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World Cup 2006

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Are you going to follow the FIFA World Cup 2006 games?

  • Yes, I'm a real soccer fanatic.

    Votes: 39 43.3%

  • Yes, As long as the US is still playing.

    Votes: 23 25.6%

  • No, I like soccer, but I'm more interested in the NBA, NHL, and/or MLB.

    Votes: 7 7.8%

  • No, The only football I'm interested in is one played with a ball that has pointed ends.

    Votes: 21 23.3%
  • Total voters
    90
  • Poll closed .
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Bucky Katt said:
Any thoughts on why they would do this? Concern that using solely Euro refs would give the appearance of biased reffing?

Seems pretty dim to sacrifice quality for an appearance of impartiality, if that is the case.
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They've been using refs from poor footballing countries to make the WC seem more "globalized" since Blatter took over, then we end up with inexperienced refs from shit leagues that can't handle the pressure of reffing full internationals on the big stage.

There are plenty of good refs that have international experience from South America and the United States, sadly, very few of them were chosen. (in fact, none of the refs are American)
 
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Buckeye513 said:
They've been using refs from poor footballing countries to make the WC seem more "globalized" since Blatter took over, then we end up with inexperienced refs from shit leagues that can't handle the pressure of reffing full internationals on the big stage.

There are plenty of good refs that have international experience from South America and the United States, sadly, very few of them were chosen. (in fact, none of the refs are American)
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Gotcha. Thanks.
 
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jlb1705 said:
I've started hearing it again from the sports media, and I'm tired of it...

"Ecuador beat Poland 2-0... but who cares about soccer?"

I've heard that kind of thing a couple times today when they were reporting the scores, and it's pissing me off. Not because they don't like soccer - but because I don't want to hear their shit. I don't care what these people think, and quite honestly, I'm glad that the same people who spend hours of airtime discussing the NFL in freakin' JUNE don't like soccer. Just shut up, report the scores and news, and let me enjoy the matches!

Yes, it's kinda a big deal because ESPN/ABC have stepped up to actually bring decent coverage of the event this time around. Some people seem to be offended by this development, for some reason. Don't worry, ESPN will be bringing back Skip Bayless, card games, and re-runs of Stump the Schwab in a month.
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the funny thing is the same sports media will report LPGA and women's BB and softball action. I've yet to meet one person who gives a fuck about any of those.
 
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I do find it odd that people seem to go out of their way to "put soccer in its place". I don't really hear people go out of their way to say how insignificant they think softball or arena football are like they seem to do with soccer. Then again, maybe it's because there are a lot of soccer people who go out of their way to try to lump soccer in with football, baseball, and basketball. That's just stupid.

I really don't care how popular it is compared to other sports. I'm glad that the sport seems to have become popular enough to reach critical mass for A.) attracting enough quality athletes to the sport to make our nation competitive and B.) Being broadcast widely enough that the people who care about the sport can see it.

It doesn't matter to me how soccer does compared to other sports - so long as the events and news are diseminated to me. I just wish that folks who don't care for the sport would keep their traps shut and let people like me enjoy the game.
 
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Paraguay - 0 England - 1

Well, here is the seething summary.

Incoherent play from both teams.

Incomprehensible play-by-play from the commentators (can't they even get the names of the players right!)

Mysterioso refereeing from Marco Rodriguez (who only has seven years of experience - not enough in my view).

The only notable item - first World Cup game decided by an own (and only) goal.

(A win by England over Trinidad pretty much assures passage to the 2nd round - look for the Lions to sit back and play for the draw against Sweden).

Yep, the World Cup is here.
 
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tibor75 said:
WTF? Local Shittsburgh affiliate not showing in HD. :smash:
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Local Queen City ABC affiliate has HD, but they have not upgraded their antenna strength, so I too had what looked like a mottled PAL to NTSC converted picture. (Which is a shame, when I could pull in ABC the HD picture was beautiful and crisp - they'd better get their act together before Football season).

At least one of the games today will be on ESPN2 in HD.
 
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The England goal looked like it was going in even without the header by the Paraguay player. I have never seen a player the size of Crouch on the offensive side of the ball. Very nice ball control for a 6'7" soccer player.
 
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BuckinMichigan said:
The England goal looked like it was going in even without the header by the Paraguay player. I have never seen a player the size of Crouch on the offensive side of the ball. Very nice ball control for a 6'7" soccer player.
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Jan Koller for the Czech Republic is 6'8". The USA will play against him on Monday.

If you want to see the games live, Univision (spanish language) is showing them live. The ABC broadcast of the Sweden vs. Trinidad & Tobago game right now has a 5-second delay.
 
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sandgk said:
Local Queen City ABC affiliate has HD, but they have not upgraded their antenna strength, so I too had what looked like a mottled PAL to NTSC converted picture. (Which is a shame, when I could pull in ABC the HD picture was beautiful and crisp - they'd better get their act together before Football season).

At least one of the games today will be on ESPN2 in HD.
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actually the reason it wasn't in HD was because it was tape delayed. Sweeden and T/T right now is in HD, although the picture quality still can't compare with TNT's basketball or CBS's Masters which was amazing.
 
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Bucky Katt said:
Not at all unexpected. Here's a snippet from an article from the Philadelphia Daily News.



Any thoughts on why they would do this? Concern that using solely Euro refs would give the appearance of biased reffing?

Seems pretty dim to sacrifice quality for an appearance of impartiality, if that is the case.
Click to expand...

Well, given the increased emphasis FIFA is placing on racist activity among fans and some white European players, it would look a bit hypocritical to have only white refs-quality be damned.
 
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Well, Avery John and T&T just got robbed bigtime with that red card at the beginning of the second half. How do you get sent off for a totally clean tackle? It was a hard tackle, but that's not of consequence. It was clean.

Also, the T&T manager has to be a first-ballot inductee in the Gene Keady Combover Hall of Fame. :lol:
 
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