The Requisite (Attempted to post on) Thanksgiving Post

I had this post ready to go on Thanksgiving, but apparently on Turkey Day, I had the Kiss of Death for Computers, as I killed all three of my computers in a 24 hour span. I won't be back online until at least Wednesday, so you won't hear from me then. As I type this, Arminia is down 0-3 to Bochum. Not good at all. But enjoy this in the mean time. 

In Tuesday's post, I mentioned I would be holed up in my room on my laptop making a post, and, well, here I am. The house is crawling relatives which I only see twice a year at the most, and all of whom I frankly would do anything to hot have to talk to. But it hasn't been all bad, after all. Dinner was great as for one the turkey didn't end up sawdust-dry, and the sides were all delicious. I got the television all to myself since the women of the family were busy gossiping in the kitchen, the children were running about wrecking the house playing tack with broomsticks, and the men, of which I am the only one who follows sports with any sort of seriousness, huddled in the cold carport to talk about God-knows-what.

Apart from the traditional American football games today, there wasn't much else on TV. This development has befuddled me for years because I know there are millions of Americans like me who would love nothing better to dive into some good TV, and what do we get? Infomercials, dumb pseudo-documentaries about Thanksgiving dinners, and horrible movies which never should have seen the light of day! I popped in 49: The Complete Unbeaten Record and hopped online to check out the aftermath of the completion of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, especially England bowing out for the first time in fourteen years in a major competition.

The English press is, of course, in full knee-jerking mode, calling for everyone's head from Queen Elizabeth all the way down to poor old Bill Walters, who sits at the end of a pub in Blackpool and mutters to himself how Soviet agents injured Jimmy Armfield before the 1966 World Cup in order for the Soviets to have a better chance at winning. The FA acted by (rightly) sacking Steve McClaren, who summed up the level of the disaster that was his reign at the top when he stated that him being sacked "...[was] the saddest day of his career." I assume England's passive performance in the first half against Croatia wasn't? Of course, now that their latest pinata is out of a job, the hyperbole is turning on the subject of quotas for foreign players for clubs in the Barclays Premier League.

For those of you hiding under a rock, there have been clamorings for the Premier League to adopt a ceiling on the number of foreign players on a club's roster, pointing specifically to Arsenal and their completely-foreign Starting XI. Proponents of this state that since the number of foreigners in the Premier League are now over 70% of the total playership, talented English players can not find a place in Premier League rosters, and as a result the English national team has suffered. They would also point to nations like Spain, with a quota on non-EU players, have a strong international team based in their domestic league (Speaking of which, Spanish courts ruled that African, Caribbean, and South American players could not count as non-EU players because of existing labour agreements.)

Unfortunately, from this small bedroom, the idea is simply a non-starter. First off, any quota system could only limit non-EU players because of the European Union's anti-discrimination legislation for workers (despite what Sepp Blatter says about the working status of football players). Considering that the majority of Premier League foreigners are from EU nations, quotas wouldn't do anything. After all, from everyone's favourite whipping boy Arsenal's starting XI, a quota like Spain's would eliminate, well, six of their players at the most... that is if you count Philippe Senderos, Eduardo da Silva, and Aleksandr Hleb, all Europeans from non-EU nations for the list. I'm sure Arsene Wenger would enjoy telling these players that they have to be sold because their nations, despite being European in culture and geography, aren't European enough for the whims of the Barclays Premier League.

I could go on from here, but a turkey sandwich is calling. See you guys later in the week!