World Cup/soccer thoughts

[TheGoToGuy]

I saw this World Cup as soccer's opportunity to win me over or not. Watched all of USA's games except for the Slovenia game. Saw probably 5 or 6 other games.

Likes:

1. Lack of TV Timeouts - Even the most avid American soccer hater would have to appreciate this one. You hardly ever have to worry about the flow of a good game getting interrupted to watch the latest GM and Taco Bell commercials for the 58th time.

2. Length of the Game - It was nice having an approximate time when the game was going to end. Wasn't like college football games where the games hit 3 hours and sometimes drag out to nearly 4 hours. I don't care what sport I'm watching, after 3 hours I just want the thing to end. Estimating 2 hours for soccer, give or take 10 minutes, was a breath of fresh air.

3. Genuine pride of the players - Something we don't see enough of here in the US. We have NBA players deny invitations to play for USA during the offseason so they can get married, sign contracts, do endorsements, or whatever BS they can think of. Landon Donovan spent his offseason playing with Team USA, went to play in the World Cup, and within days of the Ghana elimination game started playing again for his LA Galaxy team. See the difference?

4. Close games - This should go after the lack of scoring dislike below, but one thing about the lack of scoring is that most games are usually close. Which makes every breakaway, every shot, every call/no call in the final minutes seem like an eternity. It's not like football where you screw up your first down play, you get 2 or 3 more downs to make it up. Or basketball where you miss a shot, you know you'll get plenty more tries after that.

Bonus - France collapsing. Shouldn't have to explain that one.

Dislikes:

1. Lack of scoring - Still irks me how announcers can say one team is dominating a game when the score is 0-0 in the 80th minute. They can get 10 shots off and control possession for 80 minutes for all I care. One bad pass or one breakdown can lead to a game winning goal for the other team. It's the real drag about low scoring sports, one team can catch a lucky break and beat a team they aren't as good as. It's more than the lack of scoring actually, it's the lack of scoring chances. You'll watch a game and may have 5-10 minutes go by before a shot actually makes a goal keeper have to move to prevent a goal.

2. Diving - Watching some of these foreign teams tempted me to Google a word that rhymes with wussy translation so I could find the right language to scream said word at the TV. I couldn't watch more than 15 minutes of Italy/Greece because the Italians were flopping around like porn stars getting nailed with only the slightest of contact...and then would scream at the ref for not giving them a call. It really bothered me when the Americans, after falling behind 2-1 to Ghana, started trying it to. Is it possible we could form a soccer team of the Bad Boy Pistons, 90s NY Knicks, and Dave Cowens to the next FIFA friendly game? Those guys would give foreigners something to flop about. I remember in extra time of the Ghana/USA game they had to carry some Ghana guy off on the stretcher. As soon as that stretcher reached out of bounds the guy magically healed like Wolverine ran back to his bench. Paul Pierce couldn't have scripted that any better.

3. Vuvuzelas - Like I always criticize Mississippi State fans about, if you have to have artificial noise makers to be loud you're not a very good crowd. This was almost as bad. I was looking forward to seeing some of the different fanbases cheering their teams on with a bit of cultural significance thrown in. I wanted to see the South African fans doing a little zulu chant, New Zealand fans doing some kind of Maori haka dance and battlecry, and England fans acting like drunken hooligans. I really really really wanted to see the Greek fans have the stadium shaking with some of the songs they put together. If you've never seen Greek fans go all out cheering for their team you're missing out, makes the Cameron Crazies look like a preschool class. But alas, I had to settle for constant vuvuzela buzzing, which sounded more like a 2 hour traffic jam of nothing but 18 wheelers.

4. Constant running myth - I laugh whenever a soccer freak brings up the "constant running and movement" pitch as to why soccer is this great sport. No one more than 15 feet away from the ball not receiving a pass moves in anything more than can be considered a trot. If you only watch the ball on camera, then yeah it's going to look faster than it really is.

5. Too much stalling - This correlates to dislikes #1 and #2. I hated it when a team was up 1-0 and started stalling at the 70th minute. Wouldn't even try to score, spent extra time bitching at the refs, took their sweet time on free kicks and throw-ins, and faked injuries. I know soccer adds a few minutes of extra time at the end of each half but it doesn't stop the stalling. I'd propose that, in the final 10 minutes of a game, the ref stop the time for throw-ins, free kicks, and injuries. Would cut down on the stalling without adding too much to the Length of the Game I liked.



In the end, I guess I don't completely hate soccer but I don't see myself following it either. Won't be keeping up with MLS or the Premiere League anytime soon. But I do think I can get into it a little every couple of years for the World Cup and Olympics. Got to have a little national pride on the line (we shouldn't be losing to a country that isn't even as big as Texas).

[Lincoln O'Siris]

No scoring, no big hits, too much flopping (reminds me of a Dook basketball team), and just flat out boring. I forgot to add the noise.

[wgea]

edited:

[Bigwormk]

The biggest highlight for me is that it's OVER!

[pvilleguru]

i watched the world cup almost religiously. after the first few games, i literally didn't notice the vuvuzelas anymore. if it was bothering you, it's very easy to turn the volume down.

a player can actually get a yellow card for diving. it just almost never happens.

as for the constant running, it's both true and false. depends on the position. if you play midfield, you can easily cover around 10 miles a game. you are constantly pushing forward and back. strikers tend to just stay forward and defenders tend to just stay back. although you may not be actually running the entire game, you are jogging the full 90 minutes.

one of the things i like most about soccer is the strategy. everything is based off angles. every time the ball moves, the angles change. you are having to constantly move to get into the best position. it's unlike any other sport i've played (baseball and basketball).