Topic: EuroCup 2008

[Stogi]

Any fans of football out there? 

[Caliban]

Of course. I've been following the team that represents my nation. 2 wins so far. Go Portugal!

[blackfootsteps]

Yes! I was, however, devo to see Italy go down in their first match but I have high hopes that their fortune will turn. Additionally I was pretty impressed with that Russian striker Pavlychenko (sp?), he was unlucky to not get a couple more goals.

[Plugabugz]

I was hoping someone would have mentioned it.

I have been watching but not too tough because there's nobody from the UK is in the tournament. But that's sort of the problem with british football and our general lack of trophies at international level - our players are too used to playing with foreign players.

[Dasmos]

I only like Soccer when Australia are playing in the World Cup, otherwise it sucks pretty hard.

[NWR_insanolord]

I only like Soccer when Australia are playing in the World Cup, otherwise it sucks pretty hard.

Replace Australia with the United States and you have my attitude toward the sport, though I am interested in Pro Evo 2008 for the Wii.

[Ian Sane]

Of course. I've been following the team that represents my nation. 2 wins so far. Go Portugal!

YEAH!  Portugal's my team, too!  My family's from the Azores.  Though I haven't watched any games because I'm usually working when they're on.  I watched the very beginning of the Saturday game at a pub but then my friend got sick so I had to drive him home.

I'll admit when watching soccer I don't quite get it.  I think a big part of that is that I'm not used to it.  I didn't get American football at first either but as I watched it more I really started to get it.  I think a problem with soccer for North American sports fans is that it's not easily accessible.  Yeah there's MLS but that's not the top level of soccer talent in the world.  And considering the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL are undoubtably the top talent in the world for their respective sports this is something expected by Americans (Canadians are a little more slack as we'll follow the CFL).  The top soccer talent is in Europe and we just don't get the TV coverage over here to follow it that closely.  And even if we did the time zone difference is so great that it just doesn't work.

[Stogi]

Portugal pffff......

The only player I like on that team is Deco. It's Germany all the way baby.

Oh and Ian. Soccer is the MOST accessible sport. There's only two major rules to the game: No hands and offisides. Explaining offsides is a little difficult, but it's not that difficult. But I understand, it's hard to watch football here because of the lack of talent. That's why this is such a big deal to me.

[Stogi]

So Germany just lost it what was the most disappointing performance I have ever seen them play. They lost to Croatia 2 - 1.

This isn't all bad news though. Since Croatia is likely to win the group, Germany is in line to play Portugal right out of the gate. I would have rather seen them play Italy (whom they lost to in the semi-finals of the world cup), but that can't happen till later on in the cup. So I guess we can all look forward to a great game.

[Ian Sane]

Oh and Ian. Soccer is the MOST accessible sport. There's only two major rules to the game: No hands and offisides.

Oh there's more to it than that.  Most sports can be summed up quickly but the little stuff is usually where the confusion comes in.  I don't know exactly what is considered a foul.  What earns a yellow card?  What earns a red card?  And then there's how the clock never stops, even if someone is injured and then the ref assigns some amount of extra time that seems arbitrary to me.  It's a huge contrast compared to hockey for example where the clock stops when play stops, period.  In fact when I started watching American football the rules about when the clock stops and when it doesn't took time to figure out, since hockey is so different.  When you watch a sport a lot you really get to understand not only the rules and objectives but strategy.  You have to watch a lot of basketball to say "they should take a time out now".  Reading the rules won't tell you that.  With soccer I haven't watched enough to say "he should pass to that guy".

I'd say for accessibility baseball is probably the easiest to figure out.  Three strikes, four balls, three outs, nine innings.  There's like four ways you can be declared out that I can think of (strike out, fly ball, tag runner, tag base).  Most sports have a big list of fouls you need to be familiar with that the refs are constantly calling but baseball doesn't have that.  If someone is out it's usually pretty clear cut to the viewer.  Though how accessible it is to WATCH is another thing altogether.

[Stogi]

Football is much easier to comprehend and enjoy than American football, period. Not sure about Baseball, but baseball sucks.

Also, the clock keeps going in football because it would be a bitch for the referees to stop the clock every time something happens. It's much easier to let it go and then add on minutes that were "lost" during goals, fouls, and out of bounds play. Plus, the clock is unique for sports and complements itself perfectly to football in the way that it's suppose to be free flowing and fast. When a lot of fouls occur rapidly in other sports, people don't get frustrated about the break up in play, but by the fouls that were committed. In football, it's both. You see, when a bunch of fouls are called back-to-back, you'll start hearing jeers from both sides of the fans, and you'll most likely hear to commentator say "let them play ref."

Football is free flowing, and that's exactly why the clock is as well.

[Ian Sane]

Also, the clock keeps going in football because it would be a bitch for the referees to stop the clock every time something happens. It's much easier to let it go and then add on minutes that were "lost" during goals, fouls, and out of bounds play.

I'd guess the real reason it keeps going is because the sport is so much older than the other major sports that constantly starting and stopping a clock in the 1860's wasn't practical and they've never changed it because of tradition.

The part I find odd about it is the inexact nature of it.  In hockey, basketball and American football (God, it's annoying to type that) the clock is very important.  Championships have been decided at the last minute.  It's not uncommon for the referees in those sports to order exact seconds be put back on the clock near the end of a game because the timekeeper didn't stop it quick enough.  Every second counts.  But when I watch soccer it's like at the end the game the refs adds some amount of time: five minutes, two minutes, whatever.  But it's an estimate.  It's not an exact time so either one team isn't quite given enough time to catch up or one team has to defend their lead a bit longer.  There's no guarantee that there will be 90 minutes of play time and seconds can literally make the difference between a team getting one last shot on goal.  That makes it a bit wishy-washy and hard to get used to in comparison to the strict structure of the major North American sports.

It might just be how TV handles it.  I remember seeing a game where the referee ended the game before the extra time on the TV screen had ended.  Huh?  It gave the impression that the losing team that was trailing by a goal got screwed by the ref calling the game off early.  Is the time on the TV screen just a guess?

[blackfootsteps]

I'd say for accessibility baseball is probably the easiest to figure out.  Three strikes, four balls, three outs, nine innings.  There's like four ways you can be declared out that I can think of (strike out, fly ball, tag runner, tag base).  Most sports have a big list of fouls you need to be familiar with that the refs are constantly calling but baseball doesn't have that.  If someone is out it's usually pretty clear cut to the viewer.  Though how accessible it is to WATCH is another thing altogether.

You reckon? I dunno, I think (from my limited exposure) that baseball has some weird rules. For example when the catcher drops the third strike and has to tag.

I think the simplicity of a sport depends entirely on whether you've grown up watching / playing that sport. See for me the rules and strategies of soccer, Aussie Rules, etc make complete sense. However watching NFL, while I can pick up holding or pass interference (the obvious ones), I've got no real idea why a team, especially defensively, will use a particular formation, let alone call a specific play.

With soccer I haven't watched enough to say "he should pass to that guy".

Just like basketball or ice hockey you pass to the person most likely to improve your chances to score or prevent the opposition scoring. That's why teams will usually run the ball out along the wings (to avoid turnovers in front of goal) before crossing the ball back into the centre (the most likely place to score from unless you're Arjen Robben!) once you are in an attacking position.