Sporting Madness

The English Premier League kicked off this weekend, but if you're a Canadian without an extensive sports television package, you can be forgiven for not noticing. Of the 10 Premier League fixtures this weekend, exactly one was available on one of the three basic Canadian sports channels (TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and The Score). That was today's 4-0 win by Blackpool over Wigan, which was certainly thrilling, but hardly the most anticipated matchup of the weekend. What about those other nine games? Well, two of them (Tottenham - Manchester City today and Manchester United - Newcastle on Monday) are available on TSN 2 . You can make an argument that that's reasonable, as TSN 2 has a fair bit of quality content these days, but it is still an extra cost ($5 per month with one other channel on Shaw). Six of the games are on Setanta Sports, with two being carried live (Aston Villa - West Ham today and Liverpool - Arsenal tomorrow) and the other four as same-day replays today. That...

It all comes down to this. On the final day of the season, with the English Premier League title on the line , Chelsea will host Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge. They sit top of the table with 83 points, so three points from a victory will clinch it for them. If they draw or lose, however, Manchester United could sneak by them. The Red Devils host Stoke at Old Trafford, and are only one point back of Chelsea. A draw does them no good thanks to Chelsea's superior goal differential, but if they win and the Blues drop points, it will be United who are champions of England. Adding to the drama, all of Sunday's games take place at the same time, 11 a.m. Eastern/8 a.m. Pacific. I'll be live-blogging both the Manchester United and Chelsea games and throwing in updates from other ones from time to time. Come join me here then to see how the EPL title is decided! EPL Title

Thanks to Chelsea's 2-0 thumping of Liverpool earlier this morning, Manchester United head to the Stadium of Light with their backs against the wall. They must beat Sunderland to have any hope of remaining in the title race. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. Eastern/8 a.m. Pacific. Join me in the live blog below! Manchester United - Sunderland

The English Premier League title race continues towards its exciting conclusion, and this second-to-last week features two matches that might just decide it all. First, Liverpool host league-leaders Chelsea at Anfield, and then Manchester United travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland. Chelsea have 80 points from 36 matches, one more than United, and are also well ahead on goal difference. In the last week of the season, they'll host Wigan, which should be a relatively easy win; thus, their performance today will be crucial. United have a bit of an easier schedule, on the road against Sunderland today and then at home against Stoke next week, but they could win out and still lose if Chelsea take both of their games. I'm planning to live blog both of today's clashes, so stop by here for that. The first one, Liverpool and Chelsea, will kick off at 8:30 Eastern (5:30 Pacific) and will be live-blogged in this post; the second one, United and Sunderland, kicks off at 1...

The English Premier League title race has seen a couple of outstanding games lately, including Chelsea's victory over Manchester United and United's last-second escape against City in the Manchester derby. The title is still very much up for grabs, though, with United trailing Chelsea by two points heading into this weekend. Their game against Tottenham could go a long way towards deciding the race, particularly if they lose, so it looks like the clash of the weekend. I'll be live-blogging it both here and at Epic Footy , starting at 4:45 a.m. Pacific today (7:45 a.m. Eastern). You might want to watch this one, even if there might not be any kraken released . One of the interesting elements heading into this one is that Tottenham have done more than anyone else to aid United's title quest so far; they knocked off Chelsea last week and beat Arsenal before that . They won't be in a mood to help the Red Devils out this weekend, as they need every point they can m...

This weekend sees yet another interesting early match in the English Premier League, with Manchester United taking on local rivals Manchester City. It could be a great derby; United are four points back of Chelsea in the chase for the EPL title with only a few games to play, so they absolutely need full points here if they want to put pressure on the leaders. Chelsea will have their own tough match later in the day against Tottenham, but the importance of that one will be diminished if United can't get it done against City. Tensions are perhaps even higher than normal for a Manchester derby, especially considering the role that Carlos Tevez 's defection to City may wind up playing in the demise of United's title ambitions. If United can't pull off a title comeback, the decision to let Tevez go will likely be debated all summer long regardless of Sir Alex Ferguson 's comments , so a crucial win here over him and his current club would go a long way towards stifli...

It's been a few weeks since I've live-blogged anything, and Saturday morning presents me with an excellent excuse . Manchester United will be taking on Chelsea at Old Trafford at 7 a.m. Eastern/4 a.m. Pacific. The match could be one of the most memorable of this English Premier League campaign. United lead the EPL with 72 points from 32 games, but Chelsea are hot on their heels with 71 from 32. Moreover, United just suffered a crushing Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek and lost Wayne Rooney in the process , while Chelsea are coming off a 7-1 thumping of Aston Villa that may have increased the pressure on Martin O'Neill . They're also set to get Didier Drogba back. There's a chance Owen Hargreaves may return to the United bench, but that's about the only good news for United, who will have to rely on Dimitar Berbatov in Rooney's absence. This clash could well decide the EPL title, so it will be live-blogged here and at Epic Fo...

Things aren't looking too good for Setanta, one of the primary worldwide broadcasters of the English Premier League. According to The Times , the company may go off the air "at any moment" after fellow broadcaster BSkyB declined to provide them with a £50 million [ BBC News ] loan in exchange for access to their live EPL rights. They've also apparently suspended new subscriptions [ Ireland Online , found via Brian Zygo ]. Founders Leonard Ryan and Michael O'Rourke are reportedly trying to find a new source of financing, but that isn't easy these days. This could have profound implications for soccer across the globe. Some of the most drastic effects will likely take place in the Scottish Premier League. Check out this passage from the Times article: "The worst effects of a Setanta collapse, though, would be felt in Scotland. Payments currently due to the individual SPL clubs range in size from £70,000 to nearly £750,000, with the Old Firm obviously ...

Join us in the live blog below with all your EPL questions and comments! Premier League Punditry 04-12-09

After a couple of weeks off thanks to the interlull and some scheduling issues, Premier League Punditry will make its triumphant return today. We'll kick things off at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Join us in the live blog below then! Premier League Punditry 04-05-09

Premier League Punditry is back! Plenty to talk about this week, including Liverpool's trampling of Aston Villa and Man U's loss to Fulham. Is the title race back in play? All that and much, much more from the world of soccer will be discussed. Join us in the live blog after the jump! Premier League Punditry 03-22-09

Sorry, I forgot to post this earlier. Premier League Punditry will take place tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern, as I'm pretty busy covering basketball today. Join us then for all your soccer analysis!

Premier League Punditry is back to the usual time this week, and we should be back to the usual cast as well. Plenty to talk about, including the midweek games and this weekend's FA Cup clashes. If there's time, we may even bring some world soccer into it with Beckham, the Montreal Impact and MLS expansion. Come join us in the live blog below starting at 1:30 p.m. Eastern! Premier League Punditry 03-08-09

Plenty to talk about in this week's instalment of Premier League Punditry, including the Carling Cup and the slipups of Liverpool and Aston Villa. Join us in the live blog below! Premier League Punditry 03-01-09

Just a quick note that today's edition of Premier League Punditry will be at 6 p.m. Eastern instead of the usual 1:30 p.m. due to work commitments. I'll be hosting, and Amrit and Phil from There Is No Original Name For This Sports Blog will be joining me. Come talk all things soccer with us!

Welcome to today's edition of Premier League Punditry! The EPL got back into full swing this week, so there's lots to talk about. Manchester United pulled off a 2-1 win over a very impressive Blackburn Rovers side Saturday to go eight points clear at the top of the league, and Liverpool could only close the gap by one point today with a draw against Manchester City . The classic line from that story is "United will have relished this performance by their neighbours, which could have given the crown to the Old Trafford club." I bet a lot of City fans are happy about that one;). Andrei Arshavin made his Arsenal debut Saturday, but couldn't help his team past Sunderland, and they only came away with one point from a 0-0 draw . Meanwhile, Chelsea recorded their first win under Guus Hiddink with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa. For plenty of other EPL news and commentary, as well as perhaps some stuff on MLS expansion and my 24th Minute piece on Vancouver's bi...

Welcome to today's edition of Premier League Punditry, as usual featuring myself and Amrit and Phil from There Is No Original Name For This Sports Blog . Plenty to talk about this week, including Manchester United's 3-month streak of clean sheets in the league, Arsenal's draw with Tottenham , Jo 's amazing success in his first match for Everton, Chelsea's draw with Hull and Liverpool's 3-2 win over Portsmouth [all links from the excellent ESPN Soccernet ]. Join us in the live blog below! Premier League Punditry 02-08-09

Join us in the live blog below! Premier League Punditry 02-01-09

A reminder to everyone that I'll be chatting with Amrit and Phil from There is No Original Name For This Sports Blog at 1:30 today. We'll have a lot to talk about this week, between various transfers and transfer speculation ( Kenwyne Jones to Spurs ? Didier Drogba to Olympique Marseille ? Arsene Wenger to Real Madrid !?), some surprises in FA Cup action (such as Cardiff holding Arsenal and Swansea dumping defending champions Portsmouth ) and a bunch of off-the-field news (Kuwaitis buying Liverpool ? Millwall fans acting up again ? Indian sponsors for United ?). [All above stories from ESPN Soccernet ). We'll try to get to all of that and more this afternoon, so join us here at 1:30 and submit your questions and comments!

Join us in the live blog below!