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I got up early today (Thursday) to watch the US/Ghana soccer game.
I didn’t see much, because I was working in my room and had to prepare for a trip to a hearing doctor.
But from what I saw, it was a fascinating game. The US was hardcore, putting their lives on the line for their country. They brought out their biggest guns, and did not hesitate to foul when the refs weren’t looking. They showed tremendous courage and determination, refusing to settle for anything less than complete and utter victory no matter what the cost.
Ghana, on the other hand, employed a strategy of trying to put the ball in the US net more often than visa versa.
In the end Ghana’s approach proved superior, eliminating the US from the World Cup.
Or so I (and others) thought.
Now it seems the US team is refusing to leave. It insists it will stay the course, because an early withdrawal would be a terrible and tragic mistake for the world.
The situation is awkward for the World Cup Federation, as well as the surviving teams, who need to focus on each other rather than placating the Americans who insist on playing more games. The Federation is doing its best to resolve the matter. One idea is to use hooligans from the stands to keep fielding teams to play the US, but there is considerable concern for the hooligans’ welfare, considering how high the stakes are for the Americans.
That’s where things stood when I turned off the TV and headed for the hearing doctor.
I’ll keep you posted.
I'm nobody's pony.
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Landmark Hearing Services in Sunnyvale. Avoid it like the plague. They’re incredibly rude. The receptionist yelled at me. The doctors yelled at me. Everyone yelled at me. After that, they locked me in a padded room and kept whispering things. Finally this woman wanted me to repeat words she spoke:
Woman: Say roof.
Me: [Silence]
Woman: Say roof.
Me: [Silence]
Woman: Can you hear me?
Me: Yeah, but you didn’t say Simon says.
Woman: [Mutters something] Simon says, say roof.
Me: Root.
Woman: Simon says, say ladder.
Me: Latter.
Woman: Simon says, say airplane.
Me: Hair train.
Woman: Simon says, say goal.
Me: Goooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!!!!!
Woman: [Consulting with others for several seconds] I’m sorry, but we cannot accept that as a correct answer.
Diagnosis: Low frequencies, okay; high frequencies, diminished. I can hear vowels, but not consonants. I'm okay for soccer.
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!!!!
I'm nobody's pony.
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Real American men do not play a sport that permits the game to end in a tie, for chrissakes! What the hell is THAT about? If you don't keep going until someone wins, what's the effing point???
I've read that as of yesterday, 15 "fans" are dead from incidents related to rooting for this alleged sport; 6 of those in China.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/healt...936392.htm
This tells me there's something seriously effed up in the rest of the world.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Haggis Killer
Unregistered
Even with the ties.
The American team, however, played like a bunch of gutless chumps. The "best" players on the team avoided putting the ball anywhere near the goal. When they inadvertently found themseles with the ball near the goal, they passed to someone who didn't have a shot. Landon Donovan? I saw his name and number on a jersey that ran around on the grass, but the rest of him failed to show up. They should have pulled a Spain and replaced all 11 starters with 11 other guys. Couldn't have been any worse of a result.
I'm disgusted with the US team.
Soccer requires passion, will, heart, guts... and a solid command of physical comedy, since you must be able to take a dive when anyone comes near you.
Ah, Soccer. Futbol. I'm so glad I'm incapable of playing anymore. Bad back, you know.
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After further viewing, I've developed some firm opinions.
First, soccer players should have to wear competition fencing outfits or something similar. You know, so contact (and its degree) can be accurately assessed in realtime.
As it stands, HK is right. There is so much fakery wrapped up in the game, and the refs get fooled a lot. I'm not blaming the refs. It's like in martial arts movies where some guy swings and the other guy goes flying, and it looks legit from the right angle. The soccer players seem more aware of where referees are standing than where other players are. The instant replays show an awful lot of laughable (but very effective) fakery.
They could introduce instant replay like football -- but soccer shouldn't be slowed down. It's one long run from the get-go for 45 minutes, followed by another for 45 minutes. That's part of why soccer never caught on in the US. Sponsors want lots of breaks to shove products up our wazoos, and the game doesn't permit it. Also, Americans want instant gratification, and 2 or 3 scores in two hours just won't do it.
Oh, and I learned that in the World Cup, only the early rounds permit ties. Later on, there's an overtime session (no sudden death), and if that doesn't do it, teams take turns with penalty kicks -- 5 each, I believe -- and the best total wins.
I'm nobody's pony.
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Get the US team ready to help France in the second half when the Germans invade their territory and treat them like, well, like they were French. That's us. Always bailing the French out.
(Joke stolen from the Queen)
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit
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Jeez, I can't believe the french beat the Brazilians! I mean, if the Brazilians won, it would have been a big party with attractive, scantily-clad women. Now that the French have won, they will initially have a party, but it will turn into remorseful maunderings about lost national glory and result in existential angst and several burned cars. It will only abate when Zee Chermanz march in and take over. Then everything will be back to normal.
Soccer kinda sucks, but not nearly as much as baseball. Rugby RULES!
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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I would've thought your favorite sport would be caber tossing or hammer throwing.
the hands that guide me are invisible
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No, I file those under "Courtship".
Someone recently wrote that soccer is like the UN: Lots of pointless running about and very little to show for it.
PPFY
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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This morning's sports headline:
"High-scoring World Cup Final Unlikely"
Well, duh-uh...!
I'm nobody's pony.
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It was very entertaining. If I ever made it to the World Cup, I'd have been that Frenchman who hit the goal post, I just know it....
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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I understand that Zidane got an honorary Scottish citizenship for that headbutt.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
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[youtube]w04xmH2SOLA[/youtube]
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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Bad form....they totally messed up that Zen garden. But oh well-all things are ephemeral...
--tg
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