Proof that Love's not Only Blind but Deaf

The inspiration from today's post comes from longtime reader Cris Carpenter. For those you who don't know, Cris is going to Brazil in September as part of Let's Start Talking. I asked Cris how much I would have to donate in order for her to influence the young Brazilian soccer phenoms to play for Liverpool and she gave me the following response: "That depends...how much is it worth to you? unfortunately for you, i am a consistent reader of your blog, therefore I am well aware of how much that team means to you. what to do, what to do?" Now, that's the kind of response I expect from an intelligent woman.

I realize that I have not written about Liverpool lately, but this is not from a lacking of caring, rather it arises from a lack of action. The Premiership is currently on a break that will end on Saturday as the Reds take on Arsenal at Anfield. Unfortunately, Arsenal striker Thierry Henry is currently nursing an injury and will not be able to play. I say that is unfortunate because Henry is probably still the world's greatest goalscorer, but I am glad that the Liverpool defense will not have to discover new ways of stopping him.

After the match with the Gunners on Saturday, the Reds will have a short break before they take on PSV Eindhoven in the first half of the Round of 8 matchup in the UEFA Champions League. For those of you who don't know, the Champions League is a competition between the football associations that make up UEFA, or the Union of European Football Associations. A certain number of teams from each country's top league make it into the Champions League tournament, which takes place each year. The Champions League Final is the biggest event on the "football" calendar each year for the rest of the world. Last year, FC Barcelona took home the title with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Stade de France. After knocking out Barcelona earlier this month, hopefully the Reds can make a run at their second Champions League title in 3 years. They won the 2005 Champions League with a victory over AC Milan in Instanbul (or is it Constantinople?). The Reds were down 3-0 at halftime, but came from behind to tie the match at 3-3 and forced penalty kicks. After winning the penalty shootout, Liverpool captured its 5th European Cup and completed what many have called the greatest comeback in modern soccer.

I'm not sure if any of you have any desire to begin following the Reds as well, but if you do, I have a great place for you to start. ESPN2 will be airing the Round of 8 match live from Eindhoven on Tuesday. Don't worry, I've already anticipated one of your biggest questions. No, you don't have to wake up extra early to catch the telecast. Since the match is played in the evening in Europe, it will air at 2:30 p.m. est/1:30 cst. See, that takes away an excuse from all the sleepy head bums who read this blog. Not that any of my friends are sleepy head bums. That's a reference to all of you lurkers who peruse but never comment.

If you needed another reason to watch the match, just listen to this. Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard (soccer teams use "skipper" instead of captain) is playing very well right now. Today, he scored two goals for England in the second half of a European Championship qualifying match against Andorra. Andorra!! If you are not impressed by a guy who can score multiple goals against a tiny nation lodged between France and Spain, then I guess you just can't get excited about anything.