This feature WON'T be
As regular as the rest,
But, ONCE in a while...
Michael Sam retired.
Well, "stepped away from the game,"
But, two plus two is...
Pre-season football
Doesn't have the appeal, but...
Better than nothing!
Up twelve to nothing,
Alouettes' offense did SQUAT:
Edmonton by three.
Magpies SHOULD'VE won,
But Sydney KNOWS how to win.
Swans finish up nine.
Hamilton Ti-Cats
an-NI-hi-late the Lions:
Three complete phases.
Great night of footy!
Stayed up all night listening:
Then slept in past ten...
Hawthorn smashed Geelong;
Essendon has given up;
and Carlton's now last.
Not a haiku, but an amazing statistic... Friday was the start of the German Bundesliga (major league futbol, one of the European Champions leagues), and the odds of winning the league title for favorite Bayern Munich was 1-12, which means they are SO certain of winning that betting a "dollar" (sorry, I'm American) would only earn you a twelfth of a dollar in winnings (1.08), or that if you bet twelve euros, you'd only get thirteen back if they win. By contrast, every American NFL, NBA, or MLB team had odds of at least 2.5 to 1, so you'd win at least $2.50 plus your original dollar at the very worst.
Would love to say that
The N-F-L inspires me...
But not pre-season.
Showing posts with label futbol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label futbol. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Sunday, July 5, 2015
If all soccer games were 5-2,...
...they would be easier to watch. But the Women's World Cup championship match was 2-0 before we sat down, 4-0 after Carli Lloyd scored from midfield, sixteen minutes in (not a fluke: Carli saw the Japanese keeper sneaking out of the goal box and simply launched it over her), and the (North) American celebration was on by halftime in Vancouver's BC Place.
No penalty kicks. No ridiculous referee decisions to determine the outcome. No ridiculously faked injuries. (No Sepp Blatter, either.)
No penalty kicks. No ridiculous referee decisions to determine the outcome. No ridiculously faked injuries. (No Sepp Blatter, either.)
Sometimes a pivotal moment in time is clear enough to allow us a choice of paths
Rohan Connelly of The Age has a remarkable point in the wake of the death of and mourning for Adelaide coach Phil Walsh Friday and this weekend.
Can we change our day-to-day culture in this moment in time?
Can we stop thinking that sport is more important than life? (And this means not just footy but American football, soccer, whichever sport dominates your thinking.)
Can we allow our players to smile occasionally after a loss? Can we allow them to skip the angst we've always demanded from our defeated players?
Can we remember that not only are our players not superhuman, not personal role models?
Can we remember instead that they are young men (and women!), some barely out of their teens (and the college kids may not even be that old), and don't have the life experience yet to have the same well-thought out positions on the major social issues of the day - especially when a reporter stabs them with a surprise question and the answer will run on a loop on ESPN SportsCenter?
Can we all just relax and enjoy the game for what it is: a game?!
Can we change our day-to-day culture in this moment in time?
Can we stop thinking that sport is more important than life? (And this means not just footy but American football, soccer, whichever sport dominates your thinking.)
Can we allow our players to smile occasionally after a loss? Can we allow them to skip the angst we've always demanded from our defeated players?
Can we remember that not only are our players not superhuman, not personal role models?
Can we remember instead that they are young men (and women!), some barely out of their teens (and the college kids may not even be that old), and don't have the life experience yet to have the same well-thought out positions on the major social issues of the day - especially when a reporter stabs them with a surprise question and the answer will run on a loop on ESPN SportsCenter?
Can we all just relax and enjoy the game for what it is: a game?!
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Bo knows soccer...which is why he never played it...
Tried to watch the Germany/England third place game in the Women's World Cup. Gave up and switched over to the ESPN 30-for-30 on the legendary Bo Jackson, the greatest athlete of the last hundred years. (We can discuss Jim Thorpe another day.) The Wikipedia article hits most of the high points of the ESPN piece by Michael Bonaglio, which reminds us how incredible Bo was.
Jeremy Schaap of ESPN says something in the piece which is both revealing and sad:
"Bo came along at exactly the right time...(besides the birth of cable sports, which let us see his highlights every night,) If someone with his size, speed, and strength came along today, we'd always suspect he was on steroids or growth hormones or something. Not with Bo, not then."
Will we ever have that sheer wonder over an athlete again? Or will we simply wonder what drugs he's on? (Is that why we can be thrilled with American Pharoah? We know the horse isn't on drugs?) That's tragic.
Oh. I did eventually go back for the end of the futbol game. An hour later, it was still 0-0. (Excuse me: "nil-nil".) Then England got a penalty shot, which in the women's game is virtually unstoppable, which makes perfect sense in a game where there's virtually never any other score. So, England won, 1-0, on a single penalty shot, negating the rest of the match. Remind me again why I should watch soccer?
Jeremy Schaap of ESPN says something in the piece which is both revealing and sad:
"Bo came along at exactly the right time...(besides the birth of cable sports, which let us see his highlights every night,) If someone with his size, speed, and strength came along today, we'd always suspect he was on steroids or growth hormones or something. Not with Bo, not then."
Will we ever have that sheer wonder over an athlete again? Or will we simply wonder what drugs he's on? (Is that why we can be thrilled with American Pharoah? We know the horse isn't on drugs?) That's tragic.
Oh. I did eventually go back for the end of the futbol game. An hour later, it was still 0-0. (Excuse me: "nil-nil".) Then England got a penalty shot, which in the women's game is virtually unstoppable, which makes perfect sense in a game where there's virtually never any other score. So, England won, 1-0, on a single penalty shot, negating the rest of the match. Remind me again why I should watch soccer?
Thursday, July 2, 2015
It's the US and Japan again for the Women's World Cup title
Just repeating the news, as I can't say I follow futbol like I follow football...
The United States defeated Germany 2-0 on Tuesday, and last night the Japanese were able to get past England thanks to an English player kicking the ball into her own goal (accidentally, of course) just before the end of regulation time.
How heartbreaking must THAT be? In most sports, you can't even SCORE for the other team. Baseball, cricket, golf, and so forth - it's impossible. In American, Canadian, and Australian football (the sports of choice 'round these here parts), it's possible to score one or two point scores for the other team, and most of the time it's done intentionally, as a strategy to either get the ball back or prevent a larger score by the opponent. In basketball, it's entirely a bad thing, but it's one basket out of 40 or 50, and very rarely has any part in deciding the game.
But in soccer, where only a couple of goals are scored in the entire match in most cases, an own-goal can and usually does decide the entire game when it occurs. It seems unnecessarily cruel, but then much of soccer is cruelty - the tension that builds in a scoreless game, the thought that a World Cup championship can and often does come down to penalty kicks, and the outside pressure that major club and national teams feel from their fans, who often place an inappropriate amount of importance on the outcome of a fickle game.
Every time something like this happens, I think back to the 1994 Men's World Cup, when a player from Colombia cost his team the chance to advance with an own goal and found himself dead within a month or two of returning home We'd all like to think England's more civilized than that - because as Americans we come from that stock originally - but I sure don't want to see their tabloid sports sections today...
The United States defeated Germany 2-0 on Tuesday, and last night the Japanese were able to get past England thanks to an English player kicking the ball into her own goal (accidentally, of course) just before the end of regulation time.
How heartbreaking must THAT be? In most sports, you can't even SCORE for the other team. Baseball, cricket, golf, and so forth - it's impossible. In American, Canadian, and Australian football (the sports of choice 'round these here parts), it's possible to score one or two point scores for the other team, and most of the time it's done intentionally, as a strategy to either get the ball back or prevent a larger score by the opponent. In basketball, it's entirely a bad thing, but it's one basket out of 40 or 50, and very rarely has any part in deciding the game.
But in soccer, where only a couple of goals are scored in the entire match in most cases, an own-goal can and usually does decide the entire game when it occurs. It seems unnecessarily cruel, but then much of soccer is cruelty - the tension that builds in a scoreless game, the thought that a World Cup championship can and often does come down to penalty kicks, and the outside pressure that major club and national teams feel from their fans, who often place an inappropriate amount of importance on the outcome of a fickle game.
Every time something like this happens, I think back to the 1994 Men's World Cup, when a player from Colombia cost his team the chance to advance with an own goal and found himself dead within a month or two of returning home We'd all like to think England's more civilized than that - because as Americans we come from that stock originally - but I sure don't want to see their tabloid sports sections today...
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Women's World Cup Soccer!
We haven't kept a close enough eye on the events in the World Cup of women's futbol, but as the round of sixteen concludes, let's review the tournament so far...
Group A saw a cluster at the top which allowed three teams through thanks to three ties with the three decisions. Canada won with five points (1-0-2), and China and the Netherlands also advanced, leaving New Zealand behind.
Group B saw 2-0-1 records from both Germany and Norway, eliminating upstarts Thailand and the Ivory Coast.
Group C was dominated by the Japanese women, who won all three matches, and Switzerland and Cameroon also advanced, eliminating Ecuador.
Group D: the United States went undefeated, going 2-0-1 with a tie against Sweden (who tied everybody - 0-0-3!), dragging Australia in as well as the Swedes. Only 0-2- Nigeria stayed behind.
Group E saw Brazil's Marta set an all-time goal scoring record, and the ladies of the beautiful sport started their redemption tour for the men's debacle by going 3-0-0 in the round-robin round. South Korea placed second with a record of 1-1-1. Spain was winless, tying only Costa Rica, who also tied the Koreans but never won a game.
Finally, Group F was led by channel neighbors France and England, followed into the knockout round by 1-1-1 Columbia. Only Mexico was sent home.
Now in the Round of Sixteen, no major surprises presented themselves:
China def. Cameroon 1-0
United States beat Columbia 2-0
Germany def. Sweden 4-1
France won over South Korea, 3-0
Australia did upset the Brazilians, 1-0. So, there goes the revenge for the men's debacle.
Japan outlasted the Netherlands, 2-1
England beat Norway 2-1.
Canada, the host country, continued on by beating Switzerland 1-0.
So, the quarterfinals begin on Friday, when Germany takes on France, and then China faces the United States (so, a replay of WW2, followed by a preview of WW3!). Winners play each other on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the other two quarters take place, with a spot in Wednesday's second semi on the line: Australia v. Japan, and England v. Canada. The finals will be next weekend - third place game on Saturday, July 4th, championship on Sunday, July 5th. No predictions from us - we don't know anywhere NEAR enough about these teams!
Group A saw a cluster at the top which allowed three teams through thanks to three ties with the three decisions. Canada won with five points (1-0-2), and China and the Netherlands also advanced, leaving New Zealand behind.
Group B saw 2-0-1 records from both Germany and Norway, eliminating upstarts Thailand and the Ivory Coast.
Group C was dominated by the Japanese women, who won all three matches, and Switzerland and Cameroon also advanced, eliminating Ecuador.
Group D: the United States went undefeated, going 2-0-1 with a tie against Sweden (who tied everybody - 0-0-3!), dragging Australia in as well as the Swedes. Only 0-2- Nigeria stayed behind.
Group E saw Brazil's Marta set an all-time goal scoring record, and the ladies of the beautiful sport started their redemption tour for the men's debacle by going 3-0-0 in the round-robin round. South Korea placed second with a record of 1-1-1. Spain was winless, tying only Costa Rica, who also tied the Koreans but never won a game.
Finally, Group F was led by channel neighbors France and England, followed into the knockout round by 1-1-1 Columbia. Only Mexico was sent home.
Now in the Round of Sixteen, no major surprises presented themselves:
China def. Cameroon 1-0
United States beat Columbia 2-0
Germany def. Sweden 4-1
France won over South Korea, 3-0
Australia did upset the Brazilians, 1-0. So, there goes the revenge for the men's debacle.
Japan outlasted the Netherlands, 2-1
England beat Norway 2-1.
Canada, the host country, continued on by beating Switzerland 1-0.
So, the quarterfinals begin on Friday, when Germany takes on France, and then China faces the United States (so, a replay of WW2, followed by a preview of WW3!). Winners play each other on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the other two quarters take place, with a spot in Wednesday's second semi on the line: Australia v. Japan, and England v. Canada. The finals will be next weekend - third place game on Saturday, July 4th, championship on Sunday, July 5th. No predictions from us - we don't know anywhere NEAR enough about these teams!
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