I realize that the World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in the Whole Wide World. I realize that in most countries work stops, and fans become FANATICS when their team is playing. Not so much here in the great old US of A, obviously. And still, I like big sporting events.
So I decided to give it a shot. Saturday morning I got up and watched parts of England/Paraguay. Sloppy, boring game. England wins 1-0 on Paraguay own goal. Other than that? Nothing resembling clean, crisp, passing. Nothing that resembled scoring chances on either side. Missed passes and bad penalties on both sides.
Sunday I tried to watch Mexico/Iran. Another slop-ridden game. Mexico won 3-1, but don't be fooled. The game was not exciting to watch. Iran simply (with no pun intended) dropped the ball a couple times and let in some easy goals. As I write this, the US is losing 2-0 to the Czech. Republic. So much for the great US team... There's a few games coming up that look good, France/Switzerland, Italy/Ghana for example. Hopefully they are at least competitive, as right now I'm thinking of tuning out for the rest of the Cup.
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Speaking of not competitive, remember all those nice things I've been saying about the NBA this year? I'm not about to say the same things about the Finals. In fact, I'd say unless Miami comes back and wins the next two games don't even bother watching. I saw some of the game last night, and man oh man did Miami look bad. Shaq was running (slowly) around with a look of bewilderment on his face for most of the game. He seemed to be playing fairly hard, or at least energetically, and scored five points. That's a 5 people!!! For a 7'2 center being guarded by Desagana Diop and Erick Dampier!!! Two people cut by Cleveland and Golden State for Christ's sake! Not so much what I expected. Check back in a week to see if game 5 might be worth watching.
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3 comments:
Visco, you have to look at the teams playing. England, a top 5 powerhouse in soccer versus paraguay. Obviously a mismatch. So Paraguay's play was childish and more like boot the ball down the field so England cannot get a chance.
If you look at time of posession England would of had something like 70%-30% advantage.
I think it's your American bias of liking games with a lot of scores.
FYI:
That was the first game in World Cup history that was 1-0 final with the lone goal being an Own Goal.
I'll admit to an american bias in that baseball and basketball are my two favorite sports. Other than that, I don't think I have a bias.
I do, however, know sloppy play when I see it. When you consistently pass to the sidelines instead of the player, this isn't because the other team is playing the Princeton defense.
Nice showing by the US though, huh.
I did love the second half of Sat's game. Great stuff.
Still, I don't think that the fact that soccer is easy to explain makes it more exciting. I wouldn't describe most baseball as outwardly exciting, unless you understand all the complexities of the game, which are half the reasons baseball is so great.
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