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German study on officiating bias against tall players comes as no surprise to fans of USA, England

Posted 26 Jan 2010 at 09:49 AM by Aaron Stollar (Fighting Talker)


German research seems to support the believe that taller players like Oguchi Onyewu get called for more fouls

The New York Times reports on a German study that claims that tall players get called for more fouls than shorter players. An author of the study uses Philip Lahm as an example.

Quote:
“Lahm hardly has a foul called against him,” Dr. Steffan Giessner said in a telephone interview. “He plays tough. People pick up on small players and say they are really tough guys.”
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The Voice of Reason
Posted in Officiating
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Old

Cynicism bubbles up quickly re: Onyewu deal

Posted 07 Jul 2009 at 10:21 AM by Aaron Stollar (Fighting Talker)

I've now heard three or four people (including Beau Dure) express worry over the Onyewu to Milan move. Is Milan deep? Sure it is. But it's also old. And so far, there is zero evidence to show that this is any kind of shirt-selling, American marketing ambition behind this deal. Are we really so cynical as to immediately fear for a player's form and career whenever one signs for a big European club? Shouldn't we be thrilled about this? Of course.

There are plenty of very good reasons that Milan signed him:
  1. He showed an ability to compete with some of the best players in
...
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The Voice of Reason
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Old

Gooch to Milan is hopefully the first of many players going to Italy

Posted 07 Jul 2009 at 08:35 AM by Aaron Stollar (Fighting Talker)
Updated 07 Jul 2009 at 10:23 AM by Aaron Stollar

So Oguchi Onyewu becomes the first American* to join Milan and only the second to go to Serie A. It's a great move, and I truly hope he does well there not just for him, but for the other American players who might do well in Serie A, a league where players are allowed a touch more time and space on the ball and an environment where some US players (especially attacking ones) might thrive.

That said, if he thinks the racist abuse was unpleasant in Belgium, I wonder what he's going to face at his first road trip to Lazio?

*Author's note: I am not counting Rossi, because...
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The Voice of Reason
Posted in Serie A, US Soccer
Views 1160 Comments 8 Aaron Stollar is offline
Old

What the hell happened yesterday?

Posted 25 Jun 2009 at 11:21 AM by Aaron Stollar (Fighting Talker)

Did we actually beat Spain yesterday or was it merely a flu and fever induced hallucination I suffered while shivering despite 90 degree temperatures outside?

We did beat Spain? I actually watched it?

Wow.

Double wow.

Holy ********ing shit wow!

So where on earth does that leave the US now? Where does that leave the Fire Bradley movement now? Where does that leave the future of human existence now?

While I can't answer that final question, here's what I think I learned yesterday.
  • Can we now safely say that
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The Voice of Reason
Posted in US Soccer
Views 1350 Comments 16 Aaron Stollar is offline
Old

Gallardo leaves United and what DC should do next

Posted 29 Jan 2009 at 02:50 PM by Aaron Stollar (Fighting Talker)


Is it safe to call him the biggest foreign signing bust in the history of United? I think so. Well, he's gone now. Let's try and look forward.

First of all, I need to confirm if Gallardo's salary does in fact come off the books. I have to assume it does, otherwise I can't see DC's motivation to dump him this quickly. So, operating under the assumption that DC now has a fair bit of salary space to work with and a DP slot that has re-opened, here's my point.

The offseason...
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