I also think the converge of the WWC has been grate now did ESPN put the same money in to it than they did for the means WC no and no one was expting them to considering that in the past the WWC has not got grate ratings unless the USA was playing. I think at the end the ratings for the WWC are going to be good I say this because my dad has been watching more games than I have been and he said at the start of the summer he would not watch a min of the WWC.
They also seemed to think the match ended at 115:00 instead of 120:00...at least that is how it sounded. And was it really that hard to figure out the issue was not Solo coming off line early since it was perfect save, but captain Rampone coming into the box before the kick was taken? Who cares - great game and win!
Ian Darke yelling "oh do you believe it" on US goals never gets old (same with Donovan's goal last year).
I was at a restaurant watching this game so maybe I misheard, but did Foudy actually say "good mentality" when a US player dove in the box? At the very least they didn't say anything negative during those instances when US players were ...shall we say.. "looking for a penalty" yet have been harping on Brazil's "diving" since the first 5 minutes of their first match in the tournament.
Ask FIFA that question, they've apparently gone with blaming Solo, at least they did for some time. That's a huge rating.
The USA vs Brazil game is actually the 3rd highest rated WWC game.....ever. Highest was the final of 1999, followed by the semi-final of 1999 which was a 3.2. So the fact that the "quarter final" got a 2.6 is good news. I doubt the semi-final will be higher than 2.6 due to timezone issues. The final could very well pull over 10 million depending how much ESPN hypes the match.
Ian Darke is overrated to me. Sorry. And the homerism is a main reason why. I don't mind focussing on the "home team" but constantly questioning the referee as if to suggest that a wrong has been done or overstate the impact of said wrong seems extremely tactical in nature.
he's not normally like that but this game the ref had many controversial decisions. neither Brazilian goal was legitimate amongst other things.
Fox Soccer Channel has been showing highlights of WWC during Fox Soccer Report...I did notice the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) logo. FSR did show a preview of Sweden v. Australia game...Showing interviews from both Swedish and Australian coaches... On Monday, Bobby McMahon did provide his "take" on WWC games over the weekend...He did go through the US v. Brazil penalty shootout...
That makes sense, considering FSR is a Canadian show, using Canadian announcers in a Canadian studio... Anyway, my biggest issue from the US-Brazil game, which i'm sure has already been mentioned is the fact that Bob Ley said about 10x too many that they were only "a mile" from the game. I have much respect for Bob as a host, but that just about did me in. And the constant reminders of the anniversary of the 1999 WWC final were quite obnoxious.
115:00 ... I know exactly where you're coming from. Rampone coming off the box? That whole thing was one big clusterf... from the start, but technically Rampone did break the Law of the Game, even though there have been much more blatant violations in the past.
You want another "WOW" moment from ESPN? From the beginning of the 2nd half until after the celebrations of the penalty shootout . . . 1 hour and 52 plus minutes of no commercials. No breaks after regulation and no breaks after extra time. I didn't think I'd ever see that done on ESPN. This game is slowly creeping into the mindset of this country. It's been fun watching it grow for the last 13 years since I first fell in love with the beautiful game.
posted about this before, that was just weird beyond all bounds and reasons, maybe he's slipping but it was like he kept saying it like he had nothing else to say or it comforted him for some reason, or he was trying to re-set his brain. apparently bob likes soccer, otherwise he wouldn't have covered so much for espn over the years but he has a penchant for getting names wrong and not seeming "up" on everything, maybe it's just bob but I'm not sure. and that day wasn't the first time I recall him saying something about how far away they were from the stadium. very odd. I'm tuning in tomorrow just to see where "big blue" is and how often he mentions it.
Thanks for pointing that out. That is a wow. And while everyone makes good points here, it's things like this that have me not wanting to come down too hard on anyone who does a half-decent job on the broadcasts. I am just pleased and astonished at ESPN's commitment to this 2011 World Cup.
he had the same strategy for the 2010 cup. I think it's part of the ESPN gameplan to overstate any wrong done to the US to build that "FTW" mentality amongst the marginal fans so they tune in to see our boys or girls triumph - it makes for a better story if you can set up a bad actor and then have them taken down. I may be off here, but it seems too tactical that that's happened 2 years straight. For example, was a lot made of Kaka's unwarranted sending off against Ivory Coast last year - Brazil being a favorite and probably the 2nd or 3rd team of most people watching?
Every country is like that. Have you heard the Mexican commentators on Univision? Mexico can do no wrong, the refs are always out to get them, etc... The commentators in International tournaments tend to be biased towards the country they are broadcasting to. That's just how it's been since ever.
The night before the WWC final... SportsCenter did a segment. Tony D and Brandi C were featured. Hope Solo was interviewed. ESPN reporter also filed a report from Japan... ESPNEWS did a segment on Abby W... Fox Soccer Report did a segment at the start of Saturday's show. It showed highlights of Sweden-France game...The highlight did show the red card scene. (SportsCenter did not show the red card segment.) Then press conference clips of Coach Pia and Sawa, the Japanese captain, were shown. FSR also showed the clip of a FIFA official discussing steroid use by N Korean players...
Cowherd was repping the game HARD today, especially the last hour. I caught his opening up the lines to the question of how to end the game better than penalty kicks.