2014 World Cup

You are the fan of anarchy, Starman.

 

I'm just confused as to why you think what you see is negative.

The U.S., playing without the key forward that they planned their entire scheme around since a few minutes into the first game, played possibly the strongest group in the World Cup to a 1-1-1 record with 4 goals for and 4 goals against and moved on to the final 16 in a sport played by 209 countries.

This is supposed to be a negative because they aren't a real threat to win the whole thing?

 

For all practical purposes, the tournament has been going on a lot longer than that.

 

Well, there are levels. Gotta crawl before you walk and walk before you run. US has shown it's a respectable team to contend with. Whether they can get to that really elite level with Brazil, Germany and some of the other favorites will be interesting to watch.

 

They've been training and planning for those three games for about two years. There are 18 months of qualifying to get to those three games.

 

I don't understand what you're not seeing. First off, the 209 countries thing is a non-starter. There are maybe 20 teams that we should measure ourselves against. Second, when we control the ball 36 percent of the time against one of those 20 teams, we are outclassed by them. We were beaten to 50-50 balls about 98 percent of the time.

I'm glad we get to see them in another game, maybe two. That's about the only positive I get out of it.

 

If the NFL as it's played today and soccer as it's played internationally today started in the US at the same time, with no history, the NFL would be considered a joke and soccer would be behind baseball and basketball.
About 10 minutes of actual play spread over in 3 1/2 hours with more rules than the Uniform Commercial Code, the NFL is the antithesis of liberty. Different rules for each player and a scoring system that seems to arbitrarily inflate the actual score. How a totalitarian sport with all the humor, self importance and ego of the Politburo under Stalin became the national sport of the US is freaky and scary. 1 ref for every 3.1428 players is the definition of a police state that North Korea would envy.

 

Give me one good reason that isn't the aforementioned jockhead drivel?

Heck, there's a pretty strong case to be made that either Portugal or Ghana belong in that group of 20, if it existed.

 

The NHL is a joke because San Jose clinched a playoff spot with a loss this year
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sharks-lose-shootout-clinch-playoff-042235805--nhl.html

The NBA is a joke because the Pacers clinched with a loss this year
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2014/03/05/bobcats-lead-all-the-way-defeat-pacers-109-87/6102455/

 

For god's sake, because we're 13th in the FIFA rankings. Do not tell me we should be judging ourselves against Palestine.

 

FIFA rankings are stupid and don't mean anything, ever, and anybody who uses them in any argument can just go away from all soccer discussions for all eternity.

 

Here's another thing that's been driving me crazy today: The announcers trying to make a big deal that the Germans had "an extra day of rest."

I'm supposed to believe that three full days of rest between games isn't enough for elite athletes? NFL teams play on Sunday and then play on Thursday occasionally. In games that take three-plus hours. In games that are 15 times more physical. In games that require a good 5 pounds of pads and another 5 pounds in helmet.