[Titleist34]

THANK YOU ESPN for saving us from the world cup. Most of us WRXers would rather watch golf than soccer

[nikemike]

Dang, I didn't know they were covering!!!!

I've been following pgatour.com and flipping to ABC only to get more angry.

[jaridyard]

Yeah...It's only the second biggest sporting event in the World behind the Olympics, why would any airtime be devoted to it??????

[Gozz]

jaridyard, on Jul 9 2006, 04:10 PM, said:

Yeah...It's only the second biggest sporting event in the World behind the Olympics, why would any airtime be devoted to it??????

We don't watch the Olympics in the US either, especially in the winter.

[DemolitionMan]

Any sport that has athletes giving their all for their Country for 120 minutes, then settles the winner on stupid penalty kicks is just plain lame. Americans should be proud to be the only Country not duped into such nonsense. Although we do fake it well by sending a team to get slaughtered.

[HipCheck]

DemolitionMan, on Jul 9 2006, 07:38 PM, said:

Any sport that has athletes giving their all for their Country for 120 minutes, then settles the winner on stupid penalty kicks is just plain lame.

Absolutely! To quote Feherty, "Just brutal."

[golfsll]

jaridyard, on Jul 9 2006, 05:10 PM, said:

Yeah...It's only the second biggest sporting event in the World behind the Olympics, why would any airtime be devoted to it??????

well it may be the 2nd largest in the world but not in the USA. the final match may have had a larger audience but i read the other day that 3 PERCENT of the US had any interest in the WORLD CUP.

i would much rather watch golf i even watch some of the SENIOR championship. now thats hard up for golf.

[cleatsupkeep]

Well, let's be honest, we aren't really the least biased group of people here or anything. .
And now lets not get into a debate about the lack of scoring or the fake injuries.

[beruo]

cleatsupkeep, on Jul 9 2006, 07:55 PM, said:

Well, let's be honest, we aren't really the least biased group of people here or anything. .
And now lets not get into a debate about the lack of scoring or the fake injuries.

Easy now!!! No reason to bring David Duval into this!

[tbowles411]

beruo, on Jul 9 2006, 09:57 PM, said:

cleatsupkeep, on Jul 9 2006, 07:55 PM, said:

Well, let's be honest, we aren't really the least biased group of people here or anything. .
And now lets not get into a debate about the lack of scoring or the fake injuries.

Easy now!!! No reason to bring David Duval into this!

[cjblake09]

I totally agree with you but did you see the stat that over 1 billion people were watching the finals today? That is just down right crazy.

[hacker17]

Why is that so crazy? I watched and cheered on Italy the entire time.

[DemolitionMan]

hacker17, on Jul 9 2006, 10:09 PM, said:

Why is that so crazy? I watched and cheered on Italy the entire time.

What's to cheer for? The fact one of the French choked and hit the post on his penalty kick? That's like missing an 18 inch putt.

When you really think about it, it's absolutely silly that such an important match gets settled on the easiest kick in the world. That would be like settling Game 7 of the NBA Finals on who misses the first layup. Or kicking extra points in American Football.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's fascinating that nothing Countries show tremendous pride for their National teams. The contrast to American apathy is huge. But still, if you are going to be sporting, then play the game to the end. Overtime after overtime until one team can't take it anymore.

[maguy1970]

DemolitionMan, on Jul 10 2006, 03:30 AM, said:

hacker17, on Jul 9 2006, 10:09 PM, said:

Why is that so crazy? I watched and cheered on Italy the entire time.

What's to cheer for? The fact one of the French choked and hit the post on his penalty kick? That's like missing an 18 inch putt.

When you really think about it, it's absolutely silly that such an important match gets settled on the easiest kick in the world. That would be like settling Game 7 of the NBA Finals on who misses the first layup. Or kicking extra points in American Football.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's fascinating that nothing Countries show tremendous pride for their National teams. The contrast to American apathy is huge. But still, if you are going to be sporting, then play the game to the end. Overtime after overtime until one team can't take it anymore.

Demo man, I am just throwing this out as devils advocate, but how about our version of football. In OT, one team may not even get a chance at scoring.

On a side note of other sports, did anyone hear Ozzie Guillen's challenge to Tiger Woods? They mentioned it during the Sox-Sox game thsi weekend. He supposedly has told Tiger that he could par a tour hole more easily that Tiger could hit a major league fastball.
My question, which I debated with some guys was this, would you rank the holes on tour as you might pitchers in MLB? If so, which is the toughest hole on tour, and who is the hardest pitcher to get a hit off (Rivera/Papelbon? Yup serious east coast bias here...)

[spk74]

Any overtime win is an anti-climactic championship game scenario. The fans want a clear winning team, one that will be remembered...but in the BEST championship games, the teams are so evenly matched (and playing at such a high level) that the game goes to OT.

In non-NFL American Football each team DOES get the ball and a chance to score. But still, I think the NFL system is a good one: offense and defense are equally important sides of the team... if TEAM A wins the coin flip and marches down the field to score and win...TEAM B has failed and deserves to lose.

[DemolitionMan]

maguy1970, on Jul 10 2006, 05:17 AM, said:

DemolitionMan, on Jul 10 2006, 03:30 AM, said:

hacker17, on Jul 9 2006, 10:09 PM, said:

Why is that so crazy? I watched and cheered on Italy the entire time.

What's to cheer for? The fact one of the French choked and hit the post on his penalty kick? That's like missing an 18 inch putt.

When you really think about it, it's absolutely silly that such an important match gets settled on the easiest kick in the world. That would be like settling Game 7 of the NBA Finals on who misses the first layup. Or kicking extra points in American Football.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's fascinating that nothing Countries show tremendous pride for their National teams. The contrast to American apathy is huge. But still, if you are going to be sporting, then play the game to the end. Overtime after overtime until one team can't take it anymore.

Demo man, I am just throwing this out as devils advocate, but how about our version of football. In OT, one team may not even get a chance at scoring.

On a side note of other sports, did anyone hear Ozzie Guillen's challenge to Tiger Woods? They mentioned it during the Sox-Sox game thsi weekend. He supposedly has told Tiger that he could par a tour hole more easily that Tiger could hit a major league fastball.
My question, which I debated with some guys was this, would you rank the holes on tour as you might pitchers in MLB? If so, which is the toughest hole on tour, and who is the hardest pitcher to get a hit off (Rivera/Papelbon? Yup serious east coast bias here...)

Sometimes it seems American Football OT is horrible when a coin flip has so much power. But it's nowhere near as bad as a penalty kick - it's not that easy to score on a good NFL defense. That's why sometimes it's a goofy system because if you have two offensive teams with hardly a defense shooting it out, then the coin flip determines the winner.

Ozzie Guiilen is 10x more entertaining as a manager than he ever was as a player. He says some off the all stuff, but it does keep an interest.

As for Ozzie par'g a tour hole more easily than TW hitting a fastball? Maybe, there are a lot of dependent factors. Which hole? Does Ozzie golf anyway? Which pitcher? If Ozzie plays as much golf as TW plays baseball, which is next to nothing, then TW wins that bet. TW could learn to make contact a lot sooner than a hack gets good enough to make a par.

[HipCheck]

spk74, on Jul 10 2006, 09:03 AM, said:

Any overtime win is an anti-climactic championship game scenario. The fans want a clear winning team, one that will be remembered...but in the BEST championship games, the teams are so evenly matched (and playing at such a high level) that the game goes to OT.

In non-NFL American Football each team DOES get the ball and a chance to score. But still, I think the NFL system is a good one: offense and defense are equally important sides of the team... if TEAM A wins the coin flip and marches down the field to score and win...TEAM B has failed and deserves to lose.

Agreed. For soccer, bring back The Golden Goal. Much better.

In US Football, both offense and defense are important. If you lose the coin flip, you have to play D. Go play it.

To settle the World Cup on penalty kicks? Lame-o. How 'bout Rock, Paper, Scissors?

[jaridyard]

The golden goal was a great idea and for a short time seemed to work. The problem that surfaced however was every teams fear of conceding a goal and therefore playing ultra defensively, so you get an even more boring extra time period.

Shame.

p.s - penalty kicks easy against world class goalkeepers?! I think not.

[dansrixon]

DemolitionMan, on Jul 9 2006, 07:38 PM, said:

Any sport that has athletes giving their all for their Country for 120 minutes, then settles the winner on stupid penalty kicks is just plain lame. Americans should be proud to be the only Country not duped into such nonsense. Although we do fake it well by sending a team to get slaughtered.

What about the first round where you can end in a tie? How wortless is a sports where athletes give their all for their Country for 120 minutes only for it to end in the same result as if the event never happened?

[DemolitionMan]

dansrixon, on Jul 10 2006, 10:04 AM, said:

DemolitionMan, on Jul 9 2006, 07:38 PM, said:

Any sport that has athletes giving their all for their Country for 120 minutes, then settles the winner on stupid penalty kicks is just plain lame. Americans should be proud to be the only Country not duped into such nonsense. Although we do fake it well by sending a team to get slaughtered.

What about the first round where you can end in a tie? How wortless is a sports where athletes give their all for their Country for 120 minutes only for it to end in the same result as if the event never happened?

Yep, pretty crazy when you have a team that went through the 1st round without ever giving up a goal in regular/OT, but did not advance because they lost on penalty kicks.

BTW, even world class goalkeepers have a small chance in stopping a penalty kick. Depending on what stats you go with, in professional soccer leagues across Europe, the PK has anywhere from 75 - 80% success rate over time. Italy's goalkeeper who won the award for top goalkeeper this year at the World Cup...he gets scored on 83% of the time.

[glcoach]

I agree wholeheartedly Demo man

To quote the late great Lewis Grizzard.....soccer is a sport that breeds anarchy and political upheaval, mainly played by countries whose governments change hands every two to three days....possibly the best quote I have heard about this absurd game. I too am glad our country will not stoop to such nonsense.

[Ignited]

I think if they started to award 10 points for every goal scored you americans would like it more.

Quote

To quote the late great Lewis Grizzard.....soccer is a sport that breeds anarchy and political upheaval, mainly played by countries whose governments change hands every two to three days....possibly the best quote I have heard about this absurd game. I too am glad our country will not stoop to such nonsense.

What about the 4 European countries in the semi finals? Oh and the English who invented the game. We have had our government in place since 1997 and the one before that was there for 18 years.

And to call Football absurd when you have games such as baseball, basketball and american football. Well that comment actually made me laugh out loud

[JumboJack]

Sudden death is AWSOME in the NHL play off's.I don't care if it goes 2-3 extra periods...

[sukisuki007]

its funny how soccer is not catching on in the U.S. It is one of the most played sports in the U.S. by children, but when they get older the good players usually play the big three (basketball, football, baseball). I think soccer is just a great game for kids and just that. You know red rover was fun as a child also but you dont see alot of adults playing it now. soccer should be banned in the U.S. because we suck at it anyway.

[HipCheck]

Ignited, on Jul 11 2006, 05:58 AM, said:

I think if they started to award 10 points for every goal scored you americans would like it more.

Hmm, with that scoring,

50% of games would end up 0 - 0

40% would be 10 - 0

The remainder miscellaneous.

No thanks.

[Gozz]

Ignited, on Jul 11 2006, 04:58 AM, said:

I think if they started to award 10 points for every goal scored you americans would like it more.

What about the 4 European countries in the semi finals? Oh and the English who invented the game. We have had our government in place since 1997 and the one before that was there for 18 years.

And to call Football absurd when you have games such as baseball, basketball and american football. Well that comment actually made me laugh out loud

We would enjoy it if you took 4 people off the field and the score was 8 to 7. Second, get rid of the stupid offside penalty so you can attack the goal and finally the first person to take a dive and roll on the ground for five minutes who is not hurt would get his arse kicked by both teams. We would enjoy that!

When your government hits 200 years let us know. By then I'm certain that the US will have a team that can compete.

[jaridyard]

In defense of what can only be a fellow englishman, the reference to government was indicating that the same leader has been in power since 1997.

The English parliament has existed since 1689.... 200 years? We are almost there

Maybe you should just stick with your insular sports and so called 'world champions' who compete only against their own nation (maybe throw in a few canadian teams for good measure)

Anyway, Football will always be the beautiful game and stirs a type of patriotism you can only dream of.

p.s See you at the K Club for the next lesson you will receive in team sports!

[HipCheck]

jaridyard, on Jul 11 2006, 05:29 PM, said:

In defense of what can only be a fellow englishman, the reference to government was indicating that the same leader has been in power since 1997.

The English parliament has existed since 1689.... 200 years? We are almost there

Maybe you should just stick with your insular sports and so called 'world champions' who compete only against their own nation (maybe throw in a few canadian teams for good measure)

Anyway, Football will always be the beautiful game and stirs a type of patriotism you can only dream of.

p.s See you at the K Club for the next lesson you will receive in team sports!

No offense, but watching English Parliment argue is more exciting than the English Premier League