Soccer

Yes, the World Cup is over. But, it's almost August, which means the English Premier League (EPL) starts in less than a month!!

Call me a bandwagon jumper-on-er, but I've enjoyed watching and following Chelsea, the champion of the EPL the last two years. There is an amazing dominance in their play and a real sense of team, even though it is built of super-stars.

Give all the credit to Jose Mourinho, the Portugese manager of Chelsea. He must have some amazing skills and leadership qualities, b/c his team is stout.

This year, they're adding two more superstars- German Michael Ballack and Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko. People have speculated that Ballack and current midfielder, scoring machine Frank Lampard will have troubles sharing the midfield together. Let's see how they handle it and share the wealth of goal opportunities.

So, the point of this post is not to bore you about soccer- it's to set the stage for today's Davis family story.

For our anniverary, Angela decided she wanted to get me a soccer jersey. I currently have one (David Beckham's England National Team jersey), and I've thought for a while about getting a Chelsea jersey (for about a year, now). Once Angela gave me the go ahead (and blank check!), I decided to start looking around.

The three most popular EPL teams - Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal - all changed either sponsors or jersey styles (or both) for 2006/07. Which to buy??

I immediately ruled out Man Utd. The new sponsor's logo isn't really cool (it's AIG), and what player's jersey would I choose??

I then checked out Arsenal's new jersey. Drooooolll..... Wow, it's sweet looking.

I'm becoming a fan of Thierry Henry, the French star who plays for Arsenal. He is quite a finisher, and he plays much better with Arsenal than he did with the French team in the WC.

It's also a new phase in Arsenal's storied history, as they are moving out of their Fenway-esque stadium and moving into new place....


But I finally decided to stick with Chelsea and get one of their new jerseys. First, they've moved from Umbro to Adidas, and I've always been an Adidas fan (especially over Nike). Second, their sponsor is pretty cool - Samsung Mobile. Third, they just signed a contract with both Samsung and Adidas, so the jersey will be pretty much the same for a number of years (meaning it won't look too obsolete next year).

And finally, Frank Lampard. The aforementioned midfielder is the up and coming star of English soccer. He scores a lot, sets up a lot of other goals, and really controls the tempo for Chelsea. So, I've ordered a #8 jersey and will be wearing it on August 20th to cheer on Chelsea in their opening match v. Manchester City.