In other news, Tata is now a piñata. https://diario.mx/deportes/exito-total-la-pinata-del-tata-martino-20221202-1999312.html
Did your kids play for fun outside of organized sports? We played a ton of pick up games when I was growing up but I don't know many kids who go to the park and play just for the sake of playing.
I know we were talking about tv advertising somewhere but uh the watch party for today's game already has a decent line to get in. They're doing something right https://instagram.com/stories/columbuscrew/2985106585367357106?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
It’s like I predicted after the first couple of games .. the refs are letting too much go . The cynical players know they can whack a few even injure them ( Neymar now Jesus ) without even getting a warning !! Two of the world’s best forwards are now effectively out of the WC . Also Messi and Mitrovic , Foden , Kane plus tigers are all carrying ankle / foot injuries.
Nigel de Jong got a yellow card for karate kicking Xabi Alonso’s chest in the 2010 final. It’s how tournaments are called, no one wants to send someone off unless it’s super obvious.
I recall Nigel De Jong kicking everyone in that final … I presumed he was coked up like Maradona was tbh
Sad to learn that the Aussies have brought in Keanu Baccus just to do a hatchet job on Messi I hope the ref is strong enough tonight
In the neighborhood or at the park, no. In the driveway and in the backyard, yes. We played a lot of 21, whiffleball with “ghost runners,” and backyard soccer with small goals. The kids would go out front and shoot around or out back and kick around. We’d go to a nearby elementary school’s soccer fields. One attacker vs one defender and a keeper. There were sometimes a group of 6-8 pre-teenage kids playing pickup soccer but not often. Sometimes I’d see 4-6 kids playing basketball. When we go work on some throwing and fielding, I never see any pickup baseball games. And we live in the burbs.
England are cruising now. The quarterfinals are going to give us England vs France, Argentina vs Netherlands, and there's a decent chance we'll also have Spain vs Portugal. I hate that the U.S. is out, but because they are, I'm at a point where I can just watch and enjoy.
This might be the best piece of writing I've read about the 2022 FIFA World Cup. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/05/fox-sports-us-world-cup-coverage-tv-soccer To wit:
As with almost all Guardian writing, it's a mix of actual good insights aptly put and a thick layer of dickish smarminess, with some straight up unfair, barely-disguised...lying?...willful misrepresentation?...in the service of a "gorillas in the mist, look at these yokels yokeling" political snobbery. As an example, the writer acknowledges the sarcasm and straight-man playing of Donovan off of Darke, but because Stoner is a used-car salesman persona at all times, they think his "research" quip was in all sincerity. Anyone who has followed Stone's career knows that he knows more about the game than most and that was delivered in sarcasm Now, I admit that my first taste of the Abdo and Ocho Show was last night, and holy ********, not even Kate can save that train wreck. But to ding Fox for Lay's and Coke commercials that they are obligated by FIFA to show is some pretty dishonest shit. They should be dinged forever for Lalas, though.
Some college football fans enjoy Gus Johnson. They obviously weren't around when Fox was thinking about using him as their primary World Cup PbP announcer.
One of the greatest sports things to come out of COVID was the fact that the tech heads figured out how to use natural audio and stream that via the app. I'm not sure they could use Sky Sports due to their partnership with NBC, but there's gotta be a global feed they *could* use for Fox Sports 2 and the app. Heck, put that on FS2 and Fox Sports Deportes since they can't broadcast games in Spanish. Primary jabronies on Fox and FS1. Natural audio via the app. Global feed via FS2, Fox Deportes and the app. Make it so you can get natural audio without a TV subscription.