You know what really grinds my gears: that, even moreso than in Major League Baseball, English Premier League teams and teams throughout Europe are individual commodities with their own sponsors and very unequal revenue with owners who can spend as much money on players as they choose.

Even though the only way a salary cap would work is if it was put in place all over Europe, which could never happen, it's disappointing to see certain teams loading up on star players and fielding virtual all-star teams. Even though my Arsenal Gunners are near the top of the Premiership in terms of roster salary, they don't come close to the biggest spenders in Europe, teams such as Real Madrid or Chelsea. When Roman Abramovich took over the club a few years ago he implemented a "do what it takes no matter how much money is spent" attitude toward running his team. Now it looks as though they will sign world superstar Michael Ballack later this spring for upwards of $40 million US. I'll admit it's great to watch the flow of play for a team on which Roberto Carlos can carry the ball upfield, pass to Zinedine Zidane, who passes to David Beckham, who passes to Robinho, who crosses to Ronaldo who scores a brilliant goal that only the Brazilian striker could; but I find it much more impressive to see teams use their youth programs to develop talent when players are teenagers and then spring them onto the international scene like Arsenal have with Philippe Senderos, Mathieu Flamini, and Francesc Fabregas (who's younger than I am). It's not going to change anytime soon but it would be nice to see a slight change among the top 5 Premeirship teams each season; well, except for Arsenal.