Soccer thread 07/08

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:00 pm

Loved the play of A. Iniesta. The little motor that keeps Spain together, and not just in todays' game, this tireless Lion was big thourought the tournament. Another player I enjoyed watching was Sergio Ramos, very solid and he could have scored a beauty too. Forty four years is enough, well played, this is the type of Football that I love to watch. Despite the loss, one of the better games played by the Germans, they never quit.

A succesful event, if I had a minor complain it would be the Italian referee, who was inconsistent at best.

Ole, Ole, Ole...

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:12 pm

crap, better team one. Ballack was more interested in looking Portuguese than the game itself.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:23 pm

I don't know what a let down to a great tournament. Though it would be hard to live up to the some of the late game heroics of a few games.

Still I thought we would see a better german squad after the first spanish goal.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:38 am

Rodster wrote:
davet010 wrote:No worries Rodster - if you want to learn about the leagues and the clubs, either buy yourself a copy of the Almanac of World Football, or better still, a copy of Football Manager 2008 and prepare to forget what your family look like
That shouldn't be to hard since my mum looks like Wayne Rooney, j/k

I do have Football Manager and FIFA Manager 08. I still have trouble following all the teams of different clubs getting into all these different tournaments. You have teams from Spain playing in Euro 2008 along with the Spanish National team. It sort of gets confusing.

Be prepared for our version of football to further try and make more in roads in Europe. There's even talk of you chaps hosting a Super Bowl, yay.

I remember going to see the Philadelphia Stars vs Tampa Bay Bandits at Wembley in 1984, and a couple of the other preseason games there in 86 (Chicago Bears v Dallas, I think) and 87. It never really caught on here, although Sky Sports does show 2 live games every Sunday night, because there is no way any of the mainstream channels is going to devote 3-4 hours to it when they could be showing more soap operas, chat shows or shows of the ilk of 'Britain's -------- -----'.

As for teams from Spain playing in Euro 2008 as well as the Spanish national team, which ones are you thinking of ?

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:30 am

Fulham's tribute to Mr. McBride

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsA ... alute.aspx

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:56 am

davet010 wrote: I remember going to see the Philadelphia Stars vs Tampa Bay Bandits at Wembley in 1984, and a couple of the other preseason games there in 86 (Chicago Bears v Dallas, I think) and 87. It never really caught on here, although Sky Sports does show 2 live games every Sunday night, because there is no way any of the mainstream channels is going to devote 3-4 hours to it when they could be showing more soap operas, chat shows or shows of the ilk of 'Britain's -------- -----'.

As for teams from Spain playing in Euro 2008 as well as the Spanish national team, which ones are you thinking of ?

What you were watching was the USFL which was a sub par product anyway. It's like trying to compare the MLS to the EPL. Now the NFL is trying very hard to make inroads in Europe as NFL Europe was another sub par product. I don't see the NFL succeeding at all in Europe. My take on why the NFL is doing it is because it's worried about it's own product here in the US and so is trying to generate a new audience overseas with the real thing instead of putting out a failed league like NFL Europe.

Wrt Euro 2008. I thought I read Barcelona and the Spanish National team were both in the same tourney. I could be wrong though as I didn't follow the tournament that much.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:28 am

Can't see why the NFL would be scared of its product in the US. They are #1 by far.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:36 am

fsquid wrote:Can't see why the NFL would be scared of its product in the US. They are #1 by far.

Agree 100 percent. In America, there's the NFL and everything else.

Roger Goodell could sleep for the rest of his tenure as NFL commissioner, and the NFL still would be the No. 1 sports league in America.

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:47 am

First off any successful business that's on top or wants to grow whether it's Nascar, the NFL or Microsoft. They always do 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 year projections. If you want to grow you need to know your target audience.

When you look at what the NFL has to look at is a demographic landscape that will probably be a lot different in 15-20. You have a larger Hispanic and growing Muslim population taking hold in the US. There was a projection that in 20-25 years Hispanics will make up a larger portion on the US population. Those groups are more likely to watch proper football over the NFL and I say that in a general sense.

Worldwide Football has a much larger audience than the NFL. Interest in Worldwide Football is starting to pickup more interest in the US with teams from Europe making tours in the US to receptive and large audiences here in the US. Worldwide Football is now putting more emphasis on the US to try and take a slice of the Sports pie here in this country. With the advent of cable and the internet more individuals are being exposed to Football from the other parts of the world.

I haven't followed Football as much as some of you but I got my real first exposure to it from watching Fox World Sports on cable. I've been hooked ever since. I've been losing interest over some time in the NFL and have begun to replace that with European Football.

Who would have thought way back in the 50's Baseball would take a back seat to the NFL? Who would have thought Nascar would leapfrog open wheel racing in the US? It happened because both of those companies used market research to their advantage. I have no doubt that the NFL is doing the same. European Football has made a concerted effort to take some of our young talent and is now pushing their product in the US. I have no doubt the NFL is trying to counter that by showing off their product as well.

pk500 wrote: Agree 100 percent. In America, there's the NFL and everything else.

Roger Goodell could sleep for the rest of his tenure as NFL commissioner, and the NFL still would be the No. 1 sports league in America.

Take care,
PK

Again that's a snapshot of today and maybe 5-10 years from now. The other side is looking at developing, growing and selling it's product here in the US as well. Over time things can happen and things can change.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:02 am

I read in the Sports Business Journal that spanish telecasts of NFL games get higher ratings than Mexican football, so I think the NFL is fine in America. I agree with the rest of your statement. All of the sports are trying to grow their top line with international emphasis.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:12 am

fsquid wrote:I read in the Sports Business Journal that spanish telecasts of NFL games get higher ratings than Mexican football, so I think the NFL is fine in America. I agree with the rest of your statement. All of the sports are trying to grow their top line with international emphasis.

And that's exactly my point. When you know your competition is trying to take a piece or a major slice of your market share you need to find ways to counter it. Which I have no doubt is why European Football is making a more concerted effort here in the US and the NFL is going after Europe to try and grow it's product over there.

If any business anticipates and properly projects the future as best as possible it help them grow or keeps them on top. If they guess wrong and their competition gets it right then things can change over time even if the present doesn't indicate that. That's why I used the example of both the MLB and Nascar.

Nascar made the right decisions based on what they saw into the future and how to properly present their product and major League Baseball did not and it allowed the NFL to leapfrog them in popularity.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:20 am

Rodster wrote:
davet010 wrote: I remember going to see the Philadelphia Stars vs Tampa Bay Bandits at Wembley in 1984, and a couple of the other preseason games there in 86 (Chicago Bears v Dallas, I think) and 87. It never really caught on here, although Sky Sports does show 2 live games every Sunday night, because there is no way any of the mainstream channels is going to devote 3-4 hours to it when they could be showing more soap operas, chat shows or shows of the ilk of 'Britain's -------- -----'.

As for teams from Spain playing in Euro 2008 as well as the Spanish national team, which ones are you thinking of ?
What you were watching was the USFL which was a sub par product anyway. It's like trying to compare the MLS to the EPL. Now the NFL is trying very hard to make inroads in Europe as NFL Europe was another sub par product. I don't see the NFL succeeding at all in Europe. My take on why the NFL is doing it is because it's worried about it's own product here in the US and so is trying to generate a new audience overseas with the real thing instead of putting out a failed league like NFL Europe.

Wrt Euro 2008. I thought I read Barcelona and the Spanish National team were both in the same tourney. I could be wrong though as I didn't follow the tournament that much.

The 84 one was USFL, but the NFL played preseason games from 86 onwards, hence the appearance of the Bears and Cowboys. Viewed mainly as a novelty, as watching a live game is akin to death by advertisement.

Euro 2008 is a national tournament only, for countries accredited by FIFA/UEFA, henc eno Barcelona. Spain would potentially lose out if the regions who currently turn out 'national' sides (Euzkadi, which is the Basque country, and Catalunya which includes Barcelona) were allowed to join FIFA in their own right, but they aren't.

NFL Europe actually got decent enough crowds. The London franchise got messed about with venues too much, and the Scottish Claymores used Murrayfield which was too big, but even they drew bigger crowds than 90% of domestic Rugby Union games, for example. The German franchises did even better, as they were able to generate local rivalries and the NFL has always been v popular over there, due to the large numbers of US service personnel.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:22 am

MLB didn't even have a marketing department until the last 10 years. The NFL won't make those kinds of asinine mistakes.

Plus Roger Goodell is sharper than Bud Selig even if Selig was sober and Goodell had seven scotch and waters in one hour.

Take care,
PK

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:58 am

Goodell strikes me as someone who makes relatively arbitrary decisions, and does not impress me as someone who I find particularly trustworthy or believable....but then, he is a lawyer, I believe.

Selig is just a buffoon who bounces from one calamity to another like a pinball, but he was compromised from the beginning as a franchise owner.

Oh, and PK - expect your beloved barcodes to be without the sainted Joey Barton for a while longer, as he has now changed his plea regarding the assault on ex-player Ousmane Dabo to guilty today.

Maybe he's found true love behind bars

Ah, it's all become clear...he's pleading guilty to a lesser change of ABH (actual bodily harm) to try and avoid a trial on a charge of GBH (grievous bodily harm) which has a very nasty sentencing tariff.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:10 am

Good to see that Lehmann is going out with the class and dignity which have been a hallmark of his distinguished career.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:14 pm

3.1 overnight rating for the final in the US

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:56 am

fsquid wrote:3.1 overnight rating for the final in the US

Solid! One of the hot rumors in the broadcasting business before Euro 2008 was that ESPN was considering switching ESPN Classic to an all-soccer channel. ESPN denied it.

Take care,
PK

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 1:14 am

RobVarak wrote:Good to see that Lehmann is going out with the class and dignity which have been a hallmark of his distinguished career.

Seriously. What a hack.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:14 am

Now back to the important stuff after that idyllic summer break.

In the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA Cup, Man City have been drawn against a mighty European powerhouse.....EB Strymur of the Faroe Islands.

Ground capacity - 1,000
Ground capacity of largest stadium in the Faroe Islands - 8,500.

In the alternate reality where Ronaldinho actually does sign for City before the start of the season, watching him play in a frozen wasteland on what looks like a rutted field would bring a smile to a corpse

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:32 am

Where is your seat Dave?

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:34 am

I'm guessing they will play the match at the national stadium?

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:56 am

CSKA London signed Deco for 7 mil (a steal IMO....if he can be arsed to run around) to add to Botswinga and it also looks like they're going to sign Robinho as well.

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:30 am

Macca00 wrote:CSKA London signed Deco for 7 mil (a steal IMO....if he can be arsed to run around) to add to Botswinga and it also looks like they're going to sign Robinho as well.

CSKA!

Best wishes,

Doug

Post by **Jared** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:00 am

I've always wanted to go to the Faroe Islands, for some odd reason that I can't comprehend.

The game might be a challenge. Jo might have to contend with grazing sheep along w/the Faroe defense.

P.S. Youtube has EVERYTHING. Including Faroese soccer highlights. For example, from the always classic matchup, EB/Streymur versus mighty HB (Havnar Boltfelag). Get scouting Dave!

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uxSAXZpe6vE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:02 am

FourFourTwo did a great feature on Faroe Islands football last year. "Rustic" doesn't even begin to cover it. Makes Mayberry look like Picadilly Circus.