...in the village who owned a timepiece was automatically the referee.  

Every two-bit high school in the U.S. has an electronic scoreboard but FIFA can't afford to pay for scoreboards?

In every other timed sport, play stops when the ball goes out of bounds, someone is injured or there is a penalty; except in soccer, where they never heard of a stopwatch.

Only one potentially corrupt man in a stadium of 100,000 knows how much time is left, and then on a whim, decides how much "injury time" to add at the end of each half. What a Mickey Mouse way to keep time, especially during the World Cup when over a billion people are watching.

Do you know why there is a two-minute warning in football?  It's not so they can shove in an extra commercial. The NFL followed soccer and the referee kept the official time on the field.  At the two minute mark of each half, the referee stopped play and synched his watch with the scoreboard clock.  In the AFL, the scoreboard was the official time and and the NFL kept this change after the merger (like the 3-pointer was started by the ABA). Innovation, changing with the times -- that's what makes America great while the rest of the world lives in the past (uh oh, I'm in P & R territory).

Now for the stupid offside rule..... ah, fuck it. I'll do it some other time.

-- Modified on 6/16/2009 2:24:52 AM

-- Modified on 6/16/2009 2:37:18 AM

If you truly can't stand soccer (football), then why comment on the previous thread?  Why even start your own thread?  Simply to take time to talk about something you couldn't care less about?

Seems odd.

Unless, what you are trying to say is that you actually DO like the game, but there are some things about it that you would like to see changed.  Perhaps that would be a better way to approach the subject.

Either way, as someone pointed out previously, there is plenty of room for everyone to discuss what they are interested in or are furiously rabid about.  I've never understood the compulsion of some people to try and stifle posts they don't like.  Simply don't read them.  Hey, I couldn't care less about NASCAR, but some people love it.  More power to them.  I'll just skip those threads.

... a separate thread.  He was right -- I didn't want to hijack the other thread.

I would be interested in soccer if it wasn't such a medieval sport.  Get rid of the offside rule and you'd have 10-20 goals a game.  Then you'd have a more interesting game.

Sure, tell me I don't appreciate the intricacies of the beautiful game, great defense, etc.  Then why is it when I'm in foreign countries and watching their version of SportsCenter, they only show the goooooooooooooooals?

Since you do what I tell you...

What I meant was start a thread on a subject you DO like...and let the other threads be read and or replied to by people who want to read/reply to them.

I never implied that you "don't appreciate the intricacies of the beautiful game."

What I DID say is that I thought people should not post about things they don't care about.  Seems counter-productive.  That's all.

I can understand why some people don't like soccer.  I think the only reason that I enjoy watching it is that I played for over 10 years.  That kind of involvement can help foster an appreciation for the little things that go on between all those gooooaalllssss that most americans are interested in.  A well executed give-and-go doesn't make much of a highlight, but a series of them between the same two players during the length of a game can be a thing of beauty.

All I'm saying is, let other people have their fun, even if you personally think it is ludicrous.  Hell, I HATE the Lakers, but I don't want Rina to stop posting her pics in her little uniform  

speed as well as size.  Sure, there are some overweight defensive lineman, but generally speaking, the best teams have big, fast offensive and defensive lineman who are not fat.  But football is more than speed and size.  It also has a strategic element that is, IMHO, far superior to other sports.  At any point in the game, differing possibilities abound.  Indeed, a team could be in the same position at the same place on the field at different points in the game, and the strategy could be completely different.  It's like playing chess with big people, if you will!

And I still cannot figure out the stupid "Offside Rule" myself because each idiot they use as a Referee has his/her own special interpretation of the rule so no two calls are alike.

I have seen a line judge call "offsides" only to have the stupid Field Ref overturn the call.  Did the Field Ref have a better view of it than the Linesman?  NO FUCKIN WAY!! He/She was just too full of shit and power (bad combo, btw.)