Mumbled Jumbo

The world cup has been getting a lot of "coverage" this year for us in Seattle. It's not the sportscenter coverage or the fact that all the games are broadcast on ABC or ESPN-ESPN10 that I hear about soccer 25 times a day. It's the "buzz". People everywhere are talking about it. People are loving it, but not really. Soccer has never really been a mainstream sport in any city I have ever lived in. I don't think I have ever watched a MLS game nor could I name a team. The Galaxy? I don't know. I can name some European teams. But why follow a sport played in another country? Anyway I really got pulled into this world cup. Maybe it is the fact I work with people from all over the world, and the world loves futbol. I think Seattle has quietly become a global city. Biotech, Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Paul Allen ect continue to make it so. Which is a good thing, and totally off topic. The point is: It's not just some idiot who's lived in the US his whole life rooting for Italy because five generations ago most of his ancestors lived in Italy. It's real Italians, Aussies, Brits, Mexicans. I have to say the shittalkin' was great. I learned more about soccer than I ever knew before and I woke up in the middle of the night to watch matches between countries I couldn't point out on a map if you gave me a million dollars. I was loving it, but not really. I have seen some incredible things over the course of my experience with the world's most popular sport. They say the viewing audience is "A cumulative in-home audience of 28.8 billion viewers." Holy shit. That's a lot. And I must say that for an event with so many eyes on it; it sure does suck. I am officially done with getting up early to watch a sport which I have found is really exciting, but in which the outcome is decided soley by two factors:

1. Dives
2. Officiating

I have never before seen in a professional sport a more accepted form of blatant cheating than in these games. Players seem to crumple into screaming heaps for no reason. Lots. Where is the honor in that? The dives suck. Which brings us to the officiating. The first problem is that the players are so good at cheating the dives are almost indistinguishable from the real injuries. Especially for one referee on a mammoth pitch. I wouldn't want that job. At the same time I continue to see red cards and penalty kicks decide the outcome of matches. Australia vs Italy yesterday being the perfect example (and the impetus for this article). The Aussies had the game won it was only a matter of time. Albeit a luxury afforded to them by another red card. I think it was obvious to all that Australia was going to score the winning goal. Italy was in full retreat. Then the foul and the penalty kick. Why even have a goalie in net for that play? I could score given that opportunity. The Aussies should have just gone home after the foul. I don't really watch soccer so I don't have any stats for you but I would bet that most penalty kicks end up in a goal. I bet it is pretty hard to miss from there. I bet you could put two goalies in net and get the same results. AND in stoppage time. I would seriously give thought to the games being fixed if it wasn't for the fact that every game has had shitty officiating. I know that it is the beautiful game, the game viewed by millions, and truly the only world game, but is it because futbol is so great, or is it because the rest of the world doesn't have any other viewing options? I have viewing options, and I am going to use them to sleep. Any game I watch is going to be decided by the players on the field. Yes there are bad calls in American football, baseball, hockey, and basketball. But in no way has an official in those sports ever had the opportunity afforded to them (and taken by them) to change the outcome of a game so consistently as in soccer. It's a shame really, and that's why soccer will never catch on in the US like basketball or football. Our sports may be full of too many rules, too many commercial breaks, and too much boredom for the rest of the world's liking, but at least we have the semblance of fair play.

For the millions of people who will not be reading this; My welcome to you; Welcome to my blog.

This forum will serve no higher purpose other than my need to write something unintelligible down in the semi-permanent legers of the internet. No thesis nor subject matter will be constant. This is not a sports blog. This is not a current affairs blog. I will try to keep my postings to things I have written myself. That is all. Enjoy long periods between posts and incoherent rants. Rants to follow...