Replies: 33
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Legend [17786]
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CU Guru [1900]
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FIFA made this bed when they allowed bribery to run rampant
May 30, 2018, 9:04 AM
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for the '18 and '22 bids....now they get to sleep in it. And, personally, especially since the US isn't involved, I hope it's the raging dumpster fire we all expect it to be...
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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The sad thing is the FIFA officials that allowed that to
May 30, 2018, 9:11 AM
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happen are perfectly happy laying in that bad and probably couldn't care less about it. They got their bribe money and that's all that mattered to them.
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Legend [17786]
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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They had to move it to November-December which is
May 30, 2018, 9:30 AM
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ridiculous in and of itself. That's right in the middle of pretty much every league season in the world (except for MLS).
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CU Guru [1900]
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Orange Blooded [3422]
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Re: FIFA made this bed when they allowed bribery to run rampant
May 30, 2018, 9:44 AM
[ in reply to FIFA made this bed when they allowed bribery to run rampant ] |
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Heck, you could even make the case for the '14 bid as well. Brazil is obviously a soccer-loving country but it should have been clear that they as a country weren't going to be able to get the infrastructure together in a way that would have been acceptable outside of some of the larger cities like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia.
Brazil is currently at the end of their own massive political crisis, and while the counter-corruption task forces were going through everything it was discovered that massive sums of money had been given to both FIFA and the IOC to win bids for the World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics. Both of those organizations stink.
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110%er [8273]
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Re: So the World Cup is in Russia. What could go wrong?
May 30, 2018, 9:12 AM
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And they're killing all of their stray dogs in preparation for the tournament. Its a shame they just can't round them up and send them to Indonesia.
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110%er [9109]
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Re: So the World Cup is in Russia. What could go wrong?
May 30, 2018, 9:39 AM
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Well, should make soccer more enjoyable for US fans to watch....
Soccer + Trump/Russia + MMA + mass violence + international politics + xenophobia = ESPN + CNN
What's not to like!?!
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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The Russian soccer hooligans are awful
May 30, 2018, 9:41 AM
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They are basically ultra-violent, neo-nazi extremist groups that orchestrate random acts of violence on innocent fans from other countries. There are some awful videos out there from Euro 2016 in France, quite a few of which were shot on GoPros by the Russian hooligans themselves and then released online.
England has some pretty bad hooligans as well, but England also does a pretty good job now of identifying them and not allowing them to leave the country while Putin likely encourages and enables his own hooligans.
TLDR: Russians are the scum of the Earth
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All-In [45756]
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Sounds like an even match.....
May 30, 2018, 9:56 AM
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I would just let them kill themselves and keep it out of the media. Or let me pay per view. Problem solved.
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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Hall of Famer [20540]
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Re: The Russian soccer hooligans are awful
May 30, 2018, 12:17 PM
[ in reply to The Russian soccer hooligans are awful ] |
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There's some talk that those Russian attacks were orchestrated by the Kremlin, which I believe. A lot of those "hooligans" were ex-military or paramilitary and there were extensive ties back to the government. And they came organized...almost like it was a military op. Mostly because I think it was.
The Russian government uses dirty tricks for pretty much everything; witness they way they doped their entire Olympic contingent in Soschi. Even with their hand caught smack-dab in the cookie jar they barefacedly denied everything...and even suspended, the handful of Russkies allowed to compete this past Olympics in PyeongChang (but not under a Russian flag) were still cheating...they were even doping their freakin' curlers. Are you kidding me?
This World Cup's going to be a disaster, whatever. Right now the Russian team is ranked 66th in the world even by FIFA's Euro-friendly metrics; the USA - which didn't even qualify for the World Cup this time around - is presently ranked 24th, and we're in full-on rebuilding mode. But expect some serious home cooking from the refs towards Russia, who failed to win a single game in the Euros just two years ago and got sent packing by losses to Slovakia and Wales (who didn't qualify for the 2018 World Cup either!) Wales - Wales! - blasted Russia 3-0 the week after their goons attacked the English fans in the opener.
Their World Cup group is a disgrace, but even that may not save them. Even with the friendliest draw FIFA could give them, Russia wound up in a group with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay. The Saudis are ranked a modest 67th in the world - one spot behind Russia - and Egypt just 46th, but the Egyptians have arguably the hottest player in the world in Mohommed Salah, who scored 44 goals this year for Liverpool in the English Premier League. And Uruguay is ranked just 17th (again, good God group A is weak!) but they have strikers like Luis Suarez (Barcelona FC) and Edinson Cavani (PSG)...those dudes can score.
The refs are probably going to have to get involved early and often to save Russia from getting annihilated on their own soil, even in this squishy-soft Group of Life...but fear not, I doubt even Witness Protection would keep the Russian mob and/or intelligence services (who are often one and the same) from tampering with the officials. And in the meantime, there's those so-called "fans" who are going to be spreading joy all over Mother Russia....
I hate it that the USA isn't in the World Cup, but part of me is very glad we're not going to be involved in this impending train wreck.
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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I knew a considerable number of the Russian hooligans were former
May 30, 2018, 1:45 PM
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police and military. A lot of them are supposedly in Fight Club style fighting rings over in Russia too. I guess it's not too difficult to connect the dots from there.
About Salah.. has there been any more news about his shoulder injury from last Saturday? Last i heard was he may not be able to play in the WC which would be a darn shame because hes been one of the best players in the world this year.
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Hall of Famer [24991]
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He said that he believes he will be able to play***
May 30, 2018, 2:52 PM
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Orange Blooded [4262]
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All-TigerNet [11099]
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Re: The Russian soccer hooligans are awful
May 30, 2018, 6:39 PM
[ in reply to Re: The Russian soccer hooligans are awful ] |
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I think it's in their culture or definitely state sponsored. They seem to want to dominate everything. Recently I was reading about one Russian playing a MMO game and he had the highest possible score.
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CU Guru [1900]
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Legend [15216]
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Does anyone even watch soccer anymore?
May 30, 2018, 11:38 AM
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Outside of the every four years for the Olympics?
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CU Medallion [67832]
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Re: Does anyone even watch soccer anymore? Never
May 30, 2018, 12:25 PM
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and never will. boring.
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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I enjoy watching many sports and i think i can appreciate
May 30, 2018, 3:08 PM
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them all for what they are - positives and negatives included. I see soccer called "boring" a lot around here, but you know what's more boring than soccer? Commercials. You know what soccer has none of? Commercials. You get two 45+ minutes blocks of action with one 20 minute break in the middle where you can get up and go do something else. The clock literally never stops for anything else. Compare that to football where you get 60 minutes of action (a good portion of which isn't actually action) sprinkled in the middle of 2 1/2 hours of commercials and stoppages. I still love football, it's still my favorite sport by a considerable margin, but it certainly isn't without it's flaws and i can absolutely understand why many people in the rest of the world find our football to be boring.
I also like that i can get up in the morning and turn on a premier league match at 7am. I'd rather watch a soccer match in the morning while i eat breakfast and drink a cup of coffee than the rest of the garbage that you typically find on TV that time of day.
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Orange Blooded [4262]
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Re: I enjoy watching many sports and i think i can appreciate
May 30, 2018, 5:40 PM
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Don't use soccer and action in the same sentence. It shows a lack of ..something.
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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Oh yeah, what's that?***
May 30, 2018, 7:09 PM
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110%er [7718]
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Orange Blooded [3049]
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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All-TigerNet [11934]
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Re: Anymore?
May 30, 2018, 2:41 PM
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This is my somewhat biased opinion.
I think soccer has become so popular in the USA because it's a sport (at the little kid level) where almost any child can be on the field "participating" and not actually do a blasted thing ... and still not get singled out for ridicule or criticism.
Unlike baseball, or basketball, (or even football) ... a kid's soccer match can be dominated completely by the 3-4 talented and naturally athletic kids while the others just sort of run from one end of the field to the other following the action.
Parents feel good about it and kids feel good about it.
In fact, the parents of the "super stars" especially like it because the klutzy kids don't get in the way and don't get the chance to screw up in the spotlight like a kid going to the foul line with a basketball game on the line or striking out with the bases loaded.
I know this is harsh, and it certainly applies less and less as the kids get older and more serious and skilled, but in the beginning it's hard to argue that soccer is not the perfect opportunity for a child to play for his or her "participation" trophy and everyone is happy.
IMHO that's why soccer has taken off in popularity in the USA over the past 20 years or so.
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All-TigerNet [13038]
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I'm not sure there's really anything wrong with that
May 30, 2018, 2:57 PM
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though. It's great exercise and there's plenty of time for the real stuff and the tough life lessons when they get a little older.
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All-TigerNet [11934]
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Totally agree ... nothing wrong with it at all. It's great.***
May 30, 2018, 2:59 PM
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Orange Blooded [3422]
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Re: Anymore?
May 31, 2018, 9:56 AM
[ in reply to Re: Anymore? ] |
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I think that's a pretty jaded take on why soccer has increased in popularity. Maybe in some cases it holds merit, but I think the vast majority for its rising success is due to the United States becoming a little less parochial and a little more open to global culture (for better or worse), fears involved with children playing football (which I don't necessarily believe is accurate, but there is a significant amount of bad press), the boredom of watching baseball, and ultimately the "browning of America" which has seen a meteoric rise of Latin people in the United States. Since 1970, the Latino population has risen from around 9 million to nearly 60 million, and of course their primary sport is soccer.
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Hall of Famer [24991]
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Olympics? Soccer actually isn't that big in the olympics
May 30, 2018, 3:52 PM
[ in reply to Does anyone even watch soccer anymore? ] |
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World Cup, Euros, UEFA champions league are all bigger than the olympics in terms of soccer.
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CU Medallion [60229]
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Boycott the World Cup!
May 30, 2018, 1:59 PM
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actually I have never watched the World Cup, so no effort actually required on my part.
But all you righteous folks out there should boycott it. And all the advertisers, sponsors, and whatever else you decide to proclaim guilty by association.
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All-In [27366]
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Orange Blooded [4139]
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Re: So the World Cup is in Russia. What could go wrong?
May 31, 2018, 9:26 PM
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I am just surprised there are this many posts about soccer. We have been force fed this "world" sport since I was a kid. (60s) Then Pele was gonna make it big in USA. Then USA being more competitive was gonna happen because we were forced as kids to play. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed playing it some, and appreciate the skills and athleticism involved, but to me not good on TV or in person as spectator sport. And here we are 40 + years later and we can't make it to the world cup.... a world cup that everyone agrees will be a train wreck. To each his own
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