WORLD CUP!!!!!!!! watching it now. Wooohoooo

[CathyInBlue]

Just plaaaaaaayin' in the rain.

Just plaaaayin' in the rain.

 

[jmiller676]

Now THERE is a real spectator sport...

I said I cheer them on, not that I enjoyed the sport. (if that's what you want to call it)

 

[hornadylnl]

This might actually make soccer enjoyable to watch.

Soccer would be so much better if it was played on bouncy ground. [VIDEO]

 

[hornadylnl]

In 10 minutes, I've seen 1 shot that was generally in the direction of the goal.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

USA Lost!! YAY!!! We're moving on!!! Wait, wut??


Let's see... soccer started really gaining popularity here in the US about the same time that kids started being taught that "nobody loses, everybody gets a trophy". Coincidence??

And let's think about this. If MLB was played like soccer, the Cubs might be the favorites to win the World Series. If the NFL rules were more like soccer, when the Colts had a 2-14 season, they might have won the Super Bowl!

 

[sj kahr k40]

All leagues are played like soccer, the top teams in their league go on to the playoffs, in this case it's a three game regular season followed by the playoffs, soccer calls it the group stage and the knockout stage but it's the same as every league, or are you suggesting they must win every game to make it to the playoffs? MLB won't have a World Series if we go that route, nfl won't have many teams in the post season either

 

[rockhopper46038]

Are ANY sportsball games interesting to watch? They're all interesting to play, but watch...?

 

[sj kahr k40]

I enjoy watching soccer more on TV then any other sport, they might not score a lot but they don't stand around for a minute after every play either

 

[DoggyDaddy]

All leagues are played like soccer, the top teams in their league go on to the playoffs, in this case it's a three game regular season followed by the playoffs, soccer calls it the group stage and the knockout stage but it's the same as every league, or are you suggesting they must win every game to make it to the playoffs? MLB won't have a World Series if we go that route, nfl won't have many teams in the post season either

I know, and I confess I don't know the ins and outs of the game. I thought the World Cup pretty much was the equivalent of the playoffs, with the two surviving teams playing for the cup. But on its face you have to admit it seems pretty weird when a loss is a good thing. Even in the NFL and MLB it's still the winningest teams in each division that get to the playoffs. I can't think of a single scenario where for instance, the Colts beat the Patriots in round one of the playoffs, but the Patriots still go to the Super Bowl.

What you said about it being like a 3 game regular season (group stage) followed by the playoffs (knockout stage) makes more sense though, and I wasn't aware of that.


(But it still bores me to tears)

 

[CathyInBlue]

USA Lost!! YAY!!! We're moving on!!! Wait, wut??

Follow me, if you will. Each win allots 3 points to the victor, each loss 0 points to the vanquished, and a draw allots 1 point to each team. Difference between goals for and goals against for each team is the goal differential in parens.

Germany embarrasses Portugal 0-4: GER 3 (+4), POR 0 (-4)

Germany ties Ghana: GER 4 (+4), GHA 1 (0)

America beats Ghana 2-1: USA 3 (+1), GHA 1 (-1)

Portugal breaks USA's heart 2-2: USA 4 (+1), POR 1 (-4)

Portugal beats Ghana 2-1: POR 4 (-3), GHA 1 (-2)

Germany beats America 0-1: GER 7 (+5), USA 4 (0)

Each team played exactly three times, each other Group G team once. The final ranking: Germany 7 (+5), USA 4 (0), Portugal 4 (-3), Ghana 1 (-2). America beats out Portugal on goal differential, even though we both had the same number of group points. Since the top two teams from each group progress to the sudden death rounds, America advances, Portugal goes home. If Germany had beaten Portugal by just 0-1, their GD would just be 0 at the end. If Germany had beaten the US 0-2, our GD would be -1. Without changing the essential character of those German wins, if they had been wins by those different margins, Portugal would be advancing and the USMNT would be coming home.

However, as the new format is sudden death, those group points and goal differentials mean absolutely bupkis, except, perhaps, to set the initial contests, I'm not sure about that part.

There was a worry about the Portugal-Ghana match. Had Ghana won, they were a greater threat to an American advance, since they had a much larger (smaller negative) GD. Ghana beating Portugal by just one goal would have tied America's standing precisely, but would have meant Germany scoring another goal on us would have put our GD in the negative, allowing Ghana to advance. Ghana beating Portugal by two goals would have guaranteed us going home unless we could at a minimum tie Germany. A POR-GHA draw would have meant a guaranteed USA bye, no matter how many goals we lost to Germany by. The way the POR-GHA match went down, Germany could have scored an additional 2 goals on us and it wouldn't have mattered, as we would still have had a better GD than Portugal.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

That there is just way too much cipherin' fer me.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I didn't even know it was going on until I saw that annoying McDonald's commercial a few days ago.

Good news is that it's only 60-something days until real football starts again!

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

I didn't even know it was going on until I saw that annoying McDonald's commercial a few days ago.

Good news is that it's only 60-something days until real football starts again!

You mean that game where real men don't flop on the ground like a big sissy when someone breathes on them to hard! Or where if you bit someone on the shoulder you would get your teeth knocked out!! Oh yeah, real football!!

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

You mean that game where real men don't flop on the ground like a big sissy when someone breathes on them to hard! Or where if you bit someone on the shoulder you would get your teeth knocked out!! Oh yeah, real football!!

I can't find it now but I saw a graphic on tv this morning showing where, in the US, soccer is the most popular. It probably wouldn't be surprising to learn that almost all of them were is large, metropolitan centers--especially on the east and west coasts. (I found it odd that Columbus and Cincinnati were on the list). They can have it.

 

[Expat]

That there is just way too much cipherin' fer me.

Just like, how do they figure how much extra time to give at the end of the game. The game ends at a certain time, but then the referee just has them keep playing for some undetermined period of time and it isn't because it is a tie, which then they should keep playing until someone wins. As I understand it, it is to make up for all the time the douches wasted pretending to be hurt.

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

I can't find it now but I saw a graphic on tv this morning showing where, in the US, soccer is the most popular. It probably wouldn't be surprising to learn that almost all of them were is large, metropolitan centers--especially on the east and west coasts. (I found it odd that Columbus and Cincinnati were on the list). They can have it.

Actually I'm a fan of high school soccer and soccer for little kids. I can't stand watching full grown men wincing in pain and collapsing to the ground because a 150 pound guy brushed up against him. It's one of the reason I don't watch much pro basketball either.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Which is kept track of by the referee, who then communicates that number to the guy at the sideline who mans the LED board for indicating player substitutions, who places the number alone on the board and holds it up for all to see and know that play will continue for that many minutes more to make a total of 90 actual minutes of play time.

Imagine an NFL game where the clock only ever actually ran while the ball was in play. Each game would last all day.

 

[churchmouse]

In 10 minutes, I've seen 1 shot that was generally in the direction of the goal.

And this is why I do not watch. More boring than baseball and just north of Golf.

Having had my kids in youth soccer from age 5 through High school I would think we would all be huge soccer fans. "Nope"....Boring.

Youth soccer is fast and higher scoring. I so enjoy watching the kids far more that the "Biting" pro's.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

And this is why I do not watch. More boring than baseball and just north of Golf.

Having had my kids in youth soccer from age 5 through High school I would think we would all be huge soccer fans. "Nope"....Boring.

Youth soccer is fast and higher scoring. I so enjoy watching the kids far more that the "Biting" pro's.

It's been awhile but I've watched 3-0 football games that were fascinating to watch. A 1-0 soccer game?....not so much. At least with the kids playing, you have a vested interest in their performance(s) and the outcome of the game.

 

[printcraft]