ALCS Game 3, and a Champions League Preview

Game 3 of the American League Championship Series was at Yankee Stadium and it pitted Andy Pettitte, who had the most wins in playoff history, against Cliff Lee, who had never lost in the playoffs. Lee is a free agent at the end of this season and most of the talk has been about how he will be a Yankee next season, so I saw this as his unofficial tryout for the Yanks. There was a lot of pressure on him, as many people already chalked this game up as a Texas win, and he lived up to the hype. Lee pitched 8 innings, gave up 2 hits, 1 walk and had 13 strikeouts. He would have pitched the 9th inning to finish off the complete game, but the Rangers were scoring at will in the top half of the inning, therefore giving Lee too much time to possibly tighten up. It also gave the young closer Neftali Feliz, for the Rangers, an opportunity to pitch against the best Yankee hitters, even though at that point it didn't mean anything for the current game. He struck out Jeter, got Texeira to ground out and struck out A-Rod. Not bad for a 22 year old kid. The performance by Lee was one of the best I have ever seen. Yes, Halladay pitched a no hitter, and Lincecum had 14 strikeouts in one of their postseasons starts, but for Lee to have this game against the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium, just shows how great he is. The Yankees losing is something I will be happy about, but unfortunately, he all but locked up his position in the Bronx for next season.

Thankfully, the Champions League is back this week. To me this is, hands down, the greatest sports competition in the world. I will watch any game, even if United is not playing in it. And having been to a few Champions League games, I can say there is no atmosphere like at a match on a European night. Today's games include: Spartak Moscow vs Chelsea, Roma vs Basel, Bayern vs CFR Cluj, Marseille vs Zilina, Ajax vs Auxerre, Real Madrid vs AC Milan, Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga vs Partizan Belgrade. A couple of these games I am extremely excited to watch.

The first is the Chelsea game in Moscow. This is the site of 2008 Champions League Final, where I can proudly say that United beat Chelsea in a shootout after Tiny Tears (aka John Terry) slipped on a banana peel before he took his kick to win it. This is the first time Chelsea has been back to that stadium, and I am sure there will be some interesting feelings for them. Another point about this game is an unfortunate one, racism. There is a well documented history of racism in Russian football, and I would not be surprised to hear some of it shown tonight. It's really hard to see this kind of stuff, regardless of the team you support. But with Chelsea, who will likely have some of Drogba, Malouda, Anelka, Mikel, Cole, Essien, Ramires in their squad today, could be a victim of abuse. In an Italian league game this past weekend, the fans at Calgilari chanted racist things, and booed every time Samuel Eto'o touched the ball for Inter Milan. The referee actually stopped the match and there was an announcement over the public address that if the racism didn't stop, the referee would abandon the match. My hope is that the game today doesn't get to that point, but I guess we will have to sit tight and see for ourselves. Regardless of all of the off field notes, I expect Chelsea to win this game. My prediction is 3-1 for the Blues.

The next match, which is definitely the biggest of today, is between Real Madrid and AC Milan. These two were matched up in the group stages just last year, and the match today should be just as exciting, if not more. It will be contested at the Bernabeu in Madrid, which I think will allow it to be much more free flowing and open than if it was at the San Siro in Milan. The fact that both teams are playing extremely well just makes this game that much more attractive. I watched both of these teams play on the weekend and Milan was about as good as I have seen them in a long time. Pato is unstoppable, Pirlo and Ronaldinho are back to the form that made them two of the best players in the world at times in their career, and when you also have Zlatan, Robinho, Seedorf and Zambrotta, it is just a good side to watch. Now for Madrid. As good as the squad looks for Milan, any team could be seen as inferior against Madrid. Their starting team from the weekend, which should be similar to what we see today, was: Casillas, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Higuain, Ozil, Ronaldo, and Di Maria. Every single player in that squad has the firepower to make magic happen out on the field. Add to the amazing squad a man they refer to as "The Special One", Jose Mourinho. Arguably, the best coach in the world. He won everything with Chelsea in England, won everything with Inter in Italy, and now he will likely win in Spain with Madrid. Let's hope this game lives up to the hype. My prediction is Madrid to win 3-2.