11/05/24
June 16, 2010
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Wow, Spain got pantsed. That goal? Never shoulda happened.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:40 PM on June 16, 2010
True. Shoulda been a penalty and Casillas should have been sent off when he cleaned out the first attacker.
posted by JJ at 12:44 PM on June 16, 2010
That was perhaps the most entertaining game I have seen thus far. Spain created so many chances but couldn't finish, though credit Switzerland for playing some great defense in the box. The Swiss were only interested in trying to withstand the barrage, but they made some smart decisions on attacks and came away with the surprise win.
posted by bender at 12:55 PM on June 16, 2010
I am not surprised that in the end Pique got beat and Puyol was not even in the picture for the goal. Further, Spain were far too predictable going forward--always going wide, one touch towards the end line and then back to the top of the box for a cross into the center. The center where there were always at least three Swiss defenders plus the keeper.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:41 PM on June 16, 2010
I know that Fabregas and Pedrito are different types of players, but I was surprised to see the latter come on for Iniesta. If Fabregas cannot break into this midfield, I'm not sure why he is so intent on going to Barca, where there similarly seems to be no place for him.
posted by holden at 01:55 PM on June 16, 2010
Can someone explain to me why the South African keeper got sent off? That seemed like a weak foul if there was one there at all.
posted by tron7 at 04:18 PM on June 16, 2010
I hate myself for getting sucked in by this, but Sportsnet.ca has a goofy link-dump kinda page called "All Day Breakfast" ... a video of the manufacturing of the World Cup ball is the only thing I can see that makes it relevant to sport ... unless, of course, you call Guitar Hero a sport.
posted by Spitztengle at 05:35 PM on June 16, 2010
Red is warranted for, " denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick.
From Fifa's laws of the game.
posted by tselson at 05:42 PM on June 16, 2010
Check it out: Rick Reilly got paid for a column he probably wrote in 1994, just by adding two lines about vuvuzelas. Of all the shit product ESPN puts out, he might actually sink below the others. Also, if you don't get the excitement of stoppage time, stop pretending to like sports.
posted by yerfatma at 05:52 PM on June 16, 2010
Most startling sound of the tournament thus far: the immediate and disconsolate mass exhalation of breath and cessation of festive sounds as Uruguay put in a third goal against SA. It was like accidentally unplugging a vacuum cleaner.
posted by beaverboard at 06:13 PM on June 16, 2010
NFL, union officials meet, discuss longer season: 2 preseason and 18 regular, still 20 overall.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:19 PM on June 16, 2010
NFL, union officials meet, discuss longer season
Good. I think this will actually fly. The four pre-season games are too diluted and meaningless.
posted by Spitztengle at 06:24 PM on June 16, 2010
I don't understand the player's complaint specifically regarding Ray Lewis' comment about swapping pre-season games for end of season playing hurt games. All that's really being said is that the last two pre-season games now count in the scores. If anything their swapping two pre-season games for two at the start of the season when everyone is fresh and healthy. :)
Of course what is really meant is that players don't try hard in those games, or sit them out altogether. Which leads me to what the union's real gripe should be: the players all signed their current contracts in a 16-game season, and giving two more games' worth of effort (and two more games to risk injury) in return for nothing would be silly. They should demand an absolute bare minimum of 12.5% salary increase for the remainder of all active contracts to cover the two extra games.
That said, I'd be in favor of a longer season. They've done it before, it could lead to more frequent matchup of interesting rivalries and in-division contests, and could have interesting playoff implications in terms of records needed to make the playoffs
posted by hincandenza at 06:47 PM on June 16, 2010
Premier League fixtures are released tomorrow.
David Silva has changed his mind: he wants to leave Valencia and play for Chelsea or City
posted by JButton at 07:18 PM on June 16, 2010
Of that Rick Reilly troll, I'll just pick out this turd of Bristol jock wisdom:
Really? All this running and vuvuzela-ing and pulling off shirts for that trophy?The World Cup is the best fucking trophy in sport. It is not cumbersome or grotesquely distorted (Stanley Cup, Borg-Warner) or fugly or looks like it was picked from a catalogue in a trophy shop. Kids who dream of lifting it can doodle its outline and compare their doodles with a billion kids around the world. And learn geography at the same time. The O'Brien Trophy is a broken World Cup prototype; the Lombardi has its modernist charm, but it's insistently literal about what it represents; the Commissioner's Trophy is a decapitated birdcage.
posted by etagloh at 08:52 PM on June 16, 2010
I never thought the NFL pre-season was for the fans, but for the coaches to see who's ready, the players to ease into the season, and to work out schemes in real games. I foresee some awfully sloppy first couple weeks and more injuries.
Second beaverboard's observation - the silence was deafening. Looks like SA will be the first host not to pass the group stage.
posted by kokaku at 08:53 PM on June 16, 2010
The UEFA Champions League trophy is more awesome-looking than the World Cup. And I agree with Jose Mourinho about how being European champion is more prestigious.
posted by JButton at 09:20 PM on June 16, 2010
The World Cup is the best fucking trophy in sport. It is not cumbersome or grotesquely distorted (Stanley Cup, Borg-Warner)
Yeah, I don't think you should be besmirching Lord Stanley's Cup.
If I get up close to the World Cup trophy, is there any indication on it of who won the trophy?
Is it really a trophy if you can hold it with one hand, or toss it to a teammate?
Shouldn't the size of the trophy reflect the effort required to win one?
Can you drink champagne from the World Cup trophy?
Can you pose as a team around the World Cup trophy, without it being lost in the picture?
Is it really that impressive of a trophy if you can make an equal sized duplicate out of chocolate?
Of that Rick Reilly troll
Interesting that he bad mouths the yellow card, but doesn't seem to care when big manly football players get upset when the referee randomly throws a brightly-coloured hankie to the ground.
posted by grum@work at 09:41 PM on June 16, 2010
I had a more or less thought out argument on why the Stanley Cup is far greater a trophy than the one awarded for the World Cup, but on preview, what grum said.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:45 PM on June 16, 2010
The four pre-season games are too diluted and meaningless.
The less preseason games they play, the weaker teams will play at the start of the season. I hate the idea of adding more real games.
posted by rcade at 10:18 PM on June 16, 2010
The World Cup is the best fucking trophy in sport. It is not cumbersome or grotesquely distorted (Stanley Cup ...
If by grotesque and distorted you mean perfect in its current form and never to be improved upon, I agree with you.
posted by rcade at 10:19 PM on June 16, 2010
If I get up close to the World Cup trophy, is there any indication on it of who won the trophy?
Yes. Provided "who" means which team. It doesn't go to the lengths of Lord Stanley in providing names, home addresses and inseam measurements.
Shouldn't the size of the trophy reflect the effort required to win one?
No.
I think it's a shame that no one can win this cup outright as they did with the Jules Rimet. Along with the star on the uniform, I like the idea of being able to win and keep the cup, causing the commission of a new trophy.
If only because of the number of Internet Rage' threads that could be generated when FIFA accept a new design based around Sepp Blatter rolling in a bath filled with money.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:20 PM on June 16, 2010
Yeah, I don't think you should be besmirching Lord Stanley's Cup.
ITYM the Giant Trophy Base In Association With Lord Stanley's Cup.
Take away four of the bands (doable if you limit the engraving to winning teams and not their assistant Zamboni mechanic) and I'd give it the nod. The original in the Hall of Fame is lovely.
The European Cup / La Orejona (bollocks to the Champions League) is a fantastic trophy: large without being stupid, big handles for raising aloft, looks like a proper trophy. Its big weakness: position of handles makes cup difficult to raise above head at appropriate angle without hiding face / bashing rim into forehead.
posted by etagloh at 10:42 PM on June 16, 2010
Not being a huge hockey buff, I still get chills when I see the guys with the white gloves bring the Stanley Cup out onto the ice after the final game of the championship.
I only wish that two burly men with latex exam gloves would similarly carry the commissioner out onto the carpet (stiff that he is), make him stand there for a chorus of boos and then whisk him back into the bowels of the arena without letting him say a word.
Once they have him out of public view, they can use the exam gloves however they see fit. A rousing Boy Scout salute would be appropriate.
posted by beaverboard at 11:21 PM on June 16, 2010
What grum said.
posted by boredom_08 at 03:31 AM on June 17, 2010
Your trophy sucks, etc.
Did I read this story having followed a link from here? If so, apologies for the double:
Despite FIFA's insistence that it is, the World Cup trophy cannot be solid gold, otherwise it would weigh more than 70 kg and would be too heavy for footballers to hoist over their heads with one hand.
posted by JJ at 04:04 AM on June 17, 2010
Grum has my axe!
posted by ursus_comiter at 06:22 AM on June 17, 2010
Yes. Provided "who" means which team. It doesn't go to the lengths of Lord Stanley in providing names, home addresses and inseam measurements.
Take away four of the bands (doable if you limit the engraving to winning teams and not their assistant Zamboni mechanic) and I'd give it the nod.
I don't understand what these comments mean.
It's the players, the coaching staff, and front office (owners/CEO/COO/president).
That's it.
Why shouldn't those names be on the Cup? Are you suggesting they don't deserve to have their names on the Cup?
The one mistake (Pocklington's father) has actually been REMOVED from the Cup.
posted by grum@work at 08:53 AM on June 17, 2010
Check it out: Rick Reilly got paid for a column he probably wrote in 1994, just by adding two lines about vuvuzelas. Of all the shit product ESPN puts out, he might actually sink below the others.
He used to work at the Boston Globe, right?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:35 AM on June 17, 2010
Are you suggesting they don't deserve to have their names on the Cup?
For a team sport? Team name only suits me just fine. If you want your name on a trophy, play tennis or golf. If you want your face memorialised in metal, drive Indy cars. (Americans will be amused by the name of the FA Cup engraver.)
posted by etagloh at 12:38 PM on June 17, 2010
As long as we're making minor changes to hockey, etagloh, let's play it with roller blades and tennis balls and institute a dress code outlawing the mullet.
By God, man, what happened to you? Don't tug on Superman's cape.
posted by rcade at 03:27 PM on June 17, 2010
I think one reason the Stanley Cup is so monstrous is so that it won't get easily forgotten. It's not the only trophy that could benefit either.
posted by Spitztengle at 05:37 PM on June 17, 2010
The World Cup trophy is great in it's own right. But it's symbolic - you don't play for the trophy, you play for the title.
In hockey, you literally play for the Cup. To get your name on it. To become IMMORTAL. I strongly feel this should not be under-appreciated.
However - big plus for the World Cup - It only comes out every four years.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 06:38 PM on June 17, 2010
The Swiss team apparently got people to blow vuvyzelas during their trainging sessions in the build-up to this World Cup. Seems to have worked a treat - they just beat tournament favourites Spain 1-0.