Running, all-purpose World Cup thread

I took three years of German in college, still don't know the answer to this question. It doesn't matter at this point, but I'd like to know anyway.

In AP and other wire copy that we receive in the States, the coach of the German team's name is spelled "Juergen" Klinsmann. However, I recently saw it spelled "Jurgen" with an umlaut over the U, which I presume to be the correct spelling. (Quick German grammar lesson: The umlaut makes his name pronounced "YUR-gen" (hence the spelling Juergen), instead of a hard J for "JUR-gen" as it would be without the umlaut.)

Throughout the last month, I have been changing the name Gerd "Mueller" in wire copy to what-I-have-always-known-to-be-correct Gerd "Muller" (only without the umlaut, because I don't know how to do it in Quark.) Should I have been changing "Juergen" to "Jurgen," as well?

What is the correct spelling, and is this normal for German names to be changed that way for English/American print?

 

How is Zidane playing in America not a good thing?

 

Having not followed this thread, I'm not sure if anyone has pointed out the interesting takes from an LATimes stringer in London named Chuck Culpepper. His columns over the past couple of weeks have been very entertaining, IMO...

http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-england3jul03,1,7089.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-soccer

 

Can "nearly impossible" things also be "good" things?

It would be a very good thing. But stringing along the NY fans like this, with grandiose plans that amount to nothing, is NOT a good thing.

In other words, let's not hold our breath waiting for Zizou to show up in MLS.

 

Seems like G. Jones has been in Germany too long.
That might be the most bitter column I've ever read. He might have a point or two, but to question the World Cup's value as a sporting event when so many people have enjoyed it, I'd say he's been in his ivory tower for far too long.
Could the soccer have been better? Yeah. But sometimes, it isn't. Too bad. Calling the World Cup a second-rate event that has outlived its usefulness is ridiculous.

 

Sorry, but ... BUZZZZZ!

The umlaut changes the vowel sound only, not the consonant before it. The J is always like a Y sound.

What the umlaut does is alter the vowel's pronunciation. The U is pronounced "ooh," while the Ü with umlaut is like forming your lips to say "ooh" and saying "eee" instead.

Only the vowels A, O and U can take umlauts in German. You see them change a lot in strong verbs and in plurals (die Hand, die Hände.)

The simplest explanation is that it's a way to get around the umlauts. Adding an "e" after the un-umlauted letter has been a longtime custom in translating German umlauts to English (i.e. ä = ae, ü = ue, etc.) As for other languages like Spanish, I can't speak to why AP doesn't mess with accents and tildes other than it's a pain in the ass.

(FWIW, I don't know the Apple keyboard codes for all the umlauted letters either, so I have to Google a German page and cut and paste.)

 

Balboa is not nearly as good as the other color guy working with the ESPN teams.
The other guy gives good commentary and doesn't get too excited.
Balboa gets overzealous and he also uses the term "excellent-this" or "excellent-that" way too often.
Everything and everyone is "excellent" or "doing an excellent job"
Reminds me of when the CBS basketball announcers some 5-10 years ago had gotten on this kick of saying "excellent coaching job" by this coach or that coach.
Heck, all 64 teams were put into play with that BS and by tournament's end there was not a bad coaching job to be found.
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Anyway, the third-placer last nite was indeed "beautiful soccer" in my book.
Once the players figured out that the ref-crew was going to "let them play" on this nite (lots of running and bumping and plenty physical) it was a really entertaining match for me.
And Luis Figo's entrance was sensational for me. I watched the second half upstairs in the bed with the wife, and the sound was off.
Anyway, Figo was shown consulting with his coach prior to entering, then he ran out and strapped the captain's armband on and started moving the ball around with the precision that only a few in the world are capable of.
His pass to set up Portugal's loner header score was as pretty as was seen in the entire tourney.
Great to see one of the older masters, Figo, leave his mark. His classy displays with Zidane postgame and now Kahn left me really respectful of this guy.

 

The NASL was basically a second chance for older international players who had no chance of staying competitive in their old leagues. Let's not go there again.

 

As long as the contract isn't insane, don't see any problem. Doesn't MLS have a "superstar" exception anyway?

 

I don't think the downfall of the NASL had anything to do with aging superstars. And I don't think anybody complained about seeing Pele, Beckenbauer, Neeskens, etc. at the end of their careers.

 

Thank you. I never said I did *well* in my German classes, only that I took them.

 

You are looking LIVE at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin...
You are looking LIVE at Zinedine Zidane... (not even a shot of the field)