World Cup 2006

KittyKatBlack · Post by **KittyKatBlack** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:35 pm

Swiftbow wrote:Man, playing soccer is somewhat fun, but watching it?

Good god. The players endlessly run up and down the field, and almost never score. It's like watching somebody painting... and repeatedly missing the wall.

I think I actually ticked off some people during the short span in which I played soccer. I was scoring multiple goals as a midfielder because I'd keep running up and shooting with the backside of my foot away from where I was looking and apparently aiming. That like always fooled the goalie, lol.

Oh, and since I saw baseball mentioned, go Rockies go!

I think that's why they give you 6 points per touchdown in American Football. It makes it seem like they're doing more than they actually are.

Czar · Post by **Czar** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:43 pm

It's not the score that matters in football (I refuse to call it soccer)! It's the play!

If you want to see a game where they regularly rack up the score into the twenties or thirties (per team! and only one point per goal, no padded scores), go watch team handball.

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:00 pm

Well yeah, if seeing a score every coupla minutes or so is your thing, there are plenty of games you can watch, from basketball to ping pong.

Swiftbow · Post by **Swiftbow** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:26 pm

Yeah, but in soccer whole games can go by with no score at all. Though it is faintly amusing to hear the (apparently drugged-up) announcers shout "GOAL" at the top of their lungs as the screen flashes pyschedically when it actually does occur.

And football actually has like plays and strategy. Maybe soccer does, too, but it isn't very apparent to Joe Average Viewer (me). What really amazes me is the absolutely rabid and terrifying fans who will actually kill each other it. I mean, Raiders fans look like little puppy dogs in comparison.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:29 pm

Aw, I'm sure that's just the British.

Phact0rri · Post by **Phact0rri** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:07 am

Swiftbow wrote:Yeah, but in soccer whole games can go by with no score at all. Though it is faintly amusing to hear the (apparently drugged-up) announcers shout "GOAL" at the top of their lungs as the screen flashes pyschedically when it actually does occur.

And football actually has like plays and strategy. Maybe soccer does, too, but it isn't very apparent to Joe Average Viewer (me). What really amazes me is the absolutely rabid and terrifying fans who will actually kill each other it. I mean, Raiders fans look like little puppy dogs in comparison.

US football, has about as much strategy as the janitors in a hotel. "okay you run out and turn sharp to the left and turn around. you run far. the rest of you hit the other guys."

The Other Football (IE Soccer)l can actually be a lot more complicated, than you might think.

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:15 am

Yep. You aren't as much Joe The Average Viewer as you are Joe the American Average Viewer. To us who are used to watching football/soccer since we were kids, strategy in it is quite apparent. And goal is a very valuable treasure. One goal can turn the whole result upside down. In sports where points are given more often, they are less valuable too. In such games, there aren't sudden twists - there are just progressive changes of results.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:34 am

mcDuffies wrote:One goal can turn the whole result upside down.

Tell me about it...

Carn the Socceroos!!

RPin · Post by **RPin** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:08 am

To me explaining a sport is like explaining a fetish. It's useless, you either have it or you don't.

Which is funny, because the reasons cited by americans to find football boring and their other sports exciting are the sames ones used by football fans, only the opposite. I don't like watching basketball because after a while you know which team is going to win and there's little chance of a comeback, as the scores are always won by a fairly large advantage, whereas in football the game is only over when it's over.

I think that part of why americans can't understand football is that they have so many national sports and so many teams to root for, that it makes impossible for them to devote themselves as truly fans of one team. In the countries where football is the main sport, it evokes great passions, which can be truly endearing at times and dangerously stupid at others, and explains the greatness of it. Football fans aren't just fans of the sport, they're fans of their team and they will be until the day they die.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:11 am

I just read that the official beer of the World Cup is Budweiser. Boy I'll bet the Germans aren't amused.

ZeroHero · Post by **ZeroHero** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:57 am

ghana is getting schooled by brazil right now. i wish they would have given a better showing, they seem like a pretty classy team

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:15 pm

RPin wrote:I think that part of why americans can't understand football is that they have so many national sports and so many teams to root for, that it makes impossible for them to devote themselves as truly fans of one team.

Heh...then they mustn't be Australians...fair dinkum, we'd support a national tiddly-wink team as long as they were playing internationally and there was plenty to drink at the stadium!

War · Post by **War** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:26 pm

rkolter wrote:I just read that the official beer of the World Cup is Budweiser. Boy I'll bet the Germans aren't amused.

They really aren't pleased about it. Drinking Budweiser is as low as drinking grey water to them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5091154.stm

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:45 pm

RPin wrote:Which is funny, because the reasons cited by americans to find football boring and their other sports exciting are the sames ones used by football fans, only the opposite. I don't like watching basketball because after a while you know which team is going to win and there's little chance of a comeback, as the scores are always won by a fairly large advantage, whereas in football the game is only over when it's over.

Well, that isn't exactly true either. Basketball I watch is usually world and European championships, in which sudden turns in playing strategy are often, and result can often change in final 5 minutes or so. And if the result is tight in the end, last few minutes that stretch to an hour are nerve-wrecking.
However, yes, in basketball, the only thing that can suddenly change is team's play, which can lead to the change of result. Slow change.

They really aren't pleased about it. Drinking Budweiser is as low as drinking grey water to them.

Bah. I'm pretty sure that Irish consider all non-Irish beer a grey water.