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Post by jhar26 on Jun 17, 2014 20:17:09 GMT -5
Go Belgium Great victory over Algeria. Yes, they did ok. Pretty poor first half, but better in the second.
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Post by jhar26 on Jun 17, 2014 20:20:55 GMT -5
Quote by egoodstein: Well, the truth is that I really don't have a whole lot of faith in Team USA. We've never been a soccer powerhouse. It's between the US and Portugal for second place in their group. Portugal is better in principle, especially if their star player Ronaldo is on, but the US has a shot.
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Post by erik on Jun 17, 2014 21:10:45 GMT -5
Quote by jhar26:
Yes, we have a shot--but, in my opinion, it's a long shot at best. For every other participant in the World Cup, soccer is not just a national sport, but a national obsession, in a way that it has never been here in the United States, even though we do have a professional soccer league (Major League Soccer--MLS). We simply have too many sports in this country (football; basketball; baseball; hockey, etc.) that have become firmly entrenched because they long ago became television-friendly, which is to say, pauses for hawking sodas, beers, and snacks with every timeout. You can't do that with soccer because it moves constantly up and down the field and not much in the way of scoring goes on, which I think is more the fault of us adrenaline-challenged/points-obsessed Americans than it is the game itself.
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Post by jhar26 on Jun 18, 2014 2:18:36 GMT -5
Quote by jhar26: Yes, we have a shot--but, in my opinion, it's a long shot at best. For every other participant in the World Cup, soccer is not just a national sport, but a national obsession, in a way that it has never been here in the United States, even though we do have a professional soccer league ( Major League Soccer-- MLS). We simply have too many sports in this country (football; basketball; baseball; hockey, etc.) that have become firmly entrenched because they long ago became television-friendly, which is to say, pauses for hawking sodas, beers, and snacks with every timeout. You can't do that with soccer because it moves constantly up and down the field and not much in the way of scoring goes on, which I think is more the fault of us adrenaline-challenged/points-obsessed Americans than it is the game itself. Just to illustrate the extent of the obsession of 'the rest of the world' with soccer: Today there are 35 (!!!) pages about the world cup in my newspaper. And it's about the same everyday. Personally I'm not obessed with soccer (I'm as you know obsessed with tennis ), although I like it ok and will watch things like the world cup or the champions league. But there are also things that annoyme about soccer. 1) The fact that the most important person on the pitch is the umpire. In every match you see mistakes like penalty kicks that were the result of diving, legitimate penalty kicks that weren't given but should have been, scoring opportunities that the umpire calls of because of offside that wasn't, goals that WERE scored from offside positions, etc... In every match there's something. And in a low scoring sport like soccer one mistake can make a huge difference to the outcome. 2) The fact that FIFA is a totally corrupt organization.. When I saw that opening match between Brazil and Croatia I didn't believe for a minute that those were all 'honest mistakes' from the umpire. It was just too much. No - there were demonstrations against the world cup in Brazil. So I believe that the umpire was told to 'let Brazil win.' As long as their team does well their obsession for the game will take over and make them forget about whatever it is they object to.
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Post by jhar26 on Jun 18, 2014 5:51:13 GMT -5
...but having said all that, soccer can also be a real art form, especialy when it comes to a guy like Diego Maradonna who to my mind was the best player in history. He wan an effent terrible, a coke addict, he didn't mind 'cheating' (the hand of god ), but he was also the best. Some may say that it was Pelé, but great as he was you have to keep in mind that he played for Brazil - a team that was so good that they would have become world champions with or without Pelé. In comparison Maradonna was virtually a one man team. There was no way they would have become champs and runners-up without him. And in club football Pelé never played in the best competitions, so of course his stats look awesome because he played against inferior competition for most of his career. Maradonna on the other hand played in Spain and Italy - the two 'best' compettitions of his time. He made a mediocre team like Napoli Italian and European champs. When he was gone Napoli quickly went into a crisis that saw them end up in the second division. AND Maradonna did his thing when football was at it's most vicious because in his day you had to virtually kill someone to get a yellow (let alone red) card. Some tubes from the man I consider "the greatest."
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Post by erik on Jun 26, 2014 12:58:00 GMT -5
After our 2-2 tie with Portugal over last weekend, we were shut out by Germany 1-0 in a monsoon.
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Post by arjan on Jun 26, 2014 13:39:48 GMT -5
After our 2-2 tie with Portugal over last weekend, we were shut out by Germany 1-0 in a monsoon. Well you did make it to the 2nd round which is really all that matters at this point
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Post by erik on Jun 26, 2014 14:14:21 GMT -5
Quote by arjan:
I can't complain then, I suppose. We'll see what happens in the Round of 16.
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Post by arjan on Jun 26, 2014 17:04:42 GMT -5
Quote by arjan: I can't complain then, I suppose. We'll see what happens in the Round of 16. Actually in a poule with Germany ánd Portugal it's almost sensational
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Post by erik on Jun 26, 2014 17:31:54 GMT -5
I have mentioned a time or two why, even with the World Cup and the MLS ( Major League Soccer), soccer is such a hard-sell sport in America. Here's an article detailing the whys and wherefores: finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/why-u-s--soccer-will-remain-a-marginal-business-165019716.htmlBut note that I am not putting down soccer as a sport by any means, only pointing out that the things which make it such a special game in the rest of the world are the very things that have kept it down here in the USA.
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Post by robertaxel on Jun 26, 2014 21:09:43 GMT -5
I haven't really followed soccer much, but the article offers the best explanation I have seen why it has not caught on in the US. Limited ad times equals bad business model.
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Post by erik on Jun 27, 2014 8:51:12 GMT -5
Keeping all this in mind, I really don't want the game of soccer to be changed just to fit our business model of having to hawk beer, snacks, and athletic gear. Such a business model has made egomaniacs out of almost everybody in baseball, basketball, football, and hockey here (IMHO).
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Post by jhar26 on Jun 27, 2014 12:12:53 GMT -5
After our 2-2 tie with Portugal over last weekend, we were shut out by Germany 1-0 in a monsoon. In the round of 16 you'll play Belgium. Belgium hasn't loked impressive so far although they have won all three of their games and have one of the best teams out there when you consider all the names that play for our team.....Should be interesting.
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Post by jhar26 on Jun 27, 2014 12:17:48 GMT -5
I haven't really followed soccer much, but the article offers the best explanation I have seen why it has not caught on in the US. Limited ad times equals bad business model. Commercials just annoy me and on me they have the opposite effect of what they are aimed for. If I see lots of commercials for Coca Cola I always think to myself, "ok, next time I want Cola I'll buy Pepsi because those bastards from Coca Cola have been a pain in the ass this week, so f**k 'em."
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Post by erik on Jun 27, 2014 12:58:25 GMT -5
Quotes by jhar26:
Re. US vs. Belgium in Round of 16:
This, of course, comes as a complete shock to me to see Team USA at this point, because, to be honest, I didn't think they'd win a single game (or even tie one). Again, it is the nature of the game: every country in the World Cup is a world power in soccer...but not America.
Re. commercials:
We (or at least the corporate capitalist ruling lackeys we've allowed to run our country) think too damned much (and this has always been the case, in my opinion) about what's best for our Bottom Line in the short term. This has wrecked so many sports in America: it's not about the mere excitement of the game, but how much $$$ one man, or one team, or one corporation, can stick in their f***ing wallets.
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Post by erik on Jun 30, 2014 15:02:23 GMT -5
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Post by profblues on Jul 1, 2014 14:58:24 GMT -5
U.S. restaurant chain Waffle House says Americans should boycott Belgian waffles to support Team USA
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Post by arjan on Jul 1, 2014 16:02:34 GMT -5
Exciting game so far
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Post by erik on Jul 1, 2014 17:31:47 GMT -5
Quote by profblues:
Short comment: Fruitcakes! (LOL).
That Team USA is doing as well as they are against Belgium, in a game that's going on an awfully long time in all that tropical weather, is something of a miracle (IMHO).
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Post by erik on Jul 1, 2014 17:37:18 GMT -5
We fell short, 2-1, in a game that went into two extra frames. But we put up a good fight against a very good Belgian squad, so there's nothing to get depressed over.
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Post by arjan on Jul 2, 2014 4:36:50 GMT -5
Well done both Both Belgium and USA... exciting match. Strange how in 90 minutes no one scores and in the 30 extra 3 goals.
Next up for Belgium is Argentina, if they play the way they did yesterday Belgium has a good change to get to the semis... For the Netherlands it's Costa Rica next saterday. Should not be a problem really...
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Post by erik on Jul 2, 2014 8:40:48 GMT -5
Quote by arjan:
That's the thing; Americans want scoring, scoring, scoring; and there isn't that much of it in soccer.
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Post by arjan on Jul 2, 2014 8:49:03 GMT -5
Well at least each goal counts as 1... not depending on the type of goal 1, 2, 3 OR 6 like American Football or 2 OR 3 like Basketball
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Post by erik on Jul 2, 2014 17:34:02 GMT -5
Quote by arjan:
Mind you I'm not criticizing that method of scoring in soccer--just the unfortunate fact that Americans are point-crazed adrenaline junkies.
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Post by jhar26 on Jul 3, 2014 3:28:38 GMT -5
I don't want to sound cocky or something, but it's 'normal' that Belgium won that match because they just have a better group of players that play for world renowned teams. The goal keeper from the US was spectacular though, but it was also pretty clear that while Belgium overall is one of the best teams at this world cup they have one crucial weak spot on their team: They don't have a killer striker up front. Put Messi, Falcao or Robben in our team and we score six or seven goals in this match.
But kudos to the US. They came to play and did very well with the players they have. With a bit of luck they even might have won it. In fact, that second half was the perfect illustration why I like but not really love soccer. The entire half was played on the US' side of the pitch, Belgium had possession of the ball for 80% of the the time, they got opportunity after opportunity and they totally dominated. Than one minute before the end of regular playing time the US miss their one and only chance when they kick the ball over an empty goal. But if that had gone in - bye bye Belgium.
There is no other sport that I know where you can be so much better than the other side and still end up losing. Another thing that I don't like is that in soccer the most important and influential person on the pitch is the referee. In every single match we see penalty kicks being given when nothing really happened. Penalty kicks NOT being given when something DID happen. Players getting yellow or red cards when they did very little wrong. Other players not getting even as much as a warning after they just attempted murder on someone of the opposing team. Goals being allowed from offside positions.. Plays that might have resulted in a goal being called off for offside when it clearly wasn't the case. - - and so on and so on. Soccer is a game for which the end result depends for one third on skill, one third on luck and one third on the referee. I know off no other sport like that, but that's perhaps also part of it's appeal because anything can happen.
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