Liverpool: Torres Out; Suarez, Carroll In

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres has completed a £50 million ($79.5 million) transfer to Chelsea, which is highest transfer fee ever for any English club. Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll move to Liverpool for £22.8 million and £35 million plus add-ons, respectively. Fan reaction to the transfer of Torres to a league rival has been quite negative, with images surfacing on the web that feature 'Pool fans burning the ex-number 9's jerseys in the streets.

Torres has already spoken of his delight with the move to Chelsea, stating that, "It's always very tough to play against Chelsea, they are one of the biggest teams in Europe, always fighting for everything. So after that there is no more to look forward -- it's the top level and this is the target for every footballer."

Harsh words coming from a man that had previously feinted love and admiration for Liverpool, but hardly surprising. He left Atletico Madrid for Liverpool and the higher wages and a chance at Champions League football. Now he has left Liverpool for Chelsea and the higher wages and a chance at Champions League football. It is clear what is most important to the Spaniard.

Andy Carroll

Liverpool scrambled to find a replacement over the last 24 hours, with Newcastle's Andy Carroll being the player that the club decided to bring in on a five and a half year contract. He has the qualities that New England Sports Venture (NESV) designated they wanted in their signings: youth, marketability, and visibility. He is a tall striker that has been on a hot streak this season, netting 11 goals in 19 league games. Carroll has spent the majority of his career in the Championship division, but he has been projected as a star for the future and earned his first cap for England this past December. Carroll will become Liverpool's new number 9 and will have a lot to prove thanks to his hefty transfer price of £35 million, the highest transfer fee in Liverpool Football Club's history.

Unfortunately, Carroll has been quoted as saying that he did not want to leave Newcastle, his boyhood club, and was forced out of the Toon for the money. The Independent reports that Carroll said "I'm gutted to be leaving my hometown club, I was told to go. I didn't want to leave that's why I signed a five-year deal [with Newcastle in October]. I was pushed out of the door." This revelation certainly puts a damper on the new signing. Who knows how this could mentally eafect Carroll's performance on the field.

Luis Suarez is LFC's new number 7

Prior to the Torres saga, Liverpool managed to lure 24 year old Luis Suarez from Ajax to Merseyside on a five year and a half year deal. Suarez was captain of the Amsterdam club and has made 38 international appearances for Uruguay. In 2010, he scored 35 goals in 33 league games on his way to claiming the title of Dutch Footballer of the Year. Hopefully his goal scoring ability translates well to the English game.

In the end, Liverpool must be happy with their lot this January transfer window. Getting £50 million for Torres was a steal as he has not performed well enough over the past two years to justify that amount. While Carroll's transfer fee is somewhat overpriced, his monthly wages will be nowhere near the' £110,000 a week Torres was receiving. So, if Carroll is as good a player at Liverpool project, this transfer will remembered as a fantastic piece of business. Suarez's signing had reignited the hope of the Liverpool faithful and he is seen as a perfect striking partner to the tall Carroll.

The new signings will have a chance to showcase their talents when Liverpool play host to Stoke City this Wednesday.

Robbie Keane On Loan to West Ham

Robbie Keane has completed a loan move from Tottenham to West Ham.

Robbie Keane during his time at Liverpool

Robbie Keane was the Tottenham captain before he completed a transfer move to Liverpool for the 2008-2009 season. His time at Anfield was marked with a scoring drought and a dip in form and ended when he returned to Tottenham during the January transfer window. Things were never the same for the Irish captain as he struggled to return to his pre-Liverpool form. Keane was loaned out to Scottish side Celtic during last year's January transfer window and will be with the Hammers for the remainder of this European domestic season.

A Case in Journalism Ethics: Erin Andrews

Erin Andrews, an ESPN sideline reporter, wrote an article in which she mentioned TCU players were slipping around the field in their Nike shoes. It has been revealed that Andrews has a deal with Reebok, a Nike competitor, to endorse a new sneaker line that has been developed. This is a good case to discuss journalism ethics.

The industry standard is that news organizations prefer their reporters do not sign endorsement deals, as it creates a possible conflict of interest and may compromise journalistic integrity. This situation is not without precedent, but what is without precedent is that Andrews wrote negatively about a competitor's product before anyone knew she had a Reebok deal. Does that compromise her journalist integrity?

Andrews has social a status that few other sportscasters have attained. Andrews has called herself an "entertainer," and I have to agree that she is more of a television personality than a traditional journalist. The issue with that is that many people recognize her as a journalist, not an entertainer, and therefore her statements and articles are assumed to be written to honor journalistic integrity.

ESPN stated that they will disclose Andrews' endorsement with Reebok in her future articles. Maybe they should disclose that Andrews is not a journalist, but a television personality. That would help avoid any future confusion.

Red Sox Fans Show Their Support

This video was taken on Disability Awareness Day at Boston's Fenway Park. The man singing suffers from Autism and got a case of the nervous giggles midway through the song. Watch to see what the Red Sox faithful did to show their support.

From my experiences at sporting events, I was expecting the fans to laugh or to hear harsh words being spoken. Thankfully, that did not happen. This video really moved me and I felt compelled to share.

Michael Bradley Set For Aston Villa

USA's Michael Bradley

Aston Villa have finalized a loan deal for American international Michael Bradley. Bradley has two years left on his contract with Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach. He had an impressive campaign for the United States at the World Cup this past summer and should be a good short term solution for the Villan's midfield woes.

Liverpool Rejects Torres Transfer Request

Liverpool turned down a reported bid of 35-40 million pounds by Chelsea FC for striker Fernando Torres and, hours later, Fernando Torres filed an official transfer request with the club. Liverpool rejected the request and have asked that Torres honor the final two years on his contract.

Fernando Torres is looking to leave Liverpool

It looked like things had been turning around for Liverpool when they agreed to a 23 million pound deal for Luis Suarez, a player that many projected to be a great partner for Torres. If the Spanish international moves to Chelsea before the January transfer window expires, his first opportunity to play for the Blues will be a February 5th game at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool.

As a fan:
It is hard to not be disappointed with this situation. I remember the excitement of Torres's signing three years ago. I immediately got his name and number on a jersey. Jumping on a player's wagon so early on in his tenure at Liverpool is a very rare exercise for me as I tend to be more conservative with my fandom. Also, the Bounce is one of the best cheers you can find in any sport and really showed the love that LFC fans had for him. Less than a month ago Torres publicly stated that his "head is with Liverpool and saving our season" and that he will "honor his contract" because he is "professional." His biggest folly may be his timing; with only one business day left in this transfer window, we may be scrambling to find a decent replacement. Going to Chelsea will be the worst part of this for me, because they are a league rival and a club that I do not have positive feelings towards. However, getting 40 million pounds in exchange for Fernando would certainly make the wounds heal a little faster. Think about it, that's money we could spend on two or three world class players and we'd also get to offload a player that no longer has love for this club.

Having him stay might be worse than him leaving... the silence at Anfield when he is in possession of the ball will speak a thousand words.

Liverpool See Fulham Off 1-0 at Anfield

Liverpool continued their pervious game's form in the first two-thirds of the field with strong possession and sharp passes, but they lacked the final element in their offensive third. Despite the lack of finishing, they left the game winners courtesy of an own goal by Fulham's defender, John Pantsil.

Six minutes into the game, Raul Meireles made a fine pass to Fernando Torres who put the ball in the back of the net. The goal was then called off by an offsides call made by the line-referee, but replays suggest that the wrong call had been made.

The team carried on undiscouraged by the call and had a fair number of chances on goal. Fulham rarely had a chance to put together an attack because of a fine display of defensive by the Liverpool squad. Glen Johnson had a superb game at left back and got in a few well placed crosses.

Torres got another chance at goal at the 51st minute mark. His shot was defelcted into the post, but created havoc on the bounce-back. Pantsil had two chances to clear the ball, but his clearance was mistimed and instead he sliced the ball into his own net.

Fulham's came back strong after that, but their best offensive threat culminated in Meireles clearing the ball off the Liverpool goal line.

This win moves Liverpool up to seventh in the Premier League standings, while Fulham are now in fifteenth. The own goal was a lucky break for the Reds, but it is a good sign that they can find a way to win, even when they are not clicking at all cylinders.

The Reds currently lie nine points away from a Champions League qualification spot.

premierleague.com

Here is a video of the game's highlights:

[video credit to Free Football Highlights Online]

Liverpool FC's On-Field Revival Begins With a 3-0 Victory at Wolves

Was this really the same team that lost 1-0 to Wolves at home under Hodgson? All hail King Kenny!

Return of the King:
In stark contrast to Hodgson's approach to the beautiful game, Daglish has encouraged the players to play a pass-and-move style of play reminiscent of his Liverpool teams of 1985 to 1991.

 [(Not-so-) Fun fact: Liverpool won the league championship three times over that time span and have failed to win it since)].

You could see hints of the style of play in his first few games in charge. Thankfully, as the players have had time to adjust, it seems that they are beginning to thrive under Daglish's managerial approach. One can only wonder what words King Kenny has said to bring the morale of this team up, getting even the recently deadpan Torres looking like the passionate player he had been when he first arrived at Anfield. It looks like a 4-3-3 (sometimes 4-1-4-1 when Gerrard is healthy) is Daglish's current formation of choice.

This is a clip of Fernando Torres's goal at the 91st minute. It summarizes the beauty of the pass and move approach; 31 passes were made and nine players had a touch on the ball before it found its way to Torres and was subsequently buried into the top of the net.

I must admit that I giggled out of delight while watching this clip; pass and move has that effect on me.

Final Take:
I am usually wary of being overly-excited for the teams that I support, but if this game is any indication of the future, we have some great football to look forward to from Liverpool FC under Kenny Daglish.

Hokies Pummel Terps On Their Way To a 74-57 Win

Virginia Tech came out of the gate running, taking a 12-0 lead minutes into the first half and it was clear who had the momentum in this game. The Hokies played an effective 2-3 zone defense that shut the Terps down for the better part of the game with Jordan Williams, the Terps number one offensive threat, disappearing from the game for minutes on end. The Terps' shooting did not help their cause, either, as they 35.7% from the field and 30% from 3 point territory. Mix the disappearance of your star offensive player to your consistent lack of successful fundamentals and you have the illness that the Terps have been suffering from for the majority of this season.

The Hokies were extremely effective on their defensive end. Their 2-3 zone and quick transitions from offense to defense forced the Terps to play in the half court offense, which has been a major weakness of theirs.

Maryland got an offensive spark off the bench in Haukur Palsson, who caused some havoc for the VT defense with his energy off the ball. His movement on the court created passing lanes and opened up opportunities to get the ball inside to players like James Padgett and Jordan Williams. He may have been able to make a stronger contribution, but was limited to seven minutes on the court.

Defense is usually Maryland's strong point, but not in this game. Their defensive rotation was off, leaving a VT player open on multiple occasions. This Terps seemed to lack the mental sharpness they had against teams like Duke and Villanova, and it cost them big time.

If there is one element of the game that should be highlighted, it should be the difference in energy levels of these two teams. VT came out ready to play and the Terps did not and this is the results that Maryland is left with.

If You Like to Beat a Dead Horse!

And the award for January's Best Technique When Beating a Dead Horse goes to...
Malcolm Delaney on Maryland: 'They might have the worst fans ever.' 
....and anyone else who has written a similar article in the last two years gets honorable mention (too many names to mention).
This one is brought to you by the Hokies Journal over at the Washington Post.

Summary:
Maryland fans are bad. Maryland fans are mean. I don't like Maryland fans. They are gross. They say whatever they want. There is no limit to the bad and mean things that those Maryland-fans-that-I-don't-like will say. If you've read one "Maryland students are poorly behaved" article, then you've read them all.

Reaction:
Why do I feel as if I have read this article before? Oh, because I have.
I have been around obnoxious Maryland fans during home games, but that is all Maryland fans are: obnoxious. I have been to away games, been around obnoxious fans of other teams, and have heard the same words spoken by opposing team's fans. For whatever reason, being a jerk at a sporting event is only a faux pas in the 20740 area code. Consider me confused.

Sure, there are times when I am embarrassed by my fellow Terps. It is the same way I am embarrassed when my mother tells random people the story of how I took off my clothes at the grocery store and ran down the aisles naked when I was two years old (what can I say, grocery shopping makes me do crazy things). It is a story that I would prefer to keep on the down-low, but it is not that bad when said out loud and it can be funny if the comedic timing is just right.


Come on, ye of thin skin! Toughen up a bit! Complaining that someone said "you suck" is so fifth grade. And blaming poor composure and lack of mental toughness on a phantom slur that only you hear is not fooling anyone. And if you are hearing things like that you may want to talk to someone about it, because "hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the Wizarding World."