"He was unlucky, or was it just bad luck?"

What a bizarre match the unfortunate Toon had against the Toffee Pudding. They were unlucky, indeed, not to be 2-0 up after the first half - the ref and linesman missed an obvious penalty, and Shearer had a gilt-edged chance cleared off the line. But whatever Motivational Speaker Souey said at halftime, it didn't work, as Everton scored in the first minute of the second period.

So many strange things could be seen at Goodison Park. Bramble was a rock! Parker's passing was lackluster! Luque skied a free kick into Row Z and then failed to pick out an unmarked Shearer in the box! Despite or perhaps because of these peculiarities, Newcastle never found their rhythm. It was ugly, and they've got the yellow cards to prove it.

All TDH can say is that the Magpies had the better black armbands for George Best. Everton's were made of some crudely applied duct tape that Moyes picked up at the local Ryman's before the match. Pathetic. But so were we... doomed to midtable mediocrity, it seems.

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The lone bright spot in the evening for TDH was in the Sam Bowl, i.e. the match between Uncle Sam's Army and Big Sam's OAP's. The American contingent won the day, with two fine goals from Brian McBride. TDH's fingers and toes are crossed that he stays healthy through next summer.