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 (http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ann-coulter/2014/06/25/coulter-column-why-do-i-hate-soccer-let-me-count-ways)
(https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.newsblaze.com%2Fpix%2F2014%2Fcartoon%2Fgv2014140627dAPC.jpg&hash=de7e49503257daf040e431070d25738334d20f0c)
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 (http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ann-coulter/2014/06/25/coulter-column-why-do-i-hate-soccer-let-me-count-ways)
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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. :biggrin:
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. :biggrin:
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). :bored:
I cannot understand hockey, either. :unsure:
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). :bored:
I cannot understand hockey, either. :unsure:
:lol: You have to be a hockey player to fully understand the match.
Quote from: walkstall on June 29, 2014, 10:53:03 AM:lol: You have to be a hockey player to fully understand the match.
I've been called a hockey puck!
(Or is that different..........) :laugh: :ttoung:
Quote from: CG6468 on June 29, 2014, 12:10:40 PM
I've been called a hockey puck! (Or is that different..........) :laugh: :ttoung:
Is that all, your young yet. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Quote from: walkstall on June 29, 2014, 12:52:03 PM
Is that all, your young yet. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Who want's to know? :tounge:
Proof --- proof, I say! --- that God hates soccer!!!!!!
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/06/30/major-league-soccer-game-postponed-after-columbus-crew-fan-struck-by-lightning/ (http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/06/30/major-league-soccer-game-postponed-after-columbus-crew-fan-struck-by-lightning/)
Well, the US lost 2-1, but it was a toughie. We just didn't pass efficiently. But the remaining 8 teams are pretty-much the overall best, expectedly. Only Costa Rica is the fresh face.
The refs have been pretty-good, I'd say. I hope they keep-it-up.
As a Colombia man I'm supporting Colombia and they are playing very well.
I don't think there is any political deep analysis to be done in sports like the Ann Coulter comments that can show decline in values, but there certainly is sociological analysis to be done. People have gotten crazy emotionally and irrationally tied to sport teams since ancient Greece. In Constantinople politicians and interest groups/mobs was tied to different sport teams in the hippodrome which resulted in many slaughters and violence throughout the centuries when the Eastern Empire was at it's greatest and at it lowest.
For example when Colombia won last week there was at least 5 deaths as a result of the partying and dozens of cars that were tipped around, and for what? A few balls flying into a big as hell goal. Soccer is a very simple game, anyone can play it, even the fat kids, weak kids and women can play it no problem, so it is easy for soccer to become the global outlet of people's irrational emotions because it is something everyone can identify with in a collective spiritual celebration.
Edit: Also want to add that to play soccer you only need a ball, you don't need tennis court or equipment, horses, gloves, bats, basketball poles, American football vests(armor?) etc etc and unlike Australian football in which you also only need a ball you do not need to be tough in soccer as physical contact is at a minimum compared to other similar sports. It is a poor man game that can be enjoyed by the poorest of the poor in the shittiest country imaginable and by both genders, so it's status as the most popular sport in the world has nothing to do with it's structure, rules or "spirit" but that it's so accessible to everyone.
Anyway, Go Colombia!
Well, the final-4 are in place, with 2 of my picks there...
Nederlands vs. Argentina, Germany vs. Brazil... The South American teams just don't seem convincing.
I predict a Germany/Holland final, with Germany grabbing the Cup.
7-1... Revolution in Brazil inevitable... :wink:
Quote from: kalash on July 08, 2014, 05:25:26 PM
7-1... Revolution in Brazil inevitable... :wink:
Historically amazing. I had trouble believing what my eyes were seeing... from the 11:00-mark to the 29:00-mark.
Like I said in one of the opening posts, the first goal of the tournament was Brazil kicking the ball into their own net, and how it may be a prophetic foretelling... Brazil just didn't look right going-into the tournament, and that's why I didn't pick them to be in the Finals. -Even though their home-crowds were virtually
willing them onward.
Congrats Germany, you should be very proud! :thumbup:
I support Germany, but what I saw yesterday was surreal, I thought I was dreaming. It looked like a training match. Would like to see a Germany vs. Argentina final, two of my favorite teams, and Germany winning the Cup.
http://s4.pikabu.ru/post_img/2014/07/09/1/1404854129_1020656298.gif (http://s4.pikabu.ru/post_img/2014/07/09/1/1404854129_1020656298.gif)
Quote from: kalash on July 09, 2014, 07:47:17 AM
http://s4.pikabu.ru/post_img/2014/07/09/1/1404854129_1020656298.gif (http://s4.pikabu.ru/post_img/2014/07/09/1/1404854129_1020656298.gif)
Learn to use the image button function. And stop using .RU-suffix images. Russian sites are pernicious and frequently use images plus data encoding (steganography) which MAY seize control over a home computer.
Holland didn't have it. Congrats to Argentina, but they still have a 'merely adequate' quality. Their passing improved today though.
What I think should happen is to have 5-on-5 penalty-kicks before each of the the semi's and round-of-16 games. Then the match starts with a 'winner', in case it does play-out as a draw. It makes game-time actually mean something.
Quote from: quiller on July 09, 2014, 10:01:32 AM
. Russian sites are pernicious and frequently use images plus data encoding (steganography) which MAY seize control over a home computer.
Not if you are wearing tin foil hat.
Quote from: kalash on July 09, 2014, 10:04:44 PM
Not if you are wearing tin foil hat.
Even if your wearing tin foil hats.
(https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi212.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fcc32%2Fladyblue_019%2F9c398765-1.gif&hash=a62315b5d9401bf0357f97e28e6a1f1a6a7bf2dc)
CBS News/July 7, 2014, 5:58 PM
Russian hacker arrested for widespread U.S. credit card data theft.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-hacker-arrested-for-widespread-u-s-credit-card-data-theft/ (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-hacker-arrested-for-widespread-u-s-credit-card-data-theft/)
Quote from: kalash on July 09, 2014, 10:04:44 PM
Not if you are wearing tin foil hat.
Steganography is a topic you definitely need to know more about, just as you need to know more about Russian "mafiya" ties to Internet trafficking within the .RU suffix.
If I were the admin of CPF, I would put an automatic block on any link to that suffix (top level domain).
Did you know that North Korea also plays in the Cup, and they won Japan 7-0, USA 4-0, and China 2-0 in the group stage. :lol: :lol: :lol:
브라질 2014 - 북조선 [ Subtitles 자막 ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJoRZOK18Fg#)
They will play against the Portugal in the 1/8 final.
Quote from: milos on July 12, 2014, 01:19:27 PM
Did you know that North Korea also plays in the Cup, and they won Japan 7-0, USA 4-0, and China 2-0 in the group stage. :lol: :lol: :lol:
브라질 2014 - 북조선 [ Subtitles 자막 ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJoRZOK18Fg#)
They will play against the Portugal in the 1/8 final.
They play as if their life hung in the balance.... Oh wait, it does. :lol: :lol:
And I'm not kidding.
Quote from: milos on July 12, 2014, 01:19:27 PM
Did you know that North Korea also plays in the Cup, and they won Japan 7-0, USA 4-0, and China 2-0 in the group stage. :lol: :lol: :lol:
브라질 2014 - 북조선 [ Subtitles 자막 ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJoRZOK18Fg#)
They will play against the Portugal in the 1/8 final.
I hope everybody understand, that this is parody, not actual north korean report?
Quote from: kalash on July 13, 2014, 09:09:53 AM
I hope everybody understand, that this is parody, not actual north korean report?
Thanks for alerting everyone. I can't watch videos, I went beyond my allotted bandwidth this month.
Germany in over time... 1 - 0
Congrats to Germany on an amazing run. Bravo.
Player Of The Tournament; Bastian Schweinsteiger, for plain ol' consistency thru-out.
The pre-Cup riot-scare was just that... lefty hype. Brazil were great hosts. A total TV-audience of around 4-billion, worldwide.
The US had lost to Germany 1-0, so we're not doing too bad.
hi, mom...
Quote from: kit saginaw on July 13, 2014, 07:48:57 PM
Congrats to Germany on an amazing run. Bravo.
Player Of The Tournament; Bastian Schweinsteiger, for plain ol' consistency thru-out.
The pre-Cup riot-scare was just that... lefty hype. Brazil were great hosts. A total TV-audience of around 4-billion, worldwide.
The US had lost to Germany 1-0, so we're not doing too bad.
hi, mom...
I don't think Brazil would have gone to finals if the judges hadn't been bought off against Colombia, the most corrupt match I have seen. But I don't think Colombia would have beaten Germany so end result probably have been the same without the commie bribery.