I See Friends Shakin' Hands, Sayin' "How Do You Do?"

Congratulations to Andrew Tuegel for correctly naming "The Space Between" by the Dave Matthews Band as the Tuesday Song of the Day. Andrew, I wholeheartedly agree that the Everyday album was easily the weakest effort from DMB, but it does have some songs that make it somewhat redeemable. Note that I said "somewhat".

As you can read here, Liverpool defeated PSV Eindhoven 1-0 today to advance to the Champions League semifinals against fellow English Premiership member, Chelsea FC. In the other semifinal, Manchester United FC will face Italian giants AC Milan.

Now, I don't always believe in what some people might call fate, but this year's Champions League run looks markedly similar to the Reds' 2005 victory. In 2005, Liverpool defeated Chelsea in the semis before facing AC Milan in the final. With Manchester United's 7-1, yes 7-1, victory over Roma yesterday, it will be very difficult for Milan to defeat the boys from Manchester, but if they do, I would love to see a rematch of the historic 2005 final.

I would have liked to have seen a more dominant effort out of Liverpool today, but Manager Rafa Benitez decided to rest 4 usual starters (Skipper Steven Gerrard, Defender Jamie Carragher, Midfielder Javier Mascherano, and Defender Steven Finnan), and with a 3-0 lead going into today's match, I can't really blame him.

With today's win, the Reds march on towards a highly anticipated matchup with Chelsea FC. Now, if you're wondering what the appropriate American sports parallels could be for these two franchises, the aforementioned Andrew Tuegel provided what I think is a very good take. He said that Liverpool is the English version of the St. Louis Cardinals. The supporters are classy, the cheer high quality play from the home team as well as the visitors, and they don't have to spend the most money in order to compete at the highest level.

On the other hand, Chelsea is the English equivalent of the Red Sox. Just as the Red Sox have turned into a spending behemoth in recent years in their quest to match the Yankees, Chelsea has broken the bank in recent years in an attempt to match the spending of Manchester United, the English equivalent of the Yankees.

I know that the Red Sox would still like to be classified as the "lovable losers" of the American sports scene, but that title is solely vested in the Chicago Cubs. Just as the Red Sox are a lesser evil than the Yankees, Chelsea is a lesser evil to Manchester United. Also, Chelsea is owned by a Russian oil billionaire who has been accused of "high crimes" in his native country. That, my friends, is why I love sports.