No. But there are other Cups: European, Copa America (South America), Asian, just to name a few.

Okay. I forgot it (world cup) was a 4-year deal.

Speaking of sports that don't get the propper attention they deserve in the states (and I know we already had a thread on this here), but I still would love to see Rugby take off here. Now that's a sport.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Technically, the World Cup lasts almost two years. There are so many teams in the world that the selection process starts almost two years before the Cup convenes in the host city.

Copa America [America Cup] is the competition of the CONMEBOL [South American confederation] zone. Members of the CONCACAF [Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football] are usually invited. Mexico showed a great football in the 2007 edition, finishing 1st in its group, in the qualifying phase. The US did not do very well, losing all matches.

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What brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart

Yes. I know that. I was just using short hand because most (99% probably) of Americans don't know what zone the USA is in. Hell, I didn't know up till a few years ago.

ok- explain Rugby to me.. i've tried watching it a few times, and all i got out of it was that a bunch of guys run around and beat the crap out of each other, and whenever it looks like they are about to score, they throw the ball AWAY from the goal, and run around and hit each other some more.
then, for some reason, they all pile into a shape that looks like a turtle with 40 legs and the ball comes flying out, and they start beating on each other for a while..
soccer is similar- hit the ball around, knock other guys down, and maybe once or twice a game the ball ends up in the goal somehow.
then, afterwards, the people in the stands beat the crap out of each other.

mind you, i'm not much for American sports- in football, a bunch of genetic misfits put on tights and armor and repeatedly run into each other while chasing a ball that looks like a turd, in baseball a "great" player only does his job maybe 35% of the time, and basketball is just a bunch of inner city thugs trying to throw an orange ball thru a hoop. NASCAR has gotten away from it's roots and 35 of the 43 racers that start are only there as obstacles for the 8 cars that ever win to avoid for 500 miles.

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"blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."- Nathan Explosion
The.. Best.. Thread..Ever...

Yep, that's pretty much it. That's why it's such a great sport. I figured out what was going on a few years ago when I bought EA Sports Rugby 2004 for PS2 (Mainly because I love EA Sports games, and since it's Rugby, it was cheap). It's really not that complecated. I think it's a pretty pure sport, which is one of the reasons I like it. Touch the ball to the ground in the endzone, and you score. Kick it through the goalposts, and you score lesser points (but there's restrictions on how you can kick, IIRC). Once the ball carrier is tackled, you're not allowed to hold on to the ball with your hands (I believe). There's some offsides rules and such, but really nothing all that complex. Basically you have to muscle your way down the field, and work well together with your team. Like I said, very pure, very fun. It's harder than other sports to figure out by simply watching, but the rules really aren't that complex.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Alas, there's as much chance of that as there is of a beauty pageant contestent bringing world peace.

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Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

Sorry, but a baseball player who only cleanly fields the ball 35% of the time would be considered an "awful" player.

(Don't focus on batting like it's the entirety of the game)

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

Its one of the reasons the wish format that goes, "Man, I'd give my left..." is no longer in my repetoire

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

It is true though that if the game is a pitcher's duel and the game is won 1-0, there may be almost nothing for most of the fielders to do.

The last two games Cleveland played were against the BoSox. They lost 0-1 tuesday, and won 1-0 yesterday. Pitchers duels? Definately. But each team had multiple hits. So the fielding decreases in frequency, but increases exponentially in importance during such games.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Of course, the USA A-Team had just won the Gold Cup (CONCACAF) by beating Mexico. Mexico sent the same team to Copa America, while USA (already assured of a spot in the Champions Cup) sent its B-Team.

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Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Isaac Asimov

BTW Jim, who is that ref in your avatar? I know I've seen him - maybe in Euro matches.

Rugby - a soccer-football hybrid. You run your butt off, can only pass laterally (never forward), and the pain of armorless impacts is mitigated by the free flowing beer that accompanies any rugby tournament.

The only thing I hated about high school rugby was the inability to drink away pain.

Rugby is also the only sport where women play arguably more aggressive than men.

You think I'm kidding.

I'm not.

Way back in the stone age, we played a tournament in DC, and we thought we looked pretty damned good. All buised, a couple wins under our belt, and we were off to chill at one of the guy's pool. While we were packing up, we noticed a girls league playing, so being typical teenaged guys seeing girls run around in short shorts, we were all over it.

These were your typical, 100-120 pound, flithe runner types, and the schoolboy giggling lasted till we saw the first hit. There is nothing hotter than a girl unleashing a battlecry right before clotheslining another girl and slamming her (hard enough for us to hear the WHUMP 20 feet away) into the pitch like a ragdoll. They both got up, and went back to business.

We just sat there with our jaws on the grass. The feeling was somewhere between awe, lust, and terror. We actually asked about recruiting one or two of them, and it had nothing to do with hormones.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

So what do you like? Is there some sport where physically fit nuclear physicists play brain surgeons and requires you to have an IQ of 140+, the body of Atlas, and a success rate of 98.735%?

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Pier-Luigi Collina... Pigi. Now retired from International competitions (too old, over 45), he was considered the best in the world at player management.

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Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Isaac Asimov

He must have just retired in the last couple of years.

I checked google images and I think that I can see why he was the best.
That dude is scary looking, I wouldn't want to anger him either lol.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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I was just sitting here contemplating the immortal words of Socrates who said, "I drank what?"

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot." --Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"

While the US media might focus on the ex-thugs for their very thuglife antics, the truth is, the NBA got quite a few shades paler when the Europeans stepped up and deflated the myth of US dominance in the sport.

"Celebrity" NBA players are becoming known more for their offcourt dysfunctionality than their playing ability. If it weren't for LeBron, I'd call it a total loss.

And the official NBA balls are brown.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

Mm, not necessarily. I mean, there are games where the fielders have almost nothing to do, but they aren't necessarily pitcher's duels.

A 5-4 game could easily have fewer fielding opportunities than a 1-0 game.

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

Yeah, OK. My point being the almost complete inactivity of some players (fielders) while others are playing hard (pitcher and catcher).

You're OK, Jim. No hernia.

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Each pitcher could walk 4 batters each inning and you'd have a high "scoring" no-hit/low-hit game, and still have a pitchers duel.

You mean Pele had a parallel career in football in addition to soccer? What position did he play? Bet it was special teams, returning kicks.

Great thing about the BAUT, you're always learning something new.

Now, the great thing about Australian Rules Football is, if a player goes psycho, the men in the white coats are right there, ready to take him away. Fun sport!

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It might be a duel, but I doubt those guys would be pitchers much longer.

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It was a joke. Jeez.

So much for the celebratory surge in Iraq.

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Same here.

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