World Cup 2010

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Anyone else interested in World Cup action?

[hazer]

[mrhonline]

I AM! But I no longer have ESPN, so I'm going to have to figure how to watch it online...

[MaceCase]

ESPN3 claims they'll stream all the games live provided you meet their lofty requirements. It's been tough for me trying now to get absolutely blasted by 2pm but it beats the 2 in the morning games of the Korea games.

[NJHAWK]

Another sport to complain about officiating in for sure Im interested. I thought South Africa should have been awarded a penalty kick on that play in the 2nd half. They had every chance to beat Mexico today. US England tomorrow, cant wait.

[lethalweapon3]

Poor Rob Green. Atlanta's own Ricardo Clark is gonna have to send him a Hallmark "Thank You" card.

~lw3

[mrhonline]

ESPN3 claims they'll stream all the games live provided you meet their lofty requirements. It's been tough for me trying now to get absolutely blasted by 2pm but it beats the 2 in the morning games of the Korea games.

Time Warner didn't pony up the dough to get access to ESPN3. U.S./England game on ABC, at least...

[mrhonline]

[NJHAWK]

Poor Rob Green. Atlanta's own Ricardo Clark is gonna have to send him a Hallmark "Thank You" card.

~lw3

He actually made a couple nice saves but he will see that replay over and over again, he cant live that one down especially if they dont make the 2nd round somehow. Argentina had a cool header but the best goal Ive seen so far was the 1st by South Africa. USA's goalie is no joke, that guy can play. He too prolly could / should have stopped the only goal he gave up but made incredible saves afterward.

[DJlaysitup]

Thank You England! Seriously though, I've wtached some of the pre-cup pageantry and it looks like fun - a worldwide party! Problem is - sooner or later they have to play soccer. First game 1-1 tie, second 0-0 tie...then our game ends 1-1 tie. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sad thing is - these are some of the best athletes in the world out there. They need some rule-tweaking IMO....but hey...it beats watching a marathon (barely).

Edited June 13, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[NJHAWK]

How about the folks from Ghana, they were having a blast the whole game. Then Serbia commits a hand ball in scoring territory and Ghana gets a 1-0 lead late on a penalty kick. It was like they all won the lottery in the crowd after that. I am far from a soccer guy but after watching the first few days of this it seems like USA sports fans ( myself included ) are just missing out by not getting as geared up for this as the rest of the world. It only comes around once every 4 years and from what I hear after the 1st round when they go to the elimination rounds with overtime and penalty kicks they games get even better.

[coachx]

How about the folks from Ghana, they were having a blast the whole game. Then Serbia commits a hand ball in scoring territory and Ghana gets a 1-0 lead late on a penalty kick. It was like they all won the lottery in the crowd after that. I am far from a soccer guy but after watching the first few days of this it seems like USA sports fans ( myself included ) are just missing out by not getting as geared up for this as the rest of the world. It only comes around once every 4 years and from what I hear after the 1st round when they go to the elimination rounds with overtime and penalty kicks they games get even better.

The US misses out for a very simple reason. Commercial $$$$$.

We have to have commercials every 5 minutes to turn a profit in the USA. There are no stoppages in play in soccer except for halftime. If we just turned halftime into a 20 minutes of commercials everyone would simply turn the channell. That is why soccer is bad fit for Ameria / American TV.

[lethalweapon3]

Any thoughts on the ball (adidas' "Jabulani") or the horns ("vuvuzela")? There's lots of griping about both (especially from losing teams). :)

~lw3

[Guest]

The US misses out for a very simple reason. Commercial $$$$$.

We have to have commercials every 5 minutes to turn a profit in the USA. There are no stoppages in play in soccer except for halftime. If we just turned halftime into a 20 minutes of commercials everyone would simply turn the channell. That is why soccer is bad fit for Ameria / American TV.

That may explain why we don't see soccer on during prime time, but that doesn't explain why Americans do not watch or get excited about soccer.

[AHF]

Soccer isn't a part of our culture and I doubt it will ever occupy the same level of interest (from elite athletes or the viewing public) as baseball, basketball or football. I would not be surprised to see it pass hockey as the #4 team sport.

I love watching the World Cup, though. I love the stakes, I love the different cultures all coming together, I love the vastly different styles employed by different teams, I love the games themselves...it makes for great theater!

[lethalweapon3]

The vuvuzela is here to stay...

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/world-cup-chiefs-wont-ban-vuvuzelas--fbintl_reu-soccerworldvuvuzelas.html

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

How do you say "WTF" in Italian?

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

World Cup MVP = Jabulani

~lw3

[NJHAWK]

I hope Ivory Coast beats the Ronoldos, ah I mean Portugal.

[coachx]

Soccer isn't a part of our culture and I doubt it will ever occupy the same level of interest (from elite athletes or the viewing public) as baseball, basketball or football. I would not be surprised to see it pass hockey as the #4 team sport.

I love watching the World Cup, though. I love the stakes, I love the different cultures all coming together, I love the vastly different styles employed by different teams, I love the games themselves...it makes for great theater!

Well said. I love the World Cup too for the exact same reasons that you state. I also love Olympic Soccer (even though the rules only allow each nation to have a limited # of "professionals" with the rest of the roster being made up of amatures. I saw the gold medla match in Athens, Ga. back in 1996 where Nigeria beat Argentina. Nigeria won the first olympic soccer gold medal for an African country. The music and dancing in the streets of Athens, after the win, was an amazing show of heritage.(Its ironic those same 2 teams met in their first World Cup games this year and ended in a 1-1 tie.) I wonder if any of the amatures back in 1996 are still playing professionally ? An 18 year old amature in 1996 would be 32 now......so its possible.

Its hard for me to get into the pro leagues b/c the best pro leagues are over seas and I feel no allegience to foreign club teams. Not to mention their games are on at 5:00 AM in the morning. The US leagues just don't have the talent level that compels me to watch.

Now when Mexico, or another country, visits the US to play our national team in World Club tune ups or qualifyers I love to watch.

Edited June 16, 2010 by coachx