Love 'Em or Hate 'Em, Man City is the Future of the EPL
So for the second straight week I’m not writing a column to actually defend the person or organization that I’m talking about in the title. I want people to read my column: sue me. What I am doing, though, is writing about why the English League, the EPL, needs teams like Manchester City to be a more interesting, more competitive league: I’m not trying to defend the hiring and buying practices (which, again, I could do), but instead only suggesting that the EPL needs teams like Man City to keep from being a boring league.
What a controversial premise! The good news is that, thanks to my good friend and noted soccer researcher Joshua Zeitlin over at Princeton University, I have some pretty impressive statistics to back up my argument. What I’ll prove is that in the last 10 years, the EPL has been an extremely uncompetitive league, judging by various metrics: first, the points gap between the teams that ranked 1 and 4, 1 and 10 and 1 and 20, and secondly the overall number of separate teams that ranked in the top 4.
| Average Point Gap | 1-4 | 1-10 | 1-20 |
| EPL POINT GAP | 20.8 | 38.3 | 63.5 |
| LA LIGA POINT GAP | 14.5 | 28.3 | 48.2 |
What’s impressive about this chart is that over the last 10 years, the EPL has had massively larger point gaps than La Liga in every single category, which shows that there is much less competition in the league itself. This point difference could be credited to various different factors: a major skill gap between the top teams and the middle and bottom ones, the massively different amount of money spent in comparison, or other factors. The point is that this difference in skill and level makes the EPL less exciting because its teams are generally mismatched: other than ManU-Chelsea-Liverpool-Arsenal games, the league becomes boring when these teams play anyone else.
This is even more obvious when one takes into account the number of teams that have even been in the top 4 (the C means they've won the league in that time).
EPL (7): Manchester United (C), Liverpool, Chelsea (C), Arsenal (C), Everton, Newcastle United, Leeds United.
La Liga (13): Real Madrid (C), Barcelona (C), Sevilla, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal, Valencia (C), Osasuna, Real Betis, Deportivo La Coruña (C), Real Sociedad, Celta de Vigo, Mallorca, Real Zaragoza.
That's 13-7 Spain, and 10-5 in the top flight.
So I guess this gets to the crux of my column for this week: the EPL needs teams like Manchester City who can come in and place in the top 4 so that the league itself can break out of the conventional “top 4” mode that its been in for the last 10 or 15 years. Say what you will about European competition (again, statistically, La Liga is at least as good if not better in Europe), but the truth is that domestically, the EPL is far from the dominant super-interesting powerhouse that many in this country (USA) make it out to be. It needs a team to really shake things up--and that team, I think, can be Man City.
Gordon '11 cooking Italian specialties in her apartment in Bologna.
Thanks to Eliza Gordon, a junior currently studying abroad in northern Italy, for this Italian cheese testimonial:
I knew my addiction was bad when I started eating mozzarella cheese for breakfast. Not just any mozzarella cheese, but mozzarella di buffala that I buy in bucket form (literally a plastic bucket of cheese) from the grocery store down the street. The cibo (food) in Bologna, and especially the food where cheese is involved, is on a different level than any other food I have consumed. Even the pasta from a box that I make for myself in my own kitchen is better than the pasta from most Italian restaurants at home. Bologna is known as the food capital of Italy, especially for its traditional rich pasta dishes with heavy meat or creamy cheese sauces. I have been exploring the city in terms of the food that it has to offer, and from cooking classes to restaurants to the food market, I am creating a very detailed and delicious map. Read »
Gianna Palmer WSA President Mike Pernick introduces the Zipcars as John Meerts, Wesleyan's Vice President for Finance and Administration, looks on.
You may have noticed the snazzy posters around campus advertising Zipcars— they say something to the effect of "Don't Beg the Kid With the Car, Be the Kid With the Car." Well, now you can be! At a little before noon today a small crowd of people gathered in the area between Usdan and North College to officially launch the Zipcar car-sharing service at Wesleyan.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out this archive of the October 13th edition of Argus News Radio, which features my interview with WSA member Ben Firke '12, the guy responsible for bringing Zipcars to Wesleyan. To hear Firke explain what Zipcars are and how they work, listen up: Argus News Radio 10.13.09.
Alternatively, here's what the WSA had to say about the service in a recent all-campus email:
As part of the continuing effort to "burst the Wesleyan bubble," Zipcar, the world’s largest car sharing service, has arrived on campus. The permanent parking location for the cars is behind the Allbritton Center–a Toyota Prius and a Honda Civic are both available for use now!
Zipcar provides you with a convenient, economical and environmentally-friendly alternative to having a car on campus. Simply stated, its wheels when you want them––self-service cars you can use by the hour or day. Zipcar provides you the freedom of car ownership – the ability to get off campus for errands, entertainment or road trips – without the cost and hassle of owning a car. All reservations include fuel, insurance, parking, roadside assistance and 180 free miles per day of a reservation. Read »
mychemicaltoilet.com My brethren
In the past few weeks I accomplished something I’ve been striving to do for years: I got into metal. Now a few of y’all are doubtlessly scratching your heads and wondering why I would want to do such a thing. And I’ve got a bucketful of reasons.
First of all, I’m always happy when I learn to appreciate a new genre of music (or a new author, or a new type of cinema, or a vegetable I didn't like when I was a kid). In my humble opinion it’s more fun to enjoy things than to not enjoy them. I’m also pretty sure a willingness to try new things with an open mind is an important part of maturity, and saying “I like all kinds of music except metal and country,” is equivalent to saying “green beans are gross.” It’s fine if you don’t like green beans, but you should have some well-prepared ones before you make up you mind. And you should listen to Sugarland before you say you hate country.
www.jpgmag.com Austin, TX
I think we can all agree that Thanksgiving is far and away the best of all the holidays. What other occasion is so totally and singularly devoted to eating food? And, let's be real here, what is more tasty and delicious than stuffing and turkey and mashed potatoes and pie? Unless you’re cooking for a crowd, there’s nothing to stress or worry about doing. For me at least, Thanksgiving is all about kicking it with friends and family and eating until you can’t move. It’s about being home. In a few short weeks, I’ll be traveling to the greatest city in the world, Austin, TX, where the forecast for tomorrow is 77˚ and sunny. I’ve already started planning a weeklong binge of Mexican food, BBQ, and turkey sandwiches.
Everyone has songs that remind them of home. Similarly, countless songs have been written about going home/missing home/being home/leaving home. Across all genres, artists have written about their own hometowns. My personal favorite of these, the song that conjures up the strongest memories of home is “On My Block,” by Scarface off his seventh solo album, The Fix. As an original member of the Geto Boys, Scarface helped bring Texas rap to the world. This song is about the 5th ward of Houston, but, for me, it’s about the west side of Austin Texas.
Daniel Nass
A sizable crowd of people gathered in front of WestCo this afternoon to watch a hawk in a tree devour a squirrel. Nobody saw it catch the squirrel, but it stayed in the tree eating for at least half an hour before flying away. Blargus was on the scene with exclusive video coverage. Our condolences to the squirrel.
Carmz Lopez Typhoon victims in a Philippine emergency room are diagnosed and directed to specific doctors.
PASIG CITY, PHILLIPINES— The day after Typhoon Ondoy hit, the medical students at the Ateneo de Manila School of Medicine immediately began relief efforts— surprisingly close to home. After taking down the class roster, the school immediately began searching for the 100 missing friends and classmates that had not shown up that day.
“It was really the students that got together to start texting and calling everyone they knew to try and figure out where their classmates were,” said Dr. Mikey Vergara, a Professor at the Medical School. “They found the last student four days later, wearing the same clothes he was wearing the day the typhoon hit.”
I sat down with Dr. Vergara on October 19, three weeks after the typhoon actually hit. In addition to being the best man at my parents’ wedding and now the personal doctor of my grandfather, Dr. Vergara has been regarded as an outstanding member of the Philippine medical community because of his extensive community service work in poorer, rural areas which have extremely limited access to proper health care. Having grown up in a more fortunate and affluent family, Dr. Vergara branched out in a way that many of his colleagues would not have by helping the less fortunate in remote areas of the Philippines. Even with his recent return to the capital city, he has continued his work, and has become a very beloved professor at the Medical School. During our interview, students were continually coming up to him to give him updates on medical missions, ask questions, and just chat about their lives.
New episode!
This week, we feature headlines with Andrea Domanick '10 and a Homecoming Weekend preview with sports contributor Abaye Steinmetz-Silber '12. Be sure to catch our exclusive interview with Dylan Marron '10 and Jo Firestone '09, creators of the Ridgefield Middle School Talent Night. Thanks to contributor Gianna Palmer '10 and producer Sam Bernhardt '10 for making this week's show possible!
www.wesleyan.edu
So big dog Ryan Brill '10 over at Wesleying has raised an interesting question during these financially difficult times by comparing President Michael Roth's salary to those of presidents at some of our peer institutions. All in all, compared to the presidents of Williams, Amherst, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Oberlin, Middlebury and Brown, Roth's $564,000 annual salary is the second highest. Brown's Ruth Simmons comes in first at $636,000.
The debate in the Wesleying comments section has been lively and surprisingly civil, raising some interesting questions about Roth's salary in relation to his predecessors and his colleagues. I dug around on guidestar.org, which provides the 990 tax forms for nonprofit organizations, in order to give this conversation a little more context:
In 2006, his final year at Wesleyan, President Doug Bennet earned $412,974. The next year, his first at Wes, Roth earned $564,007--a $150,00 salary hike.
The 2008 form lists the salaries for top officers and administrators. A glance:
Thomas Kannam, VP & Chief Investment Officer: $460, 610
Barbara Jan Wilson, VP President for University Relations: $260, 334
John Meerts, VP for Finance and Administration: $240, 060
Joseph Bruno, VP for Academic Affairs and Provost, $221,120 Read »
http://www.wesleyan.edu/usdan/images/USDAN1STCOMPLETEcopy.jpg The scene of the movement.
I'm not quite sure what to make of it now, but at about 11:00 this morning I stumbled across two students wearing all black doing what might be described as "exploring movement" inside the display case in Usdan across from the box office. It turns out this movement instillation is being put on by the CCR Student Task Force and will run through Saturday from 10-6 each day.
Seeing this upcoming weekends is Homecoming/Family weekend, I'm curious to see what alums and (my) parents will think of the instillation.
In the meantime, head to Usdan and check out the instillation for yourself or watch this video I snagged of the movement explorers. If you then find yourself interested in signing up for a 2-hour shift in the display case, you can contact Mark McCloughan '10 (mmccloughan@wes).
Thanks for your submission!
Thanks for your submission!