World Cup!!!

OK, I've tried to watch a couple of the games, but I can longer stand it. For the love of God...kick the friggen ball towards the friggen net!! Look, I'm not one of the "those people" that need high scoring sports (real football, basketball, etc) so don't go there. As a matter of fact, my favorite sport to watch is bicycle racing (and I also love to watch Curling), so believe me when I say that I've heard it all about a sport that your typical American could care less about. Soccer (or should I say football?) probably ranks substantially higher on most Americans scales than does bike racing. Having said that, let me add that soccer could increase it's appeal (slightly I would imagine...but still it would be an increase) if they'd just kick the damned ball towards the net more than 3-6 times during an entire 90 friggen minute game.But my biggest complaint against soccer though? Personally, I think all soccer players should be required to wear pink panties. Holy shit, I have never seen such a bunch of pantywaiste sissy boys in my life! Honestly, despite their obvious fitness, they fall down and cry like babies at the drop of a hat. Talk about diving. Christ, your average soccer player dives more in one game than Greg Louganis did during his entire career. Poor sportsmanship to the nth degree, if you ask me .

Correct, I have never played soccer, and I do not doubt that being "scraped" by cleats can be painful (hey, before metal cleats were disallowed I was once cleated on the back of my hand by a man sliding into second base during a slow-pitch softball game. He broke one of my metatarsals. Ya know what...I kept playing and didn't roll around on the ground like a two-year old throwing a hissy fit. Hell, I even played in the next three or four games, until the pain got so bad that I went to the doctor, only then finding out that the bone was broken). And after watching many of the replays on the T.V., often times the player that you would think had just had his femur, tibia, and fibula broken (as well as serious damage done to his leg muscles), in reality was barely even touched... if at all. It's amazing...nothing short of a miracle how after the red or yellow card is administered, they just hop right up and run off as if nothing happened...hmmmmmm.I once watched a bicycle racer crash during a sprint finish. I won't go into the details other than to say he hit a barrier, flew about 30 feet in the air, slid about 80-100 feet on the cement, got run over by two other bikes, received a severe concussion, a broken clavicle, numerous cuts and abrasions, lost a great deal of skin, and was knock unconscious...but upon regaining consciousness, he actually got on what was left of his bike and, with assistance, finished the damned race. Now that’s being tough! Nope...sorry...I despise American football. Very little actual talent needed, and they are all way over paid. Trust me, I also think that many American football players and pretty much pantywaist sissy boys as well. I do not doubt this at all. However, when it is obvious that no real foul was committed and the fake writhing in pain as if they're hovering on the verge of death has subsided, perhaps it is they who should be awarded the red card for unsportsmanlike conduct (similar to what Hockey is finally starting to do). That would end that sorta crap pretty quickly I would think. As I said before, I truly love watching Curling, so fast-paced, high scoring action is not a necessary component of what I consider to be an exciting sport. It's strategy and the attempt to at least score points by which I judge a sport. In curling, they are figuring out the best strategy for scoring points. In soccer, they run around doing virtually nothing and then occasionally kick the damned ball towards the goal. Ya know what...ya can't friggen score if you don't kick the ball towards the goal. Is there some sort of universal unwritten law that soccer must be a low scoring game for fear that it will lose it's appeal if too many goals are scored? Maybe they're afraid that if the scores are too high, people will start to think that soccer is, in reality, not that difficult and that the players are not really all that special after all. This is not meant to diminish the skill required to handle the ball they way they do. Quite the contrary. By watching some of the amazing things they can do with the ball, I fail to see why kicking the friggen ball towards the goal suddenly becomes so damned difficult.

Hello Infixion: "Sometimes"? I would say more like "most times". And while it may be required for a ref to hand out a yellow card for a dive, I have never seen this happen. Granted, I admittedly have not watched a great deal of soccer, but even with my limited sample size I have yet to see a "diver" ever receive a yellow card, while I have seem numerous, OBVIOUS dives result in a red or yellow card for the "offender". Apparently it must take a least one second longer to exploit a teams weakness than it does to play the entire game, because I have yet to see double digit shots on goal recorded for a 90 minute game. Pathetic, in my ever so humble opinion. Yes...that's kind of my point. As a conspiracy buff (), I personally think that the obvious answer is that "yes" these professional athletes have picked up on the fact that soccer, while requiring great endurance and pretty damned good reflexes and coordination, is certainly not as difficult as "non-athletes" (i.e. fans) seem to think it is, so there is a global conspiracy by soccer players to absolutely NOT score too many goals, for fear of no longer being thought of as "Gods" by mere spectators .

Hello again: Yes, I know this. However, I have seen plenty of teams work the ball down field only to do nothing once they arrive at the other end.Look, I'm not saying that passing the ball in an attempt to get an opening is a bad thing. I'm saying once you do get close, kick the friggen ball towards the net! Who knows, ya might actually score a goal...or get a rebound and then score a goal, or force your opponent off their game cuz you are actually kicking the ball towards the friggen net (something I can virtually guarantee the other team would find "strange and upsetting"). Ok, fine...what's your point? I'm not calling em pantywaist sissy boys cuz they can't take a punch. I'm calling em pantywaist sissy boys cuz when someone takes their ball away, they act like my three year-old nephew does when I take his ball away. Imagine sprinting for the finish line on your bike...doing about 30-35 mph and getting bumped, or hitting a barrier. Imagine diving forward, with the only protective device between you and the concrete roadway being your helmet. Imagine impacting the concrete with various parts of your anatomy, often times breaking bones. Imagine sliding on this concrete as if it were ice...but it's not...it's concrete. Imaging the burns that would result from this as you slide 90-100 feet. Imagine getting run over by other bikers, who then face the same outcome as what you just went through.You make it sound as if these soccer players suffer more than any other athlete out there. Sorry, but they do not. Soccer is, as you yourself stated, a light sport. Very little protective gear is needed because there is very little aggressive, hard-hitting contact. Well, the only protective gear a biker wears is a helmet (which has saved many a life . ask Saul Raison). The only other protective "gear" we wear are spandex shorts and a team jersey, which offer no protection in the event of a crash. I've actually had my shorts melt from sliding on the road. I'm sorry, but taking a spill during a bike race is waaaaaay worse than getting tripped during a soccer game...even if you are running at full speed. And while a few bikers are down for the count after a crash, many get back up, get some medical attention and then ride on. Hell Tyler Hamilton rode the Tour de France with a broken clavicle! True...but let me also point out that these guys rarely run full tilt from one end of the field to the other.

Good Afternoon: I agree with you on numerous levels. First (and one of the original points to my first post), it was, even by your admission, a rare event. Second, it would be a penalty in American football. Third, it was a damned good call. Fourth (and one of the original points to my first post), it was, even by your admission, a rare event. And lastly (and one of the original points to my first post), it was, even by your admission, a rare event.

Hi RickJB: Oh come on. Look, these are just guys that kick a ball around for a living, not super-humans. I have admitted that I do not play soccer, nor do I watch very much of the sport either. However, the few segments that I have watched lead me to believe that more shots on goal is certainly a realistic expectation. Seriously, try one less pass and instead, kick the ball towards the goal. Ya never know if ya don't try.I keep getting the impression (from the replies I have received) that you guys seem to think that soccer players are like Gods. Super superior amazing athletes who surpass all other sportspersons on a global level for pure athleticism, amazing fitness, and complexity of the event. I mean, God forbid some stupid American finds soccer boring. How uncouth, lazy and stupid I must be to not grasp the concept of such a superior athletic endeavor. Give me a break. It's not that I'm some dumb American that just loves his Monday Night Football. I friggen hate football (and don't get me started on the ultimate of boring sports to watch...basketball. Arrrggg...God I fail to understand how anyone can watch basketball). I have tried to watch soccer, and I truly appreciate the skill and fitness needed to play the game. My only real complaints are:
1) The lack of attempts to score. Hey, there's nothing wrong with a 1 - 0 final score...it happens all the time in Hockey...it's the lack of attempts to score that I find boring.And 2) All the diving that goes uncalled. If some of the guys were truly hurt as bad as they make it look, they'd never be able to stand up and play again. Wait...wait...it's a miracle...the red card has been issued and "Mr. Johnny Cries A Lot" has jumped back up and is ready to play again. Wow...what a gutsy individual, to play with what was moments ago a shattered femur and a compound fracture of the tibia! Simply amazing how superior these athletes are to every other person on the planet, and quite possible the entire Universe.Ok, so I exaggerated a wee bit, but not a whole lot more than some of those supposedly injured players. And here's the rub...I really am interested in watching the games and seeing who ultimately wins. Yes, it's true, I am a border-line fan. I would just like to see a few more shots on goal (if you were to spy on me through my window, you'd see me get a bit excited when one team or the other gets near the net. "Shoot the ball...SHOOT the ball!...SHOOT THE ball!!...SHOOT THE BALL!!!...SHOOT THE FUCKING BALL!!!!...FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHOOT THE FUCKING BALL!!!!!....NOOOOO, don't pass it again" Dammit!) Repeat this same phrase over and over again for about 95 minutes.

Hello Annafan: I will concede. Unlike hockey, where rebounds and redirections by the goalie are common place and even part of the offensive plan, the same is apparently not true of soccer. However, it still appears to me as if not enough effort is put into attempting to score. Call me ignorant...I really don't care nor take offense...it's just the way I see it.However, what I will not concede is that soccer players are probably the kings (queens) of crying wolf. To me (a person that absolutely will not fake and injury to gain an advantage), the unsportsmanlike conduct of pretending to be seriously injured in hopes of unnecessarily causing your opponent to receive some sort of penalty is cheating...period. I hate it in any sport and soccer players (anecdotally at least), seem to be number one in being a big bunch of pantywaists.

Hey SNC: Thank You!! This is what I have been saying all along. I was not attempting to imply that no effort is put in to scoring...but that often times it appears to me that not enough effort is put into scoring. Of course, you are just a stupid American like myself...so we obviously have no idea what we're talking about.

Hi again rgb:Now that I've raised the hackles of so many people here and have even conceded that perhaps I have been a bit judgmental and mistaken about the lack of offense, let me bring up one other point that practically jumps off the screen every time I have watched a game.Do you soccerphilics even consider the concept of corruption by the officials? Sure, every sport could conceivably have problems in this area, but it seems that the effects are more immediate in soccer than most other sports. A missed call (like the obvious offside by the Brazilian player yesterday. Actually, as was pointed out, he was offside twice on the same play (ultimately scoring a goal) and it was "missed" both times by the official...hmmmm...and Brazil could "never" lose to Ghana...no way...not to a country new to the World Cup...nope...hmmmm) can have almost instant effects...a goal...a red card...a second yellow card...etc. And in watching some of these games, I couldn’t help but wonder if everything was on the up and up.For example (and I am not trying to be a complainy, winey, bitchy American, but) you have to admit that the penalty kick infraction (that resulted in Ghana to scoring a goal) was a joke . as were the red and yellow cards given out during our game with Italy.So, is corruption an issue with you guys, or do you just accept it as an inevitable part of the game?

Maybe favortism would be a better word. It seems that some teams get all the breaks and that the officiating appears a bit one-sided at times (like when favortite Brazil played first timer Ghana). Kinda my point. Quite a bit of the rest of the World is, shall we say, a bit upset with the United States. Perhaps the official had a particular grudge and called the game in a manner assuring a USA loss? Again, wholely sepculation on my part...but some of the calls were such obvious bullshit, that a blind man would have seen em.