Liverpool Draw, Mascherano to be Argentina captain, Barack Obama wins

Yesterday was an eventful day for everybody in the world. For Liverpool fans the action started earlier than it did with most people as there was a midweek game against Atletico Madrid. This was our golden opportunity to bounce back from our loss against Tottenham with an emphatic win - and we saw a rather tame performance. Once again we lacked any cutting edge from goals and while they scored a spectacular goal, they were not a team comfortable in the lead. After two legitimate penalty appeals had been denied, the wonderful referee decided to award a penalty to Liverpool based off of a very dodgy decision. I don't think it's right that referees can make so many high profile mistakes in such a high profile game and really not fear any reprocussions. If I do a bad job at something, I fear reprocussions - not so for professional referees.

In any case, the game was dull. It highlighted a real worry for Liverpool fans everywhere: Why can't we score without Fernando Torres. He is probably the best striker in the world and any club missing a player like him would feel some impact. But with players like Gerrard, Keane, Riera, Kuyt, and Babel the attack should really be looking a lot stronger.

This weekend the Reds face West Bromwich Albion, a team that we should be able to beat with relative ease. They're a newly promoted club and they are not looking too strong. This game is must win (unlike yesterday's Champions League fixture). We must remain competative in the league to retain our title ambitions.

In other Liverpool news, defensive Javier Mascherano could be in line to be the next Argentina captain. Now that legendary player Diego Maradona (probably the best player to grace the game) is the manager of Argentina, he wants Mascherano to lead his country. To quote El Diego, "I want Mascherano to be my captain because I believe he is the Argentinian player who is closest to the idea I have about the Argentinian shirt - sweat for it, sacrifice for it, being a professional, being close to the team-mate. I will convince him, he will be my captain." Rafa Benitez, Liverpool manager, has endorsed the idea of Mascherano becoming captain. I'm pleased for Javier, he's a very good player, who really changed our midfield as soon as we brought him in. It's an honour to be captain of your country, especially a country like Argentina which can actually compete for prestigious international trophies. Perhaps in 2010 we will see Mascherano lifting the World Cup above his head.

And lastly, last night was too big of an occasion for me to not comment on. I know this isn't a political blog and I don't mean to alienate any readers or anything. I simply feel that as witnesses of something historical, we should reflect on the moment as much as possible. As someone who just got their citizenship in January, I must say that being an American is quite awesome. I had never felt so happy as I had when I listened to Barack Obama (the President Elect!) give his acceptance speech. I feel like there is so much potential in this presidency in terms of progress made societally and so much can be done for civil rights. I am very optimistic for what the future holds in these uncertain times.

Also, I think it's really funny that I've seen conservatives on facebook change their status to say things like "... is moving to Canada" or "I'm leaving the US" or "it's time to move to Britain." As a proud Brit, I will happily tell you that if you move to the United Kingdom you will find it to be much more liberal than America. Most people recognize that Canada is significantly more liberal than the United States. In fact, most places that these people would willingly want to live are much more left leaning politically than the U.S. I can understand being sore about the loss - but really, when you make idle threats, at least make them make sense.