If the 'unrest' subsides and the games can flow as scheduled, I'll post my thoughts and observations here.  It should be the usual suspects in the Finals...  Germany, Spain, Nederlands.

Everybody else has various-sized question-marks.

No crowd-drowning vuvuzela-droning this time, I don't think.

And let's hope the refs don't go card-crazy, beyond the inevitable controversy or two.

I'll be pullin' for England, Australia, the US, and the Cameroon Lions mainly...  France shouldn't be as awful as they were in 2010.  And I wouldn't mind seeing Belgium there.

June 12... here we go... 

So much for hype about mass-protests and shoddy facility-construction...  In Sao Paulo at least, barely a couple hundred 'protesters' were easily dispersed.  -And a bank-of-lights went out over the dugouts for a few minutes.

The first goal of the tournament was by Brazil accidentally kicking the ball into its own net.  We'll see what kinda tone that sets for the entire Cup.

The first 'glamour game' of the Tournament was electrifyingly...  Nederlands knocking-off defending World Champs; Spain 5-to-1.  The Spaniards can prolly recover, but they'll be in the guise of embarrassed parlour-maids.

Excellent win by Germany, in the second 'glamour game'.

Even better was the US win against Ghana.   Spectacular dramatics, bookending some frustrating moments in the humidity of the setting. 


A side-note; ESPN/ABC seem to be avoiding showing Sugarloaf Mountain's iconic Christ-statue overlooking Rio. 

I guess US's tie with Portugal was rewarding.   We passed the jungle-humidity test, we passed the create consistent diagonal-spacing against Euro-teams test, and we've now experienced the fluke-y heartbreak of being scored-on late late. 

It's been a fluke-y Tournament for a lot of teams, but the refereeing hasn't been bad.  That was my biggest worry. 

Quote from: kit saginaw on June 16, 2014, 07:29:07 PM
Excellent win by Germany, in the second 'glamour game'.

Even better was the US win against Ghana.   Spectacular dramatics, bookending some frustrating moments in the humidity of the setting. 


A side-note; ESPN/ABC seem to be avoiding showing Sugarloaf Mountain's iconic Christ-statue overlooking Rio.

And you're surprised because? In any case, I'm not a fan of soccer - as we call it here in the US - but what I care for even less, is the announcers trying to convince us we "have" to love it as much as the rest of the world. In any case, I can't get over how slow the goalies seem - especially after seeing hockey goalies stop slap shots, and baseball infielders (and pitchers) snag line drives.

Quote from: mdgiles on June 24, 2014, 07:00:01 AM
And you're surprised because? In any case, I'm not a fan of soccer - as we call it here in the US - but what I care for even less, is the announcers trying to convince us we "have" to love it as much as the rest of the world. In any case, I can't get over how slow the goalies seem - especially after seeing hockey goalies stop slap shots, and baseball infielders (and pitchers) snag line drives.

The defenders in the sports you mentioned have gloves.

Futbol's a language.   I can walk into any bar, tavern, pub on the planet and speak it.

Today was a reset day, as everybody gears-up for the elimination-round.  -With Suarez being banned from the tournament because of the biting incident. 

There's at least a core-group of 20,000 Americans at every US-game so far.  I haven't seen this much red,white, and blue since... never, actually. 

Quote from: kit saginaw on June 27, 2014, 07:04:08 PM
Futbol's a language.   I can walk into any bar, tavern, pub on the planet and speak it.

Ann Coulter offers a different view about soccer. It needed to be said.

QuoteI've held off on writing about soccer for a decade -- or about the length of the average soccer game -- so as not to offend anyone. But enough is enough. Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation's moral decay.

(1) Individual achievement is not a big factor in soccer. In a real sport, players fumble passes, throw bricks and drop fly balls -- all in front of a crowd. When baseball players strike out, they're standing alone at the plate. But there's also individual glory in home runs, touchdowns and slam-dunks.

In soccer, the blame is dispersed and almost no one scores anyway. There are no heroes, no losers, no accountability, and no child's fragile self-esteem is bruised. There's a reason perpetually alarmed women are called "soccer moms," not "football moms."

Do they even have MVPs in soccer? Everyone just runs up and down the field and, every once in a while, a ball accidentally goes in. That's when we're supposed to go wild. I'm already asleep.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ann-coulter/2014/06/25/coulter-column-why-do-i-hate-soccer-let-me-count-ways

Quote from: quiller on June 29, 2014, 05:38:57 AM
Ann Coulter offers a different view about soccer. It needed to be said.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ann-coulter/2014/06/25/coulter-column-why-do-i-hate-soccer-let-me-count-ways

I quit reading Ann when she dawned full RINO prink with plume.
But by God, that was funny. I don't care how big a shill one is for the corporatist/socialists, when you're right, you're right.

It's funny, soccer is the one sport I enjoyed playing, because whether or not the ball ever came to me, I was running, I wasn't standing out in left field swatting gnats away, only to have the ball land at my feet and wake me from my daze.

aww gee, Ann... 

Maybe in a vacuum.  But I don't think she's studied the batting-stance, nor life-philosophy of guys like Minnie Minoso.   

Nor has she been 'high in the gondola' with Foster Hewitt's kid and King Clancy as they remarked upon the exploits of Tim Horton, etc.

Name any sport, Ann... I can go so deep in the weeds you'd need a 20-mule-team expedition to find me.

Quote from: kit saginaw on June 29, 2014, 06:31:46 AM
aww gee, Ann... 

Maybe in a vacuum.  But I don't think she's studied the batting-stance, nor life-philosophy of guys like Minnie Minoso.   

Nor has she been 'high in the gondola' with Foster Hewitt's kid and King Clancy as they remarked upon the exploits of Tim Horton, etc.

Name any sport, Ann... I can go so deep in the weeds you'd need a 20-mule-team expedition to find me.

Same here, which is why I have always been a boxing fan, and now cage fighting.

I simply cannot sit still and endure the excitement of a grass growing tournament like golf, or endure watching a bunch of guys trying to steal and stuff a ball through a hoop.

Sports Heroes? WTF? When did we become a nation of observers? That's how I've always viewed sports, your'e either a participant, or an observer.
If I can't play, I sure as Hell ain't wasting my time watching.

OK, rant off, and I suspect opinion wise, I'm of a minority.

Watching was really great when I was a coach of our daughter's softball team.

But that's vastly different from watching something on TV.

Want to put me to sleep? Put on a golf tournament, a soccer game, or a baseball game. ZONK! goes my head when it strikes the table (or bar). 

I cannot understand hockey, either. 

Quote from: CG6468 on June 29, 2014, 10:43:44 AM
Watching was really great when I was a coach of our daughter's softball team.

But that's vastly different from watching something on TV.

Want to put me to sleep? Put on a golf tournament, a soccer game, or a baseball game. ZONK! goes my head when it strikes the table (or bar). 

I cannot understand hockey, either. 

  You have to be a hockey player to fully understand the match.