World Cup starts today

[mjmacky]

I set up Acestream to work in XBMC and tested it with a tennis match, so hopefully that solution works for the cup.

I want Franch to win.

[mjmacky]

144563

[IdolEyes787]

I'm boycotting it mostly because it's boring as fuck.

[mjmacky]

I'm boycotting it mostly because it's boring as fuck.

Actively or passively?

I enjoy football, but there's too much of it, so I stick to the every 4-year events like World and Euro Cup.

My viewership of tennis is random as fuck.

[megabyteme]

I usually just wait for the recaps of the fans tearing down the arena and turning over cars.

[IdolEyes787]

Actively or passively?



No half measures,bro.No half measures.

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[Rart]

And with the first game comes the accusations of bribery.

Holy shit was that reffing horrible.

Maybe if I actually cared about soccer more or were from Croatia I would be as mad as I was when the Womens hockey team was robbed at the Olympics. But I don't really care about Croatia or Brazil so I'll most likely stay around for the highlights as well. Oh and the protests. Those sound fun.

[IdolEyes787]

When does Canada play?

[mjmacky]

When does Canada play?

You just missed them... they're last game was in Round 3 of qualifying
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[IdolEyes787]

No I'm pretty sure that 8-1 doesn't technically qualify as playing.

I have a degree in Sports Science and I believe the problem is that we don't have enough single name Spanish type people on the team.

[dion09529]

When does Canada play?

You just missed them... they're last game was in Round 3 of qualifying
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:lol:

[IdolEyes787]

Those who cannot do,laugh.

[mjmacky]

No I'm pretty sure that 8-1 doesn't technically qualify as playing.

I have a degree in Sports Science and I believe the problem is that we don't have enough single name Spanish type people on the team.
They did rout St. Lucia in earlier games, which must have really really hurt those Islanders.

I'm currently confused about following Netherlands. The Spanish team seemed to fall apart when Casillas was making one error after another. Their only goal was a penalty kick, and the previous champs lost their first group game 5-1. I'm itching for both of their next matches.

As far as the Spanish goalie goes, who has earned his standing in the past, football can be as cruel to age as child pornography.

[Rart]

USA won 0-1!

[keakzzz]

I think it's crazy how many "upsets" and last-minute-goals there have been so far (who would have predicted England, Italy and Spain all not reaching the knockout stage?)

[Rart]

That goalie switch was absolutely genius. Completely caught Costa Rica off guard. Krul dove correctly every shot, and having a massive reach doesn't hurt either. I'm still not a huge fan of using penalty kicks to decide games, but since Netherlands largely played better most of the game it wasn't a huge deal this time.

[IdolEyes787]

I'm still not a huge fan of using penalty kicks to decide games, but since Netherlands largely played better most of the game it wasn't a huge deal this time.

Even baseball has the dignity to allow the game to be decided by actually playing the game.
Yeah I know hockey now also has a "shootout":sick: but that's only because games running overly long might disrupt travel plans and isn't in effect during the playoffs.

[megabyteme]

As far as the Spanish goalie goes, who has earned his standing in the past, football can be as cruel to age as child pornography.

First swapped out, then finger probed by his uncle in the locker room. Rough, shame-filled day. :(

[mjmacky]

Even baseball has the dignity to allow the game to be decided by actually playing the game.
Yeah I know hockey now also has a "shootout":sick: but that's only because games running overly long might disrupt travel plans and isn't in effect during the playoffs.

If a team loses because they didn't increase their goal differential by 1, then no real complaints can be made when they lose out in a penalty kick shootout. The winners of said shootout can't really go around bragging either. In the end, goalie vs. goalie is best.

Alternatives:
watching an exhausted group of men being murmured on by a worn out crowd
a fucking coin toss
a boxing decision

Regarding that last one, I think decisions should be made by letting boxers exchange free shots to the cheek, and the first one to go down loses. I mean, they've already signed up for getting punched in the face.

[Rart]

Alternatives:
watching an exhausted group of men being murmured on by a worn out crowd


Yes. I do think that is a better alternative. The question in my mind is not of "does the team deserve to win if they can't increase the goal differential" but more of "are penalty kicks an accurate depiction of which team plays better soccer?" Soccer is a team game. Penalty kicks are not.

Perhaps they could reduce the number of players on the field in overtime? And then after 30 minutes, turn it to golden goal?

[mjmacky]

Soccer is a team game. Penalty kicks are not.

I'd have to double check Wikipedia or something, but I think the goalkeep is a member of the team.

The point is, many goal scoring opportunities have been 1-on-1 encounters.

[Rart]

And my point is that the large majority of those one and one encounters that were created are because the team played in a cohesive manner (and the other team didn't) which allowed such an opportunity to arise.

Yes, the goalkeeper is a member of the team, but he's only 1/11th of the team. A team sport should not be decided by 2 out of the 22 players on the field.

[IdolEyes787]

If a team loses because they didn't increase their goal differential by 1, then no real complaints can be made when they lose out in a penalty kick shootout. The winners of said shootout can't really go around bragging either. In the end, goalie vs. goalie is best.

Alternatives:
watching an exhausted group of men being murmured on by a worn out crowd
a fucking coin toss
a boxing decision

Regarding that last one, I think decisions should be made by letting boxers exchange free shots to the cheek, and the first one to go down loses. I mean, they've already signed up for getting punched in the face.

After regulation time stop calling penalties and let them settle it like the hooligans there are.

If after 30 minutes of overtime there is still no scoring,arm them.

Basically win/win.


And my point is that the large majority of those one and one encounters that were created are because the team played in a cohesive manner (and the other team didn't) which allowed such an opportunity to arise.

Yes, the goalkeeper is a member of the team, but he's only 1/11th of the team. A team sport should not be decided by 2 out of the 22 players on the field.

God help me but I agree with you,even though already having regular penalty kicks basically kicks the argument in the nuts.

[mjmacky]

After regulation time stop calling penalties and let them settle it like the hooligans there are.

If after 30 minutes of overtime there is still no scoring,arm them.

Basically win/win.

I used to play prison ball. I was never really a fan of basketball, but prison ball was fun as fuck... well as fun as fucking seems to be to other people
:/

In other words, I'm all for seeing what these theater performers would do when diving is taken off the table.

[megabyteme]

I used to play prison ball. I was never really a fan of basketball, but prison ball was fun as fuck... well as fun as fucking seems to be to other people


This brings back fond memories. I always sucked at basketball. Seems it was just my concern of rules and penalties that got in the way. I was actually pretty good when it came to stopping the other guys from scoring, and being able to shoot while 2-3 of them tried to drag me down. :01: Think Mungo from Blazing Saddles making free throws. Since everyone was busy trying to pull me down, nobody was there to block my shots. :happy:

[mjmacky]

I would get tackled in midair when I went for a layup. I would suplex the person trying to keep the ball away from me. It's a very exciting form of give and take.

[bakwardbob]

That would be cool.

[mjmacky]

That would be cool.
You don't even know what's being discussed, loser.

[megabyteme]

I would get tackled in midair when I went for a layup. I would suplex the person trying to keep the ball away from me. It's a very exciting form of give and take.

I was the "new kid" at a school I was only at for a year. The main intent of those on the other team was get the new guy. They tried. On a half-court it isn't possible to get the same sort of inertia available in football ('Merkin for the foreigners reading this :dry: ) for a GOOD tackle, so the best the other team could do was attempt to gang up on me. I could not pick my "teammates" out of a police lineup if I had to, but I remember occasionally passing the ball to them while everyone else was trying to drag me to the ground.

BTW, this was in the school gym. Our PE "teacher" typically just left us to go "do stuff". And would literally leave. :idunno:

[mjmacky]

BTW, this was in the school gym. Our PE "teacher" typically just left us to go "do stuff". And would literally leave. :idunno:

Did anyone ever see his tripod?

[megabyteme]

BTW, this was in the school gym. Our PE "teacher" typically just left us to go "do stuff". And would literally leave. :idunno:

Did anyone ever see his tripod?

Most of us rarely saw him. Maybe some students saw A LOT of him. Don't know. Could be that we weren't the only ones "reaching around", "tackling", and "following no rules". :O

[Rart]

In case any of you guys missed it... look very closely. Especially when Rodriguez is celebrating.

http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/1932838?&ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_Google_World_Cup_Video

[Rart]

I don't think I've ever seen (and as far as in recent memory, I don't think anyone has ever seen) such a massive stomp in the World Cup. I was expecting a Germany win due to Brazil's lackluster performance despite a fairly easy group stage and bracket stag thus far, but was certainly not expecting such a massive stomp. Was it missing Neymar, Silva, or the general weakness of the Brazillian team that led to this? I'm inclined to think it was a little of everything, but less so on Neymar, since it was largely in part the defense that struggled rather than the offense.

Also if anyone could clarify, getting two yellow cards (even if they're in separate games) results in a suspension? I was more under the impression that it was more of a once you get a yellow card, you have to play more safely for the rest of the game kind of thing. Kind of like when you hit the foul limit in basketball.

[scerri]

It's all over tomorrow! My money is on Germany. I don't watch league play, but by coincidence I was in Europe for the last 3 major tournaments. Totally changes the soccer experience

[dion09529]

Brazil-Nederland 0-3 :D

[IdolEyes787]

This must be another one of those weird foreign things because here in the blessed U.S. of A it's proper to list the winning team first. Netherlands 3 Brazil 0

Fucking foreigners.No wonder we feel the need to oppress so many of them.

[dion09529]

No wonder you'll never understand this sport. Why don't you do us a favor and put your skaters on get a stick and shoot a hard rubber hockey puck.

[IdolEyes787]

Probably because it's Summer and like 30 C outside.Consequentially I'm now more lacrosse and lumberjack competitions.

Anyway I wasn't sure abut this so I checked my main two sources of knowledge,Wikipedia and The Urban Dictionary and they both confirm that you can't effectively speak against small-mindedness if you are small-minded yourself.

USA.USA.USA.

[dion09529]

I assume you took the red pill.

http://d3dsacqprgcsqh.cloudfront.net/photo/a8WB951_460s.jpg

[IdolEyes787]

I assume you took the red pill.

http://d3dsacqprgcsqh.cloudfront.net/photo/a8WB951_460s.jpg

Hopefully I will never understand why that seems to make sense to you.

[dion09529]

whatever!
Hopefully I will never understand why that seems to make sense to you.




https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=509789142456663&set=o.159370460826227&type=2&theater

[IdolEyes787]

I don't follow soccer,mostly because it's boring and a lot of the players seem to think that being an example to the youth of the World involves grabbing of jerseys ,surreptitious fists to the face and diving to the ground and pretending to be hurt at every given opportunity,but I digress.

Being unencumbered by knowledge it was clear to me that Germany had trouble generating offense against Argentina because they allowed themselves to be constantly outnumbered in the attacking zone as Argentina was happy to simply put up a wall and hope for an occasional successful quick counterattack.

I don't blame Argentina for this, though it made something already inherently boring even more tedious.Rather I view Germany as being more than a bit gutless and not having the gonads to really play for the win.

So on that note,congratulations on a largely undeserved win,you stone-less Huns you.Fortune favours the cowardly.:)

[megabyteme]

Last night in Germany, millions celebrated the World Cup victory by getting shitfaced. Almost as many drank alcohol...

[IdolEyes787]

In honour of the German victory,Palestinian militants plan to murder several Jews today.

[Rart]

diving to the ground and pretending to be hurt at every given opportunity,but I digress.

What they should do is just implement some sort of a penalty for embellishment in soccer similar to what's in hockey (I like how canucks use the term soccer, you're basically American already).

On another slightly related note, and this is something that applies universally to almost every sport, is the seemingly lack of caution, concern, foresight, whatever you want to call it towards the treatment of injuries. Kramer (from Germany) can't even remember what happened during the game. Concussions almost seem like an afterthought during sports games and players are sent back on like they are nothing. This can have dire, even fatal consequences when left untreated, especially if something, even minor, were to happen again. Also leaving concussions untreated like that will lead to very bad long term health problems regardless of whether something happened when they returned to the game. I believe the NFL has started to admit it's a problem and are beginning to try to address it (but admittedly they're the sport that needed to the most). There's still much more that can be done though to ensure that these players aren't endangering their lives and become an alphabet soup of medical problems at 40.



Being unencumbered by knowledge it was clear to me that Germany had trouble generating offense against Argentina because they allowed themselves to be constantly outnumbered in the attacking zone as Argentina was happy to simply put up a wall and hope for an occasional successful quick counterattack.


While it did seem like Argentina had more quality chances during the game (which they promptly flubbed), they seemed to have practically exhausted their tank by the time overtime rolled around. Germany just seemed to have more energy, and it certainly played a big part in that beautiful game winning goal.

Meanwhile on Sportscenter... How does Germany's last minute victory in the World Cup affect Lebron's move to Cleveland???

[IdolEyes787]

What they should do is just implement some sort of a penalty for embellishment in soccer similar to what's in hockey (I like how canucks use the term soccer, you're basically American already).

Simply to differentiate soccer and you know,football.If I was basically American I'm sure I'd be fatter and more full of myself.:)



Meanwhile on Sportscenter... How does Germany's last minute victory in the World Cup affect Lebron's move to Cleveland???

They should change the name of the show because salaries or transfers or any and everything that happens outside of game other than training or injury has nothing to do with sport and everything to do with business.:ermm:

[dion09529]

Wait what? They've qualified one time. Of course, Idol will show up shortly and will explain you how low leveled are those who watch this sport.

[IdolEyes787]

We could win but we figure other countries should have at least one to be proud aboot.

[dion09529]

:lol:

[IdolEyes787]

You anger me with your good humour.Let us take this to the pitch and settle it like proper homosexuals.