Obama's Helps U S advance in World Cup

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Subject: Obama's Helps U S advance in World Cup
eldnah 6/23/2010 5:12:11 PM

Had George Bush been President the U S team would have had more goals disallowed. The Refs erred in the first match with England being such a favorite they thought the one U S goal would not matter but they were quick to disalllow the winning goal against Slovenia and the U S first goal again today when a tie would eliminate the U S. Fotunately with Obama President they were limited to disallowing one goal a game ;) To disallow one valid goal may be an error but two?

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earlm 6/23/2010 10:37:26 PM

I know almost zero about soccer and care even less. I do have one question. Are the refs like the NFL where you have a few bad calls and the occasional game turned by it or is it like the NBA where it's an absolute joke and they appear to decide the winner beforehand in some cases?

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smitty237 6/24/2010 12:37:10 AM

In soccer the refs completely run the game. Through their calls they can decide the tempo of the game and how rough it will be. It's kind of like basketball in that regard, since you could technically call fouls just about anytime a player makes contact with another. If a ref calls everything he can keep the game clean, but it slows it down a lot and starts to handicap the more aggressive players. If the ref lets too much go he can lose control of the game and/or someone can get hurt. Because it is such a low scoring game, however, soccer refs have a lot more power to influence the outcome of a match than a basketball ref can. That goal that the refs disallowed because of the phantom foul against Slovenia cost us the victory, and a similar phantom call today damn near sent the US home. One problem from what I understand is that there is no governing authority that has oversight over the officiating crews. Their calls cannot be overturned, and the referees cannot be disciplined for bad calls, so there is no mechanism in place to keep them honest. In fact, with all the rabid nationalism that surrounds the World Cup you could argue that some refs could have a motive to make bad calls against the US. Let's not forget that the unoffical motto of this year's World Cup is, "Anyone but the U.S." Don't think for a second that nationalism isn't a factor amongst a lot of the officiating crew out there.

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buzzard 6/24/2010 7:46:56 AM

Everyone over here is just waiting for the US to give up its isolation and join the rest of the World, and you seem to be on a good Way :)

What isolation? We blow up plenty of people overseas.

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Wicked Chinchilla 6/24/2010 9:25:57 AM

As a U.S. soccer fan I think the calls of Fifa and the current batch of Refs being Anti-U.S. a huge overstatement.

Don't get me wrong, I think that ref from the U.S. Slovenia game should either never ref another game in his life or be relegated to yelling at 3 year-olds running in a giant ball 'round the field, but he didn't blow his whistle to deprive the U.S. of a goal, and here is why. When he blew his whistle it was barely after the ball was kicked and it was still in the air well short of any players. There is no way unless he had a magic vision of the future he could have known it would have resulted in a goal thus there is no way he made the call just to deprive the U.S. of our victory.

Now, thats not to say it wasn't the absolute worst call I have ever seen in my life. The Slovenians were commiting not one, but two red card offenses in the box and another three guys were severely fouling U.S. players. In fact, I think he managed to call the foul on the ONE PLAYER (Edu) who actually wasn't doing a damn thing. Amazing vision really. But attributing it to some kind of nationalistic bias is pure victim complex bullshit.

The bad call yesterday I actually could see. Until the replay I personally thought Dempsey was also offside, albiet just barely. I consider that one even anyway because the U.S. got the benefit of a shady offside call on the Algerians that could have very easily resulted in a goal. 1 for 1 isn't a bad exchange.

Presidents/sitting presidents have nothing at all to do with the calls on the field. What hurts the officiating is that Fifa rules state that you can't have a ref from your continent ref your game. That means when the U.S. and Euro team are playing you can have a South American Ref (good), asian ref (ok) or an African ref (dangerous). These ratings are based not on nationality, but on experience. The South Americans have a HUGE soccer legacy and lots of experience. The Asians less so, but still worthy. The Africans not so much. Sure, the North African teams mix it up with the Europeans but on the whole its much less consistent.

As horribly frustrating as bad calls are with the absolute supremacy of referees in soccer I personally don't think instant replay is the answer. For one, there are no significant pauses to actually enact instant replay and it disturb the flow of play. For two, half of the fun in soccer is pushing the rules behind the ref's back. Sneaking the elbow in, pushing for as many advantages as possible. It keeps the game exciting and unpredictable. Remember, bad calls are, typically, egalitarian. The U.S. has certainly has its fair share so far, maybe that means we have paid our dues to the God of Futbol and the rest of the series will do well?

As an aside, grats to England for slapping away Slovenia and FINALLY getting into this cup. You guys have been playing like warmed over shit until yesterday. (well, the U.S. England game was good, but you guys are supposed to be better).

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Wicked Chinchilla 6/24/2010 9:29:26 AM

What ? All but the US ? Where did you get that ?

Everyone over here is just waiting for the US to give up its isolation and join the rest of the World, and you seem to be on a good Way :)

Congratz also for making England - Germany possible on Sunday. A real classic ...

Germany looks rather good this year. You guys positively put Australia on the operating table and chopped them to bits. I was a bit nervous too with how young and, relatively, inexperienced your guys are. Glad I was wrong, its been fun watching you.

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buzzard 6/24/2010 1:34:01 PM

No no, I mean soccer "football" related, mental self-isolation :) I see it melting down lately ...

Oh that, well I think it's mostly imports here who like soccer, or those who played it themselves. If it weren't for the fact that baseball has dug themselves into a huge hole, I doubt people would be sparing the World Cup any attention. Also, it really is a sports lull right now with no playoffs.

Personally I don't find soccer terribly interesting. Then again the only sport I actually do watch is hockey, so I can't say I find most sports terribly interesting.

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buzzard 6/24/2010 6:07:27 PM

you should continue watching and waving the flag of your team, the US does look like it could really make an impact this time, winning the group in front of England. The rest of the World at least will watch you.

The term in question should be "start" not "continue". However it is highly unlikely to occur.

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Panther 6/24/2010 10:16:32 PM

@ NGI

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Next time though, post more pictures of women celebrating in bikini's please.

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