The Premier League is back, baby!

The English Premier League returned to play on Wednesday with Aston Villa hosting Sheffield United. Also, Manchester City matched up against Arsenal about an hour later. Norwich and Tottenham hosted matches Friday, four matches today and three on Sunday to complete each team's resumption of the season. Now, I've been following the Premier League for about three years. I chose Liverpool as the club I'll support only because I know the Beatles are from Liverpool, and admittedly, that's about all I know about current England. The majority of my British knowledge comes from stories- period pieces in film, television and theater. I imagine Great Britain today resembles Great Britain of yesteryear about as much as the US today resembles the US of yesteryear. That being said, I grew up a fan of basketball and baseball largely because my father played basketball and baseball with me growing up. I've followed those sports for more time, but have been familiar with the four main American team sports leagues for most of my life. I didn't play soccer growing up in the 80s and MLS didn't exist with any consistency till recently. So English Premier League, previously the English Football League, also the most popular team sports league in the world, was not widely known in America during my childhood. I probably came to be aware of it when working with Covenant Players from 95-06. There were a lot of European colleagues and their interest in EPL seemed almost natural and expected. EPL has gained popularity in the US primarily since 2013 when NBC purchased the exclusive American broadcasting rights. US broadcasts of EPL matches date back to its inception in 1992, but only recently have advertiser interests allowed the rights to exceed £1 billion. This season, while unique because of the global covid pandemic, also has the distinction of one team potentially winning the championship in the fewest matches. Had City lost to Arsenal this past Wednesday, Liverpool would've clinched the title, being 25 points ahead and no other team close enough to catch in the 9 remaining matches. You see, in English professional soccer, there are no playoffs. Each squad plays 38 matches in which wins are worth 2 points, draws are worth a point and, obviously, losses gain nothing. So, whichever team scores the most points in 38 matches wins the season. As it stands today, Liverpool is 23 points ahead of the next team and they play Sunday against Everton. I'm not saying my support has anything to do with it, but for the first time in 30 years, and first ever since the Premier League rebranded, Liverpool's title win is inevitable. "You never walk alone."