It's not just Americans who are proposing new rules, eliminating things like diving.
But you know, soccer is no worse or better than the American sports when it comes to these dubious elements which detract from the best things about the sport.
Is there a great clock controversy, we are all missing. WTF? Talk about creating a non-issue. I cannot recall a moment in all of my watching professional soccer that this was an issue.
Is anybody actually looking at the clock at the end of the game or what. In the games I watched, if the ref gave 3 minutes of extra time, that game ended around 93:00 give or take a few clicks. What are people so upset about? Talk about Americans thinking that their way is better.
It's not that it's a big controversy...it's just the fact that the ref can arbitrarily decide when the match is over. PK said it...if the ref wants to let the attack unfold, he can...if he doesn't, he can just blow the whistle. That's where my issue with the clock lies. Why does the ref have the ultimate say, especially when there is stoppage time?
1. each team should have a naked chick playing striker.
2. monkeys with tazers should be on the pitch at all times.
3. in ground shark tanks (think mutant league hockey)
4. the fox glow puck technologyadded for broadcasts
5. grass should be blue
all these make as much sense as the stuff posted...
dbdynsty25 wrote:It's not that it's a big controversy...it's just the fact that the ref can arbitrarily decide when the match is over. PK said it...if the ref wants to let the attack unfold, he can...if he doesn't, he can just blow the whistle. That's where my issue with the clock lies. Why does the ref have the ultimate say, especially when there is stoppage time?
Agree 100%. I'm surprised that there hasn't been some kind of large scale controversy in either an international match or a World Cup match (i.e. one of the refs beind paid off by a team).
In regards to acheiving more scoring and opening up the game, perhaps there needs to be a modification to the formations. For instance, there can only be so many defenders in the defensive end. Eliminate it by one player. Corners should result in having one less defensive player, etc.
Lets bring back Indoor Soccer....I remember going to the old Chicago stadium and watching The Sting take on the Edmonton Drillers....That was wide open offensive soccer with a game clock and everything else Americans love...
In other words it was s***....
Fifa doesnt need to add anything or get rid of anything but the thespians...They already have the most fans and viewers in the world by a HUGE margin....
dbdynsty25 wrote:It's not that it's a big controversy...it's just the fact that the ref can arbitrarily decide when the match is over. PK said it...if the ref wants to let the attack unfold, he can...if he doesn't, he can just blow the whistle. That's where my issue with the clock lies. Why does the ref have the ultimate say, especially when there is stoppage time?
Not entirely true. The 4th official gives the ref on in the game how many minutes of added time there will be played.
More times than not they will let the attacking team get a chance on goal. However if you watch the clock and when the ref blows the whistle it usually is around the 9X:00 mark.
As for arbitrary, if the players played according to the rules there would be no need for refs. The refs get to decide how the game is played and are their to manage it. An ump in baseball can call a strike, a ref in football can not call holding, a ref in hockey can let a penalty play on. The fouls in soccer are extreme but mostly because by diminishing the penalty you promote the act. What if an intentional handball in the box didn't result in a straight red and a PK? I understand the arguement because of the low scoring a situation like this would determine the outcome of a game (see Hand of God '86).
The ref for better or worse is a part of the game whether we like it or not.
I wonder why the European press isn't jumping on the clock issue? Maybe because there's nothing wrong with the system.
XXXIV wrote:Lets bring back Indoor Soccer....I remember going to the old Chicago stadium and watching The Sting take on the Edmonton Drillers....That was wide open offensive soccer with a game clock and everything else Americans love...
In other words it was s***....
JRod wrote:I wonder why the European press isn't jumping on the clock issue? Maybe because there's nothing wrong with the system.
I agree 100% unless My father is reffing.
He used to ref Chicago public league H.S. games .
A few days after one of his games I had one of the teams coaches verbally assault me. I mean he was pissed off. Yelling at me that my father was a cheat and a criminal. Apparently he had let a 1-0 game go a few more minutes than that coach had liked and it had resulted in a tying goal.
When I asked my dad why he let the game go that long he replied simply that " It was a great game. "
XXXIV wrote:Lets bring back Indoor Soccer....I remember going to the old Chicago stadium and watching The Sting take on the Edmonton Drillers....That was wide open offensive soccer with a game clock and everything else Americans love...
In other words it was s***....
Steve Zungal is ready for his comeback
I think Kai Haaskivi? is too...man could that guy find the back of the net.
sportdan30 wrote:In regards to acheiving more scoring and opening up the game, perhaps there needs to be a modification to the formations. For instance, there can only be so many defenders in the defensive end. Eliminate it by one player. Corners should result in having one less defensive player, etc.
Absolutely not. That eliminates the free-flowing nature of the game and also eliminates the many tactical options and formations available to managers, one of the things that makes the game great.
This isn't American football, where every NFL team basically runs a variation of the I or single-back formation on offense. Should we disallow situational substitutions on defense in American football, too? If you want to run a nickel during any series of downs, you have to start on first down with it and keep it on the field until the other team gets another first down or punts?
There is no need to "Americanize" soccer.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Soccer isn't like hockey; removing players doesn't open up the game. A 4-on-4 in hockey gives everyone more space and results in more scoring opportunities.
Making a soccer game 10-on-10 or 9-on-9 tends to make the game more defensively oriented. Maybe that's just the way the coaches approach it or the lack of situational preparation, but on the rare occasions it happens, I think the tendencies are toward packing in the defense and not venturing forward.
When MLS had a countdown clock, it was the end of the half/game when the clock struck :00. There was a game once (I think Tampa Bay v Dallas) where Lassiter made a move, shot, and scored as the clock expired. Since the clock expired before the goal crossed the line, it didn't count. It was terribly terribly stupid...the team was livid, the Spanish announcers ripped the rule, etc.
One of the great things about unfixed extra time is that it allows the attacking team to finish their attack and give them once last chance that's not dictated by the buzzer.
Only things that need to be taken care of is diving (and a post-game video tribunal for the big tournaments makes sense...you can yellow/red card the player after the fact if he goes down in the box without contact) and maybe PKs. Although I'm not sure if something like an MLS shootout is the best thing, or let the game go 60 minutes longer with forced substitutions/extra subs (e.g. at 120, you must substitute 3/4 more players, 150, same, etc).
I may have mentioned this in another thread, but one of the WC blogs floated the wacky idea of taking the penalties BEFORE the beginning of overtime. They would only be used to decide the game if neither team scored before the end of the two 15-minute periods. This would obviously encourage the losing team to attack with abandon and, in doing so, open the game up even more.
Not necessarily endorsing it, but it's interesting.
And FWIW, I don't think any the realistic suggestions about the number of refs, video review or clock are necessarily "Americanizing" the game.
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
Leebo33 wrote:You seem to be the only one that is "upset" with the vulgarity and emoticon.
I am?
He's referring to me. Apperantly this and WTF means upset.
Yeah, you are correct. It was in reference to your "what are people so upset about" comment. The only person that I saw expressing any emotion, sometimes shown on message boards through the use of profanity and emoticons, in the thread was you. All the other discussion that I've heard and read is just brainstorming to try to improve the game. Nobody is really upset as far as I could tell. Apathetic would be a word I would more likely associate more with most Americans in reference to soccer...not upset.
I would rather hear a million stupid suggestions for my favorite sports than to have people not care enough to throw out suggestions, even if those suggestions are stupid. It wouldn't really bother me if when I'm overseas next week if someone has some suggestions to improve American football.
Is there an actual rule about putting the ball out of bounds if a guy is down and rolling around pretending to be in pain?
Because if teams are able to play on, that would maintain the flow or continuity of play.
It may not be good sportsmanship but it would make players think twice about hitting the ground and staying down. Then again, it's the offensive players who dive so the defense wouldn't be that affected.
wco81 wrote:Is there an actual rule about putting the ball out of bounds if a guy is down and rolling around pretending to be in pain?
Because if teams are able to play on, that would maintain the flow or continuity of play.
It may not be good sportsmanship but it would make players think twice about hitting the ground and staying down. Then again, it's the offensive players who dive so the defense wouldn't be that affected.
Unwritten rule...If you watched the Holland-Portugal game that sitaution happened and it became a minor incident with a nasty challenge by Deco for his first card in that game.
1. each team should have a naked chick playing striker.
2. monkeys with tazers should be on the pitch at all times.
3. in ground shark tanks (think mutant league hockey)
4. the fox glow puck technologyadded for broadcasts
5. grass should be blue
all these make as much sense as the stuff posted...
"Mr Sudz.....you have an incoming call from a Mr S Blatter...please hold."
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
I think Kai Haaskivi? is too...man could that guy find the back of the net.
