Soccer Guys - What does this mean?

[RAMI]

The whole of professional sport is a joke, RAMI.

Convenient blanket statement, but not true. The "culture" of soccer is a joke. Faking getting shot in the left leg when someone brushes your right shoulder, staying down for 5 minutes while "doctors" attend to you, and then suddenly getting up and running down the field doesn't happen in any other sport.

But that's not really what this thread is about. I just thought I'd throw it out there and see the reaction it gets. It's always fun.

 

[RAMI]

There's a joke doing the rounds, apparently, that when the arrests were made, all 7 arrestees immediately threw themselves to the ground and pretended to be injured.

I thought that was just a North American myth, according some geniuses.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Germany is always one of the favorites.

That's because they're one of the few countries who can afford to grease those FIFA palms year after year!

Cheers!

 

[DM60]

Also thoughts that the US is the perfect place for this to reach legal climax, seeing they're the only country that don't actually give a rat's about the game.

Now that close to an answer.

 

[Greg_L]

That's because they're one of the few countries who can afford to grease those FIFA palms year after year!

Cheers!

Maybe so. Germany has a wonderful history though.

 

[Supercreep]

Soccer still requires a ball, so it is mostly kind of a sport, if you squint.

It ain't got nothing on Kabaddi tho.

 

[acidrock]

Tell me someone let some air out of the soccer balls and then I'll get excited.

 

[muttley600]

Convenient blanket statement, but not true. The "culture" of soccer is a joke. Faking getting shot in the left leg when someone brushes your right shoulder, staying down for 5 minutes while "doctors" attend to you, and then suddenly getting up and running down the field doesn't happen in any other sport.

But that's not really what this thread is about. I just thought I'd throw it out there and see the reaction it gets. It's always fun.

Err... yeh it does..

Difference is other sports are more inclined to act to punish gamesmanship...

 

[muttley600]

Bottom line is that this has been known about for years and as gerg pointed out is also rife in the IOC. For other sports look into the history of cycling recently and see what goes on both at participant and governing body level. The same sort of shit was swept out of Swimming, cricket, horse racing and many other sports. Football has suffered worse recently because the corruption is endemic and the game has such vast amounts of money to be made. The FA and the wider English game have been challenging this for decades. If any one is interested there are some good BBC documentaries on You tube that exposed all this years ago. FIFA and specifically Sepp Blatter have thought themselves immune to all this because they have all the corporate sponsors in their pockets.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out and I'm glad the USA and specifically the FBI have taken steps to pursue this as finally some one with real international clout is supporting what a few other bodies within the game have been trying to achieve for a long while..

 

[kcearl]

Greatest game on the planet regardless of fifa...

Lol @ Rami and Ghost....

 

[BroKen_H]

I'm sorry, but I've always thought that Sepp Blatter sounded too close to sheep bladder to be taken seriously. Haggis anyone?

 

[muttley600]

He's part of the problem and there is no way he is innocent in all this. He is slippery as a fish and will still in all likely hood win the next presidential vote. All this has happened on his watch over the last 15 years and all he has ever done is feather his own nest and build up his own little ivory tower. Scandalous..

 

[Greg_L]

I'm nowhere near a fan of soccer, but I aint gonna lie, I enjoyed the shit out of the World Cup last summer. I don't care if it was fixed or not, because to a less-than-casual fan like me, it was just a big sporting event. Kind of like the Olympics. I put aside my prejudices about how soccer players are frilly pussies that cheat, flop, whine, and fake their way through the game, and just watched it for it's athletic prowess, and it's impressive. I got an appreciation for the art of kicking a ball around with your feet and kind of got a feeling for the strategy behind that snail paced game. I didn't hate it. Soccer at it's highest level is pretty decent.

 

[muttley600]

The world cup isn't fixed. It's the location and how they are awarded that is the problem. Most of the on the field gamesmanship stems from the "Latin" players and could esily be sorted if the game had the desire. They don't because the prima donna who practice those arts are the main source of revenue... The bigger the game the worse it gets. Luckily in the premier league where I watch at West Ham it is not hugely common and the crowd always get on the backs of teams that try it..

and if we are honest every sport at the highest level has their ways of disrupting play or running down the clock as well as tried and tested ways of supposedly influencing officials and refs..

 

[DM60]

The whole acting has been around for a long time. While I don't understand soccer, I do remember my father in law watching and when a player went down, often yelling at him schauspieler (actor) and that was in late 80's, early 90's. Maybe is has just gotten worse pr the Germans were less tolerant of it.

 

[Greg_L]

and if we are honest every sport at the highest level has their ways of disrupting play or running down the clock as well as tried and tested ways of supposedly influencing officials and refs..

Absolutely. The NBA has a serious problem with flopping and "hack-a-shaq". It makes basketball completely unwatchable. America football is a little more clever about it. Players do flop occasionally, but they don't get away with it very often. The penalty for getting caught is not worth it usually. Running the clock is a strategic part of the game though. Sometimes when protecting a lead a team will go very conservative on offense just to milk down the clock. Hockey and baseball don't have these problems. If you flop in hockey there is a good chance you will get your ass kicked. Homey don't play that on the ice. Hockey and baseball have all kinds of silly unwritten rules and code of conduct. You don't do anything to disrespect the game in those sports. Hockey is pretty much pure awesome all the time, but baseball is a snooze fest no matter what they do.

 

[RAMI]

Err... yeh it does..

Difference is other sports are more inclined to act to punish gamesmanship...

For every time that happens in any other sport, it happens 100 times in soccer. It happens every second play in soccer. When it happens in hockey or basketball, it's all they talk about for the next 3 days.

But at least YOU admit it happens. In fact, most soccer fans do, except........

Lol @ Rami and Ghost....

Right on time.

Lol @ Greg-Lite.

You going to deny it for 35 pages, and then try taking your foot out of your mouth by claiming you were "just joking". Like a puppet on a string.

 

[muttley600]

It goes on in every sport. It's just a question of where the sport draws the line between gamesmanship and cheating.

Rugby the governing body has a zero tolerance stance and the game is pretty much played with in the rules. There are still high profile scandal;s though but at least the governing body act to challenge them.

Cricket like baseball has a lot of issues with ball tampering and sledging ( you guys would call that what? I don't know). There are also problems with deliberately slowing the game to avoid possible defeat.

Tennis has the in proper use of court challenges, time warnings, etc...

Golf is pretty straight as far as I can see. Strange how that contest is largely self policing?

As far as the football goes I would love to see a firmer stance taken.. The game would benefit without a doubt.

---------- Update ----------

For every time that happens in any other sport, it happens 100 times in soccer. It happens every second play in soccer. When it happens in hockey or basketball, it's all they talk about for the next 3 days.

But at least YOU admit it happens. In fact, most soccer fans do, except........

..........

Err no it doesn't..

---------- Update ----------

lol @ rami looking for a fight..

 

[RAMI]

Err... yeh it does..

Difference is other sports are more inclined to act to punish gamesmanship...

It goes on in every sport. It's just a question of where the sport draws the line between gamesmanship and cheating.

Rugby the governing body has a zero tolerance stance and the game is pretty much played with in the rules. There are still high profile scandal;s though but at least the governing body act to challenge them.

Cricket like baseball has a lot of issues with ball tampering and sledging ( you guys would call that what? I don't know). There are also problems with deliberately slowing the game to avoid possible defeat.

Tennis has the in proper use of court challenges, time warnings, etc...

Golf is pretty straight as far as I can see. Strange how that contest is largely self policing?

As far as the football goes I would love to see a firmer stance taken.. The game would benefit without a doubt.

---------- Update ----------



Err no it doesn't..

---------- Update ----------

lol @ rami looking for a fight..

How am I looking for a fight? All I did was make a statement about soccer. You sort of disagreed (after agreeing). I'd say you were looking for a fight.

 

[muttley600]

---------- Update ----------

* Rami rolls around on the floor proclaiming he's been wrongfully accused *