Soccer really sucks, doesn't it?

[Drake Tungsten]

You didn't "figure out" where to go next; you had to go look it up. No casual viewer is going to go to the trouble to do that.

[Asher]

Why you going to hate on a Flyer though?

The worst diver in the league is Alex Burrows. A Vancouver Canuck.

Carcillo is merely his protege.

[Asher]

You didn't "figure out" where to go next; you had to go look it up. No casual viewer is going to go to the trouble to do that.

I always check MSNBC for my favourite sporting events.

[a.kitman]

yes asher iam ashamed of that ****.
diving in football is getting ****ing ridiculous. the problem is blatter and platini the two guys at the top of fifa are french ****ing ******s that doesnt see anything wrong whit diving.
diving should get you a straight red card when it is so obvious as in the de rossi case above here. and they should give out cards for diving after games aswell from video footage cus sometimes the dives are impossable to catch for the ref.

[Asher]

Yes, why isn't there after the game penalties?

In the NHL, if you get called for diving more than once you get on a watchlist. Then they carefully watch you, and they've the power to suspend you arbitrarily if they determine you keep diving.

[Al B. Sure!]

Yes, why isn't there after the game penalties?

No... that would open up a whole new can of worms... no penalties after a game and no questioning the officiating or the outcome of the game.

[MikeH]

Oh and as for the endurance aspect of soccer versus Men's football. The problem is that different positions in football go different distances per play. Wide receivers on average run about 40 yards per play as they run their routes (including lateral distance). Some offences which rely on more vertical attacks, send receivers on streak and post routes that take them 50-60 yards down field quite often. The cornerbacks who cover the receivers have to cover similar distances per play.

Now the stop and go of American football is one thing but soccer involves quite a bit of stop and go as well considering how often the ball goes out of bounds (basketball and I suspect hockey have relatively little stop and go).

The funny thing is though that the stop and go actually likely makes things harder. If any of you have any experience with running, what do you consider worse? To run a 5K or to do 4x800m sprints? You're covering less total ground with the sprints, but I challenge anyone to say a 5K is harder than several 800m's.

A more relevant comparison to American football would be perhaps 10x100m's with 30 seconds between sprints. I personally don't think that would be worse than 800's but that would still be brutal.

The point is, intensity is more physiologically taxing than sustained effort.

Top soccer players run 10-15k over the 90 minutes, but the ball is typically in play for about 60 mins.

Normally most running alternates between jogging and sprints in 50-80m bursts. The fastest players have their 100m sprint times between 11 and 12 seconds. But they repeat those runs many, many times over 90 mins.

[MikeH]

10 games into the world cup, and 9 teams haven't scored a single goal.

Yeah. It's been a crap tournament so far, no argument from me. (OTOH, that could have meant 9 great defences).

[MikeH]

There are after the game penalties but you have to meet 2 criteria:

1. The referee has to miss it (ie. it does not appear in his post match report).
2. It has to be a red card offence (which diving isn't).

You can also appeal decisions that go against you, but again only for red cards, not for yellows, or second yellows.

No professional sport that I know of goes back and alters referee judgements that happened during the game, you can't change what happened after that so it's pointless.

I would like to see refs enforcing the rule about simulation though. The referee in the Germany game booked Ozil for diving, and a bit later he didn't dive! Great!

[Robert]

The first batch of matches is always the most boring one.
Nobody yet has anything to lose, nobody yet has the urgency to win.
But it's defenitely not really exciting so far.

[Asher]

There are after the game penalties but you have to meet 2 criteria:

1. The referee has to miss it (ie. it does not appear in his post match report).
2. It has to be a red card offence (which diving isn't).

You can also appeal decisions that go against you, but again only for red cards, not for yellows, or second yellows.

No professional sport that I know of goes back and alters referee judgements that happened during the game, you can't change what happened after that so it's pointless.

The NHL does this to some extent. It suspends players for egregious things missed during the game (hits to the head, dangerous checks, etc). That's altering the judgement because the ref on the ice didn't call a penalty on it.

[Asher]

Now we're getting interesting.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/article/823495--world-cup-highlights-footballers-sculpted-abs?bn=1

World Cup highlights footballers' sculpted abs
World Cup fever begins for the fairer sex as footballers shed their shirts and show off their super-hot six packs

World Cup soccer is giving international exposure to some of the most sculpted torsos of the male species.

When players take off their shirts, which is often, we see just why they call this The Beautiful Game.

How do those abdomens get so ripped?

“They’re definitely fit, which can be attributed to the aspects of the game,” says sport physiologist Rob Rupf of the fat-free athletes seen posing in their underwear in the June issue of Vanity Fair.

Rupf, a former Canadian university soccer player who now works for the Canadian Sports Centre, Ontario, in Toronto, says the game places high demand on the aerobic and muscular systems of the body.

Players run about 10 kilometres in a game in short, high-speed bursts, says Rupf, adding that Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo — who is frequently photographed shirtless — has “the most explosive running bursts” in soccer.

Players need well-developed muscles to propel them forward as well as through the kicks, turns, changes in direction and “even pirouettes” of the game, he says. Core strength keeps the whole body moving as a unit.

“The soccer physique entails people who are very lean and muscular, because of the aerobics central to the game,” says Rupf, adding that the muscles in the legs are very well-developed, particularly in the calves.

According to Rupf, North American soccer training involves Olympic-style weight lifting, such as snatches and cleans to build muscles. To enhance aerobic capability, players will run distances. For core strength, they will do sit-ups, Pilates, yoga and stability balls.

Daily training sessions run from one to three hours, says Rupf, adding that today’s players have “more speed and explosive power” than those of 40 years ago. It is rumoured, he says, those players ate red meat and drank wine before a game.

[MikeH]

The NHL does this to some extent. It suspends players for egregious things missed during the game (hits to the head, dangerous checks, etc). That's altering the judgement because the ref on the ice didn't call a penalty on it.

That's the same as in football then. I meant things like you can't retrospectively go back and award a penalty, or cancel one out and alter the score. the match is already done.

[MikeH]

This is better, two proper teams playing proper football.

[Asher]

This is better, two proper teams playing proper football.