White Light Review

I think, therefore, I think...

2011-10-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

I hate when people start off an idea with a definition, but I have to because it is the premise of this idea. Political atheism (according to Urban Dictionary): A person or persons who has disbelief in the ruling of a dominating government with morals of any kind. Those who have the belief that everything is produced by politics or the media doesn't hold truth of any kind. He/she whom holds their own belief in what is right or wrong not based on what is fed to them by what the general public allows themselves to be brainwashed with.

OK, that's out of the way. One of the problems with politics in general is the violation of the first principles of philosophy. Certain political rhetoric works off a false premise that you can arbitrary place and say it's correct. For the past few months, I've been going through my political adolescence and started questioning where these flags have been planted. It's not a novel idea, but I'm the only one who can articulate my own ideas. Yours may be different and that's OK.

Perhaps it's always been there for a while, but exposure to alternative media does make you question the things you've held dear for years. Either they can change or solidify your ideas. Some people go as far as political nihilism and I'll describe that population soon. Our political alignment begins begins at birth. Our parents, friends and schools are determined by our own socio-economics and past experience of our parents. How many times have you heard "I vote X because my parents vote X?" That group of people have a hard time leaving that mindset. This process is called political socialization - the process by which people learn political attitudes, values and behavior (Burnham, 1983).

Another group, is the political nihilists. These are the downtrodden. Guys that have a difficult time finding meaningful employment to gain a level of relative affluence. This does not include those receiving government assistance because they will not vote on their own ideas, but as political pawns for those who subsidize their lifestyle. This group also includes the super cynic or jaded because they feel their vote doesn't count.

The farce that is the right/left paradigm ranks up there with the biggest trick since the devil convinced Christians that it didn't exist. The rulers have changed, swinging like a pendulum right and left, but the same political agenda has been in motion since the turn of the 20th century. It's been described as neo-conservatism. The deindustrialization, the pandering to corporations and globalization process have been turned up slowly as we don't notice.

Thankfully, through the growth of alternative media, people can see what's behind the curtain and don't have to feel alone as we enter our political adolescence and period of political atheism. The purpose of this is to deprogram the propaganda we've been taught and to listen to all sides of the conversation and maybe piece together your idea, your thesis that have the potential to enrich our lives and take another step to our own self-actualization and human potential. As equally as important, that we don't slip into a state of political nihilism.

To surrender is death and death is for pussies.

Wiki-wandering

2011-09-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last real post, so I'm seeking the muse to help guide this post. Since as far as I can remember, I've always gravitated towards research. I loved expanding on thoughts and topics since my early days in school, referring to my bright orange Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia. Mind you, this was slightly before the popularity of the internet. News sources were limited.

The internet was the game changer. The internet opened a flood gate of information that was out there. I was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast and he touched on an interesting subject. He was saying that consciousness exists outside of the body and that the body is the receptor of the collective consciousness. If you view the internet in that way, it's kind of mind blowing. There is information and life happening all around us and we as the information consumer can tune in or out of whatever information frequency we want. You can tune into local news, national and international. Arts, sports, whatever you'd like.

The question is; what is the old guard doing? Certainly not changing. Topics are chose by them and delivered to you. You don't have a choice in what they feed you. So, when Anonymous protests Wall Street, no one tells you it's happening. If a tree falls in the forest, IT DOES make a sound. Just because you're not there to tune into that reality doesn't mean it's not happening. So, if a story is not reported on, does it still happen? Yes, it does.

So, what are we doing? Well, right now, I'm writing a blog entry about alternative media. Right now, you are tuning into that message. Even if you don't read this blog (now a logical impossibility) you are tuning into this message. It's the red pill. You may not like what you hear but at the very least no one is sugarcoating your existence. Having a conversation with an old friend, he asked me "Where are our muckrakers?" And I thought, certainly not with the mainstream media. And it's one job we all can apply for because there are plenty of openings for the position.

Grab a buddy and let's get muddy.

A new direction

2011-08-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, this has been a soccer blog. In an attempt to deliver more original soccer content, I will be contributing towards the new Rock Flag and Eagle where my friends Dakota and Dave will be bring new views or the obvious ones the mainsteam refuses to report.

So, what is this thing going to be? It's going to be a springboard about financial news and what's going on in our complex world. If you're an avid reader of this blog (sorry Mom) things will change but still some decent writing.

While you were sleeping...

2011-06-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

Part 1

You may or may not have noticed, but there hasn't been a prime time game (for East Coast viewers) in the past few weeks. To the likes of ESPN, it seems to be that the novelty has yet to wear off of the Pacific Northwest. Why not, two new clubs have joined the league and could potentially be the hotbed of soccer?

Which leads me into the following questions: where is the MLS's bread buttered in terms of television ratings and are the most ardent and passionate fans on the West Coast? Has the Western Conference become the de facto conference in the MLS? I think we can tackle the last question first --- last year's playoff tree explains it all. The Eastern Conference winner was the Dallas Burn (erm FC Dallas - sorry). Take a peak at the current standings, most of the EC teams would be in the bottom half of the table.

I think by Seattle's showing last night; 46 thousand fans cannot be wrong. Portland's & Vancouver's showing in attendance is an indication. Real Salt Lake has a beautiful new stadium and a great product on the field. New England's fans are hassled to no end.

In part 2, I'll look into the ratings as they come in and why ESPN still treats soccer as a second class citizen.

All's quiet on the eastern front

2011-06-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be brutally honest, I have been following exponentially less Veikkausliiga since leaving Suomi in 2002. Truth be told, it's not an easy league to keep up with. There isn't much action and intrigue surrounding the league and if there was, if you don't speak Finnish or have the time to consistently consult a dictionary -- good luck because there's not a lot of outlets that keep you up to date. If you live outside of Finland, then there is little to no coverage whatsoever.

So, here we are, a third of the way into the 33 round fixture list and Tampere United is languishing in footballing purgatory who lost their operating license due to match fixing allegations. The old guard from Finland's golden age are basement dwellers due to a lack of finances. If you look further, both are towns that have their main supporter --- lumber industry losing battles of their own. But alas, the true flower of the league, HJK are leading the table right now with a 4 point lead to newcomers JJK.

HJK will soon try to recreate the magic of their 1998/99 season, the only Finnish team to reach the group stages of Champions' League. HJK has always had the talent to do well domestically constantly training players at the academy and the coaching skills of Antti Muurinen (great at club level in Finland -- take that for what you will). Anyone who realistically looks at the situation could hope for a nice second round win and a decent showing in the 3rd round before being blown out by an European giant.

TPS is another club that has high expectations both domestically and abroad. They will take on Westerlo of Belgium. TPS is currently 4th in the league right now. Two other games of note is the Europa Cup 1st round qualifier between FC Honka and Nomme Kalju and the 2nd round qualifier between KuPS Kuopio and Gaz Mitan.

Blowing the dinosaur dust off of this thing...

2011-06-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

4 years.

It has been 4 years since my last post here. Finished up my stint at the University at Buffalo, moved to Boston, moved back to Buffalo. Bouts of poverty. Bouts of drunkenness. However, there has been one constant: soccer.

Since the last posts, the USL was still the second tier league in the US and there was no NASL. The MLS still only had 14 teams -- no Northwestern rivalries as of yet.

I'm going to be contributing more in terms of the game, beer and some politics. We all grow up, do different things --- however there is only one constant: soccer.

It's all coming to an end...

2007-10-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

The summer leagues are in the homestretch. The U.S.L. has named the Seattle Sounders their champion. The M.L.S. have a "play-off hunt." The Veikkausliiga has all but finished up and the Russian league is wrapping up.

The U.S.L. post season started back in September and my Rhinos limped in after a series of losses to Montreal. Rochester would face eventual finalists, Atlanta Silverbacks. Atlanta had the better of the play during the regular season and they had the better of the play in the series.

Play-off match ups:
Atlanta - Rochester 1:2, 1:1
Montreal -Puerto Rico 3:2, 3:0
Vancouver - Portland 1:0, 0:3
Seattle - Carolina 2:0, 1:0

Round 2:
Seattle - Puerto Rico 2:1, 2:1
Atlanta - Portland 0:0, 1:1

Finals:
Seattle - Atlanta 4:0

The Finnish Veikkausliiga has all but claimed Tampere United as their champion. There are still 3 games left, so the battle is for UEFA Cup spots. It's really down to MyPa, TPS, FC Honka and FC Haka. A blog I love to visit, Football in Finland, has a great opinion on the matter. FC Haka always relies on it's youth and domestic product, but TPS have an owner that spends money. If TPS plays in Europe, you can bet your house that the Veritas stadium will be full and TPS is going to buy players to bolster their European attempts. Hopefully, Finland will be blessed with two UEFA Cup spots.

The MLS is at the end of it's parity season. They're trying to trump up the post season, but it's the beginning of October and they are still playing regular season games! Enough is enough! More on that in a later blog.

The death of a giant...

2007-08-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

"Hello, my name is Brandon and I'm a recovering gamer."

It started back in 1997. My family had just bought a brand new PlayStation to replace our Nintendo. My stepdad was into the NASCAR, so of course we had the compulsory NASCAR games. But, I wanted something new.

I was a budding soccer fan. The 1994 World Cup was my first soccer experience. In 1996, the MLS began play. Coverage was still weak at best. I knew about it from my Eurosport magazine. No internet....minimal coverage on ESPN2. I went to the local video store, I believe it was Hollywood Video and I decided to rent FIFA 1997. I was hooked ever since.

Every year, I acquired the new FIFA game. I ate it up like it was caviar. In the early days, I was only able to play a small amount, but the older I got, the more time I invested. For the past 5 years, I took a weekend off of work/school to play as much as I could. I loved playing as obscure clubs from around the world.

It started on the PS1 (FIFA 1997-2001). When I didn't have enough money to upgrade, I bought the PC version(FIFA 2002-2004). My roommate had a PS2, so I bought FIFA 2005. Finally, I finally had enough money to buy an Xbox, so I bought FIFA 2006 and 2007.

Then, the worst day of my life happened. I went to the homepage of FIFA, only to find out there is no version for PC, Mac or Xbox! Gutted! For the past 10 years, I looked to the release of FIFA like it was Christmas and I was a poor kid who could only get one present. I'm in my last year of college. I'm about to move to Boston. I'm saving up money for school loans and a hella-expensive place to live. I don't know if I'm going to be able to swing buying a new Xbox 360. My job is good, but big boy bills are stacking up. School loans are ready to be paid. Taking girls out on dates costs money.

Am I growing up?! I sure hope not! I hope this doesn't mark the end of my FIFA run., but it may just be. Comments? Concerns? Therapy? Let me know!

It just feels so right...

2007-08-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

There's a mantra that I've had over the past few weeks: passion.

Passion. Last weekend marked my first MLS game. It was the perfect day for a Revs game...warm, sunny and tipsy. We hired a Zipcar and filled it with supplies...beer, sausage and a grill to make it all come together. We were there early...one of the first cars there. And then it filled in. Cars came filled with kids and coolers. Already, you could see the division: families and the older guard. It's a bit odd, because it seems like I don't have a moral bone in my body, but I felt held back from swearing and cursing because there was a bunch of little pups there!

Nevertheless, time came to get the tickets and stop at the pro shop for some last minute gear. I was wearing the Revs away kit from a few seasons ago...so I needed a cap and a scarf. The prices weren't that bad as I thought they'd be. We started the walk. I held my scarf high into the air, singing and chanting. The seats were amazing...first row behind the goal...in the middle of the Fort. Again, the division was obvious. The passionate fans sat in the fort. The families sat in the mainstands, quite as a library during the summer. "Please conserve the streamers" was a chant we heard...it bit of mistiming. The first time they threw the streamers, it was during a DC goal! They counted down from 10 and as soon as the hit one, GOAL. Unreal. The last goal DC score, Luciano Emilio tried to silence the crowd, but when he came by our seats, he heard it. Where were the streamers then? The batteries? Rotten fruit? We need to get our act together.

On the USL level, I feel the same way for the Rhinos. But, there isn't a lot of ardent support. We can watch films like The Football Factory and Green Street Hooligans and say I want to do that for my club. In the next few blogs, I'm going to discus these movies.

I decorated my apartment with my Rochester and New England jerseys and scarves. I'm watching my games and movies. I'm playing my FIFA. I'm posting blogs and on message boards.

And you know what? I'm loving every minute of it!

The Northwest is the new black...

2007-07-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

A shift in paradigm? The stars aligning in all the right spaces to make the Pacific coast the place to be for soccer fans. The topics I am going to talk about are ranked, starting off with the unimportant leading to my thesis: the Northwest is the new black.

I've been bitten by the Beckham bug. I've followed David Beckham's career ever since he was a pup with Manchester United. I was shopping in Canada when he was transfered to Real Madrid. Now, Beckham madness has befallen us all. I hope he does well. Not because I think he's the savior of the MLS, because he isn't. But, what he will do is bring attention to the American game. Good or bad press is still attention. He knows this. Posh knows this. Smart people know this. So, enjoy soccer having it's spotlight, because it's long overdue.

Though, with this new-found attention, the casual viewer thinks that soccer in America is only 12 years old, which totally invalidates the past 90 years of soccer in this country. League after league has been started, with an average shelf life of about a decade...most meeting their demise. Wikipedia "football in America" and spend a few hours looking at the number of clubs that don't play in defunct leagues. A bit bewildering.

Football in Finland is the same it's always been...unpredictably predictable. The scores may change and every few games is an upset, but Tampere United and MyPa are on top of the league and HJK is putting a band-aid on cancer.

These are grim times for Rhinos fans. So many players are out due to injury, the club is threadbare to say the least. Nuno Santos is not the savior Rhinos fans were looking for...come to find out Chase Harrison, despite a few blunders, was the saving grace of a lot of games. And they didn't have to shell out the cash to get him either.

Speaking of the Rhinos, my first game of the season was the Open Cup game against the Revolution. As much as it pains me to say, the Rhinos didn't start playing until the 60th minute. We can blame the spotty refereeing, but the better team won. I would like to take this time to welcome our new New England Revolution overlords in American soccer. 'Bout damn time.

What's really exciting is how well Seattle and Portland are doing. In the USL, Portland is on a 6-0-1 streak while Seattle is 8-1-1! Seattle has advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup beating Chivas 3:1! Chivas can't really complain, because they played a full squad. A lot of the upsets in the cup have been shrugged off because the MLS sides didn't field a competitive starting XI due to the SuperLiga. What really happened was that the MLS sides underestimated their foes and lost. The USL is a competitive league and it showed when the beat the "best" the MLS had to offer.

Not Soccer Related

2007-06-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Freedom is overrated. Nietzsche was right...our freedom of choice is our downfall. I was at a couple of grocery stores today and I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat. There were so many choices, I couldn't decide. My argument, and Nietzsche, is that we have too many choices.

I went to the textile store looking for drapes. So many colors, so many sizes. I finally found curtains that fit my window and went with my walls. When I went to the supermarket, I had to finalize a decision between jelly, sandwich meat and cheese and garbage bags.

Not to sound like a prick, but sometimes, I'd like things to be picked for me. One sandwich meat. One color and size of curtains. X amount of distance I can drive.

Sometimes, the communists have it right. They take the life out of living.

The Lost Blog, part 2

2007-06-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

News and views from the North American continent:

The Gold Cup is tops right now. The American team is doing so well, not giving up a goal in the qualifying round. The team looks good and is showing a lot of promise. It's a younger squad, most likely one that will resemble a World Cup squad. Twellz, Big Honkey Deuce and Run DMB look like they can really score goals. The defense is playing well, but is rarely tested so far.

Canada is an enigma wrapped in a question mark covered in bacon. Somehow a Canada squad can beat Costa Rica, lose to Guadalupe and make it to the quarterfinals. And in the quarterfinals, they beat Guatemala 3:nil. Try and figure that one out. Good luck to them though.

A little side note, a couple of Cubans and Haitians have gone AWOL and defected to the United States. Team blogs are laughing about picking up some talent.

The MLS is entertaining. I probably wouldn't have said that 2 or 3 years ago, but the level of competition has gone up and every game is something new. It's really hard to predict the outcomes.

Soccer Sam reports that Montreal is shaking up the club a bit, trading away Lars Lyssand for Puerto Rico's Alen Marcina. June has been a dry month for the Impact, scoring only a goal in three games. They are 0-1-1 this month. Best of luck to them.

Atlanta, what happened? I sang their praises earlier this season and now they occupy 10th place. WTF? Get back to me.

1. Vancouver 2. Rochester 3. Seattle
4. Montreal 5. Charleston 6. Portland
7. Carolina 8. Puerto Rico 9. Miami
10. Atlanta 11. Minnesota 12. California

The Lost Blog, part 1

2007-06-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

If anybody, which I doubt there is any, that read this blog and wondered if I was dead...I'm not! The past month has been a bit trying. I've moved from my apartment near campus and free internet, to a place a little closer to the action and without a connection to the intertubes. I called Verizon over a week and a half ago to set up an account, but seeing as I don't have a home phone....it's a pain in the butthole.

A lot has happened in my football world this past month. Sit back as I spit da truf.

Finland: It was hilarious to see the "Owl Incident" during the Euro 2008 qualifier against Belgium. An eagle owl flew around the pitch and rest on the goalposts. It's rather a rare happening because of the location of Olympiastadion. They won that game and reclaimed the tie with Serbia and Portugal for second place.

To be honest, I haven't seen much of the Veikkausliiga this month. My only real connection is my internet connection. But, I looked at the standings and I was a little surprised. Of course, Tampere United are still in champion form, leading the table. A bit more surprising, is that TPS is in second place. They're payroll and talent are getting results. FC Haka somehow managed a 3rd place spot, not scoring many goals.

MyPa and HJK are midtable. It's actually misleading, because they are 7 and 9 points out of first place, respectively. Things could really change, due to European competitions. TPS stands the best chance of gaining some serious points this summer, because they aren't playing in Europe.

The bottom battle is a bit interesting, because FC Inter occupies the bottom spot. Defense has been a little questionable and goals aren't flying, but they aren't flying for a lot of clubs. IFK Mariehamn has been underachieving, but it's only the 1/3 mark of the season.

Who's that pretty blog?

2007-05-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Labatt Blue had a slogan once, "look up, see blue." I do that. I wake up and look at all of my blue stuff. I usually put on a blue shirt and get into my blue car. I wear my blue Dodgers cap. See a trend?

I'm beginning to think that color plays a subtle part in one's mood. Of course, there have been studies about this subject, but it really hit home.

Feeling a bit Plastic Paddy
It's one of those things that bother me. When I'm sitting at a bar and someone claims to be Irish and therefore able to drink more. What my plastic paddy friends don't realize that a body's ability to process alcohol is not based on some nationality generations removed. It's more of a liver's capacity to process the fats and complex carbs and body mass.

Do these pricks even know where Ireland is? I don't claim to be a Plastic Paddy, but I listen to RTE, watch rugby and wear green on St Patrick's Day. Though, I don't attribute my drinking "skills" to my Irish heritage. Of course, my driving ability comes from my German heritage.

Need an ulcer? Watch the Rhinos!

2007-05-22T11:56:00.000-07:00

Things started poorly when the local news ruined the game that planned on watching when I got home. The Rhinos have to be the most disappointing team in recent history. Laurie Calloway fields a boring team with a useless formation.

Stats so far:
8 games played. 2 wins. 3 ties. 3 losses. 9 goals for. 11 goals against.

Something to think about. The Rhinos should really think about that. Granted, Scott Vallow is out of the line-up, but Chase Harrison is doing well to deputize the goal. The major hole in the team is its attacking. Calloway usually uses a 4-5-1. No wonder no goals aren't being scored.

Things need to change. Fans aren't coming to watch. No major tournament chances. But, we're hoping that it will all pan out. Sitting, waiting.

The Uninspired Post

2007-05-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's been roughly a month since "my" leagues started. And, for the most part, same old...same old. Maybe it's the personal stuff that's flooding into my thought-process when watching my soccer. It's the end of the school year, I'm anxious about the grades coming in and work is never really thrilling.

Finland: This has been the hardest league to predict. When you think a club is strong, they lose 5-1. When a team is on the skids...they blow out a top club. I just saw the Viikingit - MyPa match today...unreal. Here's the background, Viikingit are the upstart team just promoted. They've done well in the League Cup and are playing well in the league. MyPa seem to have fallen on rough times. They're a club that was on top of the league and won it in 2005, done well in Europe (considering) and had a strong homegrown squad. But, they have been picked apart by European clubs looking for cheap labor and have a meager budget. But, today, MyPa showed why you can never really predict the score in Finland.

USL Division 1: The Rhinos are causing me heartache! This road trip is a long one. Not to mention that the head coach, Matthew Delicate and Diallo can't play in Canada due to green card issues. A lot of fans are asking why Calloway still hasn't corrected this problem...he's been involved with US soccer for years now. Also, why does Rochester have players it can't use?

I've been watching other matches on USLtv. I shouldn't say this as a Rhinos fan, but I love watching Montreal play. Good front office, good management and a team that plays well. Montreal, still unbeaten.

MLS: If you've been watching the MLS since 1996 like me, you'd say business as usually. The Metros (Red Bulls) shut-out streak ended. So did Toronto's goalless one. TFC to MLS Cup 07...probably not.

Russia: Not much new here either. Sergei Semak has scored his 100th goal, playing with FC Moscow...a club that isn't doing so bad. Spartak, CSKA, Zenit and Moskva...nothing too surprising there.

*Still looking to go to my first Rhinos game of the season*

Bad day at the office!

2007-05-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

When you think you know...you don't. I like to think of myself as someone who's "in-the-know" when it comes to the Veikkausliiga. On an internet forum (www.soccer24-7.com/forum), I make weekly predictions on the scores of many leagues. I'm a usual participant in the English, German, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and MLS leagues. For the most part, I do alright. I do really well in the Danish league (which I don't follow) and horrible in the Finnish league (which I follow). But, last week, I did not earn a single point! Some of the time, I got the score right, but the wrong team! Unreal.

Fox Soccer Channel played Rochester's home opener against Vancouver. The attendance was decent...seeing as the Sabres were playing. The level of competition was solid...if you're a White Caps fan. The Rhinos have their second string keeper playing, due to an injury to Scott Vallow. I still think the formation and player roles need to be retooled. Of course, the squad needs a real striker, but who doesn't? They come at a price.

USL April Review

2007-05-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

The league started earlier than scheduled due to the Virginia Beach Mariners folding, yet again. The minds at the USL retooled the schedule and the first game bumped the Rhinos and the Islanders up about 8 days. The Rhinos can attribute their season opening loss to that I suppose.

Like in the previous blog, I said I bought the league pass for the USL, so I caught just about every game last month. I was fortunate to watch the Minnesota Thunder bore me to death, the California Victory and Carolina RailHawks earn their first point in the USL and the Canadian clubs score goals.

One thing that has really impressed me was the Atlanta Silverbacks and how far the organization has come. As you may or may not know, the Silverbacks are affiliated with Inter Milan. They have a brand new soccer-specific stadium, the Re/Max Greater Atlanta stadium. And the best part, they score a lot of goals! Earlier in the offseason, they traded away their striker and picked up Antonio Antoniuk...who is helping the the score with 2 assists during the Minnesota game and 2 goals against his former club, Montreal.

The level of play has been good, but at times a snooze fest. For me, the best time to watch is after the 60th minute. 50% of the goals scored (17/34) have been scored after the 60th minute.

First Day of School

2007-04-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

What an amazing time of year, that is if you follow summer leagues. Prior to this season, I found myself trying to keep up with all of the Scandinavian leagues, England, Germany, the MLS and the USL. I decided to specialize. This year, it’s just the Finnish league, MLS and USL.

Shifting gears for a minute, I just have to doff the cap to technology and expendable income. If it wasn’t for a good job, I wouldn’t be typing this on my brand new MacBook, while watching out-of-market games from the MLS and USL.

This year, the two top American leagues have introduced a service where subscribers could watch games they normally couldn’t. For MLS, that means out-of-market games and anything not being shown. For the USL, it means everything. Mind you, the USL’s product is a little rough. The commentators are sometimes sub-par and the halftime period could be used more. Just recently did the MLS put in adverts during halftime. I’m not asking for commercials, but if it brings attention to the league and sends the subscription price down, I’m for it. Even the Finnish league has minute and a half highlights, though it’s still in Finnish.

Sorry for the lack of flow, hopefully this column will only get better. Be ready for some hard-hitting journalism.