Hammered

As Lynda mentioned at the end of her last post, Liverpool defeated West Ham in the FA Cup after a lengthy and bruising initial 90 minutes, overtime, and then the dreaded penalty kicks. No team wants to lose by penalty kicks, and if you win, well . . . you win. None of us here at a pretty move were able to make it over to the Horse Brass to view the game, but after reading the Guardian's match report as the game was still in overtime and perusing some of the post-game verdicts, I'm sad that we didn't watch it live. Despite West Ham going down like that, I'm still looking forward to watching the game on Tuesday when FSC replays it. From all of the accounts I've read the game was one of the best FA Cup matches in a long, long while, and the Hammers have nothing to be ashamed about despite the heartbreak. And for a team that was just promoted back into the Premiership this season after spending 2003-2005 in the Championship league, Alan Pardew's crew proved that their return to the top was no fluke. Europe beckons next season, as the Hammers will be included in the UEFA Cup, and I hope for some much needed greatness from them. They may not always be pretty, they may not always be graceful, but the team has given me enough moments of bliss this season to keep me watching.

Next year, though, I'm taking the day off and heading over to the pub no matter how early I have to get up.