Long before EA Sports created the immensely popular FIFA video games there was a board game that allowed players to take ownership of football teams during an FA Cup season. Allen Robinson Jersey . Road to Wembley, later known as just Wembley, was a game dictated by dice that gave football clubs a better chance to reach the great old stadium for the FA Cup based on what league they were in. The game had six different colored dice, which would be used to determine how many goals that team scored in the tie. If a team in the top division were drawn at home the owner of that team would use the red dice. This was the best one of the six in the game - featuring two 4s, a 3, 2, 1 and 0 – given the team a 50 per cent chance it would score three goals. To recreate the magic of the FA Cup, where teams from lower leagues can be drawn against top clubs, and to allow true giantkilling acts for teams who were in the third or fourth tier, the games rules dictated that those sides use the white dice when away from home. It featured two zeroes, two 1s but a 4 and a 5. More often than not the lower league club would be knocked out by the dice, as it should. However, some times youd get massive shocks. If you held ownership of that lower league club and you beat the big giant on their pitch it was a fantastic feeling, one very difficult to create on a modern day video game where better teams just had better opportunities and skills to beat lower opposition. Yet, in a world where so much can be predicted sport isnt supposed to be that way. On a weekend where one continent obsessed about PSI levels and hockey players skating fast around drink bottles, the global game went back to the future to give fans a true glimpse of what following sport should be all about. The oldest association football competition in the world may have become a little bit easier to read in its older, more recent years but it is not easy to teach an old dog new tricks and just when some wanted to write this one off it bounced back in all its glory on Saturday by showing modern day football fans just how beautiful it is when its most stunning feature, a giantkilling, is on show. FA Cup fans of different generations all have memories of these games. The 70s had Colchester over Leeds and Hereford over Newcastle, the 80s had Sutton over Coventry and Bournemouth over Man Utd and then in the early 90s came Wrexham over the mighty Arsenal. Depending on your age the highlights and goalscorers from those games are never forgotten. Major shocks also came in finals like Sunderland over Leeds, Wimbledon over Liverpool and, more recently, Wigan over Manchester City. The board game, if you are wondering, ensured teams used away dice for neutral venues. The return of the FA Cup, this season, to the broadcaster BBC in the UK has seen the competition receive more coverage and to promote the tournament they ran a number of previews in December, before the top teams joined at the third round stage, looking at the biggest shocks in FA Cup history. Like most of the ones listed here, rarely came ones where the giant was slayed on its own patch of grass. Who knew that a month later that list would need to be changed? In the buildup to this past weekends matches there was little fuss made about potential shocks. It is the job of the broadcaster to pick potential upsets in television slots, yet it speaks to the real level of surprise of the big shocks this past weekend that most took place at the traditional 3pm local kick off slot. Gone were Tottenham, Southampton, Manchester City and, of course, in disgraceful fashion, according to he who is special, Chelsea. At a time when it really needed it the FA Cup delivered one of its biggest shocks of all. Red dice………..two. White dice……………four. Everywhere football fans turn these days there are articles and analysis about how to make the old pensioner that is the FA Cup relevant again. Gone is the magic, they tell us, gone is the interest. Crowds are down but when assessing the reasons for that, the FA Cup itself is low on such a list. Like so many things in life, something so vulnerable isnt always at fault for its ways. The FA Cup will never be loved the way it once was but this past weekend gave us powerful images that sport, the great distractor from everyday life, can so often deliver. Friday nights affair between Cambridge United and Manchester United ended 0-0 and the outpouring emotion from the home fans and players at the end was almost as incredible as the look in the eyes of the young Cambridge mascots who got to look up at the likes of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao and shake their hands before kick off. Less than 24 hours later, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was attempting to shake hands with Bradford boss Phil Parkinson to congratulate him on a stunning victory before the final whistle had blown. It was Bradfords moment. Well, almost. At that point there were still three and a half minutes left and I wasnt getting drawn into that, said Parkinson on the snub afterwards. Good for him. Parkinson would get his moment. Mourinho had his interview and got his name splashed across the story once again. How exhausting. Magnificent he may be at his job, but it is little wonder his time in one place is so limited. Unlike Chelsea, the FA Cup proved to be bigger than Mourinho. It came through English football like a hurricane this past weekend bringing many smiles to fans across the world who had become so complacent to the class system the game, flush with money, had allowed. This is not a tournament that will simply allow the countrys big four to reach the semi-finals. It will return in February down to its last 16 with seven of the top 12 in the Premier League, including the top three, no longer involved. Gone are the teams who wanted it but would never prioritize it. Some teams remain who feel the same but in an era when its never been more difficult to break the monopoly of the top teams and win a trophy suddenly a real chance has opened up for big football clubs to end long runs without a trophy. Back when board games were popular it meant everything to win the FA Cup. These days men in powerful positions at football clubs, with a strong disconnect for positive emotions, have done what they can to convince people that a finish in the top four of the Premier League is more valuable. Dont let them fool you. There are some things you cant put a price on. Winning an FA Cup means so much to fans and players too. Best feeling Ive had on a football pitch, said Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey after winning the FA Cup at Wembley last May. There are still many games to be played but thanks to an unprecedented weekend of surprises we now have teams left whose eyes need to be firmly fixed on the prize come the Wembley final on May 30th. If the dice fall in the right place the FA Cup could fall into the arms of a team desperate to have it for the third successive season. For the all the joy it continues to bring people, that is the very least it deserves. Cody Parkey Jersey .Y. - Major League Soccer is prepared to start its season this weekend even if there isnt a labour deal with its referees and other on-field officials. Anthony Miller Bears Jersey .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-James-Daniels-Jersey/ . In Englands first game since its worst-ever World Cup showing, Roy Hodgsons side rarely looked like scoring against unambitious opposition and the breakthrough in the friendly only came when Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area.CHICAGO - For all the talk about LeBron James going home and Derrick Rose returning, the Washington Wizards were easy to overlook at the start of the season.Not anymore.Paul Pierce had 22 points and the Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 105-99 on Wednesday night, despite Derrick Roses season-high 32.John Wall scored 10 of his 21 in the fourth quarter. Bradley Beal added 17, and the Wizards knocked off the Central division leaders for the second time in six days.They did it on the road this time after winning at home last week. And the latest victory over the Bulls comes after the Wizards knocked off defending champion San Antonio at home the previous night.Those are two impressive wins by a team thats demanding attention after Cleveland and Chicago got most of it in the Eastern Conference at the start of the season.It was important for us, Beal said. We say we want to be this elite team. We say we want to be one of the best teams in the East. You have to be able to beat a team that is also elite on the back-to-back, and that really speaks a lot for your team.Washington trailed by as much as 11 in the first half but outscored Chicago 32-19 in the third to take a seven-point lead to the fourth. The Wizards hung on after Chicago pulled within one, handing the Bulls their fourth loss in five games.Rose was at his best right from the start, scoring 17 in the first quarter and nailing a half-court heave at the end of the period. He hit a season-high six 3-pointers. But the Bulls were shaky on defence again and played the second half without Joakim Noah after he injured his right ankle.It is basketball. You cant play this sport and be perfect, Rose said. Were just going through a little bit of adversity right now. But it seems like guys are trying their hardest and its just not going our way right now.Taj Gibson had just dunked to pull Chicago within 83-82 when Kris Humphries put back a vicious one-hander off a miss by Rasual Butler to start a 12-3 run that bumped the lead back up to 10. Roquan Smith Jersey. Pierce capped that run with a 3-pointer to make it 95-85 with just over four minutes remaining.The Bulls were within six after Aaron Brooks nailed one from long range. Wall answered with a 3 of his own to make it 100-91 with 2:29 left. With the win, the Wizards took out another top team after ending a 17-game losing streak to the Spurs the previous night.That was a professional win, coach Randy Wittman said. Thats being professional.HOT STARTRose nailed three 3-pointers and hit 7 of 9 shots in a scorching first quarter as the Bulls built a 32-26 lead, and he ended it in spectacular fashion.He raced up the left side after Washingtons Kris Humphries hit two free throws and swished a heave from just inside the half-court line, the crowd roaring as the ball fell through the net.NOAH HOBBLEDThe Bulls lost Noah at the end of the half when he rolled his right ankle going for an offensive rebound. He came out for warmups, but Gibson started the third quarter in his place.Coach Tom Thibodeau had no update on him after the game.Tomorrow, well see where he is, Thibodeau said.TIP-INSWizards: Coach Randy Wittman wasnt putting much stock in the Wizards beating the Bulls in the playoffs last season. After all, the Bulls did not have the injured Rose. Pau Gasol was still with the Lakers, and Nikola Mirotic was in Europe. Its not the same cast of characters thats weve played the last couple of years, Wittman said.Bulls: Rookie Doug McDermott appears close to returning after being sidelined for six weeks by a right knee injury. A first-round draft pick, he has not played since Nov. 30. But Thibodeau said he could be back in three or four days, maybe something like that hopefully. Chicago visits Boston on Friday and hosts Atlanta on Saturday. ... Veteran Mike Dunleavy Jr. missed his seventh straight game because of a sore right ankle.UP NEXTWizards: Host Brooklyn on Friday.Bulls: Visit Boston on Friday Cheap Bosnia Herzegovina Soccer Jerseys Cheap Belgium Soccer Jerseys Cheap Austria Soccer Jerseys Cheap Australia Soccer Jerseys Cheap Danmark Soccer Jerseys Cheap Ecuador Soccer Jerseys Cheap Egypt Soccer Jerseys Cheap England Soccer Jerseys Cheap Finland Soccer Jerseys Cheap France Soccer Jerseys Cheap Germany Soccer Jerseys Cheap Ghana Soccer Jerseys Cheap Greece Soccer Jerseys Cheap Argentina Soccer Jerseys Cheap Netherlands Soccer Jerseys Cheap Honduras Soccer Jerseys Cheap Hungary Soccer Jerseys Cheap Iceland Soccer Jerseys Cheap Indonesia Soccer Jerseys Cheap Iraq Soccer Jerseys ' ' '