the number of posts there are plenty of people here who do care. And why are you assuming the OP doesn't think anyone can find the score without him posting it? It's more likely that he wanted to discuss the score here with other English Premier League/soccer fans.




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Rabbit21

February 6th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^

Agree on Dembele, he has added a lot of steel and organization to the side that was missing when it was the Mason-Bentaleb pairing last year.

As for the second point, I know!  I want to have faith but it's hard not to.steel myself waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Rabbit21

February 6th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^

They're putting so much pressure on Watford, it's hard to imagine the result won't hold, but this is Spurs after all so I am on the edge of my seat. COYS!!!!

Even though I am a Spurs fan, Leicester City's story this year has been awesome and a welcome break from the dominance of the Big Five.




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superstringer

February 6th, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^

It's not just any soccer score. It's portending one of the greatest upset champions of all time -- in any major professional sport.

Leicester City is a nobody.  They have some middling success from eons ago; but recently they are a total afterthought.  They only got promoted to the Premier League last season, and were at the "bottom of the table" (one of the worst teams) threatening to get relegated right back to the lower division (Championship) until they got hot at the end of the season.  And their hot streak hasn't cooled off at all.

Manchester City is one of the big-budget, big-name teams of the last decade.  Their rich Saudi owner has spent lavishly on every player he could get.  They have won 2 of the last 5 EPL titles, are stocked with World Cup players, have one of the biggest budgets for salaries in sports.  They were one of the co-favorites this season.

And, with 15 games to go in the 38-game season, LC goes into MC's home, with first place on the line...and scores in the 4th minute...and goes on to crush MC 3-1.  In their own stadium!  Color the Etihad dark blue.  Game wasn't that close.

LC is now 6 points clear of MC, and if Spurs hold on right now as I type this, LC will be 5 clear of Tottenham.  This is totally insane.  No one could have reasonably predicted LC would win the EPL this year.  No one.  This just isn't the Rams winning the Super Bowl behind Kurt Warner after a 3-13 year.  It's like some Arena team suddenly wound up in the NFL and then two years later won the SB.  Or, like, Marshall or Central Michigan suddenly got put in the Big Ten or SEC and a couple years later whacked Alabama 21-7, in Tuscaloosa, to keep the #1 ranking.

This just doesn't happen, ever.  Even if you don't like soccer, if you love the story of the upstart winning the campionship, this is the ultimate version of that.  How could you not be interested?

Blau

February 6th, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^

I'm not saying this isn't interesting or not board-worthy but if it doesn't have anything to do with UM athletics or local sports in general, an OT post let's the correct niche of people who care read the info.

+1 for the insight though, superstringer. See, if the OP had provided some sort of background on why this is such a big deal, like you did, I would've been more inclined to care. At first glance, it just seems like a soccer score and everyone is supposed to already know why it should matter.

Without it, I assume the post has some relation to Michigan and this does not. Not trying to be a board nazi but it's good for everyone.

PurpleStuff

February 6th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^

The big similarity there is Jamie Vardy.  The guy was playing non-league football (5th tier of English football or below) until his mid-20's (in a sport where top guys often break into an elite side in their teens) and didn't appear in a top-division game until last season.  He's now the leading scorer in the EPL at 29.  It's an insane, once in a lifetime type of story going on there right now.

MGoJackhammer

February 6th, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^

FC Ingolstadt 04 beat FC Augsburgh 2 -1. in Bundesliga action. Ingolstadt is back to their winning ways after last weeks loss to Borrusia Dortmond 2-0. Oh wait...I meant to post that on Igehblog instead!

Rabbit21

February 6th, 2016 at 11:50 AM ^

It's OT season on a sports related blog with a lot of soccer fans, most Americans who follow soccer follow the EPL, and this is a pretty surprising David slaying Goliath story that has been building all season long. It's worth discussing in my opinion.




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Blau

February 6th, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^

Then mark it OT and provide some sort of context in the actual post besides "FYI". I think the OP kind of mic-dropped the thread, insinuating the score means something more on a bigger level but it just comes off as lazy.

That's like going to a Man U soccer blog (if that exist) and saying Rutgers beats Alabama. Sure it might be big news but it's not always as intuitive as the OP is suggesting. 

MGoJackhammer

February 6th, 2016 at 12:50 PM ^

Very few "football" fans follow "football" in my many circles. Soccer is still pretty niche in most circles. I don't have a problem with any OT items. It is just a reason for some good nature ribbing...no name calling/Bolivia call outs. And btw, in soccer circles who even cares about the 3rd or 4th best European soccer league?

Rabbit21

February 6th, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^

If you noticed I said it's OT season and yes, the designator was missing but there has been a huge pile on about it that I think is mostly related to the fact it's about soccer.

In terms of this blog, check out the open threads on the US national team games and Brian's World Cup posts, there are a lot of soccer followers on a blog that a lot of people spend a lot of time on and just talking football can get kinda boring.

Finally as to the 3rd or 4th best league thing, fair enough, but based off of what I've seen the list would include: England, a significant plurality of America soccer fans, and most of Asia for a start.




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MGoJackhammer

February 6th, 2016 at 1:25 PM ^

I read every soccer thread. I watch tons of soccer (not a lot of EPL) and as I said I don't have a problem with any OT posts. Brian's posts are usually limited to US national/world cup stuff so that is pretty general for most fans to get behind. Is the EPL popular? Hugely. They are a PR machine. But like I said I prefer a better/different brand of soccer.

sum1valiant

February 6th, 2016 at 1:30 PM ^

Brians post regarding the biggest worldwide sporting event that is held every four years does not equate to two teams from Europe (I presume) that most of the blog readership has never heard of. There's a reason that 80% of the comments in the thread are bashing/mocking the thread. The 20% that care can surely find somewhere else to discuss this topic.