World Football Rankings November 2nd

1. Barcelona (last years champions league winners still look impressive this season, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry, enough said)

2. Internazionale Milan (Eto’o has filled in nicely for Ibrahimovic and Inter sit 7 points clear on top of Serie A in Italy)

3. Chelsea (New coach Carlo Ancelotti has C.F.C. firing on all cylinders, Drogba is off to a hot start, and this is possibly the deepest team in the world)

4. Juventus (Juve has restructed their midfield this year, I was skeptical on how much influence Diego would have but he has been brilliant thus far)

5. Manchester United (Utd. are still a strong team, but they’ve clearly fallen off the top, to say they miss Ronaldo is an understatement)

6. Arsenal (The gunners have played well in the EPL this season despite losing some big names, don’t expect this team to win any silverware though)

7. Bordeaux (Last years French champions continue to play well, they have a huge game against Bayern Munich on Tuesday Nov. 3rd, Gourcuff is some player)

8. Bayer Leverkusen (It has been no secret that there was a lot of young emerging talent here, it is starting to come together, let’s see if they can keep it that way)

9. Real Madrid (This team has been utterly disappointing, Ronaldo has been hurt but still, with the all star squad they have they should murdering teams, not winning by 2 to Getafe)

10. Rubin Kazan (Last years Russian Premier League winners are about to repeat for their second straight title, they are also right in the thick of things in a race for a spot in the knock out stages of the champions league)

11. Olympique Lyonnais (New signings Gomis and Lissandro Lopez have covered well for the departured Karim Benzema, Lyonnais could retake the French title this year)

12. AC Milan (Milan started poorly but have significantly played better recently, their turning point may have been that stunning 3-2 win over Madrid last week, the rematch is tomorrow, Alexandre Pato continues to mold into Milan’s next superstar)

13. Benfica (The Portuguese giants have reloaded and look favorites to win a competitive Portuguese league this year)

14. Sampdoria (Sampdoria fan’s can only hope they are sitting in the top 4 at the end of the season in Italy, what a great start)
15. Sevilla (The Spanish league does not have much depth but this is clearly the next best team after the two Spanish giants, this midfield is exciting, especially the wingers)

16. FC Porto (People forget how strong this team may be, if it was not for one Ronaldo super strike last year Porto may have beat Man. Utd.)

17. Hamburg (The German league is super competitive to this point, it’s always hard to tell where this team is going but the pieces seam to be in place if they can find consistency)

18. Dynamo Kiev (Like Rubin Kazan, this team is in a fight for a knock out spot, and they’ve come off some recent success domestically and in the Uefa Cup)

19. Manchester City (Is it premature to put them this high? No, probably not.  This team has quality all over the pitch now; Adebayor and Tevez are real strikers)

20. Fiorentina (This is a quality team that has been floating around the top of Italian football for a few years and they are starting to play well together)

21. Bayern Munich (Much more is expected of this club, they can buy all the wingers and strikers they want, but until they can play with a solid defense and field a sustainable keeper then Bayern are not going to win the title back)

22. Estudiantes (Brazil still has some excellent talent and teams, this one is the cream of the crop right now)

23. PSV (They sit a few points above Ajax in Holland for second place, Twente holds the lead but it’s a safe prediction to say that PSV and AJAX will be fighting for the title)

24. Ajax Amsterdam (Ajax used to compete for UCL titles until hitting this long rough spot, this team is starting to look better and striker Luis Suarez is a hot property among big European clubs)

25. Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs may have finally found their manager, Harry Redknapp has been excellent, Robbie Keane should have never left for Liverpool, he’s a Spur)

Chicago

A week ago we found out Chicago would not be hosting the 2016 Olympics.  I wasn’t mad or sad when I heard the news, even to the surprise of myself, I was content.

About 3 years when I first heard Chicago would make a push to get the 2016 bid I was excited.  Initially I was excited of the possibility of seeing the Olympic games in person without the difficulty of traveling half way around the world.  When I left for college however I developed another desire for Chicago to get the bid.  Shortly after living outside the city for the first time in my life my pride for Chicago grew tremendously.  While I would still love to see the Olympics in my home town, I now wanted Chicago to get the 2016 games to show the rest of the world what a great city we are.

Watching Michael Phelps and the rest of the 2008 Olympics last summer was awesome.  Never before have I realized how fun it is to watch sports when the lines aren’t drawn and everyone is either your friend or enemy.  The Olympics is the sole sporting event in the world where every single person can watch and root for the same team together (I wish this were true for the World Cup, but many people simply do not like soccer).  I couldn’t imagine watching a sporting event of this nature 15 miles from my home.

However, a week before the host of the 2016 Olympics were announced I realized Chicago did not need to get the games.  It would be great to see such a great event in my favorite city, but in the course of my lifetime I am sure I will travel somewhere half way around the world to see the Olympics and it will be a great vacation.

Now my Chicago pride grows exponentially every day and I realized we don’t need the Olympics to show the rest of the world how great a city we are.  In the summer of 2016 I will be living downtown, watching the games in a bar with my friends and family, not sad that we aren’t seeing them live in person, but content knowing we live in the best city in the world.