http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-...ris-jones-open-letter-paraguay?cc=5901&ver=us The comments are a joy, oh yeah, vamos Paraguay ************. We played a tactician's dream of a game, one that Germany plans on emulating. P.S. CHRIS JONES SUCKS
Here's a little rule of thumb for reading web comments: Anyone who writes "it's football, not soccer" (and variations thereof) can be immediately discounted. Seriously -- if that is your brain's starting place, then it's a pretty good bet your brain doesn't have much to offer.
This is more directed towards why the world hates ESPN. To be honest I stopped reading his article. This is why I cant stand ESPN. I remember watching US vs Spain on ESPN. When they game was over it went to the Rome Show. His first comment is how people cant stand soccer. This was immediately following one of the biggest wins. I feel ESPN covers it just to make money and doesn't care about it at all. Rome is not the only one that trashes the sport that has a show on their channel either. I have emailed them many times with frustration but never a response. With the amount of connections they have I expect more. http://www.ussoccercoaches.com
ESPN Deportes does care about soccer. English-language ESPN just cares about finding loudmouth douchebags like Lalas and Rome to increase ratings.
Say what you want to say about ESPN. They are promoting the bleep out of it(Euro, La Liga, PL and WC) in the US. How is this bad?
I agree they are promoting it. Why? they want the money. US is still an untapped market. However they then have commentators on their other ESPN programs calling the sport stupid and worthless. Just look at what Jim Rome has said about soccer. Watch what others say about soccer on ESPN and look at what they write as well. ESPN is allowing these guys to trash the sport. Why because right now other American sports bring in more money. I never hear one negative thing said on ESPN about these sports. So ESPN lets them do whatever to keep the base(mainly football) fans while showing games to get people like you and me to start watching soccer games on ESPN. Almost all football watchers love to hear soccer bashed. Thats my view.
Funny thing is Chris Jones isn't even American...he's Canadian. I played in a pub league with him and not only does he not know anything about football (soccer), he's the worst keeper ever...lol That being said, he's a really nice guy
You're making a thread based on ESPN comments and putting a scientific thought or study into this? How many times do you see people say these type of things in real life. That's right, they don't. Even if they think it, they're more constrained in how they say it.
Well, it depends on how you look at things. I was bored to tears watching spain pass the ball around and do nothing with it. If you look at most teams playing the early rounds, they were good to boring, so why single out Paraguay. I thought they at least showed some courage to score against Spain...which is more than i can say about what Portugal did against Spain. Did you ever think that maybe its Spain that has caused these games to be boring. They pass the ball all day, then finally get a goal and then pass the rest of the game out. Now thats boring...effective, but boring.
Yes, those 6 minutes of midfield passing during the late 80th minutes in the Chile game were some of the best in this World Cup, not withstanding my boredom.
You're not the only one who finds Spains slow passing game boring after 10 minutes. It may technically be impressive but it is not exciting to watch and allows opposition defences to organise against it which creates negative defensive games.
What about the commentator on ABC (basically ESPN) who said the question remained to be seen if Maradona returns to Brasil to coach his team? What team in Brasil is he talking about? wtf? Folks, google "Eric Wynalda ESPN Jim Rome" for a good read. Really. Waldo rules.
Unlike a lot of soccer fans in the U.S. I have no interest in winning over the uninterested. Sure I would love for my favorite sport to have wider appeal and was a big money sport that could attract better players to the domestic league but I don't get my feelings hurt when some commentator rants about how much they hate soccer. The normal reaction to a sport you don't care for is usually indifference. The fact that people feel the need to actively hate a sport simply reflects the fact that some Americans cannot handle not being one of the big dogs in such a major sport. If the U.S. were a powerhouse those who didn't care for soccer would just ignore it but since it isn't they feel compelled to tell anyone who will listen how much soccer sucks.
They also have basbeall, football, and other sports commentators commenting on soccer during teh match. Their babble is awful, they muck up the facts and teams, they are incredible boring, and they have to state the most basic rules for the newest of viewers. Any Englishmen or other European they have working with them must be really really awful.
Glad somebody called out this article. Apparently he received a barrage of e-mails from Paraguay supporters and wrote a sarcastically apologetic follow-up: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-...akes-special-delivery-paraguay?cc=5901&ver=us The problem I have with his article is the guy clearly has no sense or awareness of relevant context and history. First off, he is either completely unaware of or purposely omits the relevant fact that Paraguay's top striker was shot in the head a few months ago. I assume that EVERYBODY who posts on these message boards was aware of that bit of news, so I won't need to elaborate for this forum. Regardless, it's worth noting in that it should be quite obvious that any team missing their top scorer might play a more cautious style. Secondly, a bit more knowledge of world football, for instance by watching it other than once every four years, would make him informed that Paraguay is known in South America for its rugged defense. They are the Italy of South America. Paraguay has consistently produced some of South America's top defenders, keepers and defensive midfielders for the past few decades. Only recently have they produced a few top-class forwards, which is why they are now consistently behind Argentina and Brazil in results over the past 10 years. They have an international record that most countries outside of the major powers would be proud of. They've qualified to every WC starting from France 1998, and made the 2nd round every time except for 2006. There's a reason for Paraguay's success - it's just a bit above Chris Jones' head to figure out why.
I have no interest in winning them over. I just find it extremely ironic ESPN wants to start showing soccer games then have ESPN shows that trash the sport. Even immediately following a game. Its like a slap in all soccer fans faces. I just choose not to take it.
Part of the problem with ESPN commentators is that for some odd reason they always take side from the start of the match, and from then on any commentary on each and every play is biased and often grossly wrong. They never add any value to an average football viewer with an average knowledge of the game. The sad part is that when these X-players make comments, it makes you wonder how the hell did they ever get to play the game and not learn the rules correctly. These are the times I wish I spoke Spanish to switch channels.
Location: Atlanta... I honestly was not aware of that. I guess that would explain the very defensive presence. That being said I actually thought both articles were pretty funny. Problem is everyone gets all upset over this stuff.. take it with a grain of salt. Trust me I know, i have been a US fan for years... the world over has laughed at us and not taken us seriously for years and years and years..
I am involved in youth soccer in my community and I woul love to have an MLS team in Atlanta. Hell, I go to WUSA games. I love the sport and do as much as possible help it grow here in the states. However, I guess being from Jamaica does play a part in my not get my feelings hurt everytime some douchebag thinks the sport need his validation to be relevant.