As I mentioned yesterday, tomorrow is the European Champions' League finals between Manchester United and Chelsea F.C. If I can manage it, I will go somewhere downtown to watch some of the game, perhaps the Downunder Pub. Not that I really follow European soccer, but I like the idea of soccer gaining popularity in the US and I'm excited about supporting a soccer culture.

That being said, I need to adopt a team to pull for. I choose Chelsea, and my reason follows this analogy: Chelsea is to the Dodgers as Manchester U is to the Yankees.

Chelsea wears Dodger blue, they were known for many of their early years as the Pensioners (see the Brooklyn Bums), and they won a club-defining league championship in 1955.

Manchester United, on the other hand, is reputed to be the richest team on the planet, known as one of the most successful teams in history, is loaded with high-paid superstars, and is a very fashionable choice among casual fans. They also have players that are fun to hate, like Wayne Rooney.

So here's to the blues. In their honor, enjoy this fine piece of sports poetry.

The Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup:

"Of course as a result of an astounding thing like this,
A host of other strange events occurred.
All folks and things were opposite to what they really are
And the happenings were really quite absurd.
On the day that Chelsea went and won the final,
The universe went simply off the reel.
Great Sir Harry Lauder used a five-bob postal order
To stop his shoe from rubbing on his heel.
The sun came out in Manchester and funny things like that,
Jack Jones, M.P. played golf and wore a kilt and Winston's hat,
And a pigeon hatched a guinea pig and blamed it on the cat,
On the day that Chelsea went and won the Cup."