2010 World Cup

[soxfan22]

JMQ - I love the 10+ pitch at bats. The most difficult thing to do in all of sports is to square up a baseball, and so watching someone spoil pitch after pitch with the flick of a wrist has always been amazing to me. Many of the great hitters can do this at will, until they get a pitch they can shoot in a gap somewhere. Wade Boggs, circa 1988, was the best I have ever seen at this.

I tell people who think baseball is boring that it is truly about the games within the game. It is the only game that is untimed, the only game where the team in possession of the ball cannot score, and the only team game where on defense, it is you and 30,000 people watching you - there is no "help side defense", no safety coming over the top to help you deep, no defenseman to save your a$$...You either make the play or you don't. It (baseball) is in my eyes, the perfect game. You probably feel the same about soccer.

I was watching Japan-Netherlands and was wondering, do they run set plays in soccer?

I should at least know that, given I was a physical education major for two years!

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[soxfan22]

Soxy - You have an advanced understanding of the game of Baseball. Most people do not understand that each pitch has meaning and purpose.

Thanks for the compliment, SJ! I am 33, and 25 of those 33 years have been spent playing, watching, studying, and coaching baseball. My two favorite things to teach are infield defense, and pitching mechanics (getting the arm out, not "rushing", etc)...Do you follow the baseball draft at all, SJ? Your Mets drafted with their 1st round pick ($$$$) the son of my high school baseball coach. You can see his influence in his son Matt's delivery. Over the top, no rushing to the plate (meaning when he gets to the top of his motion, prior to going forward to the plate, his arm is in his "arm slot", not lagging behind the rest of his body)...This can get pretty boring, so I will stop. But lookout for Matt Harvey at CitiField sometime in the next 3 years!

The greatest thing that coach ever taught me about the game..."Baseball is not a game of seconds, it is a game of tenths of seconds". That's pretty counter-intuitive for a game that many view as slow and boring!

[soxfan22]

One last thing on the baseball...When Manny Ramirez was with the Red Sox, he would often set pitchers up. He would purposely look bad early in an at bat on a pitcher's breaking ball, and then later in the at bat the pitcher would remember that, and make the mistake of throwing that same pitch again, and Manny would hit it 400 feet. He rarely gets the credit he deserves for being one of the smartest, most studious hitters in the game - all because of his goofyness.

[linne]

So interesting to read this topic and see the difference between people in USA and Denmark (and most other countries) concerning soccer/football.

We were to a big birthday party last night, but many of the men were not totally present, because at the same time Denmark was playing against Cameroon. So they had to look at their mobiles phones now and then. I am not a dedicated fan of soccer, but the World Game is very fascinating, and I also had to ask during the party, how the game was going.

Just now a lot of unexpected things are happening in South Africa. We cannot be sure that countries as Spain, France and England will be in the next round. None of them have played a good game until now. Very unexpected.

And as Lovermont tells- the concert, which started the game, was fantastic. And it’s moving to see
the South Africans, who are so proud and happy of having this event in their country.

Linne

[jmq]

Linne – nice victory for the Dynamite against Camaroon. Looks like you need a win against Japan to advance – good luck!

Sox – mostly teasing about the 10+ pitch at bats (hence the winking emoticon) although those slow working pitchers do drive me nuts, and no doubt the defense behind them is affected WAY more than most realize. I do enjoy the game within the game aspect of baseball (I read and enjoyed George Will’s Men at Work) but tend to have a lot of trouble transitioning from one sport to another.

For example, I cant get into early season baseball right away after being knee deep in March Madness, and don’t get into football too well after October baseball.

Kinda weird, right? Besides playing these sports, I’ve umpired, refereed, coached and advance scouted them, so maybe its because I really tend to get into the rhythm of the games, look for tendencies and trends, etc.

Now that I’ve been watching so much world class/high stakes soccer, I had a lot of trouble getting into that midseason interleague baseball game the other night, so I’ll just have to put baseball on the side for now.

Got into soccer in the ‘70s when a friend had season tickets to the Cosmos at midfield on the mezzanine level of Giants stadium, so got to see the superstars play the beautiful game from a very cool vantage point. That’s when they had Pele, Beckenbauer, Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto, etc. and regularly outdrew the Yankees and Mets. Made me wish soccer was happening when I was a kid. I always had good wheels and no doubt would’ve enjoyed it.

Also just recently been exposed to lacrosse – that also looks like a cool sport that has some patterns, movements, and rhythms that combine elements of basketball, football, and hockey. And in the past 4 yrs, been exposed to distance running as my daughter ran cross country and the 800m and 1600m. In XC, you are mostly running against yourself and the course. In track, you would be amazed at the tactical and mental aspects required in a mid-distance race and the need to be able to adjust on the fly to the pace and your opponents.

Side note: for some reason, the XC program at the high school level tends to attract the academic achievers. We joke that the team GPA of the XC team is double that of some of the other sports, but, all sports help teach valuable life lessons. I hope that current and future generations can turn away from texting and Facebook long enough to keep participation levels high.

[soxfan22]

J - my viewing habits have changed of late as well. When I was a kid, starting at about 9 years old through about 28 or so, if I missed 5 Sox games a summer that would've been a lot. But now with the kids, longer hours at work, etc, I just don't have the time I used to have to dedicate to it like I once did - but that's life right? And I wouldn't change a thing!

For me the great thing about baseball is the fact that it is every night, so you can always pick it up. Nice to know there is generally a ballgame on at night! I got away from the Sox for the first two months of the season because like most of New England, I was wrapped up in the Celtics unexpected run.

I haven't read George Will's book - maybe I'll take that with me to STJ this summer.

Lacrosse is catching on up here as well...Mostly in the upper-class communities (aka Fairfield County)...And of course it is huge out on Long Island. Did you read about the awful tragedy down at UVA? One of the girls on the women's team was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend who starred for the men's team. There was a good article about it in Sports Illustrated about a month ago. That sports seems to find itself mired in tragedy/controversy from time to time (Duke LAX and now Univ of Virginia).

[augie]

Sox - I think you've been warned about this before.

This is a soccer thread - don't go making it all poli, er...baseballical!



Back to soccer - in a 4-4-2 formation, which attacking midfielders do you think are more effective - the left wingers or the right wingers?

[pipanale]

Now let's see what happens between France and RSA. I'm hoping that one side gets down 2-0 and then decides to start throwing haymakers. That's what soccer needs; more fights!

although...I smell 0-0 in my future.

[jmq]

France looks like they're waving the white flag - jeez, talk about playing to the worst stereotype possible...
But RSA will continue to press relentlessly because they have to win like 4-0 to possibly advance.

Overall, interesting that the South American teams have been dominating the tournament so far.

Also, very entertaining listening to that really thick Scottish brogue of ESPN color guy Ally McCoist who has done some of the games, including today Greece and Argentina.
I think I only understand about 85% of what he says and its funny hearing him twist the words you do know. Its like Mike Meyers on steroids doing that Shrek voice.
The former players they have in the studio have been doing a good job too, not afraid to call out players, refs, coaches, and teams for poor play. They have been refreshingly blunt, especially when compared to the homers we are used to doing our games.

[linne]

Congratulation with the victory which brought you
into the next round.

I hope DK will manage to follow you, cross my fingers tomorrow.

Linne

[jmq]

Linne – too bad the Danes didn’t make it through.

Japan’s energy and those great free kicks were the difference. Maybe the Danish goalie could’ve done a little better on them.

It’s a pretty big deal that the defending champs Italy are done, although their notorious slow start, age, and the overall lack of urgency with which they played finally caught up with them.

Now if Spain loses tomorrow and doesn’t advance, THAT would be really insane and would put the Cup totally up for grabs and could help the US make a long run too. They have to be careful against Ghana – that’s a team they won’t be able to out-physical.

And, none of the 5 South American teams have lost a game yet.

[TouristTrapCheryl]

.
   Larry's draggin' the TV out to our 'dining room' to watch the US World Cup match this Saturday.

   You are welcome to join us, your vuvuzela is not.

[linne]

The Danish team didn’t play a good game and deserved to loose. Of course it’s a little disappointing. But both France and Italy are out, so nothing to be ashamed of.

And the next 3 weeks we will be in Spain, where we haven’t any TV, so there will not be much football watching.

Hope the best for USA. Perhaps you will be crazy about it like in Europe. HB were in Berlin, when Germany qualified to the next round, and he told that people were celebrating the whole night, driving in cars tooting with the horns, so that he couldn’t sleep.

Linne

[loria]

Ghana.....AGAIN? day-um. good game though.