Making the little teams look big.

Liverpool fights back for a dramatic 3-2 victory at home to mighty Wigan Athletic. Uh, yes... mighty. Another famous win against a... well, less than famous team. We still need to figure out how to play a full 90 against teams not named "PSV Eindhoven" (and even that was about 85). It was a great relief, though, to see that we could overcome defensive blunders and bail ourselves out of trouble without the services of El Nino. We were capable of winning this one by three given the quality of play.

Dirk Kuyt = Ball of Fire. I can get used to that. Four goals from his last three matches -- he's starting to resemble the man who had so much success in his days at Feyenoord. Happy to see Riera get on the board, too. I continue to be impressed by his play. Poor Robbie is still a largely anonymous member of this squad. Feels like he's pressing too much and its resulting in countless muck ups on attack.

There was a lot made of Chelski's 5-0 win over Boro during the broadcast. Fact is, the likelihood that the title will be decided by goal differential is slim-to-none. Margin of victory as it relates how two clubs compare to one another only leads to speculation. So with that in mind, today is: mission accomplished. All to play for against those blue d-bags next week.

YNWA!!

The weekend's heroes and doinks

Heroes
Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool looked flat and uninspired on Saturday versus Reading, but two well-poached goals by the flying Dutchman ensured that while that game was a bore, the outcome would never be in doubt. Also, he single-handedly validated my waking up at 7a.m. (on a Saturday!) just to watch the match live. But more than just the scoring, Kuyt also looked like our best defender on Saturday -- a feat, considering Carragher and Finnan are on the backline. An inspiring performance from an otherwise drab match. Liverpool is on a roll with a pivotal clash at Arsenal coming up this Sunday.

Mike Stoops - UofA's football season is virtually lost, but the tradition of the annual upset in Tucson is still alive. Last year, it was UCLA that got blitzed by the WIldcats. This season, Arizona surprises Washington State in Pullman. I don't know if you've heard, but Arizona doesn't win on the road. Oregon and Cal to come (both of which will probably be Ls), but a season-ending win over Arizona State is well within reach and would extend Stoops' stay for at least one more season.

Borat - Is nice!

Doinks
Rex Grossman - I've been saying it for weeks, now, but no one's been listening. Not at the start of the season, not after the Cardinals game. Well maybe now people will stop and take notice. The Bears are very beatable and it is thanks, primarily to Grossman. For as "efficient" as this offense has looked against the Lions and the 49ers and the Bills, Grossman is, in no uncertain terms, a liability.
Next week, he faces a stiff Giants D. Tell me, who do you prefer in a Grossman v Eli matchup? The latter isn't quite what his brother is, but the choice is obvious.

Bill Belichick - I don't know what planet he's been living on for the last few weeks, but seemingly everyone who watches football knows implicitly that the way to beat the Colts is by running the ball down their throats repeatedly. Indy has a soft front seven and the Pats were, in fact, having their way with them on the ground. 148 yards rushing. Problem is, Maroney, Dillon, and Faulk only had 30 carries combined! That's outrageous! Run the ball more and Brady probably doesn't wind up throwing an uncharacteristic four INTs. Terrible game plan.

Michael Vick - Loss at Detroit did little to dispell the talk that he can't be a great NFL quarterback. Furthermore, Atlanta still look like pretenders.

Dallas Cowboys - Sorry, but you're not a playoff team if things like this happen to you. Even before the Washington disaster, I couldn't imagine Dallas getting more than eight wins this season.