The ongoing Twitter fued between Piers Morgan and Rio Ferdinand has been fairly contentious for quite some time now, and seeing as how I don't like or care about either of them I've been largely successful in ignoring it. One thing I'm not inclined to ignore? Openly hostile homophobic comments. Take it away, Piers!

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Today is my birthday. Left to my own devices, I like to stay up until 5 AM and sleep until noon, but that's not really a schedule I've been able to keep for quite some time. Last night, I decided I would allow myself to do just that as kind of a present to myself; normally an 8:00 AM game would be one I'd watch live, but not today. There were beers to drink and video games to be played.

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Let me get this out of the way first: this post isn't really strictly related to soccer. Instead, it's intended to bring to your attention some very excellent writing and design. I assume most of you are aware of Grantland, the pet project of ESPN columnist Bill Simmons. It launched last summer to much fanfare, and includes writing on sports, pop culture, and more. There are some amazing articles on the site, and there are some that just don't really do much for me. In some ways, it's gotten a bit out of control; there are so many sub-blogs and different categories that it is impossible to read everything on the site in a given day. The result of this explosion of content is that I pretty quickly gave up on Grantland as a daily thing. I go to school, occasionally try to write for this blog, read other things, do homework, etc. I didn't have time to read everything on the site, and I didn't really have a good way to curate it either.

But the editors at Grantland did something that was pretty smart. They teamed up with esteemed publisher McSweeney's to produce a quarterly of their very best work. It had always been the plan, and it made sense too. The very best writing on the site was the sort of long-form journalism that would stand the test of time. Individual articles may have addressed something that happened that day, but they also touched on the larger impact that sports and (yes, sometimes) pop culture have on our lives. By having a quarterly, the editors could pick a few of these stories every three months and bring special attention to them.

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Finally, news we've all been waiting for: Aston Villa are finally going to dump Nike and jump on board with another kit manufacturer. The club says the reason for switching from the US based retailer to a new manufacturer is based on quality, both of kit and of replica gear.

Personally, I haven't had a problem with any of my kits -- they fit well and do a good job as workout gear. My Villa sweatpants are the best thing in the history of ever, and they're official Nike gear. However, I didn't buy a new kit this season, so I can't attest to whether the quality has changed.

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As you're all no doubt aware, Aston Villa is subject to a takeover bid by Qatari interests that will commence in February of this year. Rumors of the takeover bid first commenced when Villa sold Ashley Young and Stewart Downing at a cut rate price of £40 million combined. Further evidence (as though any were necessary) came when Villa allowed core member of the squad Nigel Reo-Coker to leave after his perfectly reasonable demands of a significant raise of his paltry £40,000/week salary was turned down by Villa's miserly board. Clearly, these are the actions of a man who has reached the end of his rope and is content to count the massive profits of the sale of the club, one that he has made all the more attractive by the investment of tens of millions of pounds into the club's infrastructure and academy.

With rumors of Villa's imminent sale swirling, it was only a matter of time before the immediate plans of the new (and incredibly wealthy) ownership group were leaked. 7,500 to Holte has obtained these plans and is now prepared to give the public their first look at the coming sea-change of Claret and Blue fortunes. After the jump, we'll share with you the shocking revelations of what's to come.

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Watching Aston Villa convincingly beat the Bristol Rovers in the Third Round of the FA Cup today got me thinking about something. It was their second 1-3 win in three matches. While this was a small sample, I noticed an interesting pattern here. When Villa score three goals, they win.

But I was not content to merely take supposition and conjecture for fact. Instead, I dove into the numbers to see what Aston Villa tends to do when they score three or more goals. Below, I present my findings.

What data did you look at?
I examined Aston Villa matches from the beginning of the 2009-10 season up until today's.

What did the numbers say?
Nothing. Numbers cannot speak.

/Sigh. How many matches were there in which Villa scored three or more goals?
21

And what was the record of Aston Villa in those matches?
I am sure it will shock you to know that Villa had 20 wins and 1 draw.

Good heavens! That's zero losses!
It is indeed! It appears that when they score three or more goals, Villa are unbeatable.

Were there any other interesting tidbits buried in the data?
I'm glad you asked, voice from nowhere. While examining the data, I noticed that one team in particular seemed to be on the wrong end of x-3+ defeats. Care to guess who that was?

Certainly, but I will only do so after the jump.
You're so persnickety, voice from nowhere. But, as you wish.

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I will admit to having missed this "story" when it broke initially, likely because I do not follow Stephen Ireland's girlfriend on Twitter (so silly of me, I know) but apparently Alex McLeish is "seething" over a picture of Ireland posted to her Twitter account on December 22nd. If you have not seen it, I recommend keeping it that way because it is gross. But here is a link just in case you're the glutton for punishment type.

There are so many things wrong with this photograph; shirtless, meticulously man-scaped Stephen Ireland for one. His girlfriend's faux (oh please god let it be faux) snakeskin pants and zebra patterned socks are another. Hasn't anyone ever told her never to mix your animal prints? The aforementioned wallpaper is also deserving of another mention; in a different time, Stephen Ireland's interior decorator would have been put in the stocks and pelted with rotten avocados.

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Lost in the fervor (sleep) of Villa's boxing day battle (light jog) against Stoke, was the players taking part in their annual Secret Santa exchange. Many of the players were happy to not have Ash Young in the draw, as he always gave 7x11 glossies of himself. And, in retrospect, I think Stiliyan Petrov giving Stewart Downing that Liverpool shirt last year was a bad idea.

But the players were excited to give and receive their presents.

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