Derby County's Record Setting Rams

My sister spent a semester abroad in Derby, England. Unknown to me at the time, they had a professional soccer club at the Championship division level. When she came home last May, and I informed her that a team from Derby was playing for a chance to move up to the Premier League, her response was a confused look, and an equally confused tone. "Derby Rams?!" she asked. She informed me that the team was nothing short of awful when she was living across the pond, but apparently they had improved enough to finish third in the Championship and win the four team playoff to move up to the Premiership and realize, at least, a windfall of the league's massive TV money.

While I'm sure they're enjoying the money, they're likely not enjoying the competition. The current record for fewest points in a Premier League season is 15 (Sunderland, 2005-06). The current record for fewest goals scored in a campaign is 21 (Sunderland, 2002-03). Derby's 6 points and 6 goals at nearly the halfway point of this season give them a chance to break both records. Last week, Derby managed a moral victory by posting their first road goal of the year at Manchester United. That might be quite embarrassing for the Red Devils, even though they won 4-1. This week, they lost to Middlesbrough at home, 1-0, their 13th loss in 17 matches. Yikes. So much for making this my secondary team for this year...back to rooting for Team America behind the Reds.

In other news, the craziest game of the day was Blackburn at Wigan. Wigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 37th minute, gave up an extra time goal for a 3-1 halftime lead, gave up a second goal five minutes into the second half, saw Blackburn go a man down with a red card for Brett Emerton, then saw Blackburn equalize four minutes later with Roque Santa Cruz's hat trick goal. Not to worry for the relegation-endangered Wigan: they took the lead back five minutes later, and put the match away with Marcus Bent's third goal. Despite the win, Wigan remains in the bottom three of the league, but at least now they are closer to escaping relegation.