...And then there were four...

dd74 · 07-01-2006, 01:05 PM

France, Italy, Germany and Portugal:

Who do you like for the The Cup finals?

I think Germany and France. After that, France for it all.

BTW: England's Rooney is a hood.

gassy · 07-01-2006, 01:13 PM

Go Germany. God those games are boring. I'm trying to get into it but it's tough...caught the end of the England game...that was exciting.

gaijindabe · 07-01-2006, 01:35 PM

It was always said the English did not have the heart to win, that fair play and sportsmanship were more important...

Now they play like louts and still get beat. Rooney is a Royal Wanker.

Steve PH · 07-01-2006, 01:45 PM

My team deserved to go out, poor, uninspired performance and Rooney's unprofesional conduct really did not help. Did anyone see the France Brazil game? I caught the last 15 minutes, now that was entertaining stuff, France look like hot property!

gaijindabe · 07-01-2006, 01:48 PM

Did not help? Put him in the Tower!

Steve PH · 07-01-2006, 01:51 PM

It can be arranged!

dd74 · 07-01-2006, 04:10 PM

LOL!

Yes, France-Portugal was very exciting. Lots of attacking, especially in the second half. And the goal by Henry was brilliant. It was really more a deflection than a kick.

artplumber · 07-01-2006, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve PH
My team deserved to go out, poor, uninspired performance and Rooney's unprofesional conduct really did not help. Did anyone see the France Brazil game?

First the call was a complete baloney call. Two guys hanging all over him and he "intentionally steps" on one of them while they're all staggering about. Admittedly, Rooney shouldn't have pushed whoever (Ronaldo?), but that wasn't worth a red card. Elizondo has always called against GB in general.

fastpat · 07-01-2006, 07:08 PM

An accurate blog entry on soccer.

Quote:

ZZZZZZZZZZZ.......Soccer...........zzzzzzzzz......
Posted by Karen DeCoster at 06:18 AM

All the dissin' of soccer is a great thing. This superb article from the Weekly Standard is a beautiful thing. I suggest you read it if you too hate soccer. The authors bring up points about the game that I had never before related to its dreadedness. Soccer is nihilism, contrary to nature, and denies basic human ability.

Yet soccer flies in the face of nature. In almost all other sports, the head is protected against injury. Players wear helmets and try to avoid contact with sticks, bats, balls, elbows, fists, roadways, goalposts and other things that might inflict injury on that big brain that gives humans the ability to plan ahead, calculate, strategize, coordinate eye and hand movements, anticipate the consequence of actions--in other words, to play the game.

But soccer players use their heads, deliberately, to contact the ball. This is contrary to all human instinct, which is to keep the head out of the way of danger. Duck, you idiot! Protecting the head against injury is deeply rooted in our nature. It's an evolutionary survival response. Sacrifice a limb if you must, give up an arm or leg, but protect your head at all costs. Yet in soccer the player is encouraged, no, expected to hit the ball with his head. This is as stupid an action as a human being can undertake.

I've always thought that the goaltender in soccer makes the little league (or tee ball) right fielder seem glorious. I hate this empty and crazed soccer mania. I think people hop on the soccer bandwagon to be a part of something - anything - so long as it's something that is perceived to be popular and chic. Soccer is not chic; it just plain stinks. Heck, not even the market can solve soccer's utter inadequacy by bringing forth a "funny ball." It turns out that the new ball is merely a ploy to produce "sales for Adidas of 15 million replicas of the $240 balls, more than twice as many as they sold after the 2002 World Cup."

dd74 · 07-01-2006, 07:32 PM

P-shaw! Soccer is one of the most elemental, technical and hardest games in human history.

There is always a game plan. It's not what the uneducated see as a bunch of guys running around, trying to kick a ball into a net.

There is no size or height requirement to be good at soccer. Even a keeper can be small as long as they can move fast enough between ends of the net.

Soccer is a real world sport - anyone in the world can play it. Sure, in the U.S. football is known for the helmeted types who get a rest every thirty seconds when the play is over. Football is soccer everywhere else (maybe except Canada).

You don't have to have big $$$ to play, though there are some who receive big $$$ to play.

And most importantly soccer players are by far the fittest athletes in modern day sports. Through the duration of a game, they can run over ten miles - without time outs, and only one break at 45 minutes. The game can elongate with stoppage time and two overtime periods of 10 minutes.

I'd like to see Shaq or Terrell Owens or Derek Jeter try themselves at soccer. Something tells me they'd be the first to grab their knee and take a fake fall.

dd74 · 07-01-2006, 07:33 PM

But then again, Pat, you probably hate pro cycling, too, right? I mean who ever heard of grown men shaving their legs...ur...who were also straight.

fastpat · 07-01-2006, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dd74
But then again, Pat, you probably hate pro cycling, too, right? I mean who ever heard of grown men shaving their legs...ur...who were also straight.

Competition swimmers have done that for decades. But, you're correct, the only pro-bikers I'm interested in ride Yamaha, Ducati, Honda, Kawi, etc.

Pencil necked, euro-geek stuff hasn't caught on in my family.

Joeaksa · 07-01-2006, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dd74
But then again, Pat, you probably hate pro cycling, too, right? I mean who ever heard of grown men shaving their legs...ur...who were also straight.

I did that for about 10 years when I was young. Say what you want to but ride a 200 mile bike race at an average speed of over 20 mph and then tell them that they are not in good shape. Lets see a football or baseball player do that.

Like soccer, its not well known in America but if you train at it, endurance sports like this really get you into shape. Worst thing I ever did for my body was getting a drivers license and ditching the bike.

dd74 · 07-01-2006, 08:51 PM

Yeah - pro cyclists are in shape - though I think motocross racers are said to be the most physically fit athletes second only to soccer players.

If you've ever seen a moto race, you figure out real fast why those guys are ranked where they are.

As for cycling, that's one sport that demands you be in shape before you get the full-on race bike. These days there are weight limits on certain carbon frames I've seen. Hence: if you're too fat, you run the risk of breaking the bike.

Oh, and there are women who dig shaved legs -- on guys.

Dottore · 07-01-2006, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by artplumber
Admittedly, Rooney shouldn't have pushed whoever (Ronaldo?), but that wasn't worth a red card.

Were we watching the same game? The Portugese guy was down, Rooney was past him, and then decided to wind up and kick him royally in the nuts. The internet is full of clips of this scene.

Rooney displayed the worst sportsmanship imaginable in a match of this sort - and it probably cost England a berth in the semi-finals. If I were Rooney I would be laying low for a while.

artplumber · 07-01-2006, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dottore
Were we watching the same game? The Portugese guy was down, Rooney was past him, and then decided to wind up and kick him royally in the nuts. The internet is full of clips of this scene. ...

LOL, if that's what you call a wind up, you'd never kick a ball more than 6inches (15 cm for you).

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

Go Germany

Go Germany

Dottore · 07-02-2006, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by artplumber
LOL, if that's what you call a wind up, you'd never kick a ball more than 6inches (15 cm for you).

The point is it had nothing to do with the play - and that was underscored by the wind up. A deliberate kick to the groin. Just plain stupid in a WC quarterfinal.

artplumber · 05:14 AM

Rooney looked off balance to me, and staggering around trying to get your balance doesn't qualify as a "wind up". Further, he wasn't "past" the portugese player.

BTW, if the portugese guy had been stepped on he would have had to have been subbed. If your foots gets stepped on with full weight by cleats, you're not going to play for 5 minutes. If you get stepped on the groin....Unless you're wearing a cup then, it shouldn't have hurt at all. So, either there was no contact, or faked injury (like all the other dives out there).

Byron,
At home, hungry. They're going all the way. If I was Jimmy the Greek, I would say "take it to the bank." Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles!