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World Cup Discussion Thread - Occhidiangela - 06-22-2006
Quote:I still think that case 1 is far more frequent.I don't.
I consider cheating to be abhorrent, which includes pretending to be hurt by a good slide tackle, and the "holding the shirt" crap that I see professionals resort to. I got into a row 4 years ago with a junior league, (10-11) and the coach who was teaching his kids on the select team how to pull that stunt. I ended up withdrawing my coaching offer, dumping the team back on the league, and convincing three neighbors to withdraw them and their teenage sons from the referee pool in protest of unethical behavior by that coach, and its being condoned by the league. Teaching cheating is unethical.
Cheating.
The Lounge is at core an anti-cheating site with anti-cheating members. Why do you excuse, and make an exception for cheating in soccer?
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - Fragbait - 06-22-2006
Quote:Why do you excuse, and make an exception for cheating in soccer?I don't.
Greetings, Fragbait
World Cup Discussion Thread - Ashock - 06-22-2006
US is out. Sad, but predictable.
-A
World Cup Discussion Thread - Fragbait - 06-22-2006
Quote:US is out.Hi,
Regrettably so. They really showed Italy who's the boss...
I'm glad Ghana made it, though. We wanna see more of that African enchantment!
Greetings, Fragbait
World Cup Discussion Thread - Occhidiangela - 06-22-2006
Quote:Hi,Perhaps Ghana is the great underdog story of the cup, and they'll set the Cup tournament on fire.
Regrettably so. They really showed Italy who's the boss...
I'm glad Ghana made it, though. We wanna see more of that African enchantment!
Greetings, Fragbait
US Cup performance was . . . flat. Didn't deserve to advance.
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - Nystul - 06-22-2006
Quote:Neither of these assertions explains why soccer is not popular in the US but is the most popular sport in (literally) hundreds of other countries.
I don't know the real answer to this, but I think it is complicated, and has very little to do with soccer itself (other than in so far as soccer is inherently better suited to be the most popular sport in Ghana than curling or skiing). Why are there hundreds of countries where the most popular sport played is a verbatim ruleset developed on a different continent? I think the answer is largely political in nature.
Quote:The countries whose players are notorious for shamming injury are the mediterranean and Latin ones. These would be said by many to have a more macho culture than the US, and yet football is not seen as "sissy" there. I suspect you used that word because it is often played by girls in the US.
I think you are barking up the wrong tree on this one. Almost all sports in the US are often played by girls.
World Cup Discussion Thread - Flymo - 06-22-2006
Quote:I think you are barking up the wrong tree on this one. Almost all sports in the US are often played by girls.I meant more than by boys. But I'm relying on the probably unrepresentative sample of my relatives and what I see on TV, so am happy to be corrected.
World Cup Discussion Thread - Occhidiangela - 06-22-2006
Quote:I meant more than by boys. But I'm relying on the probably unrepresentative sample of my relatives and what I see on TV, so am happy to be corrected.You need to be corrected. The only reason the growth in girls is becoming visible is
1. More girls are being born, boys are being slowly outnumbered
2. More people are standing up girls's teams.
3. In time, I expect you may find more girls than boys playing soccer, but at what societal value added I can't imagine.
When I was a teenager, not every high school had a soccer team, and few to none had women's soccer teams. That has changed, in the cases of both genders.
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - --Pete - 06-23-2006
Hi,
Quote:When I was a teenager, not every high school had a soccer team, and few to none had women's soccer teams. That has changed, in the cases of both genders.When I was a teenager, no American knew what soccer was or how it was spelled ;) (EDIT: Fixed dyslexic smiley)
As for soccer being the biggest sport in Europe, I remember reading that the attendance at Le Mans was greater than that at all the European soccer games combined. Then again, the 'stadium' is somewhat bigger. Just another indication that motor sports get no respect in the mainstream media.
For me, I'd much rather watch a dull auto race (which I understand, having been there) than an 'exciting' soccer match whose rules I barely know. And that probably applies to many of us in the USA. As the number of people who've actually played the game increases, perhaps the audiences will also.
--Pete
World Cup Discussion Thread - eppie - 06-23-2006
Quote:eppie, I don't think you understood my point. The players and the rules officials have in their control the integrity of the game. Their joint complicity in promoting falsehood and fraud damages to truth of what is happening on the field. Your excusing the "lawyer find a loophole" theme as excusable fraud" is part of the problem. Put differently, if you condone slavery, you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
I love soccer.
I have nothing but comtempt for liars who try to cheat to win. Falsely trying to portray a slide tackle as injurious is cheating, since it uses falsehood to wrongly influence a referee to award a card designed to punicsh truly rough play. Leave the legal loophole crap in the courtrooms, keep it off the "football pitch."
Occhi
Too bad you didn't quote the other parts.
In soccer winning is so important, financially that people do a lot to win. Not only pretending to be injured, but e.g. as well the fact that except for very few countries everybody is playing defence...making it more boring then it should be. Soccer is big business, and also in business people try to find the loopholes.
In american sports it is not so important if you win or not (of course for the fans it is), it is more important to be a really 'cool' or 'crazy' person that can sell a lot of T-shirts or caps. That's why there are things like all-star games, dunking contests etc.
As I said, the american prof.sports system (although also overcommercialized) is better then the european system of soccer to my opinion. Still I believe, but that is just my opinion, that the game of soccer is much more interesting then basketball, baseball etc. (Of which I'm actually also a big fan, I went to watch several NBA and MLB matches when I was in the US and I hope one day I can also go and see NHL and NFL games)
World Cup Discussion Thread - Occhidiangela - 06-23-2006
Quote:A replyEppie, I find watching soccer and watching golf to be similar. If you have played either, you find them far more interesting than if you haven't.
The core difference between soccer and golf is that Golfers are rabid, almost to the point of dementia, about adherence to the rules of golf and golf adhering to the rules. The rules are a core part of any game. Bending and breaking them bends and breaks the game.
Note: when I say Golfer, rather than golfer, I differentiate between casual golf, which many people play in ignorance of golf's rules, and Golf in accordance with USGA and R & A rules. I am a Golfer. :)
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - Flymo - 06-23-2006
Quote:You need to be corrected. The only reason the growth in girls is becoming visible isWell, I've done some research on this now, and I'm not sure I do need to be corrected. The number of girls playing football in the US was about the same as the number of boys in 1998. But the number of girls playing had doubled in the previous 5 years. If that trend continued, there probably are more women than men playing football in the US today.
1. More girls are being born, boys are being slowly outnumbered
2. More people are standing up girls's teams.
3. In time, I expect you may find more girls than boys playing soccer, but at what societal value added I can't imagine.
When I was a teenager, not every high school had a soccer team, and few to none had women's soccer teams. That has changed, in the cases of both genders.
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - Occhidiangela - 06-23-2006
Quote:Well, I've done some research on this now, and I'm not sure I do need to be corrected. The number of girls playing football in the US was about the same as the number of boys in 1998. But the number of girls playing had doubled in the previous 5 years. If that trend continued, there probably are more women than men playing football in the US today.Could it be most girls don't play contact sports like football and ice hockey because their parents think it is a stupid idea? So, soccer is a suitable substitute. It has also turned into something, at the youth league level, that turns my stomach.
Interesting that the trend is ahead of where I would have guessed, thanks for the info.
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - Ashock - 06-23-2006
Quote:Could it be most girls don't play contact sports like football and ice hockey because their parents think it is a stupid idea? So, soccer is a suitable substitute. It has also turned into something, at the youth league level, that turns my stomach.
Interesting that the trend is ahead of where I would have guessed, thanks for the info.
Occhi
Can we please keep women's soccer out of the World Cup thread? Really, there is almost nothing in the world that can be as boring as female team sports, like Soccer, Hockey, Basketball. Female soccer to me means exactly what most Americans feel about soccer in general: a big *yawn*. We can talk about it when they have their own "World Cup". A semi-decent male high-school team is faster and more exciting.... and better too. No comments about the fact that some great soccer/hockey/bball players were in their teens when they started playing for their teams please. I'm talking about non-elite players here.
The reason I mention this, is that most Americans already hate soccer. Why give them more reason? :o
-A
World Cup Discussion Thread - Occhidiangela - 06-23-2006
Quote:Some flame bait.You sure you want to put that on a hook and toss it in the Lounge's pond? :shuriken:
Occhi
World Cup Discussion Thread - Ashock - 06-23-2006
Quote:You sure you want to put that on a hook and toss it in the Lounge's pond? :shuriken:
Occhi
I don't really care, since it's true.
Edit: Mind you, I'm not saying girls/women should not play these games. It's just that it has nothing to do with this thread.
-A
World Cup Discussion Thread - Flymo - 06-23-2006
Quote:Can we please keep women's soccer out of the World Cup thread? Really, there is almost nothing in the world that can be as boring as female team sports, like Soccer, Hockey, Basketball. Female soccer to me means exactly what most Americans feel about soccer in general: a big *yawn*. We can talk about it when they have their own "World Cup". A semi-decent male high-school team is faster and more exciting.... and better too. No comments about the fact that some great soccer/hockey/bball players were in their teens when they started playing for their teams please. I'm talking about non-elite players here.They do have their own World Cup. America won it in 1999.
The reason I mention this, is that most Americans already hate soccer. Why give them more reason? :o
-A
World Cup Discussion Thread - Nystul - 06-24-2006
Quote:The reason I mention this, is that most Americans already hate soccer. Why give them more reason? :o
If that's really the reason you mention it, then you are also barking up the wrong tree. To quote Patton, "America loves a winner, and will not tolerate a loser." Mia Hamm is one of our most popular athletes. There are 8 year old girls with her poster on the wall, dreaming of someday playing in the World Cup. Landon Donovan and Claudio Reyna? Not so much.
World Cup Discussion Thread - kandrathe - 06-24-2006
Quote:If that's really the reason you mention it, then you are also barking up the wrong tree. ...Do I need to take down my Brandi Chastain poster?
World Cup Discussion Thread - the Langolier - 06-24-2006
Round of 16 begins in 7.5 hours. Here's my predictions:
Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Mexico
Italy over Australia
Switzerland over Ukraine
England over Ecuador
Portugal over the Netherlands
Brazil over Ghana (I just can't see a dark horse Cup victory meeting up with Brazil so early.)
Spain over France.
Ok so I just realized I have EVERY group winner advancing. I wouldn't be suprised if England loses to Ecuador, but I do see them advancing to the quarterfinals. The Aussie's may put some good pressure on the Italians, but I don't think it will be enough. Argentina is looking solid. The Ukraine is weak. I think the Netherlands will fare well versus Portugal so it should be a close game, maybe we'll even get to see a shoot out! Brazil is brazil. Spain won't have much trouble with France. Oliver Khan did so well in the last world cup that his mere presence on the sideline (a unfortunate happenstance in itself) will garuntee a semifinal appearence. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will kick Lehmann in the face or land on his ankle - at leat that is what I am rooting for. In all seriousness, however, I really really want to see him play this year.