The First Had To Be For the Blues

Since the birth of this blog has come as the seasons are winding down, although the title races are heating up and the MLS is just getting rolling, I had to start by acknowledging the unprecedented success and opportunity for glory of the one and only, Chelsea FC. With the Carling Cup trophy already in the case, trailing the premiership title race (which would be the third straight) by only three points, in the FA cup finals, and gearing up for their UEFA Champion’s League semi-final clash with Liverpool, they seem to be poised for the treble, and maybe if by chance, the QUADRUPLE!! For those that don’t know, clubs, depending on their strength, compete in more than just one tournament at the same time with many different clubs (some from another country possibly), unlike American sports where there is one season followed by play-offs with teams all out of the same league. Winning two trophies is a double, three a treble, and four the quadruple. So, in Chelsea’s case, a team can win four trophies (two very prestigious, one prestigious, and one not so much) in one season, although none have ever done so, in recent history at least. Again using Chelsea as an example, they are playing in three domestic tournaments, league, which is decided on a points system and no playoff, the FA Cup, which is a tournament of all English professional sides including the lower divisions (it would be like the MLB having a tournament with all minor-league teams, the majors, and any random club team if they so choose), the Carling Cup (a less prestigious version of the FA cup with only the minors and majors playing – no outside teams), and one international tournament, the UEFA Champions League. The Champions League is put on by European soccer governing body, UEFA - a member of FIFA, the world’s soccer governing body known for the World Cup – which is made up of all the European country’s domestic leagues, like the Premiership. This is a very special tournament that teams must qualify for by doing well in their domestic league the previous season. Different countries, depending on league strength, are given a different number of “births,” ranging from a chance to enter the qualifying round by playoff for the winner of the domestic league, to one automatic “birth” to the tournament and three automatic qualifying round entries, as with England. So it’s sort of the competition to see who is the best in Europe, which in turn, because Europe is obviously the world’s regional power-house, is the best in the world. Confusing, huh? Anyways, I just wanted to explain that from the start because I’ll refer to it a lot. Here’s a quote from an article from Fox Soccer Channel talking about the coach and his chances – full article here.

Jose Mourinho is able to focus all his energy on completing
an unprecedented Quadruple at Chelsea
after learning he will not be sacked.