I apologize, once you’ve been hired to write about soccer (and that shall be the only mention of the “s” word outside of MLS) you can only go one way, and that’s down.

So it’s early April, and we’re down to the nitty gritty of the European Football season. The semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup are now set. The English Premier League is a three horse race where Manchester United have it to lose to Chelsea or (maybe) Arsenal. Serie A in Italy is up for grabs between 2-time defending champions Inter and Roma. Spain’s Primera Liga is the usual suspects, but Real Madrid look to have an easier time than last years last minute win. France, Germany and Holland are the same old same old with Olympique Lyonnais, Bayern Munich and PSV Eindhoven clear at the top.

But most importantly the Scottish Premier League is facing a unique double header to decide the fate of a city. But I’ll get to that later…

First things first, a disclaimer. I’m a transplant from Glasgow, Scotland. I’m an unashamed Ranger supporter. I don’t mind Celtic. I have many friends who support Celtic. I don’t support bigotry in any way, shape or form. But I hate them at least four times a year. The rivalry between Rangers and Celtic is bigger than anything in this country. Bigger than the Yanks and the Sawks. Bigger than Ohio State vs. Michigan. Bigger than your team against their team. It transcends sports, it’s a way of life, it’s (sometimes literally) a matter of life and death and in the space of 11 days there will be an unheard of double header to decide the league championship. And it’ll be the 3rd time they’ve met inside of a month. Crazy!

And with the European seasons wrapping up, and Euro 2008 on the horizon, us football junkies need to turn elsewhere to get our fix, and where else is there but MLS? And I’m here to educate, it’s much more than the dreaded two words “David Beckham”, it’s actually (surprisingly, probably shockingly) very good. There have been a few changes since last year, the San Jose Earthquakes make a return to the league after the old Earthquakes bolted town to find success in Houston, this mean we have parity in the conferences again with 7 teams in each.

Currently it’s too early in the season to tell how things might pan out, New England is top of the Eastern Conference, no surprises there, but the big question is can Los Angeles actually do something this year and can David Beckham bring football to the masses? Last year was, shall we say, a disaster for Beckham, he played when he really shouldn’t have and couldn’t really show what he’s capable of. This year he has a new manager in the form of Ruud Gullit, he of the phrase “sexy football”, and with his England career all but over, he can focus on turning it on for the Galaxy. Already he’s scored a goal and was named player of the week for week 2, so it ain’t too bad.

Anyways, I feel like I should leave a recommendation, a pick of the week if you will. This week you’re probably best sitting down to watch Manchester United vs. Arsenal in the English Premier League at 11am (EST) on Fox Soccer, it promises to be a close game, one that will most certainly decide Arsenal’s fate in the title race, basically it’s their lose and go home game. MLS wise, I’d pick Houston Dynamo vs. Kansas City Wizards, 8pm (EST) Saturday on HDNet.

But really this week (for me) is building towards Celtic vs. Rangers on Thursday on Fox Soccer (or live on Wednesday if you have access to Setanta). First part of that double header, I’m just glad FSC are finally showing Scottish football some love at last.