"they are calling him "beavis" vasquez on their board and have been Editeding and moaning about him all summer. it makes me chuckle. i told them a g-town education should require a more creative nickname than "beavis"." -TerpSportsReport.com Message Board
I know a most/all of you are more rabid soccer fans than I am, but I have to admit that I am really looking forward to this year's World Cup. I have NEVER had any, much less this high expectations heading into a World Cup, and I don't just mean because we have a chance to go deep into the tournament. Beyond that, I am just really looking forward to the event itself. Obviously it helps that we are at least competitive. Still, the point is that whether soccer is becoming more "mainstream" here in the USA, or whether they have done a better job of promoting the event, or whether the event has been improving in recent decades or whether it's simply a matter of my tastes having been refined, I can't say. Most likely it's a combination of all of those factors and probably some others. In any case, I am really looking forward to the event. I am taking my son to Omaha for the College World Series and the last year of the famed Rosenblatt Stadium, but I have already penciled in the game on the 18th into the schedule, and we will most likely watch numerous games while we are there. Obviously, that could be viewed as a "waste of time" but I am really looking forward to it.
Last Edit: Jun 2, 2010 11:23:31 GMT -5 by hifigator
As has been the case from the beginning of time, it is our American birthright to remain ignorant and disdainful of foreign things. Especially those things we do not understand and at which we are not altogether good. Like small cars, omelets and sensible plumbing. Prepare yourself then for the unsurprising onslaught of bad writing, bad thinking and bad faith among our newsprint and electric soccer commentariat -- including your online friends and neighbors and loved ones who still believe that soccer sucks and Europe sucks and that no one watches soccer and no one cares about soccer and that soccer just really, really sucks and Mexico sucks and soccer and South America all suck very much indeed. (Don't fret; an ocean or two away, this will be compensated for by the kind of smug, continental sports writing in which America is a nation of rubes and hillbillies and philistines because we fail to see the subtleties in either the offside trap or the work of Gilbert and Sullivan -- both of which are frankly more fun and interesting to perform than they are to watch.)
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit.' And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." -Ayrton Senna
First day of the World Cup and I'm not at work on a Friday--beautiful.
Predictions for how it plays out:
Group A: Mexico, France Group B: Argentina, Nigeria Group C: England, USA Group D: Serbia, Germany Group E: Netherlands, Cameroon Group F: Italy, Paraguay Group G: Brazil, Portugal Group H: Spain, Chile
Round of 16: Mexico over Nigeria England over Germany Netherlands over Paraguay Brazil over Chile Argentina over France USA over Serbia Italy over Cameroon Spain over Portugal
Round of 8: England over Mexico Brazil over Netherlands Argentina over USA Spain over Italy
Semifinals Brazil over England Spain over Argentina
Final Brazil over Spain
If the pre-game show is any indication, poor Martin Tyler is going to have to use his extreme outside voice to talk over the vuvulzelas.
"they are calling him "beavis" vasquez on their board and have been Editeding and moaning about him all summer. it makes me chuckle. i told them a g-town education should require a more creative nickname than "beavis"." -TerpSportsReport.com Message Board
Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Jun 11, 2010 9:45:12 GMT -5
Ugh Announcers who don't understand off sides. Yeah there was a defender on the post but the striker was behind the keeper. In that instance it is offsides. There has to be 2 players from the opposite team between you and the goal. It's a pretty rare situation. But i'm pretty sure that is the rule.
Last Edit: Jun 11, 2010 9:45:49 GMT -5 by HoyaSinceBirth
Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Jun 11, 2010 9:47:05 GMT -5
"A player, usually a striker, is called offside when he is nearer to the other team's goal than both the ball and the second last opponent. The second last opponent usually being the last defender from the opponent team, an offside occurs when the striker is closer to the opposing team's goal than that team's last defender. "
I have it on mute, so I couldn't hear what the announcers were saying. For my part, I know the rule, I still don't think he was offsides.
Actually, I have to amend that. I think I know the rule. The call is based on the playrers' positions when the ball is struck, no? If there is an exception to that, I will stand corrected. But when the ball was struck, there's no way he was behind the keeper, and then the other defender who was on the line.
If the keeper charges out in front after the ball is hit (and happens to miss everything), you can't penalize the offensive team for that, can you?
Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Jun 11, 2010 10:21:06 GMT -5
Announcers all said it wasn't offsides but since half time they have admitted they were wrong. Striker was between the goalie and the defender on the post. You have to have 2 opponents between you and the goal.
I have it on mute, so I couldn't hear what the announcers were saying. For my part, I know the rule, I still don't think he was offsides.
Actually, I have to amend that. I think I know the rule. The call is based on the playrers' positions when the ball is struck, no? If there is an exception to that, I will stand corrected. But when the ball was struck, there's no way he was behind the keeper, and then the other defender who was on the line.
If the keeper charges out in front after the ball is hit (and happens to miss everything), you can't penalize the offensive team for that, can you?
Unless the rules have changed since I played (eons ago), you can not, as amatter of rule, be offside on the corner kick strike as the ball is necessarily ahead of the player. That said, once it is played again on the field you can be in an offside position.
Prepare yourself then for the unsurprising onslaught of bad writing, bad thinking and bad faith among our newsprint and electric soccer commentariat -- including your online friends and neighbors and loved ones who still believe that soccer sucks and Europe sucks and that no one watches soccer and no one cares about soccer and that soccer just really, really sucks and Mexico sucks and soccer and South America all suck very much indeed.
I like soccer and it's obviously ridiculously popular in most parts of the world, but the rest of this seems pretty much indisputable.
I used to not like soccer, but I came to appreciate/like it by watching Georgetown games as an undergrad. Still, I can't stand all the Euro-wannabe types who look down their nose at America for not holding soccer above football, basketball, baseball. From that excerpt, that writer sounds like one of those kinda guys.
Although if you live in New Jersey, all of a sudden everybody is an Italy or Brazil(???) fan for the next few weeks, until those teams lose at which point it's back to rep'ing the Yankees/Lakers/Dukies.
Round of 16: Mexico over Nigeria England over Germany Netherlands over Paraguay Brazil over Chile Argentina over France USA over Serbia Italy over Cameroon Spain over Portugal
Round of 8: England over Mexico Brazil over Netherlands Argentina over USA Spain over Italy
Semifinals Brazil over England Spain over Argentina
Final Brazil over Spain
I don't know as much as you guys, but that looks kinda chalk don't you think?
I have nothing to contribute about today's games, I'll start caring once a big upset happens (kinda like March Madness) or once the US punks England tomorrow.
"Cause it's Hoyas 'til I die, Hoyas 'til I die, again again I say, it's Hoyas 'til I die." --British Matt
Unless the rules have changed since I played (eons ago), you can not, as amatter of rule, be offside on the corner kick strike as the ball is necessarily ahead of the player. That said, once it is played again on the field you can be in an offside position.
That's correct. (EDIT: I should amend that to say it's correct b/c on a corner kick, the ball necessarily cannot travel forward.)
Since the ball was flicked on in the box, it's from that point you judge whether the player is in an offsides position. The offside cam ESPN showed at halftime had Vela's left foot right at the notional line where the goalkeeper was at the point the ball was played. And you have to remember that second to last defender (the goalkeeper) is rushing forward and the attacker is moving in the opposite direction AND it's a bit of an unusual touch, so that's a really difficult call visually to make.
Who hit the Jim Ross "Business is about to pick up!" button in the second half?
"they are calling him "beavis" vasquez on their board and have been Editeding and moaning about him all summer. it makes me chuckle. i told them a g-town education should require a more creative nickname than "beavis"." -TerpSportsReport.com Message Board
