Racism in Football

I was just reading about an incident involving Metz, a French first division club. Metz, club officials are investigating and considering disciplinary actions against their own fans because apparently, some fans started shouting racist chants and making Nazi salutes after Metz's 2-0 defeat to Lyon. Apparently after the match, players threw T-shirts into the crowd that read "Racism, Never Again." At this point, some fans threw the shirts back, torn and began to make racist remarks and gestures.
Ok, listen. If you're a fan, you've got to hold your fellow fans accountable. I'm not making a call to violence by any means, but for Christ sakes, throw some popcorn at them and tell them to shut up. I mean, nothing good comes from that sort of behavior. A club has difficulty singling out individual perpetrators, so everyone has to be punished. Also, (like in the case of a League 2 club, I can't think of the name...) some times leagues will dock the club points. So if you're really a supporter of your club, why would you behave like that? It just doesn't make sense. Look at American sports. You don't see fans in the crowd at NBA games shouting the N word and dressing in KKK robes. Why? someone would probably kick their ass if they did. I'm just saying man...

USA vs. Mexico

Ah, Mexico. Your food is delicious, (well, our version of it is.) your culture is very unique, your people are proud and hard working, and your futbol team is second best to the soccer north of the border. Yes, El Tri, you are a quality side, with a few high profile players, and you've faired well in international competition. Until recently, you've dominated us, your American counterparts, soundly. However, that has changed. In simple terms, le poseemos. (we own you.) Mexico, you seem to have trouble digesting this, don't you? Could you run your excuses by me one more time? "We were the better side, we just couldn't finish our chances." Seems to be a favorite. Well, no. Here's the thing about soccer: You win by putting the ball in the back of the net. Therefore, the team that finishes their chances is the better side. You can do all your cute passing and ball handling all you want, but we'll just score goals instead. See, we like to watch you guys walk on to OUR turf feeling awesome because the crowd is predominately Mexican (thanks USSF. I appreciate how you schedule all the US v. Mexico games in the southwest. Play a game at RFK or in Columbus, and see how Pro Mexico it is.), and then watching you walk off in disgust after we beat you, AGAIN. And go ahead and march off the pitch without switching jerseys or shaking hands. (We appreciate you Carlos Salcido, we saw you switch jerseys with Beas...) We don't want to shake Rafa "I'm a big douche bag" Marquez's hand, nor do we want anything to do with Jared Borgetti. Well, most of us don't. Gooch might still want Jared to take a shot at him, but we all know who'll win that tussle. Come February 6, it'll be time for us to meet again, and yet again, I expect the United States will show it's superiority.

Solving the problem of Valencia.

Oh, man. So, last season, I decided I was a big fan of Valencia. Am I bad luck or what? I would like to remedy that though, if I may be so bold, Mr. Koeman.

Let me start by saying that David Villa is one of the best forwards on the planet(granted, his 4 goals is not nearly enough production with 25 shots total, only 7 of which have been on goal this season.). It doesn't appear that Valencia is all that interested in complementing him with a strike partner though. Sure, Fernando Morientes is a decent player, and the club did go out and get Serbian striker Nikola Zigic. Bringing in a proven striker or attacking midfielder would do Valencia a world of good. Who? Well, French giants Lyon have a pretty impressive list of forwards on their roster, and Brazilian national Fred is slipping to the bottom of that list. Karim Benzema is the unquestioned star of the group, and Hatem Ben Arfa and Sidney Govou are his partners in crime...not to mention Juninho pulling the strings behind the lot of them. This doesn't leave a whole lot of optimism for Fred, as well as former Aston Villa man, Milan Baros. Brazilian forwards traditionally have found success in Spain. Just ask Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and Robinho. Fred has only gotten on the field for Lyon three times this season, one of them being as a substitute. For a forward of his quality, this would probably justify seeking a transfer, and Valencia could use the goalscoring help, as evident in their 0-0 draw with bottom feeders, Levante.
Valencia could also use a little strengthening from the back. Ronald Koeman's decision to drop Spain goalkeeper Santiago Canizares may be less risky than it sounds, with German international Tim Hildebrand there to take up the slack. However, Hildebrand probably won't ever really match up to Canizares' ability. Major League Soccer's goalkeeper of the year and rumored Arsenal prospect, Brad Guzan could make for a nice bargain, if Valencia were to look stateside. Similarly, the loss of Argentine center back, Roberto Ayala, might have looked well compensated with the signing of Ivan Helguera. However, Helguera hasn't lived up to Ayala's standard, and is a much more likely scapegoat to Valencia's defensive woes than Spanish counterpart Carlos Marchena. An interesting prospect could be AC Milan's Alessandro Nesta. With Italian national team partner Fabio Cannavaro voicing his distaste for the situation with Italian soccer, and AC Milan's disturbingly bad performance in Serie A this season, it may be a good time to try and entice Nesta out of Italy.
Whatever Valencia does, they better do it quick. The fans and players alike are turning on them. Out of favor Skipper David Albelda is taking the club to court, and every poor performance and administrative blunder is just one step closer to David Villa heading for Chelsea or Tottenham, both of whom have been rumored to be interested.