FA Cup Final

Stoke City takes on Manchester City in the FA Cup Final at 10:00 a.m. today at Wembley Stadium, and the match will televised on Fox Soccer Channel. This is an interesting match-up because, despite the fact that both teams are having solid seasons (Manchester City in 4th place, Stoke in 8th) it has been a long time since either won a trophy, particularly one as important as the FA Cup. Manchester City's last win in the FA Cup Final came in 1969, while Stoke's was 1972. So it's a safe bet to say both teams and their fans will be up for it today at Wembley. No predictions today, but enjoy the match and enjoy some pictures from a trip to Wembley back in April of 2009 (note: during the visit, Wembley was in the process of replacing the field, hence all the dirt; still, a very impressive stadium).

What to Watch?

Two English Premier League matches, two different channels, both on at the exact same time. Deciding which one to watch is a dilemma, though for soccer fans who grew up in the U.S. throughout the 1990s, when finding any games on television was difficult, it's a nice dilemma to have.

The matches are Fulham v. Sunderland on ESPN2 and Aston Villa v. West Bromwich Albion on Fox Soccer Channel. I had originally intended to watch Fulham because Clint Dempsey has been playing very well for them and I wanted to break out the Fulham scarf I picked up at a match at Craven Cottage a couple years ago; however, Dempsey wasn't in the starting line-up, and futher Internet research revealed that he wasn't even a substitute, so that made the game a little less interesting. ESPN's broadcasts are always better because they are in HD (note to FSC: putting the 'HD Live' graphic in the corner of the screen doesn't mean the game is actually in HD), but since Brad Friedel is starting in goal for Aston Villa and Michael Bradley is an eligible substitute, the switch has been made to Fox Soccer Channel. Unfortunately, budgetary concerns have so far kept the TalkFooty newsroom from adding multiple televisions, or an Internet connection that could reliably stream matches online. This is also being written by candlelight, but that is only to help set the mood. What are you watching today? Hit the comment button and let us know.