07-02-2010, 10:10 PM
Well, this ought to spark a lot of debate. Congratulations to La Celeste for pulling it out of the fire, and Ghana v. Uruguay was a hell of a game, but ... Uruguay just lost their beloved underdog status, for sure.
Speaking of Suarez' already-infamous handball, what does it *mean* to break the rules, in sport? In the sense of an illegal play for which there is a known consequence? To accept the penalty in exchange for the advantage of "cheating" in a crucial moment? Is that a good play? Is it cheating? Both? It is certainly not sportsmanlike. But, I think with football, that ship sailed long ago, with headbutts and diving and all sorts of rules jockeying.
Is this just business as usual, with Ghana losing to an unfortunate, but well-known, aspect of the rules of the game? Or were they "cheated" out of something which was rightfully theirs, despite Suarez having suffered the full prescribed penalty of his action? Where are the boundaries of "the game"? Or is this a kind of meta-game activity?
It seems to have potential implications for all sorts of competitive games, including the ones we play here. Is this somehow similar to using an exploit in WoW, or Diablo? It seems like "Anyone would have done the same" is contrary to our mentality. (But, then, we don't have refs, or world cups.)
-Jester
Speaking of Suarez' already-infamous handball, what does it *mean* to break the rules, in sport? In the sense of an illegal play for which there is a known consequence? To accept the penalty in exchange for the advantage of "cheating" in a crucial moment? Is that a good play? Is it cheating? Both? It is certainly not sportsmanlike. But, I think with football, that ship sailed long ago, with headbutts and diving and all sorts of rules jockeying.
Is this just business as usual, with Ghana losing to an unfortunate, but well-known, aspect of the rules of the game? Or were they "cheated" out of something which was rightfully theirs, despite Suarez having suffered the full prescribed penalty of his action? Where are the boundaries of "the game"? Or is this a kind of meta-game activity?
It seems to have potential implications for all sorts of competitive games, including the ones we play here. Is this somehow similar to using an exploit in WoW, or Diablo? It seems like "Anyone would have done the same" is contrary to our mentality. (But, then, we don't have refs, or world cups.)
-Jester