The Soccer Thread (Version 13) — Winter World Cup Edition

There's a sizable portion of the American public that just hates women athletes, period. They'll come up with "reasons," but that's the bulk of it. They hate the soccer team. They hate women's basketball. They were pissed when Britney Griner was released.

They like white gymnasts, but not enough to stop them from being sexually molested. That's about it.

 

Biggest disappointment to me of the women's outing down under was there didn't seem to be anyone who looked like "Wow, just wait until the next Cup" the men's team had a few efforts that showed promise. The women's team? Not a whole lot.

 

Except for Caitlin Clark. They love her.

 

I think Alyssa Thompson is going to be that player. She'll be 22 next time

 

If Rapinoe were a Brit like Andy Murray, she'd be British when they win and Scottish when they lose.

 

And hate Angel Reese, who had the temerity to make a gesture that Caitlin Clark made earlier in the tournament. Caitlin is a feisty competitor. Angel is uppity.

 

And the short purple hair. Who cares if she’s a great soccer player. She’s not wearing her hair the way Gawd intended it.

 

Embarassing and also politically questionable.

Trump needs at least a few of the yoga pants/Yukon/YETI moms in Georgia and Arizona. Just a few. And they LOVE women’s soccer for 16 days every four years.

 

Taking players off of the field so that the remaining players who are exhausted have to cover even more ground is just as much of a lottery.

 

The deciding on penalty kick thing, which comes up every time there is a big tournament.

There were how many straight misses today? Four? And a save? And an almost second save that barely went in that had to be determined by VAR? It's not like penalty kicks are automatic. Far from it honestly, and keepers are getting better at them all the time.

It was like a game within a game.

It's not the same by any means as a foul shot unless you have someone defending it or start with your worse shooters. Penalty shots in the NHL, are similar. OT in the NHL is pretty awesome, but when you get those weird games like three, or four, or five OTs, those just end up being who is less tired or simply luck. It is fun, but doesn't mean the best team wins by any means.

Soccer would also have to go to golden goal if they just kept playing. The continuous, no breaks, limited substitution thing is an issue as well. PKs are fine. They take skill on both ends, see the misses today. They have been doing them that way forever. Like any other game, don't want PKs, score a freaking goal during regular play.

 

The ones who brought you .... TV timeouts, a counting-down clock and clock stoppages .... bring you .....
Not criticizing your take, but soccer is just a different animal. Human endurance just won't let soccer players run a 120-yard field like a basketball player can run 94 feet or a hockey player can skate 200 feet.