WC Stories

pettyfog · Jun 15, 2010

Getting there is half the fun!

He has water cooler tales for days before he even sees the first match
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Nugget:

scornflakes said:

Another thing that I love about the World Cup in the Internet age. I just tweeted this:

Quote:
Prediction time: #prk 10:1 #bra The Glorious Leader will score 10 goals before being inserted as GK in the 4th minute after Kaka scores.

And immediately - within seconds - received several replies in Portuguese from fans of Brasilia that I was full of sh*t. One guy said "NO! #bra 20:0 #prk" and then something that I think was an insult of my mother.

Awesome.
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Post your great story finds in this thread

Clevelandmo · Jun 15, 2010

This is pretty good. Should have posted it earlier

http://www.videosurf.com/video/the-dail ... -147492704

JP-STL · Jun 16, 2010

Funniest piece I've read so far on the World Cup. Its by Dave Barry:

http://tinyurl.com/db-worldcup

Key quotes:

After college, soccer and I parted ways for several decades. Then, in late June of 1998, my 17-year-old son and I went to France, where my wife, a sportswriter, was covering the World Cup. I will now attempt, using my extensive vocabulary and professional writing skills, to describe what Paris was like that summer:

Whoa.

Talk about a party. I've been to the Olympics, World Series and Super Bowls. Compared to the World Cup, these events are a meeting of the Des Moines Rotary Club. The World Cup causes entire nations to go insane. Scotland, for example. Scotland qualified for the 1998 World Cup, and although the Scottish team was not favored to win, the Scottish fans blew away all other nations in the competition for the title of Most Alcohol Consumed by Men Wearing Traditional Highland Costumes and No Underpants. You knew this because they would frequently entertain the public with mass kilt-liftings. They also serenaded crowds on subways with World-Cup-themed songs, including one, set to the tune of Winter Wonderland, declaring that Brazilian soccer superstar Ronaldo was . . . OK, I can't tell you in a family newspaper, but it was not complimentary.

The Scots made up this song because Scotland's first match in 1998 was against Brazil, a soccer superpower. Scotland playing Brazil is like Justin Bieber fighting Mike Tyson. But this didn't deter the Scottish fans at all; they had their national pride, plus their traditional attire, plus a really funny obscene song, plus an unbelievable tolerance for alcohol. They were in France to represent their country, a proud posse of kilted, mooning maniacs. Despite the fact that their team did not win a single match, they kept right on representing it. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are still over there.

And that was just one country. There were 31 other teams, and their fans were just as enthusiastic, by which I mean unhinged. For a month they traveled to matches all over France, and every match was a huge party. My son and I were in Marseille during a Holland-Argentina match; we didn't have tickets to get into the stadium, so we watched on the beach, where giant TV screens had been set up among the French bathers. There were thousands of screaming, singing, dancing face-painted Dutch and Argentine fans, and I can honestly say it was one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever seen, because a LOT of the lady French bathers were topless. You'd go to the concession stand, and you'd turn around, and YOWZA there would be a lady French bather standing right behind you, acting as though she was not basically naked, which she was. I recall my son going to the concession stand numerous times.
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I truly believe that, even though many Americans say they hate soccer, if they gave it a fair chance -- if they took the time to actually watch a World Cup match or two -- they would still hate soccer. I don't know why this is, but apparently it's not going to change. I've given up arguing with guys who tell me how boring soccer is, but will happily spend four hours watching a baseball game in which 97 percent of the action consists of batters calling timeout.
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pettyfog · Jun 16, 2010

Great one JP..

ReutersBlogs: The U.S. and soccer – that joke isn’t funny anymore

The main problem Europeans, in particular English fans, appear to have with the status of soccer in the U.S. is that it is not the number one sport in the country. Not even number two or three in fact. And the fact is that there is no-one in the soccer business in the U.S. who would pretend they are in a position to overtake, on a day-to-day basis, the NFL, the NBA or Major League Baseball.

But those who doubt that soccer has a long term future in North America need to ask themselves one question when it comes to the game’s status alongside gridiron and basketball – who cares?

Ranking in relation to other sports really doesn’t matter. In the era of niche television, niche websites, niche entertainment and niche marketing , soccer clearly has an important and growing niche in the sporting life of the United States.
.....................
Saturday’s England v USA Group C opener drew huge numbers to sports bars across the States — in one case, a pub in Columbus which had prepared itself for a massive 1,000 fans, had to deal with three times that amount turning up.
......................

Around 17 million people in the United States watched the game at home — a number bigger than any of the first four games of the current NBA final.

The England match drew more US viewers than every game of the 2010 Stanley Cup hockey Final. The June 9 broadcast of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC was the most-watched NHL game in the United States in 36 years with 8.28 million viewers — about half of the amount that watched an opening round group match in the World Cup.
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Overall, the first five matches of this year’s World Cup drew around double the audience that tuned in four years ago. How’s that for growth?
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Clevelandmo · Jun 17, 2010

Hitler, the WC, and vuvuzelas

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... arody.html

pettyfog · Jun 22, 2010

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Beyond all that.. I was less excited about this WC than about any since before 94.

I recall 98, though, when I had been at Worldcom for about 2 weeks and there was a radio in about every one of the engineering sections.

Yes, kiddies, things have changed that much. Imagine trying to tune and listen in to an AM radio in a building full of Computers and computer network wiring.
And the Corporate desktops {outside of the development dept} had no audio cards even if it was carried on internet radio.

And McBride scored the lone US goal.

And, still I was even MORE excited in '02. The Mexico WCQ game ensured that.

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World Cup attendance second-highest after US: Organisers

JOHANNESBURG: Attendance at the World Cup in South Africa is set to be the highest since the tournament was held in the United States in 1994, chief organiser Danny Jordaan said on Tuesday.
...............
"We'll probably go over three million (tickets sold) and therefore we'll be second highest in terms of ticket sales number," said Jordaan.
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That's something that not commented much, anymore, isn't it.

HatterDon · Jun 22, 2010

I was in a doctor's waiting room yesterday when some idiot on CNN delivered a feature called "World Cup phrase of the day," or some crap. He teased that the phrase FIRST became known to Americans during the USA-Slovenia "game."

After the commercials, he came back and said the phrase was "OFF SIDES" and then proceeded to read a definition of the expression in what I think was a Google translated French-English rendering. I recognized several of the words, but missed entirely the key information. Just when I was wondering what all this had to do with the Slovenia match, he said that after the US had come back from two goals down to equalize, "they scored a goal which SOME OF THE SEVERAL REFEREES INVOLVED considered to have been off side."

Amazing. It takes the "best news team in the world" to make that many mistakes in one two-minute segment. Is there not one soccer-savvy fact checker working at CNN? It's a good thing that they've abandoned news reporting in favor of being a hub of social networking commentary. They're obviously no good at discerning even basic facts. Sigh

pettyfog · Jun 22, 2010

HatterDon said:

I was in a doctor's waiting room yesterday when some idiot on CNN delivered a feature called "World Cup phrase of the day," or some crap. He teased that the phrase FIRST became known to Americans during the USA-Slovenia "game.".... Just when I was wondering what all this had to do with the Slovenia match, he said that after the US had come back from two goals down to equalize, "they scored a goal which SOME OF THE SEVERAL REFEREES INVOLVED considered to have been off side."

Amazing. It takes the "best news team in the world" to make that many mistakes in one two-minute segment. ...
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Here's the most appropriate CNN page:
Want to sound like a World Cup expert?

Important rules to know

1. Offside
The rule most likely to infuriate players, managers and fans alike. A player is deemed to be in an offside position when he is in his opponents' half of the pitch and further forward than the last opposition player at the moment a teammate attempts to play a pass to him. Sounds simple, right? When this happens, the opposition wins possession of the ball. All straightforward until your team is denied what looks to be goal by a poor decision by the assistant referee on the touchline. Stand by for plenty of offside flash points and some colorful language.
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heh.....

I've seen links and comments to idiocies on NPR. {BESIDES those aimed at G Beck and G G Liddy} Too tired to look 'em up but I think I'll pay more attention next time.

pettyfog · Jun 23, 2010

Watched 'The Two Escobars' last night.

Lived up to the hype and more..

Look at the site, above.. plenty more chances to catch it

?: Whose cross was it that Andres mishit?

pettyfog · Jun 23, 2010

WC Stories: France

Slate: The sordid details behind the collapse and mutiny of France's national soccer team.

The revolt's leaders don't seem to understand that their behavior is shocking. When the players went on strike to protest Anelka's dismissal, they explained in a letter that they realized they were "role-models for children." Seeing how far they are from that role right now, the players are either displaying utter cynicism or the worst case of naïveté ever. "I don't think they're aware of the disastrous image they have in France or the rest of the world," explains Gregory Schneider, the French daily Libération's correspondent in South Africa.

Not all players involved in the dissent should be looked at equally. There are leaders in the group, and there are followers. Federation Secretary Henri Monteil tells La Charente Libre that "some players went to see Domenech in his room. They were crying. They were saying they regretted what was going on. Young players. I can't give you names. In any case, the three or four leaders are aging players, who will never again play the World Cup."
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In essence... a complete debacle about a remark that got out for reader ratings and the blowback went out of control.

Typically French

-------------------------------------------

Tesco ready to sell short

Someone working for the Great Beast of retail tells me that the word’s gone out for people who fancy a bit of overtime to come in early Wednesday evening and take all the tat and bunting down: every bit of it, from deely boppers to vuvuzelas, though I suppose all those crappy t-shirts will be marked down for sale as fuel for the bonfires on which effigies of the traitor Rooney will be burned.
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pettyfog · Jun 24, 2010

Free beer > England win

The good news: England are through The bad news: It's Germany up next
.

..Stung by criticism that the team's training centre near Rustenburg is a monument to joylessness, he tried an old Brian Clough trick. In their first season in the European Cup in 1978, Nottingham Forest drove to Liverpool holding a 2-0 first-leg lead and Clough served them beer on the bus to keep them calm. Most of Capello's players were said to be too wary to sink the South African lager but the mood on the pitch was more buoyant than in the dire draws against USA and Algeria.

"I changed something. Used my imagination. It was free South African beer," Capello said. This rather stiff surrender to English sensibilities is unlikely to spawn karaoke nights but the players will feel he is shifting from his usual Puritanism. A rumour going around Rustenburg is that the leader's supposed resemblance to Postman Pat has been noticed in the camp. Without this win there would have endless jokes about his failure to deliver.
......
"Today I saw the spirit we lost in the games we played before," Capello said. "The performance of the team was really, really good. I'm sure we'll play with more confidence because we re-found the spirit."
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Maybe France should have loaded up some wine

FulhamAg · Jun 24, 2010

Algeria player Rafik Saifi slapped a female journalist across the face as the aftermath of the USA’s dramatic World Cup victory turned ugly at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday night.

While walking through the interview zone, Saifi spotted writer Asma Halimi, who works for Algerian newspaper Competition, and struck her with his open hand in front of dozens of witnesses. Halimi responded by striking the player in the mouth.

Saifi then threw a sports drink bottle at a wall in the interview area, as Halimi was ushered away by security staff.
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Ian Darke referred to him as the badboy of Algerian football when he subbed on late against the US....ironic foreshadowing. Kudos to Ms Halimi for popping that jackass in the mush.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23062010/58/world-cup-2010-algerian-slaps-female-reporter.html

nevzter · Jun 24, 2010

FulhamAg said:

Algeria player Rafik Saifi slapped a female journalist across the face as the aftermath of the USA’s dramatic World Cup victory turned ugly at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday night.

While walking through the interview zone, Saifi spotted writer Asma Halimi, who works for Algerian newspaper Competition, and struck her with his open hand in front of dozens of witnesses. Halimi responded by striking the player in the mouth.

Saifi then threw a sports drink bottle at a wall in the interview area, as Halimi was ushered away by security staff.
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Ian Darke referred to him as the badboy of Algerian football when he subbed on late against the US....ironic foreshadowing. Kudos to Ms Halimi for popping that jackass in the mush.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23062010/58/world-cup-2010-algerian-slaps-female-reporter.html
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Classy.

nevzter · Jun 24, 2010

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/s ... index.html

I can just hear the phone call:
"Hey, Hill, I don't think I'll be makin' it home this week. They got these cute little..., I mean, the soccer team is simply fantastic here and I'm just smitten." [bite lip]

pettyfog · Jun 25, 2010

Bill Archer on N Korea

Bill has almost exactly the same political views I do.. and he's why I spent all my time on Matchnight before it was shut down. No room for two curmudgeons.. and he's a better writer. You might say that Tom and Mike saddled you with an inferior Bill Archer

But I was thinking about this today, wondering if I should write something about this non-story story, and just happened to glance at his blog to find:
Cry for North Korea

Some people say that all comedy is rooted in tragedy.

I've never fully subscribed to that particular theory but in the case of The Democratic People's Republic of Koreas' participation in the 2010 World Cup Soccer News Topics it's impossible not to make the connection.

Let's start with the now-familiar "Kim Jong-il hired a thousand Chinese actors to go to South Africa and pretend they're NK fans" meme and say that, contrary to the well-worn "if I heard it on TV it must be true" theory, in this instance it ain't necessarily so.

North Korea kept a couple hundred of their 12,000 ticket allotment for a national contingent, who are the guys they keep showing on TV wearing identical red outfits. Who these people are, how they were chosen and even how they got there is a complete mystery.

What is known is that none of them apparently know anyone else.
............................................

FIFA is now taking some heat from journalists over access to the North Korean players.

FIFA media policy says that accredited writers are allowed direct whatever question they want to whatever player they care to speak to without restrictions or prior approval, but in the case of the North Koreans they have made special rules whereby only questions directly related to play on the field may be asked.

I'm no big fan of the Nazis who run FIFA with an iron fist but in this case they're absolutely correct. Anything the players might say, any look, any choice of words, any tone of voice that could possibly, by any stretch of the imagination be construed as less than entirely "patriotic" can and likely will get you and your family sent to a camp to slowly starve to death.

"Just leave them the hell alone" is a policy we can all endorse.

Anyway, even if you did talk to them you'd only get embarrassingly absurd gibberish, like Head Coach Kim Jong-Hun telling reporters, with a straight face, that while on the sideline he is "constantly in communication" with Dear leader Kim Jong-il via the use of a special, secret cell phone which is "invisible".

He added that the "technology" involved was invented by Kim himself.

The media really wants to hear this drivel? They are angry at FIFA because they're being denied the opportunity to watch a fellow human forced through stark terror to debase himself like that?

Leave them alone. Go talk to the French.
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There's more.. but that's the 'gist'.

Just to make it perfectly clear... the lack of commentary on ESPN, after the first match, has nothing to do with geo-politics or leftist embarrassment, it simply reflects a common thread of human decency.

Clevelandmo · Jun 25, 2010

Re: Bill Archer on N Korea

pettyfog said:

Let's start with the now-familiar "Kim Jong-il hired a thousand Chinese actors to go to South Africa and pretend they're NK fans" meme and say that, contrary to the well-worn "if I heard it on TV it must be true" theory, in this instance it ain't necessarily so.

What is known is that none of them apparently know anyone else.
............................................

FIFA is now taking some heat from journalists over access to the North Korean players.

FIFA media policy says that accredited writers are allowed direct whatever question they want to whatever player they care to speak to without restrictions or prior approval, but in the case of the North Koreans they have made special rules whereby only questions directly related to play on the field may be asked.

Anyway, even if you did talk to them you'd only get embarrassingly absurd gibberish, like Head Coach Kim Jong-Hun telling reporters, with a straight face, that while on the sideline he is "constantly in communication" with Dear leader Kim Jong-il via the use of a special, secret cell phone which is "invisible".

He added that the "technology" involved was invented by Kim himself.

The media really wants to hear this drivel? They are angry at FIFA because they're being denied the opportunity to watch a fellow human forced through stark terror to debase himself like that?

Leave them alone. Go talk to the French.
Click to expand...

There's more.. but that's the 'gist'.
Click to expand...

Interesting. So Kim himself invented this invisible cell phone - was it you or Bill Archer that invented the "meme"?

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edited by pf to close quote

pettyfog · Jun 25, 2010

Re: Bill Archer on N Korea

clevelandmo said:

Interesting. So Kim himself invented this invisible cell phone - was it you or Bill Archer that invented the "meme"?
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Tsk.. tsk... you have been away.

google results

On OUR side, Mo... we dont have to invent anything.

FulhamAg · Jun 25, 2010

Re: Bill Archer on N Korea

pettyfog said:

Bill has almost exactly the same political views I do..
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Thanks to Nev, I thought you were talking about Clinton there for a second.

Clevelandmo · Jun 25, 2010

Re: Bill Archer on N Korea

pettyfog said:

clevelandmo said:

Interesting. So Kim himself invented this invisible cell phone - was it you or Bill Archer that invented the "meme"?
Click to expand...

Tsk.. tsk... you have been away.

google results

On OUR side, Mo... we dont have to invent anything.
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"Fog it was a joke. You and Archer are the only people I have ever seen use "meme", just wanted to know which one of you invented it

pettyfog · Jun 25, 2010

Re: Bill Archer on N Korea

clevelandmo said:

"Fog it was a joke. You and Archer are the only people I have ever seen use "meme", just wanted to know which one of you invented it
Click to expand...

Nah... I sure's hell didn't invent it. But I recall WF Buckley using it before I got it from Timon, who I think got it from Archer.

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