Soccer, Sports and Politics - Part Deux

It seems almost inevitable that closed leagues - that lack the separate incentive of avoiding relegation - end up with oversized playoffs that severely diminish the regular season.

 

Andá a buscarla al ángulo, Premier League 😂
pic.twitter.com/VqbdX787Zr

— Fodboldworld (@fodboldword) October 1, 2024

 

By definition, those are "brit" cuisines, are they?

 

I mean, those cuisines you cited are available in lots of places, not just the UK.

 

That's funny.

Dutch FC Eindhoven has been "elected" by youtube channel HITC Seven as the most boring club in the world.
So over a hundred thousand people (overwhelmingly foreigners) take a look at it to be bored.

 

This. It gives more teams "something to play for". American sports fans are not mature enough to handle decades of failure and still support a club in suitable numbers for a top flight institution. That's why the shit teams get high draft picks in American sports, so their fans don't abandon the team for greener pastures. I personally have some acquaintances who own faded, shrunk beyond fitting, dusty Bulls paraphernalia from the 90s. It's disgusting. We see it as entertainment.

 

Nah, it just changes which games are unimportant. In a closed league, most teams would be out of contention for winning the league or getting relegated by September 1. Same thing in baseball. The White Sox wrapped up relegation a long time ago. The teams who played meaningful games recently (Mets, Braves, Dbacks) would have been playing out the string instead.

in most European leagues, most years, 3/4 of the teams are playing out the string with a month to go. If it weren’t for qualifying for other competitions (play in European competitions) our system would be better in terms of the meaningfulness of the regular season.

People who make your argument never get that if it weren’t for the fight for fourth in England, the fight for 2nd or 3rd in other leagues, those leagues would be awash in meaningless games. PSV had locked up the Dutch league by, what, January 1 last year? Basically, that was half a season of meaningless games. That never happens here.

And even then, the teams fighting to avoid relegation are never going to win anything except promotion after they get relegated. This idea that relegation fights matter to neutrals doesn’t make sense if you think about it with an open mind.

 

Nope, you're wrong.
PSV didnot secure the title until matchday 31. So even a match against relegation clubs are important, as you have to win them to stay ahead:

As Louis van Gaal learned with AZ(against Excelsior) and fdBoer with Ajax (against de Graafschap) on the last day you trip over molehills, not over mountains and lost the sure looking title in the dying minutes of the league.

 

They are now, if the Brits have any sense...

 

I have had some fabulous meals in England. The lamb is fantastic, the sausage in a pork pie is the best non-chorizo sausage out there, and five years after I was last there, I can still remember a pork roast i had. Clotted cream in coffee is amazing (only way I can stomach the stuff) and sticky toffee pudding has overtaken cheese cake as my favorite non chocolate dessert. My wife thinks English brussel sprouts are better than anywhere in the world, while my mom thinks the same about parsnips.

I'm not really sure American cuisine is any better.

 

I think the Brits should get an honorable mention for Shepard's Pie and Toads in The Hole!

 

Toad - singular. Just like it’s offside - singular

 

One sausage for a family of 5 doesn't cut it!

 

Roby's American. We do portions differently over here.

 

The world is falling apart at the seams and we must debate pinky toe violations!

 

Huh? Multiple instances of being offside makes it a plural. I would use a plural in that heading too as a singular makes no sense. Just as a list of leading goal scorers would likely say “Goals” and never say “Goal”.

 

Yeah, nothing wrong with the food options in British cities. My main complaint is that you have to force feed yourself dinner at 5:30pm. If you go to a restaurant for a dinner at a normal time you'll likely feel rushed as the chefs and servers just want you to leave so they can close up and go home.