Tuesday, July 08, 2014
World Cup of Soccer 2014
On Sunday, the World
Cup of Soccer final game will take place in Brazil Third Place Brazil , the Netherlands ,
Argentina , and Germany Brazil Canada
In this neck of the
woods, most supporters are in the Dutch camp. I have heard the whispers, “If
you’re not Dutch, you’re not much”. Heading into the Semi-final game on
Wednesday, the Dutch know they will have their hands full against the
Argentineans. Historically, South American teams have owned the Cup when it is
played on their continent. The same applies when they play for the marbles in Europe . And, just in case you may not have been paying
attention over the years, no North American country has ever worn gold medals.
For your information,
soccer games are 90 minutes long, two 45 minute halves. If teams are tied after
the 90 minutes, they play a 30 minute overtime period. After that period, the
winner is determined in shootout; however, the soccer people refer to that
situation as “penalties”, not penalty kicks, mind you, just penalties.
Without boring you
with a complete rant about soccer, I will touch on a few concepts that drive North
Americans crazy, particularly the hockey folk.
- Fakers
I know some European
descendents who cover their faces in shame when they see the antics of
professional soccer players. It is as if snipers in the crowd have targeted
certain players. With little or no contact, they hit the turf, and appear to be
in mortal danger. If the referee pulls out a yellow card, some of the pain
subsides immediately. If a red card comes out, almost instant recovery. Some of
this behaviour has carried over into hockey, shamefully. Those who act in this
way will find comeuppance, sooner or later.
- Officiating
The field is too
large, the game is too fast, to have one referee to handle all of the work. I
recommend three referees for the game. A lot of the nasty behind-the-play activity
has been eliminated in hockey with the two referee system. More “diving” has
been called, with that extra pair of eyes on the ice. As well, they have to
come up with a better system to call offside. It is far too nebulous. They need
a “blueline”, of sorts.
3. The Language
As long as they are
playing the game on our turf, it shall be called soccer. Football is entirely
different. People who play football wear helmets. The game will be played on a
field, not on a pitch. If you can’t put the ball on the net, you will get a
zero, not a “nil”. That is just the start. I said I would not rant.
- Substitutions
There is whole pile
of nonsense that goes on when a team wants to change players. Signs are raised,
plenty of hugging, high fiving, all that stuff. I recommend that they change
“on the fly”, that is, pull someone off and put someone else on whenever
necessary, without a stoppage in play. It would add an ounce or two of
excitement to the game.
I am going to consult
my “Party Brazil
It is, after all,
“The Beautiful Game”. In desperate need of improvement.
# posted by James Hurst @ 10:44 AM 
