Another Auld Lang Syne

2009. One hundred forty-six years since the founding of the Football Association. We've got indoor plumbing, color television, and cheap Columbian coffee. But we still can't engineer a cleat that prevents slipping.

Pot shot? Maybe. But it exemplifies the past year in football: unpredictable, unscriptable, and unmissable (ooh, that's a bad one).

But the past is history, and the future's a mystery, so what lies ahead? "Well it's a mystery, Suits. You just said that. Surely you're not going to predict anything." You're right.

But a New Year's Resolution couldn't hurt anybody, right? True. And talk is cheap. Unless you're the exec who worked for the Atlanta Hawks a few years ago promising to refund all season tickets if they didn't make the playoffs. Bummer. That was expensive.

So here's three resolutions I propose to Sepp in Zurich. I know it's about as useful as asking Abe Lincoln to cut the cake at my wedding, but there's just something about this blogging thing that makes things look good in type.

1) Stop the goal line debates
It's going to take a major league with the tools in hand to do it (name one that doesn't), but someone is going to have to stand up to FIFA and use video replays to determine goal decisions. What's Mr. Blatter going to do? Ban the Champions League winner from participating in the Club World Cup? I hear the yawns from here. And I doubt CONMEBOL would refuse entry for Argentinian teams into the Libertadores next season. 'Cause South America needs another violent incident like Nelson Mandela needs 2010 World Cup tickets. The impetus is there, the technology is there, there just seems to be one pooper at this party. And it isn't Watford.

2) Open the floodgates
This is a minor one, but its premise is simple: Let them all play. Whether they're from Yorkshire or Madagascar, let players play for the clubs willing to sign them. Enough talk about limits on foreign players. If Arsene Wenger doesn't want to field a single Englishman in his side and give up an injury time equalizer against Villa in a match that really means something in that country, that's up to him. Let's just drop this whole topic altogether.

3) Salary Caps/Continental Leagues
"Heresy! Anytime we talk to you, Suits, it's always about how much you love how the good teams in soccer are rewarded and the bad ones are punished." I've been reading a great book entitled National Pastime, and it has finally convinced me that our sport would benefit from a little bit of competive balance. Maybe it's the weird heat we've been having in the South lately. Maybe it's the NFL playoffs and that league's ability to produce games of utmost quality week in and week out that's got me talkin' crazy, but I think those guys might be on to something. Either cap it off so we don't get stuck in a rut and start looking to OPEC for saviors or create a continental-wide league that allows the superpowers to take their local dominance to a grander stage. This feels awkward just writing this, so I'm going to stop, but it's definitely food for thought.

I hope you all had a fantastic end to your 2008. And whatever your doomed resolution may be, make sure to get your year's ration of football.

As an aside, here's a shout out to my man John Williams over at The Biased Scouser. Yes, he's Scouse, and yes we're friends. I'll leave it at that.