The beautiful game

[markem]

Some amazing goals from the 2014-15 season. One near the end by Renaldo is more amazing every time I see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_dt-CNKHN0

[icehog3]

Renaldo Crosby? :confused: :D

[nutcracker]

Yeah, all that falling down and crying - pathetic.

Wheeler has his teeth knocked out, 27 stitches and a broken jaw, and returns to play.
Now THATS a game!

[jonumberone]

Was this all the scoring for the entire season? :D

[Taki]

Thanks for sharing...love this game!

[The Poet]

Thanks for sharing...love this game!

So do many eighth-grade girls. :D

[hotreds]

You don't realize how big a goal is until you stand in one. I'm surprised that more goals aren't scored!

[The Poet]

You don't realize how big a goal is until you stand in one. I'm surprised that more goals aren't scored!

I'm not. Ninety minutes of keepaway with a mere handful . . . excuse me, footful . . . of shots on goal doesn't lend itself to scoring.

Now cricket . . . . :r

[shilala]

Soccer would be way more fun if they pulled the goalie and nobody was allowed in the paint. There's should be a 3 point line, too.
What'd make it funner yet is if they got those dudes with hats like in rugby. Goal umpires (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6aI32Q-jsE).
What'd make it funner yet would be if they played hockey. That'd be awesome. :tu

[coffeemonkey]

The "season" isn't over yet though... and MLS just started.

[Gabe215]

Neil are you bashing soccer or saying how tough soccer players are? Soccer players play with broken arms and with stitches in their head.

[pnoon]

Neil are you bashing soccer or saying how tough soccer players are? Soccer players play with broken arms and with stitches in their head.

Gabe, except for the truly enlightened, everyone bashes soccer.

Now I will be the first to admit that only Lebron James flops more than the average soccer player. And I think the punishment for flopping should be much more severe. But there is a reason they call it "the beautiful game". Sure scores are lower than the U.S. audience would like but there are a number of valid criticisms of MLB, the NFL, and the NBA that the fans choose to ignore. I am a fan of American football, baseball, and college basketball (the NBA sucks eggs).

Let the haters hate. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world.

[The Poet]

Neil are you bashing soccer or saying how tough soccer players are? Soccer players play with broken arms and with stitches in their head.

Well maybe they wouldn't hurt themselves so badly if they stopped flopping so much. :r

[nutcracker]

Neil are you bashing soccer or saying how tough soccer players are? Soccer players play with broken arms and with stitches in their head.

Only slightly Gabe. I played rugger as a kid, and later field hockey when the rugby injuries become too much for my long suffering mother. Oddly enough the only sporting fatality at my high school in a 30 year period was a hockey ball to the head.

We didn't have a lot of time for soccer ("footy"). We thought they were whimps.

There's no doubt a good soccer player is incredibly fit and skillful. Seriously tough games like rugger don't have the divers though. When a rugger player lies on the field it's usually stretcher time!

[hotreds]

Soccer is the 2nd most aerobic sport after motocross!

[The Poet]

Soccer is the 2nd most aerobic sport after motocross!

I dunno. 43-man Squamish is pretty strenuous, especially for the Overblats and Back-Up Finks.

[markem]

Oddly enough the only sporting fatality at my high school in a 30 year period was a hockey ball to the head.


I'm not sure that I could withstand being held back a grade that long.

[icehog3]

Let the haters hate. Soccer is the most popular sport in the third world.

Fixed it for you. :D

Don't hate me, Peter, pour a vodka martini and take it all in good fun. ;) ;s

[hotreds]

I dunno. 43-man Squamish is pretty strenuous, especially for the Overblats and Back-Up Finks.

goes without saying......

[357]

Was this all the scoring for the entire season? :D

For every team combined, yes.


I'm with Tom on this one. I'm not a fan but I have tried to watch. I think the biggest problem, besides the wet noodle Hollywood flopping, is the offsides rule.

They need a big line painted on the field like the have in hockey for defining offsides rather than the deepest defensemen. If they changed that one rule to be like hockey, they would have more breakaways and likely a lot more scoring. Plus, the defense couldn't just cheat forward to prevent a breakaway since he would no longer define where the off sides line would be.

Don't get me wrong, scores don't need to be 15-13 for the sport to be entertaining but the endless keep away is BORING. Maybe a shot clock or fewer players on the field would help. Perhaps creating a flopping penalty where the offender sits in a penalty box and his team plays shorthanded would help both issues.

[markem]

I like this thread. I'm a rabid soccer fan, but I am so tired of the obvious flops - getting to be too much like American football. Watching soccer on TV is very hard because so much happens off the ball that has a direct impact on how the play of the ball unfolds. Live games are so much better, but you have to learn to see the entire field and pick out what is happening off the ball.

All sports have their problems. Tennis - what's with the constant arguing with the umpire about line calls? It's almost like you are using that to delay the match to get rested ... oh!. What's with this wholesale substituting in hockey? In soccer, you run (none of this mamby-pamby skating chit) for 90 minutes and each team gets, at most, three substitutes and you can't bring that man back on! ;) You get the drift.

On the other hand, I like it and, like my cigars, that's all that matters in the end. The fact that my cigars and love of soccer makes me superior to everyone ... oh, wait, no it doesn't.

[timj219]

If they'd go to a smaller ball and give the players sticks to toss the ball and to smack each other with, I'd watch more.

[Remo]

I just think it's funny that it took a Futbol thread to see a Taki post! :sl…Greeks

[markem]

If they'd go to a smaller ball and give the players sticks to toss the ball and to smack each other with, I'd watch more.

Lacrosse? :rolleyes:

[shilala]

I just think it's funny that it took a Futbol thread to see a Taki post! :sl…Greeks
I'm glad you said something, I totally missed it.
Hi, Taki!!! *wave-o*

[hotreds]

I'm grateful that ESPN and them realized that you cannot break for commercials during a game! I remember early on it was truly impossible to watch soccer on tv with all the commercials. I wonder how soon they'll put them back. I'm waiting for baseball to give teams "time-outs" for the sole purpose of having more commercials. As it is, watching football has become almost impossible, and the CBB Tournament likewise. I don't watch basketball other than the final tournament, but I'm sure the commercials are plentiful there as well. It's interesting watching long running shows on Netflix- you really see how more and more time is devoted to commercials! What started as 40 minutes of show a few years later is 35 minutes of show. Soon it'll be evenly divided!

[Remo]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLlll llllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[markem]

I'm grateful that ESPN and them realized that you cannot break for commercials during a game! I remember early on it was truly impossible to watch soccer on TV with all the commercials. I wonder how soon they'll put them back.

While I haven't had cable TV for over a year, I did enjoy the fox soccer channel in HD. If I know about a game that is being played for free over the internet (in HD), I'll hook up my laptop to my 60" LCD TV.

[nutcracker]

Lacrosse? :rolleyes:

How about HURLING? An Irish sport just shy of all out war. Cross between Lacrosse and field hockey. Wicked. Awesome to watch.

[markem]

How about HURLING? An Irish sport just shy of all out war. Cross between Lacrosse and field hockey. Wicked. Awesome to watch.

A great game. It's one of two (rugby being the other) that I do not truly understand but will sit in the stands and watch all day.

btw - just finished the Hamlet Salmones - amazing! :tu

[hotreds]

While I haven't had cable TV for over a year, I did enjoy the fox soccer channel in HD. If I know about a game that is being played for free over the internet (in HD), I'll hook up my laptop to my 60" LCD TV.

I do the same. Cable has so many channels that I never watch. I got Sling TV for mama- it has cooking shows that keep her happy! There used to be places that you could watch just about any game of any sport, but they have been closed down, alas.....

[The Poet]

How about HURLING? An Irish sport just shy of all out war. Cross between Lacrosse and field hockey. Wicked. Awesome to watch.

Hurling is precisely what I do when someone suggests soccer to me. :D

[timj219]

Lacrosse? :rolleyes:

A great game to play or watch. Nonstop except for the faceoff after a goal. Hurling looks pretty cool too but I've never played or seen a live game.

[nutcracker]

A great game to play or watch. Nonstop except for the faceoff after a goal. Hurling looks pretty cool too but I've never played or seen a live game.

When in Ireland, you have to.
The fans are also all drunk at the game, so the entertainment is doubled.

[The Poet]

When in Ireland, you have to.
The fans are also all drunk at the game, so the entertainment is doubled.

And hence the name "hurling" too.