05/08/24
June 22, 2014
SportsFilter: The Sunday 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.
Brewers score three runs on a wild pitch. The third run is where fail becomes epic.
posted by rcade at 11:24 AM on June 22, 2014
Watching these World Cup matches, I've been wondering whether players with the ball in less than optimal situations attack the penalty box enough.
It seems like a player who doesn't have a good shot and lacks passing options always takes a long range shot with little to no hope of success.
If he drove into the box instead, defenders are at risk of committing a penalty. That seems a more promising opportunity than skying a shot into the crowd.
posted by rcade at 04:00 PM on June 22, 2014
I think the players like the way the tournament ball is handling and behaving and perhaps feel more inclined to strike it at distance.
Plus if you're facing a team like Iran playing all 11 back as they were yesterday, it's hard to muck through that, so one might as well have a go and find out how deeply held their national devotion and loyalty is. Defenders in the box have less range and mobility when they're running around with both hands cupped over their genitals.
posted by beaverboard at 04:27 PM on June 22, 2014
Me: "Well, if Ronaldo wants to salvage his reputation, he's going to have to do something pretty impressive in the last 30 seconds of the match."
[5 seconds later]
Me: "Well, fuck."
posted by grum@work at 08:37 PM on June 22, 2014
Me: "Damn, five minutes of extra time? That's generous."
[4 and a half minutes later]
Me: "Well, fuck."
posted by Hugh Janus at 09:04 PM on June 22, 2014
If he drove into the box instead, defenders are at risk of committing a penalty. That seems a more promising opportunity than skying a shot into the crowd
Tackling. It's called tackling.
I believe they teach it to defenders in Europe and South America.
posted by owlhouse at 11:00 PM on June 22, 2014
I should've known when Ian Darke said there were four minutes of added time and the sign said five, that last minute would be the dagger.
Credit to Ronaldo, though, for fighting to the end and lobbing a perfect pass in to the box.
posted by rcade at 01:11 AM on June 23, 2014
Melanie Collins asked Ndamukong Suh who the Ndamukong Suh of the World Cup was. For some reason, he said Balotelli, not DeJong.