By watching the game and observing "That team is performing better than the other". It's not hard.

 

Nope. It's all about the scoreboard.

England should've won, such a pitty they didn't. I watched this game being surrounded by English aswell as American people, and it really was a lot of fun. :)

Anyways, stop this discussion. Lots of sports is interesting, I personally, for example, like both, football and basketball. You just need to take off your prejudiced glasses. If you're doing this, there won't be any problems, just try to get involved with it.

The sheer brilliance of billions of people coming together for one month should make the world cup exciting to anyone, whether a fan or not a fan of football/soccer.

I do have something legitimate to say: I don't see the appeal of a sport with virtually zero scoring. The only thing I don't care about is your opinion of me, which is why I don't hesitate to continue posting.

 

The fact that you are "sensitive" is obvious by the immaturity of your responses. My initial post was simple: I find soccer boring because there is virtually no scoring. The responses to that simple statement were as follows: "fuck you, fuck off, leave, and go watch the NBA." So don't act like you've taken the high road and want to simply go back to talking about soccer.

Those responses were fully justified by the absurdity of coming into a soccer thread and saying that twice. The first time was a simple, harmless observation and so ignored. But your second comment directly insulted the people in this thread, and painted you as someone with poor intentions and nothing to contribute. Hence the fuck off. 'Fuck off' is the response you give when someone is perceived to be acting like nuisance for no real reason other than boredom or spite. In this case, your insistence on discussing the NBA playoffs in a world cup thread. We've got it, you don't get sports with little to no scoring, while we obviously find it very exciting. Do you want us to explain why?

The sheer brilliance of billions of people coming together for one month should make the world cup exciting to anyone, whether a fan or not a fan of football/soccer.

 

To be honest, it kind of has. It's the only reason I'm watching right now, and why I wouldn't comment on the sport otherwise.

I rarely watch soccer but I can't miss the opportunity to watch a World Cup, or Euro.

We've got it, you don't get sports with little to no scoring, while we obviously find it very exciting. Do you want us to explain why?

 

Go back and re-read the posts. I only stated that I find soccer boring because there is no scoring...that's it. Every other post was a response to someone else. Bringing the NBA into the conversation was a direct response to you telling me to "run off and watch [it]..." I'm not going to sit back idly while people mock me for having a legitimate opinion. So, like I said, you stop clowning me, I have no problems with you. The second you tell me to fuck off and leave, I'm going to want to do anything but...

 

Yes, I wouldn't mind you telling me why you find it appealing. I don't watch much soccer, but I tuned in today to watch the World Cup. When it was over, I felt very disappointed with how I spent my afternoon.

Did you watch Argentina's game today? Their offense is a joy to watch. They had some great shots and the Nigerian keeper made some spectacular saves. Watch a highlight reel and you'll see what I mean. Lionel Messi...the whole stadium goes crazy when he gets the ball. It's quite exciting watching him make a run to the goal.

@bjaiken

 

You think that the only thing that matters is scoring. You just can't appreciate the match.

 

What's the fun in scoring every 30 seconds? Just like I said before, it's only funny when it's scarce.

 

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Poor goalkeeper of England... Dempsey still don't believe in that goal!

And good match of the Nigeria's goalkeeper!

^Agreed. Nigeria's goalkeeper was the player of the day.

Only a draw:cry: I was really wanting the USA to win

Go back and re-read the posts. I only stated that I find soccer boring because there is no scoring...that's it. Every other post was a response to someone else.

I did.

Actually, I see a great deal of similarity between soccer and commercials...boring and no scoring. I consider them both a waste of my time.

Whether or not you were replying to an individual, your comment attacked the whole thread. I thought it was rude and ridiculous for someone who says they consider soccer a waste of time to take the time to compare it to commercials in a soccer thread. I figured at the time you were only saying this to troll. So I curtly suggested you go have a productive conversation about something you do enjoy, as your comments didn't pertain to the world cup, but seemed to only be there to mock us, and spam the thread.

 

Bringing the NBA into the conversation was a direct response to you telling me to "run off and watch [it]..." I'm not going to sit back idly while people mock me for having a legitimate opinion.

1. I wasn't mocking or being sarcastic, I honestly thought it would make more sense for you to discuss something you do like in an appropriate thread, then to tell us what you dislike in the inappropriate thread.

2. I wasn't telling you to go away because of your opinion, I was telling you to go away because you clearly didn't have anything more to say about soccer or the world cup, and you were just hanging around to mock us by talking about the NBA.

 

After

 

Nah, I like this one just fine.

 

I gave up, as you were being self deprecating about your boredom anyhow. But I was set off again when you said

Why do you care what one person thinks? I think it's funny that it's so easy to bother you with what is a legitimate critique of the sport.

Because you went from 'ignore me, I'm just bored' to a self-righteous victim who mocks anyone who responds to your comments. I called you a cock, because I thought it was obvious that most people are annoyed when people behave that way. If I go to an NBA thread, call basketball a waste of time, begin discussing the world cup, and then laugh at people's 'sensitivity' when they tell me to go away, I deserve to be told off.

Yes, I wouldn't mind you telling me why you find it appealing. I don't watch much soccer, but I tuned in today to watch the World Cup. When it was over, I felt very disappointed with how I spent my afternoon.

If you had said this at the very start, we might've had something substantial to talk about. I wouldn't have presumed you to be an obnoxious troll(I see now you're not), and I wouldn't have told you to run off.

 

All the same, I apologize for the way I acted in this thread. I first read some of your comments out of context and reacted much harsher than I normally would've. I didn't mean to 'clown' you, I just didn't feel you had anything to say, and were only hanging around to goad people.

^ Damn, that's a hell of an analysis. Obviously, I don't agree on several points, but this whole thing has made me tired.

 

I probably got offended by people telling me how to act, what to feel, or where to go, and I responded as such. No big deal. I apologize, too.

@bjaiken

 

You think that the only thing that matters is scoring. You just can't appreciate the match.

 

What's the fun in scoring every 30 seconds? Just like I said before, it's only funny when it's scarce.

 

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

 

I do think scoring is the only thing that matters. I don't know how else you can objectively measure the quality of a team. That's why I don't understand soccer fan that can watch for 90 minutes and be pleased with a 0-0 outcome. It just doesn't compute for me.

i really should be studying instead of doing this but oh well.

 

bjaiken: the lack of scoring in football is its beauty. it gives a goal significance and importance. i love watching basketball (actually i love basically every sport lol) but whats the significance of a goal in that? almost nothing. one team scores the other just scores in return. thats repeated 60 times. with football you dont know when a goal is coming and when you do get a goal you dont know if that goal will win you the game. you are constantly on the edge of your seat because until one team goes ahead for 3 or 4 goals the game is constantly in the balance.

 

another thing. in sports like basketball its piss easy to score a goal, in most cases is requires a low degree of teamwork and skill and the ball is into the hoop. in football it takes great skill and tactical awareness and creativity to get that ball in the back of the net (unless Green is the goalie lol) which is why its so much more admirable when a team does score or gets very close to doing so.

 

but i dont see football ever making it big in america until they divide the game into 10 periods and chuck in 15min ad breaks in between each period as well as "timeouts"

@bjaiken. By last post I was somewhat more interested in breaking down the last few pages than I was about discussing the world cup, so if anything you made my evening more entertaining.

 

Don't feel obligated to like soccer just because the world cup is on. Out of context, today's U.S.-England match was not a very exciting game at all. The U.S. couldn't get any offense going, and England couldn't make anything of their chances. If this was my first soccer game I'd be disappointed as well. However, if you were to see a quality game (not necessarily a high-scoring game, but a game with a lot of action, beautiful passes etc.) you might be impressed.

 

John Cleese once compared soccer to Jazz, and in my opinion, Jazz is amazing if done well, but God awful when played badly. Unlike most american sports which have time stoppages and set plays, most soccer strategy is improvised (like Jazz), so one gets a thrill from seeing a bunch of players go from passing aimlessly in the backfield to a spontaneously structured series of runs and passes resulting in an amazing goal, a goal soccer fans find more exciting because chances are far more difficult to create than, say, in hockey. Though the U.S. goal today was really lucky, there's less luck available in soccer than in hockey or basketball, because it's that much more difficult to create chances. So when a team scores it's rarely luck, but a definitive work of art. Unfortunately the U.S. team was clumsy and only able to put together one good chance, and a bunch of mishit headers. In other words, bad jazz. The only excitement came from grimacing as the U.S. defenders tried to keep out England's many chances.

Some say its boring, and sometimes it is, but there's almost always at least one goal scored in a match, and knowing that heightens anticipation.

 

Did you watch Argentina's game today? Their offense is a joy to watch. They had some great shots and the Nigerian keeper made some spectacular saves. Watch a highlight reel and you'll see what I mean. Lionel Messi...the whole stadium goes crazy when he gets the ball. It's quite exciting watching him make a run to the goal.

I confess that this is the one game I did not see today. I only remembered to record Greece-Korea.

Here's that John Cleese bit. Being a fan of american football it does irk me to hear English people rave about american football not being 'real' football, and all that crap. But still I agree with some of his points.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo]YouTube- John Cleese rants - Soccer vs Football[/ame]

I don't know where this got off on basketball. I love baseball, football, basketball, and ice hockey. In each of those games, a goal, point, basket, run, whatever, comes with enough frequency to keep me interested throughout. Also, you have to play hard the entire game. No sitting back and waiting to score that one goal in the final minute. Yes, in basketball, scoring comes in bunches, but if you are not scoring, the game is over by the fourth quarter. And it's not as easy as tapping your hand on your head. Basketball players like Kobe Bryant or Lebron James are some of the most skilled and coordinated athletes in the world. The fact that basketball has turned into a game of individual, one-on-one match ups is a valid criticism. I don't like it either; you can thank Michael Jordan for that.

 

If soccer had as many goals as ice hockey, that would be satisfactory to me. It's not like I don't understand the excitement of net play; it just hardly ever goes in during a soccer match. And a tied game in any sport sucks. These are my hang ups.

Well, remember to see this game in the context of the tournament. By the 2nd round there obviously won't be any draws, you'll have extra-time and then a shoot-out. Now the U.S. is just trying to qualify, so a draw is fantastic because they still have a chance of qualifying ahead of England and getting a better match-up.

 

Predictions for tomorrow:

 

Algeria 1-1 Slovenia

 

Serbia 1- 0 Ghana

 

Germany 2 - 0 Australia

My Predictions

 

Algeria 1-2 Slovenia (would not have a clue about either team)

 

Serbia 1- 0 Ghana

 

Germany 1 - 1 Australia (being optimistic here)

Was anybody else in the states annoyed by the camera-work/production of the game on ABC? Those little slow-mo snippets of Capello's facial expressions were driving me crazy. They kept showing extended slow-mo replays of old plays and missed what was going on in the game, like when Heskey got hurt. Plus the announcers commentary was on a lag, and they'd call passes that hadn't happened yet.

The truth is that bjaiken is right in some points, but I don't think this is the correct thread to discuss about the many faults of football as a sport, I myself prefer much baseball because of the tactic and find more exciting, either with a close game like 1-0 or with something like 12-11. I do enjoy a lot football anyway, and as you may see I'm passionate about it, but I think both of the parts overreacted, because bjaiken was just expressing his opinion and saying some valid points but I find it pointless to bash football in this thread. Bah anyway it's a matter of taste...

Is Márquez having a sam-wich in your avi? :awesome:

Yes, have you seen this lame commercial as well? :thinking:

FANTASTIC result for the USAinians! It must be like Christmas coming early!:rolleyes:

 

Unitedstatetanians or more easily as we say here, gringos.

Algeria 2 - 0 Slovenia

 

Ghana 2 - 1 Serbia

 

Germany 2 - 0 Australia

I'm only going to watch the Germany v Australia game tomorrow.