Some love for FSC and the UEFA Champions League

I have to admit, I’m feeling a little guilty this morning.

I mean, not shameful-type guilt, the kind you have in college when you first notice that your best friend’s little sis has turned into a freakin’ hottie.

I just mean a wee little guilt -- like when I got over-served once and ate the giant cookie my roomie’s mom had left for him.

Anyway, I’m kind of feeling smitten by Fox Soccer Channel today. It’s all about the network’s coverage of Champions League soccer.

I’m grateful, because the coverage of UEFA Champions League this year is going to absolutely rock. Between FSC and its brother networks, there will be eight Champions League matches on between today (Tuesday) and tomorrow. As I’m writing this, there are games being shown live featuring teams I’ve never heard of. Seriously.

Timisoara? I thought that was some bit of biological tinkering from Jurassic Park. Who knew that Fotbal Club Timişoarais the club from Romania’s second largest city? (Well, I’m those two dudes from Romania who once played on my soccer team knew -- but they could never stop arguing with each other long enough to tell us anything about their former home.)

Anywho, the uh, Timisoarans are facing Stuttgart from the Bundesliga. Of course, I’m not watching that one. I can barely take my eyes off Arsenal-Celtic on one of the Fox network affiliates. (With the sports package I have from ATT U-verse, it’s on 15 channels. No kidding: FSN-Southwest, FSN-Florida, FSN-Ohio, etc.)

I did switch for a while over for a few minutes to the FC Sheriff-Olympiakos match on another channel. First, I had to watch just a little in case of an upset and I had a chance to splash the headline, “There’s a new Sheriff in town!”

He-he.

Besides, when else can you catch a glimpse of the nifty little stadium in Tiraspol, Moldova, where The Sheriff plays its matches?

Seriously, it’s truly awesome what is happening here. There are three Champions League matches on live! Back in the ESPN days, I don’t believe they every showed Champions League this year, in August.

Usually, you’d have to wait until October. Then you might get to see Manchester United. Or Barcelona. Or Chelsea or Real Madrid. Oh, and you’d get to see whoever one of those sides were facing.

Don’t get me wrong. ESPN and I sure shared some good times. It seems like just yesterday I was falling out of a window with amazement as Manchester United struck twice in added time for an improbable rally in the 1999 Champions League final. Yeah, good times.

And I’ve got just a little bit sad TV face because I won’t be seeing the Champions League matches in HD. (Come on FSC, you can do it! Get ye caught up on the technology!)

But the wider selection of matches more than makes up for a little forfeiture of picture quality -- even if I have become a hopeless, shameless HD quality snob.

Fox Soccer Channel even did themselves a little website, launched recently and dedicated to the Champions League, which is really just icing on the cake. It’s like when you finally went out with that new little snuggle-muffin object of desire on Friday -- and then she popped by on Saturday night, too. With beer!

All in all, it’s a better deal.

Champions League on FSC. EPL on HD over at ESPN. This alphabet soup of soccer sweetness makes me all wobbly legged.

Yep. I’m smitten.