Earlier in the month what with Baseball and Major League Soccer still in their closed seasons and tickets for an NHL game still averaging above the average mans weekly salary, I was looking for a sporting event to go and watch when I read something online about the Toronto Rock, National Lacrosse League outfit. Their season was just getting underway and they were the defending champions — a rarity indeed in Toronto sports — so I decided I’d hop online and grab a ticket to see what this Lacrosse sport was all about. It more than met my expectations.

Don’t get me wrong, Toronto isn’t devoid of good value sporting events through the winter months. There is major junior hockey throughout the GTA and there is the Toronto Marlies AHL team, but for a change I was looking for something new to experience and Lacrosse more than fitted the bill. I know very little about Lacross other than here in Toronto the Rock play in the Air Canada centre, that it’s rolling lines and five on five (much like hockey) and the majority of penalties are similar to that of hockey. I also knew that it was a physical and intense game. Come to think of it, I’m not sure why it had taken me so long to go before?

The game was on Friday night against the Rochester KnightHawks, it was the third of the Rock’s season and having lost their first two I can only imagine the pressure was on to get their first win in. 11,862 turned up to the game which was a pleasant surprise. For a team that flies somwhat below the radar in the Toronto sports scene, and certainly in terms of media attention, those were strong numbers and the atmosphere was stronger still.

I paid for seats that would have cost me about six times more had I been going to see the Toronto Maple Leafs in the same arena and by the time I took my seat having been running a few minutes late, Toronto were already a goal behind. I qickly came to realise that scoring is much more frequent than in hockey and that missing one goal wouldn’t prove to be the end of the world and certainly not the most decisive moment. I like my football because one goal can be the decisive moment, but I also like sports like Baseball, hockey and now Lacrosse in which the game and twist and turn throughout its course as both sides trade scoring.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations coming in but one thing that struck me was the physical fitness the players must pocess. This isn’t hockey were you can glide once you get up to speed and subtly conserve your energy, in this game you’re on your feet and running a lot — and more often than not your run is a sprint. The physical play is certainly evident and while there was penalties for much the same things as I see in hockey, I couldn’t quite grasp what was and wasn’t a legal slash. Yes, it would appear that for the most part, slashing was given the go-ahead.

With ten minutes to go in the game Toronto were trailing 12-9 and seemingly on their way to a third straight defeat, but a remarkable rally seen them score five without reply and take control of the game once more. By the end of the game they were two goals better off than the KnightHawks with a 13-11 win.

For the value, the entertainment and the type of sport, I was more than won over and again left to wonder what had taken me so long to give it a try. Had I bothered myself to go along say this time last year I could have been watching a championship team in action with a trophy to celebrate at the years end. I can only hope they’re out to repeat, but I’ll soon find out as I fully intend on going back.

Anytime Liverpool take on Manchester United in a game it can go one of three ways for me. If it’s a draw you feel somewhat let down that nothing was resolved and it leaves both sets of fans delving deep into the suitcase of excuses as to why their team deserved to win it but didn’t or how the referee prevented them hammering the other. If it’s a a defeat you know your Facebook page is going to light up with abuse from friends out to remind you of your teams real status as a result of that game. It’s best often to sign off from the world for a few days, find something else to watch for a while and pretend it never really happened. But, if it’s a win, then your weekend is made and you can spend whatever free time you have ensuring those same friends are on the sharp end of your delight.

The later is what Liverpool fans, myself included, got on Saturday. A late Dirk ‘United killer’ Kuyt goal in the 88th minute — only his second of the year — to snap a 1-1 scoreline sent the crowd at Anfield into raptures and me onto my feet and dancing around the living room trying to supress my cheers enough so as not to waken the wife up in the next room. I had all but resigned myslef to a replay at Old Trafford — which would have been interesting because it’s not often these two sides would ever meet four times in a season — that would have occured midweek when I was stuck in work and unable to watch it live.

I think it is fair to say that Man Utd had the best of the play in terms of possession — something that is always easy to admit when your team still won the game — but as they said, possession never counts in the scoreline and you have to take your chances and when it came down to it Liverpool had the better of those chances.

From the off the Liverpool game plan was to smother the United midfield, limit their attacking options and then bully their defensive line and in particular their young goalie any chance they got to go forward.

This was evident from virtually every corner kick when Liverpool would place a handful of players including big Andy Caroll in front of David de Gea in the United net. De Gea looked shaken up by the tactic and it paid off on the 21st minute when Liverpool’s defender Daniel Agger met a Steven Gerrard corner with his head as De Gea was caught in no-mans-land and Liverpool went up 1-0.

Andy Carroll has come in for some stiff criticism this season for not living up to the big fee paid for him and for not hitting the ground running in his Anfield career, but this game was one of his best since arriving at the club despite not having registered a goal. He was in the mix for that first goal and later it was he that got on the end of a Pepe Reina punt up the middle to flick it into the path of the on rushing Kuyt who got in behind the United defense and buried the winner.

The main talking point in the media was the Liverpool fans’ booing of Patrice Evra and the seeming shock of some that it happened. I mean, what did they honestly expect? It was always likely to happen and always will in football. The Liverpool fans did not boo him in a racist manor and certainly didn’t boo any of United’s other black players, but limited their displeasure to Evra for being the man that got their man banned, rightly or wrongly. You see it all the time when a player snaps an opponent with a bad tackle — the fans of the offending player will boo the victom relentlessly the rest of the game because regarldess of whether it was actually a foul or not.

This game had the potential for much worse and it was that possibility that I feared, so when the abuse towards Evra was limited to booing, I felt quite relieved. Sadly of course the media couldn’t leave it alone and make the game itself — the end to end football and cup game type pace it was played at — as the main topic of the day, but rather had to delve into yet another controversial moment. If it isn’t a referee’s decision, a bad tackle or the future of a manager and even his post game comments then it’s something else to fill column inches in this celebrity culture world we live in.

Anyway, I promised myself I wouldn’t get into that side of it and that I’d stick to the football itself and my joy at the result, so now that I’ve broken that promise to myself and dedicated two paragraphs towards mentioning it and this one to explaining why I did so, let’s get back to the game itself…

Liverpool have now eliminted both Manchester teams from two separate cup competitions in less than a week. Their aggregate victory over league leaders Manchester City to put them into the League Cup final and this result over United to put them into the 5th round of the F.A. Cup will do their confidence the world of good and hopefully turn around what has of late been some poor league form. Winning a trophy for the first time in six years would be a huge deal for Liverpool fans and desposing both Manchester sides along the way would only make it all the more enjoyable. Of course, there’s a lot of work still to be done.

Liverpool will play Brighton in the last sixteen for a place in the quarter-finals and while that old cliche that there are no easy games in cup football is understandable, this tie is certainly winable and shouldn’t be as difficult as the one against United, though it does carry with it a banana skin.

The 5th round draw is in full below:

Liverpool v Brighton
Everton v Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday
Chelsea v Birmingham City
Crawley Town v Stoke City
Stevenage v Tottenham
Norwich City v Leicester City
Sunderland or Middlesbrough v Arsenal
Milwall or Southampton v Bolton

Actually it isn’t all bad for being picked last. You do win a car and $20,000 towards the chairty of your choice, and well, given the money these guys make and how for there entire childhood they were no doubt the kid going first, or more likely doing the picking, you can’t feel too bad for them getting their turn to be picked last. As Couture pointed out later in the evening on Twitter: “To all the unathletic/fat kids who were picked last in gym class…I feel you.”

And anyway, like Kessel the year before him, Couture took it in good grace — though what did you expect him to do? Sulk, swear and call them all “mean” before taking the game puck and going home?

The first pick was Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings. A pick you’ll not hear me argue with for I believe Datsyuk to be one of, if not the most, talented player in the game. The usual names followed shortly after and the expected names were left squirming back stage with the cameras on them as the numbers dwindled. Couture himself Tweeting: “Is it me or is it getting hotter back here after every pick?”

The evening itself was packed with player interviews, soundbites from players wearing microphones and Ottawa Senators fans in the audience booing anything to do with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which meant a lot of it directed the way of Lupul who was often announcing draft picks for ‘Team Chara’. They all took it pretty well though it was amusing to observe on Twitter the number of Toronto fans who themselves were getting pretty upset by the kind of booing they themselves would have dished out in equal proportion had the rolls been reversed and the event held in Toronto.

As the evening went on it was quite clear that there was an agenda behind each captains picks. Alfredsson was clearly after his team-mates — picking both Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza early — and anyone from his native Sweden, whereas Chara was avoiding anyone associated with the Vancouver Canucks like the plague (namely the Sedin’s) and stacking up on his fellow Bruins and Slovaks with Lupul ensuring the Leafs all landed on the same team.

Actually, you could say the game is effectivly the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks and a few others against the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple leafs and the rest. Which is a good thing I believe. Staking team mates together ensures an element of pride comes into it and puts in place a little bit of a rivalry between the two sides, though I still don’t expect there to be a hit thrown over the sixty minutes of play.

For what it was worth though, I enjoyed it. It was entertaining and really that’s what the whole all-star thing is all about. The game itself takes itself much too serious sometimes so it’s nice to lighten up now and again, even if some players did come across as a little awkward about the whole thing. Besides, what’s the alternative? They show up, break into pre-defined teams, play a game and go home again as was the case before last years change?

Still if they are to tweek the whole thing just a little, how about for next year they get Don Cherry — he of anti-Euro bias and high opinion — to pick one game and the previous years Cup winning coach to pick the other? That might add a bit of spice to it, though there is the risk it could turn into the North America vs The World game that was the all-star way not so long ago.

Before Sunday’s game there is Saturday’s skills competition, which for me is always a better watch than the game itself. Who wins through is anyones guess and it would be a coin flip at that. But since I picked Datsyuk right as the first pick and Couture correct as the last (hoenstly, I did), I’ll say Team Alfredsson beat Team Chara 7-4 in the game itself though don’t ask me how the scoring in the skills contest plays into that.

The two teams

Team Chara

Goaltender: Tim Thomas (Bruins), Jimmy Howard (Red Wings), Carey Price (Canadiens)

Defence: Zdeno Chara (Bruins), Kimmo Timonen (Flyers), Ryan Suter (Predators), Brian Campbell (Panthers), Dion Phaneuf (Maple Leafs), Dennis Wideman (Capitals)

Forward: Joffrey Lupul (Maple Leafs), Pavel Datsyuk (Red Wings), Evgeni Malkin (Penguins), Marian Hossa (Blackhawks), Corey Perry (Ducks), Phil Kessel (Maple Leafs), Patrick Kane (Blackhawks), Jarome Iginla (Flames), Marian Gaborik (Rangers), Jordan Eberle (Oilers), Jamie Benn (Stars)

Team Alfredsson

Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers), Jonathan Quick (Kings), Brian Elliott (Blues)

Defence: Erik Karlsson (Senators), Kris Letang (Penguins), Shea Weber (Predators), Dan Girardi (Rangers), Keith Yandle (Coyotes), Alexander Edler (Canucks)

Forward: Daniel Alfredsson (Senators), Jason Spezza (Senators), Steve Stamkos (Lightning), Daniel Sedin (Canucks), Henrik Sedin (Canucks), Milan Michalek (Senators), James Neal (Penguins), John Tavares (Islanders), Scott Hartnell (Flyers), Logan Couture (Sharks)

Both Cavendish and Wiggins have the opportunity to help bring unprecedented glory to British cycling

Twenty hundred and twelve has the potential to be a huge year for British Cycling. With both Bradley Wiggins and Christopher Froome proving last year they can podium in a grand tour and with the 2012 Tour de France route suited better than ever towards one or both of them competing for the GC, and with Mark Cavendish going for Green again, not to mention the Olympic road race, and a stack of track riders looking to aid to Britain’s gold haul, this could be the year Britain becomes the best cycling nation on earth. To have said that not even ten years ago would have brought sniggering from all angles and much ridicule.

When Team Sky’s team boss Dave Brailsford popped up and claimed that he hoped to have a Tour de France winner “within five years of setting up a team” the sniggering begun in earnst. But what nobody knew then that I can only assume Brailsford himself seen was that Brad Wiggins was more than just a man who went very fast for a distance of 1,500 meters around an oval strip of wood. Wiggins hadn’t offered much in his early Tour de France days except to be the next Chris Boardman for Britain in prolgues, but in 2009 that all changed when he blew away all expectations and finished fourth into Paris.

Wiggins didn’t ride for Sky then — there was no Team Sky — but Brailsford knew his man and immediately got him on board. Following Britain’s dominant display on the track at the Beijing Olympics — to a level that many didn’t see coming — in which Brailsford was the grand arcitect, Team Sky became his virtual British road team. Yes there are a handful of imports including the ubber talented Edvald Boisson Hagen, but there’s no doubt who this team is built around . . . as in what nation the team is built around?

For that matter, the Tour de France route would appear to be built around the team also. There are few super high peaks that would hinder Wiggins and Froome and aid Evans, less summit finishes than in recent years to the no doubt dissappointment of Contador and there is the return of the two long time-trials as well as the opening prologue to really stick a spanner into the works of the pure climbers such as the Schlecks.

As to who the team itself is built around, is generating much early season debate after the recruitment of Mark Cavendish. The fastest man in the world, Tour de France Green Jersey winner and recently crowned World Road Race Champion, Cavendish has become — along with Chris Hoy — a house hold name in Britain. He proved that by winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award this past December, something else I’d have sniggered and mocked you for ten years ago had you suggested that might one day happen, nevermind twice in four years. Because of the status of Cavendish and his ability to win any race that gets into the final kilometer with the bunch altogether, the question asked is whether Team Sky can deal with the ambitions of both Wiggins and Cavendish, and throw in Froome for good measure?

Will Brailsford be able to create a scenario whereby Sky can chase down breaks and set up Cavendish for sprints without wearing down the energies of Wiggins and Froom and their support men in the mountains, along the way? Can Cavendish survive on say a five man train of which he is one while leaving Wiggins, Froom and perhaps one other to conserve themselves? If Cavendish struggles to win races early and starts to look for more help will Brailsford stick to the game plan, or more interestingly, will Wiggins and Froome be willing to chip in? Cavendish will want the Green Jersey but make no mistake about it, it shouldn’t ever come before a shot at the Yellow.

And what of Froome and Wiggins if both are strong going through the mountains? Will a team leader be assigned or will they be allowed to race? What if the team leader cracks, shall the other press on? We’ve seen how Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador’s relationship went in such a scenario, though it must be pointed out Contador went on to win that Tour regardless.

But why not? Why can’t it work? Team Telekom in 1996 won both the sprint crown with Erik Zabel and the GC with Bjarne Riis, albeit as a team doped to the eyeballs. Does it take such a team to manage and handle both competitions? These days when we persume the sport to be as clean as it’s been since the days when a rider cheating was him hopping on a train before popping up close to the finish to cross the line and be declared the winner, I don’t see why it isn’t possible.

Cavendish has proven before he can win sprints without the train and while his team will be looked to as the team to claw back breaks meaning Cavendish might have to sacrifice a couple of stage wins, he can still do enough to take Green. Wiggins and Froome will no doubt sort it out on the higher mountains and will soon establish which is going strongest and if a designated number one is established one can certainly rely on the other as the kind of super domestique other teams could only dream of.

Which leads us onto the Olympic games just a week after the Tour ends. So long as the above mentioned protagonists can recover and recover fast, Cavendish will look to a group of Brit’s that probably won’t include Wiggins — who will be saving himself for the time trial — to help him to the road race gold, followed by the high expectations of the track team. It’s the track team that Britain is really pinning its hopes on to bring in a slew of medals and these games have been the vocal point of British cycling for over half a decade now. Everything is geared towards a Beijing style encore and any kind of slip up, let down, loss of form, or choke under pressure, doesn’t much bare thinking about.

Which leaves us with only the outlandish possibility that Cavendish wins a couple of stages, the Green Jersey and later the Olympic road race title; that Wiggins takes the Yellow and the Olympic time trial Gold; Froome wins a stage and takes the King of the Mountains; while Gold to a simular weight of that in Fort Knox is won by the British men and woman on the track. It’s at this point Britin should announce its withdrawl from the sport having reached the peak and with no desire to come back down again.

This is how it looked the last time Liverpool made it to Wembley

The last time Liverpool played a game at Wembley it was May 1996. John Barnes, Jamie Redknapp, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler were in the lineup and those cream suits were the butt of jokes for a generation. That was the F.A. Cup Final against Manchester United and although the club have been back to Cup Final’s since then, those finals were at the Mellenium Stadium in Cardiff while the new Wembley was being built. Indeed, since the new Wembley opened it’s doors in 2007, an amazing 60 different teams have played there without Liverpool having made an appearance. Last night’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City resulting in a 3-2 aggregate victory ensured that they would finally make their new Wembley debut’s.

Last night’s second leg at Anfield was a huge game for the club. Confidence has been shaky of late and if anything was likely to restore it, a solid performance against the Premier League’s top side with a trip to a cup final on the end of it, was always likely to help. The performances of late have rightly seen some criticism thrown their way but the team certainly responded to it.

Cardiff will be their opponents in the final and while Liverpool will be big favourites against the Championship side, they must not take them too lightly. We all seen what happened to Arsenal in last years final against Portsmouth, and for that matter then 1988 F.A. Cup final for Liverpool against Wimbledon. Still, if they can perform any way like last night and in no way like they did against Bolton last weekend, then they should be lifting their first trophy since the F.A. Cup win, way back in 2006.

Back then Liverpool were just a year removed from winning the Champions League and it seemed the glory days were coming back, but as has been the case with Liverpool over the past twenty years, these signs of returning glory have usually proved to be false dawns. It happened in 2001 when they hauled in virtually every trophy going except for the league only to go a further four years without another piece of silverware. So nobody for one second believes a win in the League Cup will be the immediate beginning of great things, but I for one certainly feel that if they can get the taste for silverware once more it’ll give them some insentive to push on the rest of the season.

Some people will always try and tell you that this is only the League Cup and that it doesn’t matter, but while those same people would be quick to celebrate their own team making the final or indeed winning it, such comments are usually made by the fan who only took to watching football over the past ten years and believe that Chelsea, for example, have always been a title threat. In their glory days when they would win the League and European Cup on a regular basis, Liverpool won the League Cup four times in a row (between 1981 and 1984) and it didn’t do that team any harm. As former manager Bill Shankly himself said, “The purpose of Liverpool Football Club is to win trophies.”

The current manager, Kenny Dalglish, has taken a little flack over the past week or so because of recent results, because of the huge money spent last summer on players that have yet to work out, and because of the way the club dealt with the whole Luis Suarez saga. But, let’s take a look at the facts for just a moment:

In his first year since returning to the club since he left some twenty years before, and in his first managerial job in ten years, Dalglish has guided Liverpool to their first Cup final in six years. The target for the club before the start of the season was a top four finish and a solid run in both cup competitions. They’re currently six points out of fourth with sixteen games to go and 48 points up for grabs, they’re into the League Cup final, and they play Manchester United this coming weekend looking for a place in the F.A. Cup fifth round. The old cliche is that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, and given that this time last year, Liverpool were in the process of clawing their way up from the lower end of the table and were already out of both cup competitions, tells me that despite some questionable form of late and the struggles of some new players to settle in, the club have taken the first step forward in what is — whether you like it or not — a steady rebuilding plan under new ownership, a new manager, a new coaching staff, and a collection of new, young, players.

The next step is all important and will be taken over the remainder of the season and into next summer, but surely it all begins on February 26th with the League Cup final, or perhaps it has even began with the elimination of the mighty Manchester City to reach the final?

A bit of advice to the club: Wear a sensible, smart and forgettable suit.

***

Gerrard speaks up

“What would it mean for me to lead Liverpool out at Wembley?” Asked Steven Gerrard of himself the day before the teams aggregate victory over Manchester City to put the club into the final of the League Cup. “Nothing,” he answered. “But to lift the cup at Wembley would be a dream come true. If I lead the club out and we lose, I will remember it in a bad way. To get to Wembley is the target. To win it is the dream.”

That says everything about the kind of player Gerrard is. He is winner and he is one of the finest captains of the Premier League era and has recently become a little more vocal in defense of his team and their goals for the season and whether current form should dictate they reacess those goals.

“Can I just go back to a question about our targets at the start of the season?” he asked earlier in that same press conference having decided to weigh in on the subject in more depth. “Our targets were to get into the top four and go on two long runs in the cups and itís still possible. Why change? Why are we crying out for change?

“Weíre six points off fourth and there are 16 games left. Youíre not telling me that this team and the players weíve got here are not capable of making that up? The sides who we are competing with arenít on all-out consistent runs. Man United got beat 3-0 by Newcastle the other week, Chelsea drew with Norwich and Arsenal have lost their last three.

“Why isnít it possible? Why are people crying out for change? Donít get me wrong, itís not all great here. Weíve got a fight on for fourth, but we had a fight on at the start of the season when we were telling people our aims for the season.

“Of course you go into every season wondering if you can get into the title race, and at the moment weíre not in it. But at the end of this week we could be going to Wembley, we could be in the fifth round of the FA Cup and six points off fourth.

“The flip-side of that is different, but big weeks happen at big football clubs and this is a big week.”

And as he has proven so many times in the past when the pressure is on and a big game is on the line, Gerrard helped push the club — thanks in part to his two penalty conversions in each leg — to a 2-2 draw on the night and 3-2 victory on aggregate, and into the League Cup final.

During that interview Gerrard had spoke of how the team had rightly taken criticism from their manager after a disappointing performance against Bolton last Sunday and how it was important to “give a big reaction on Wednesday” against City. Speaking indirectly to the newer players at the club about how at Liverpool the manor of such a defeat is unacceptable at any time, he said “The people new to the club will appreciate and understand that a bit more now after a performance like that. You canít do it here. The fans wonít accept it. Itís not allowed.”

With that they responded with last nights effort and are now just one more good showing away from winning their first silverware in six years. It’ll be Gerrard’s first time leading the team out at Wembley, but as is quoted at the top, it’ll mean little to him if he isn’t lifting silverware for the first time at Wembley by the time the final whistle blows.

Gerrard’s achievements speak for themselves. Some people point to the fact he has never won a league, but that would be unfair, if not foolish. He could easily have done what so many have done and followed the coin for silverware to a team willing to offer him the best possible shot at the title. In his prime, every team in the world would have loved to have him. Instead he choose to remain loyal despite coming very close to making that money move for glory to Chelsea. Liverpool went through some turbulant times and never quite gave him the support that would have been necessarly to sustain a title challenge.

But in cup competitions when big players come through with clutch performances, Gerrard’s record reads well. Twice and F.A. Cup winner, twice a League Cup winner, a Champions League winner, a UEFA Cup winner and a UEFA Super Cup winner. In fact, international competition aside, a domestic league title is the only thing missing from his resume. Liverpool fans would like to think that a 32-years of age there is still time for him to be a part of a Liverpool title winning team, but even if it isn’t to be for him, he’ll still go down as one of the Premier League greats and certainly one of its best leaders.