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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Dutch make the World Cup finals

They usually self-destruct before this time.

In our bracket game, if we've tallied everything up right, Kelly and Alan each finish the tournament with 13 points, which leaves them tied for the lead at the moment. But Gaye and Ricardo are still in the running, and still have points to win. Gaye could still pass Kelly and Alan, but she could not win the top prize (glory and a beverage).

If Germany wins tomorrow, Ricardo is out, and Alan and Kelly go into the tiebreaker for the win. If Spain wins, Ricardo clinches at least a three-way tie.

Comments (6)

With all the yellow cards handed out the last few days,the remaining matches will be interesting. Let's hope someone explains to the refs what an off-sides means.

An off-sides means the linesman is watching the last players in front of the goal while also watching when the forward pass is kicked - and that can be up to 30 yards to his left or right as he looks straight ahead.
Even in a short kick a defensive player can jump a step while the linesman is shifting his eyes from the kick to the last line of players as happened twice early in the match today.

Translation: There is no physical way the human body as it is currently constructed can see offsides correctly. It HAS to be guesswork.

The Dutch recently overtook the US as the world's tallest nation, which is considered a fairly good measure of overall health/nutrition. All things equal, they should be excelling at international sports.

"Translation: There is no physical way the human body as it is currently constructed can see offsides correctly. It HAS to be guesswork."

Thanks for the edification Bill. I thought they were just poor calls at a really critical time.

Another point that got me today: When the announcer said that of the 60 World Cup Games, only 3 have involved a comeback.
That means the first team to score has a 95% chance of winning, and immediately shifts to a "game over" vibe.
I love soccer but that's ridiculous.
There are also usually 2 or 3 blown calls every game that lead to goal kicks instead of corner kick opportunities - one of the only good chances to score.
Then you add the blown offsides calls where the tendency is for the linesman to protect himself and call it rather than let a goal happen that shouldn't have.
The inherent difficulty of scoring a goal is bad enough but then these other clampdowns come along and pretty much stifle what's left.
The result is unavoidable: The outcome of way too many games is directly determined by a bad call.
Is it any wonder the players embellish so much for the refs? Why not play to the people who will decide the match?

The outcome of a soccer game is determined by a mixture of factors including:
1. Aforementioned bad calls
2. Cheating (Uruguay hand check...)
3. Flop artists
4. Dumb luck (penalty kicks)
and lastly athletic skill and ability.




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