World Cup of Sports
Football[soccer in North America] after World Cup 2010 can make its case as the World Cup of Sports - the most popular in the world especially if TV ratings are used as a measure of popularity. The 2006 Word Cup Final had an estimated 600++ million TV viewers . North American World Cup 2010 TV ratings were up by a whopping 36% despite having to contend with baseball, basketball championships, motor sports, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, etc. FIFA with the World Cup should be congratulating themselves on a new rise to ever greater popularity.
However, George Vecsey’s assessment of World Cup 2010 in the New York Times in praise as an alluring beacon of sport has a curious, melancholy twist:
So many World Cup finals are dark affairs, with one shadow or another looming over them. This final had no taunting or head-butting like the last one; no team played with an undetected Hand of God in its recent past.
And in the long run, the very long run, this final did not end with the gloomy coup de grâce of penalty kicks. Instead, it had two crack teams, two grand soccer traditions, testing each other for a long time…
There in lies the rub. This World Cup was alluring because it was not botched by the 5 problems plaguing FIFA’s sport:
1)Refereeing.
2)Not enough goals.
3)Refereeing.
4)Not enough goals.
5)Refereeing.
Lets look at these problems in their order.
1)Refereeing is the number one problem in FIFA’s football. No, not because of the record 13 cards handed out in this World Cup Final. Rather because players are now openly gaming the game. The players know that because the referee is often so far from the “scene of the crime” while the sideline referee assistants are so absorbed in getting offside and ball out of play calls right, players can get away with murder. Murder in this case is anything from cleverly disguised pushes and shoves through shirt pulling and other free and corner kick wrestling matches to open bating and taunts. In short, FIFA’s World Cup games are always at the very edge of running out of control epitomized by Zinedine Zidane’s head butting redcard in the 2006 World Cup Final. It soured the game and the Italian “victory” badly. FIFA risks declining credibility as the lavish and superb TV coverage exposes the game’s officiating deficiencies ever more clearly.
2)Not enough goals is very close to the top problem in FIFA’s football. And there are clear indicators. The average number of goals scored in World Cup 2010 was 2.3 second only to 1990′s 2.2 low point and the stellar average of 5.4 goals/match in the 1954 World Cup. Low goal scoring brings on the worst possible outcome, George Vecsey’s “the gloomy coup de grâce of penalty kicks”. In the past five World Cups 2 were decided by penalty kicks and 2010 was just 2 minutes away from the same outcome. Ditto for the Womens World Cup. The game is in danger of dying for goals.
3)Refereeing is the number 3 problem in FIFA’s football. The beautiful game is is being marred with player’s stage acting. Thespianism can be highly rewarded. Dive whenever remotely close to the box and any contact is at hand. Dive dive and writhe when your team needs a breather or break in the action. Forget the free flow of the game; just get an advantage. And the players know they can get away with it, especially when the referee is 20 or more yards away. And if a freekick or penalty is available and 1 or 2 opposing players are nearby – dive, Dive, DIVE! World Cup 2010′s MasterDiver – Spain’s Andres Iniesta.
4)Not enough goals is the number 4 problem in FIFA’s Football. The goals per match are dwindling and not just in the World Cup as defenses get better and so does the sideline officiating. Give credit where credit is due – the side line officials were shown to be right by at least 3 or 4 camera angles in their offside and out of touch calls [but certainly not their goal score calls]. So FIFA should adapt. Basketball increased scoring by establishing the threepoint shot. Ice Hockey reversed a similar trend in declining goals per game by limiting the size of gear worn by goalies and defensemen plus tweaking other rules. And the opportunities open to FIFA to to opening up the game can be simple and effective as these 4 examples show:
i)Raise the net by 4 inches or 10cm – many more top of cross bar shots would go in.
ii)No offsides for the the first pass over the midline – this would create space and new offensive strategies.
iii)No tackles from behind – tackles from behind slow the pace of the game down considerably and have given defenses the upperhand in matches. They are also the cause of protests and diving.
iv)add another on-field referee like baseball, basketball and ice hockey all have done -Better calls means fewer infractions because players know they cant get way with murder, play is speeded up and more goals per game follows.
FIFA must recognize that 2-5 goals per match is literally gold for their sport.
5)Refereeing is the number one problem in FIFA’s football. It is centered on having only one referee on a field that is 120 meters by 45 meters. Referees run a punishing average of 12 miles per game. Yet with long ball passing and swift counterattacking, referees inevitably find themselves out of position to make the right call. And the sideline officials have enough problems spotting offsides, out of touch balls, and balls crossing the goal line. The case could readily be made for 3 on field referees. This would eliminate all the tugging, pulling and wrestling on freekicks. Offenders caught touching would be whistled out of the box. More goals would be scored from corner and free kicks. Referees could more easily stay out of the way of play as they would be strategically placed and could move out of the flow of play[and would have more energy to do so]. In general, the players’ dives and other cheating would decline and the flow and scoring in games would likely take an nice uptick.
FIFA football, at its peak in popularity, is also in danger of spinning out of control. Increasingly often referees are barely able to keep games under control as players play the cheat game within the game. And fans, already restive, can just say their actions are justified by the stultifying low-scoring games with so much on-field cheating. So as one English mobster-like fan was quoted as saying – “we need to stir the game up a bit”.
Certainly FIFA administration needs a little stirring up. Or FIFA could become like Cycling and Major League Baseball, reacting timidly to emergencies that call the quality of their sport into question. And thus ironically, FIFA Football at its peak of popularity could likely lose its title as the World Cup of Sports.
Fearless World Cup Semi-final Forecasts
Forecasting as Larry Summers and the other members of the US Economic team have learned is a very risky business. Eight percent unemployment rate by this time with TARP fund assistance. No worry about a double dip recession. So fearless and without further to-do, here are Takethe5th’s World Cup forecasts for the Semifinals:
Netherlands 2 Uruguay 1
Too much of Uruguay’s talent is on the sidelines due to cards. Forlan cannot do it by himself. The Dutch, with Kuyt, Robben, Van Persie and Shneyter have too much fire power. It will not be a cake walk but also should not be a penalty kick victory either.
Germany 3 Spain 2
This scoreline is subject to reversal if Fernando Torres gets out of his Wayne Rooney suit and finally starts to score. But see this astute assessment of German play so far in the World Cup in Vanity Fair. Already, Germany has frustrated an offensive and skilled passing team in Argentina; so they should be able to do it again, unless the raging bull that is Torres scores a goal or two.
Lessons for World Leaders from the World Cup
The World Cup is providing great TV, Press and Internet coverage and there-in lies the lessons for World Leaders. Great coverage means bad plays as well as good ones get big coverage. Take the tic-tac-toe passing of the top clubs like Germany, Spain and the Netherlands – all 3 teams are semi-finalists. But bad play gets covered too and often from 2-3 angles. Take the officiating – blown goal calls [think England's lost goal against Germany and the US against Slovenia]; wrestling mayhem on corner and free kicks in the box; late tackles mixed with great thespian dives; shirt, pants and arm holding and/or shoves, etc. With one referee to cover a 120m by 45m field – there is plenty of room for error. And fans all over the World are seeing this in HDTV with instant replay live on TV or in You Tube replays on the Internet. FIFA is going to have to do a lot better on officiating or see the its Championships like the 2008 World Junior Football Championships in Toronto become crass spectacles of mass deception.
Likewise World Leaders cannot discount the wave that is high definition TV and the Internet. If the TV and Print Press don’t get the story right – and it is hard to dodge these two sources sometimes wobbly aim – then the Internet with it tens of millions of blogs, tweets, and searches will reveal the underlying current of truth. Senator John Edwards saw his once presidential ambitions become the butt of paternity jokes. Israel has seen its low credibility in negotiations with Palestinians sink to new depths with the continuing Israeli settlements on West Bank territory and then the ham-fisted land followed by sea attacks against Gaza’s Palestinians. Now Israel is perceived by America’s top leaders as a liability in its war on terror. Finally, China has had 12 suicides at the Foxconn plant plus other labor strikes at nearly a dozen sites throughout China as low cost workers strike against minimal wages that are not even matching the rate of Chinese inflation.
In sum, World Leaders have still not come to terms with a)the speed and spread with which stories unfold on the Web and b)the quickness with which events they actively work to cover-up are revealed. First on the Web and eventually in the Press and TV. The Politics of Deception has turned – and World Cup coverage is the mark of that.
The other lesson of the World Cup is remorselessly pragmatic. Assists win. This remarkable fact is again underplayed by FIFA – the only major team sport that does not credit players for contributing assists on a goal. The World Cup Golden Boot is for Goal Scorers only. Yet, basketball with assists, baseball with RBIs, ice hockey with assists all record and reward with trophies and extra-compensation for players who contribute to the production of scoring plays. And anyone watching the World Cup has seen many a tap in goal and many from the passing and assists savvy teams like the aforementioned Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Takethe5th won’t belabor the point and implications for World Leaders.
Winter Olympic Closing Ceremonies: “Sorry About That”
The Winter Olympic Closing Ceremonies were such an example of new “I believe” bravado rippling across the Canadian landscape and yet a wonderful opportunity missed. Sorry, USA and the rest of the world – humble, self-effacing, meek and reliable Canadians will for the time being become more like uhhh … ugly American Wall Street Banksters. Sure there were spots of the old self-effacement as VANOC’s Jim Furlong was made to read the closing statement in more broken French than a full year of ex-Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s English speeches. Now the two solitudes can get on with real communication.
And there was a brilliant touch of the witty, self-deprecating Canadian humor as the Olympic Torch with the missing 4th link was comically restored with Olympian Katrina LeMay-Done finally able to light the fire and torch for an hour more. But after that, the closing ceremonies went downhill faster than the Austrian ski team ["sorry about that" Ostreich, aber diese ist der neu Kanada].
First, there was the come back home gang – Canadians who have been successful in New York or Hollywood saying why in full projected Punch humor they retained some nostalgia for Canada. It was like a mini Travel Commercial which incidentally the Supernatural BC government is doing on TV in Microsoft fashion – i.e. copying the form and style of the real-deal California travel commercials. Martin Short, like the failed Olympic torch link, is rumored to have come up short and failed to show – and this viewer can guess why.
Next, the Vanoc team cannot be blamed for what Sochi Russia did – “a mixed pastiche of 1912 era and contemporary Russia as if the Communist hole in Russian history has still not been filled”. But Canadians then quickly did their best to imitate bad American Super Bowl entertainment – you know the kind where more time is spent doing scene changes then in the entertainers actually entertaining. Even the Vancouver Sun noting in its review the endless stream of lip-synching , one song stand of Canadian entertainers – as if quantity and no hurt feelings took precedence over a real show.
This party would vote for bringing the Maritime and Quebec fiddlers back from the Opening Ceremonies and have them lead the athletes in a series of simple riels, line and square dances that I am willing to bet every one of the athletes could could do with their eyes closed given their physical conditioning and sense of enthusiasm. Instead we got treated to Michael Buble and the RCMP Hooter girls.
Not just bad, but gosh awful – no wonder NBC decided to terminate their coverage of the Closing Ceremonies prematurely. They certainly know when the Night Show is not clicking.
And so as the Vancouver Sun noted – there were many questions to be asked about this Closing Ceremony given a)the quality of the Opening Ceremonies, b)the template for good closing ceremonies provided by Calgary and the 1988 Games, and c)the wonderful times, goodwill of the people and visitors plus the drama of the Olympians themselves. One could have taken from the many volunteers at the events their impressions of the best moments of the games. Taken some of the dramatic finishes and shots of the Olympians, projected them up on the screen and then asked the Olympian and their volunteer admirers to take an encore bow and/or exchange best wishes [with translator help as required].
So let me repeat the questions raised by the Vancouver Sun –
As fireworks burst off the roof of BC Place, several questions are posed by the casual observer; Why did Cirque de Soleil never make an appearance at these Olympic Games? Why was the music so milquetoast? Why did guys like Jim Carry and Mike Myers not show up, especially when the latter is a stone hockey freak?
Amen. The Games were so good, the Canadian Olympian performances were so empowering, and the goodwill of the World was to be had – why sell so short on showing off how good the games were and how Canadians can have a good time dancing and partying? Cheesh, just when Canada Owns the Golden Podium and scoffs a good part of its national inferiority complex, one has to say – “Sorry About That” for the Closing Ceremonies. Typical Canadian, Eh?
As the Season of Money Begins …
There is an interesting article in the Sports section of the New York Times. As the Jets pack up for the Season having just failed to be the Arizona Cardinals of this season – the Times Reporters ask what will the team need to make it to the top next season. And the analysis is complex because this next season there is likelyno salary cap in the NFL. In fact, working without a salary cap stands to make the unrestricted free-agent players very rich – and maybe the rookies a little less so. What is fascinating is the thought the NFL has put into one capless season to guarantee parity and not money dominates in the NFL. After this year the NFL will likely revert to a cap system. In a similar fashion, the national political election season is already upon the US – as all the members of the House and 1/3 of the Senate are up for re-election. And the US Supreme Court has made it a capless one as well – unlimited campaign funding allowed for all corporations and special interest groups. However, unlike the NFL, the US Supreme Court a)has not taken any thought or made any plans for the implementation of its decision allowing for unlimited campaign financing and b)this decision is not for just one season.
Obama in the Allstar Booth
I was pleasant surprised by Baseball’s AllStar game this year. First, the dedication to Service in the Country with its honoring of volunteers in the various baseball cities across the country was carried off very well. Second, President Obama proved once again that he is as close to a Natural Born hitter than anyone around in the political game.
First, the shots of his mingling in the clubhouse with All Star players showed a natural enjoyment of sports and athletes not seen since the Kennedy days. Second his willingness to come out and throw the ceremonial First Pitch wearing a Chicago White Sox jacket – and suffer the slings and arrows of St.Louis boos [Chicago is a constant rival to St.Louis in business and sports] showed the innate pluck of the President. His First Pitch had pluck too.
But it was in the broadcast booth where the President worked some magic – showing knowledge of the game and interest in some of its intricacies. Most fascinating was his question to Joe Buck and Tim McCraw, both acute observers of baseball, on why the American League had been winning the All Star Game so consistently for the past 12 years [and now at 13 given last nights win by the AL]. Joe and Tim both noted that the All Star game had shown a streaky trend in the past with the AL dominant and then NL and now the AL again in about 20 year periods. But then both Tim and Joe agreed that the AL was dominant right now because they played better baseball and the Designated Hitter Rule forced them to do so. President Obama asked why that would be true. And the commentators explained that easy outs with pitchers are not available in the American League, so teams have had to adapt with better pitching and fielding to compensate. Obama appeared to be intrigued by the reasoning.
Note to the President. The US has been like the National League, giving up on Manufacturing by conceding to Low Labor Cost Markets and Globalization while relying on Finance, Innovation and Services to make up the GDP/Balance of Trade gap. But now that good paying Jobs are at a premium, transportation/logistics costs make offshoring a losing proposition[see HBR July August issue], and Mass Customization is the new Mass Production reality – the US is discovering that it has given away the industries and trained labor necessary to fit into the new realities and be competitive in the new emerging green markets. Even worse, the BRIC players are playing some nasty hardball as they become extremely protectionist [yet again - already crying the "developing-country-blues" to get off having to commit their fair share to CO2 and other pollution controls while putting up trade barriers in emerging new green industries]. Finally, the US can ill afford to have 40% of its Business Profits being garnered by one industry the industry of Ill-Repute, Finance. So it is no wonder the President was interested in hardball – increasingly he is playing in that game not just domestically but worldwide.
Andy Roddick – Tragic Hero
The Times of London Sports Editors Simon Barnes and Neil Harman got Sunday’s Wimbledon story right. Andy Roddick was not just the ragged warrior but also the hero of the match – unfortunately, the tragic hero. For no country is quite like the US in Sports.
To finish second is equivalent to finishing thirtieth or to being consigned to the ever Limbo of Undistinguished. And so Andy will have to live the hell that is Not Quite in US Sport. Yet in his play and in his defeat Andy showed true heart. I had always liked Andy from his early days in tennis. Now he becomes a constant favorite – the one to pull me into games like the retiring French man Fabrice Santoro – each playing the game with distinctive verve and heart.
Blagojevich and Madoff: Boxing Day Gifts
Public Trust, like the air we breathe, is a social commons. No one party can buy or control it. But it can be tainted, polluted, and otherwise damaged by individual and collective actions. Rod Blagojevich sits at the public service tip of the “Pay to Play” disease that is infecting all levels of US Politics (talk about the onset sign of critical breakdowns in the political system for failure to achieve any meaningful campaign finance and lobbying reforms). One only has to look at the serious deficits in timely control and regulation of the stampede to invade Iraq; the many Republican and Democratic Senators who bowed before and acted in behalf of the Financial Masters of the Universe prior to the Financial meltdown; and a Bush Administration that has been nudge-nudge, wink-wink, selling out to the highest and most savvy game playing bidders for proof that Blagojevich’s “I’ve got this thing, and its fucking golden. I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing” is not an isolated phenomenon.
Likewise Bernie Madoff sits at the bottom of where Fiduciary Trust has reached. The financial community, particularly the Jewish contingent that was so deeply brutalized by Bernie Madoff, seems at pains to explain how this could happen. Never mind that every sector of the Financial community has been out to gut Fiduciary Trust and simple Business Ethics. So it is no matter that Better Business Financial Practices 101 have taken a fifth seat to monstrous financial greed with ever rising bonuses and executive payouts; own account transactions and self aggrandizement before clients; risk taking with complex and poorly tested instruments compounded by extremely high leverage; and a legalistic “never give the rubes an even break, and see if they will fall for the latest financial ruse”. So surprise – Bernie takes your financial faith – and put it in the 5th seat to the tune of $50 billion. Tell me again you are surprised. Really…unbridled greed comes back yet again and made Madoff …. and you are surprised ???
So sanctimonious coverage by the Press that this Governor is a rare thing – a bottom feeder. Or how could a Madoff happen ? is so disingenuous. Of the two, I like Blagojevich by a country mile. While Madoff simpers and sulks, Blagojevich is out there saying “I ‘m not resigning, I did nothing wrong, and don’t you rubes play dumb. Don’t you god damn know that pay-to-play at the highest levels of government is the state of the political game right now?” At least Blagojevich is telling us the unvarnished, ugly truth.
I Have Seen Gladiators
Its rare that you get to see a real contest of wills, the sheer ebb and flow of best blows taken for minute advantage only to be repulsed, and the sheer extravagance of seeing pounding shot after shot taken that you know to be, from your own dallying in the game, of a sublime nature. But even that shot returned with an even greater skill. And then again. Then throw in the elements of alternate Sun, wind, rain delays and approaching darkness. That was the delight of the five set Wimbledon Men’s Finals between Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Roger Federer. After that match I can say I have seen gladiators.
Major League Cover-up
“baseball” is doing a major cover-up on its doping problems.
On Friday, baseball and its players union came to an “agreement” to whitewash all its doping problems – and the major trade press that covers the sport seemed to agree. Lets do nothing , sweep it under the rug, and gosh golly isn’t Bud Selig, as usual, doing all he can to control problems confronting baseball. Normally I would capitalize baseball, as a sport worthy of the highest esteem; but its commisioner, owners, players union and players seem bent on contorting and twisting the game to fit the drugs and other artificial chemicals and technologies rapidly becoming available to make some players “lots better” than others. What a sham and a shame on baseball.
What I was surprised to discover was the reaction of the Sports Press. Just report the facts to cover our asses – and maybe not that:
CBSSportsline – just the AP facts
ESPN Sports – nothing to be found
NYTimes – not even the facts are deemed fit to print on – oops one story just appears, but nothing at Bats
Sporting News – abridged coverage from Associated Press
St.Louis Post Dispatch – just the AP facts
USAToday – the only “Sports” website with comprehensive coverage
Yahoo – perfunctory news coverage from Associated Press
Hohumm a late Friday story… drugs in baseball and everybody gets off as the Union strips baseball commisioner of any clothes and credibility … ughhh who wants to print a story on Bud Selig naked morally speaking again. But surely the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, part of the rock solid mid-America that reveres the the sport …. no such luck. Well at least the Sporting News … so sad a once proud “baseball” publication reduced to “going through the motions coverage”.
So baseball, instead of sending a signal that no ”corking of the bats or bodies” or any other artificial advantages will be allowed
in its sport - instead said, ”nudge , nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean, know what I mean”.
And maybe that is the problem. The baseball nation is signalling to the Press that they want to do the same as last year’s “San Francisco Giants Fans Love Barry Bonds and asterisked Home Run Records“. Just don’t remind us how the commissioner and the players union are totally discrediting and slowly but surely eviscerating baseball. Let Marion Jones goto prison for drugging and lying but surely not Roger Clemons or Miguel Tejada or any baseball player.
Meanwhile back at bat-heads headquarters you get this gem “Hehehe – and we will give $200,000 to some youth anti-drug in sports campaign.” Who was the PR brat behind that tokenism ?
I was enjoying writing about baseball here and elsewhere; but not any more. I can spend my energy, time and attention much more fruitfully elsewhere. What a shame for the national pastime … time and events indeed have passed by in probity, fairness and moral sense a lot of baseball’s players. Its as if they couldn’t handle time’s curves at all.
Gosh I need a 5th of grog to swallow this one.
RedCard to FIFA
There came a moment in the USA vs Brazil semi-final game in the 2007 Womens World Cup when one had to issue a red card to FIFA. Fittingly it was the red card call by the Swiss Miss Referee Renghal. She clearly botched the call – Christiane of Brazil had brought Shannon Boxx of the USA down; not the opposite as “observed” by the Swiss Miss.Did the sideline judges intercede ? No of course not. Did FIFA have video instant replay on this most serious calls in football and a means of getting a clarifying message to their referee? No, of course not. Yet the replays, over again screamed wrong call, Wrong Call, WRONG CALL – and so the CBC Sports commentators were reduced to platitudes once again – ” in the heat of the play, things like this slip through cracks”.
But what could not slip through the cracks was the complete unsportsmanlike conduct of Christiane (ironic name) of Brazil. Did she attempt to clarify the situation to the referee? No, of course not. Instead she taunted Boxx and the Americans with a gross gesture and exultation at having achieved the supreme deception – extracting a red card on your opponent when in fact you might have been carded. It was shameful – and shameful of a Brazil that added the adjective “beautiful” to the game of football fifty years ago. And did the Swiss Miss Referee, right on the scene issue, a yellow card for this clear infraction – no, of course not. And it was at this moment the light of this game flickered out and “beautiful” as an adjective departed from Brazilian football – shameful, Shameful, SHAMEFUL – and a Red Card to FIFA.
But don’t blame Brazil alone. There is a style of football coming out of South America which I call Con-Cheatas. The basic idea is that elite teams know that referees are hopelessly out matched in trying to make good calls on the flow of play that is now not only swifter but also 1)marked by 30-50 yard outlet passes, 2)subtle player crossings (moving picks), and 3)ever more closer tackles (is the ball or dribbling player hit first ?) And side judges are preoccupied with ever closer offsides calls (on 30-50 yard passes it is ever more difficult to get these right) or out of bound touches. But football simply does not have a culture towards fostering “lets put our heads together and quickly get this call right” among the officials(in contrast to American Football) and so the referee rules as an emperor on calls rarely consulting his line-judge cohorts. The net result is the referee can be conned – hence the Con-Cheatas style of play that is emanating primarily out of South America.
What is the Con-Cheatas style of play? The whole idea is to con the referee into making a bad call that gives your club advantage – a penalty shot, a free or corner kick, an oppenent player a yellow, or best of all, a red card. So picks, jabs, trips, shirt-holding, elbow swings, jump collapsing are now literally running rampant if the referee is distant and out of postion to make an informed call. And if the referee refuses to take any help from his line staff, then full riot is on. And the preferred Con is the dive, Dive, DIVE style of play. Slight nudge at speed – dive! Any below the knee contact in the opposition’s half of the field – Dive! Any plausible contact in the box and if you can’t make a play then dive, Dive, DIVE!
Canada was host to the 2007 Mens Under-20 World Cup and I looked forward to some magnificent, free-flowing football. These kids would have pace to burn!! Wrong! Instead, lead by the South American teams we were “treated” to Con-Cheatas football – Dive Dive Dive was the order of the day. And over and over again the CBC commentators, both English and Canadian, were heard to comment the referees have been told to call dives yet they are just not doing it to the detriment of the games. And so why not do a Con-Cheaters job on the refs? Time and again referees were hopelessly out of position to make a good call – and heaven forbid that the referee defer to the line judges. And so what do I remember about the 2007 Mens Under-20 World Cup Final ? The Argentina of such recent football greats as Messi, Riquelme, and Tevez out Conned-and-Cheated their Chilean counterparts. The match was not just forgettable; it was tedious and loathsome.
Red Card to FIFA because all of this is avoidable.
FIFA is antediluvian on refereeing reforms. But they are not alone. The NHL-National Hockey League held out from doing the right thing for far too long as well. The word among hockey aficionados was that it simply could not be done – 2 referees officiating a game. The referees would be like fish out of a ice hole, fluttering on the ice and getting in each others way. The game was fast and two referees would bollox each other up while slowing things down. Wrong! Better calls, more quick consensus decisionmaking, fewer but better penalty calls. FIFA Football is the last major sport I know of that relies on one referee to make the crucial on-field penalty calls. It is a sport that has more than enough money, especially in World Cup venues, to provide a second referee plus use instant replays to clarify critical penalty kick nd red card calls. But FIFA in its infinite wisdom says oh no to this. So now Brazil and South America bring the new suffocating Con-Cheatas style of play to football. And beautiful will be gone from football as long as deception of the beleagured referee prevails. It is such a pity a sport known for beauty doing itself officially in.
Give Sepp Blatter and FIFA Football Officialdom a 5th of Whiskey each, maybe if they are drunk they can come up with better rules for Football officiating.
Its All in the Assists
Like all sports football craves more goals and bigger scores in its games. At the recent 2007 Womens World Cup, FIFA made a big show of awarding the Golden shoe to Brazil’s Marta for 14 goals in the Final Game ceremonies. But I think FIFA has it all wrong, they should be awarding the Golden Shoe to the player with the most total goals and assists. Assists ? Assists in Football – who counts them?
Exactly – and that is is the problem in FIFA Football. All credit is given to the goal scorer and not to the players who have carefully planned and set-up the play, served in the perfect cross or delivered the cunning corner kick. In a sport like football, where the better teams are served by midfielders who can drop passes deftly and free up a striker for a shot on goal – this skill of play should not go uncounted, unnoticed and unrewarded.
In American Football, its is the blocking back and pulling linemen who clear the way for the running backs that earn very nifty salaries. In Hockey, all the papers report the statistics for goals and assists and Scoring title goes to the player with the most goals and assists. So it should not be a surprise, that Wayne Gretzky, considered the finest hockey player ever, would be remembered as much for his wonderfully threaded passes as for his spectacular goals.
Yes football commemorates some of its finest playmakers as in Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer or France’s Zinedine Zidane. But these are the exceptions. Instead the goal scorers are commemorated and adulated. True Argentina’s Maradona and his Miracle goal against England was a singular marvel. But that is exactly the case in point – it was a single exception. My favorite goal of the past 5 years was a sublime, no-look backpass from Argentina’s Riquelme right to the foot of Messi such that with a deft step he had a clear shot on goal which he did not fail to convert. But without the pass there is no goal.
At a time when team play, clever passing and intricate set pieces are starting to dominate the game why shouldn’t FIFA a)track and publicize assists and b) celebrate that with a Total Points Trophy in major FIFA competitions. Do that and watch the goals increase too.
NHL NULL
Its beginning to dawn on Hockey commentators in Canada that the league has done a great disservice to the game in recent months. Take a look at Stephen Brunt’s recent columns in the Toronto Globe and Mail. In essence Stephen is saying that for Hockey Loving cities the times are good. Elsewhere hockey times are terrible. This is Hockey Dual Speak for bemoaning belatedly the fact that the NHL, its Commissioners and Board of Directors saw fit to scupper, reject, and deny WaterlooOntario multimillionaire (as CEO of RIM Blackberry) Jim Balsillie an NHL franchise in Hamilton.
Lets look quickly at why a franchise in Hamilton really makes sense:
1)The Golden Horseshoe around lake Ontario has about 9Million in population – 5 to Toronto, 4 to the Hamilton area. Lots of hockey mad fans – more than plenty to share;
2)The CFL-Canadian Football League has a club in Hamilton – and the rivalry with Toronto and Montreal is bigtime; ditto for the AHL Toronto Marlies versus Hamilton Bulldogs. A Hamilton NHL team would bring a natural rivalry to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Ottawa, Detroit and Montreal. Rivalries like this sell tickets;
3)In Canada Lacrosse is the official national game; but Hockey is the real national game;
4)The US attitude towards Hockey is best summed up a Jay Leno no-joke: “NBC, with the sure TV scheduling Kiss of Death, has added the NHL Playoffs to its line-up”.
In sum, Hockey is viable in the US in the Northern corridor of US states where Hockey gets played in the high schools and universities; elsewhere its popularity is suspect. Even in monster population centers such as LA, Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, and other Southern cities, hockey depends on fighting and ex-patriate Canadians/Northern Europeans for its fan base. Not a recipe for success. Expansion of the NHL to Northern Europe is more viable than the Deep US South. Meanwhile Canadian cities like Hamilton, Quebec City and Winnipeg will be branded as “small” markets and unable to sustain an NHL franchise. Meanwhile, look at Kansas City’s incredulity about the possibility of getting an NHL franchise. If you had any doubts that money talks in the political domain – just take a look at the NHL and its roster of teams.
Give the NHL Commish Gary Bettman a 5th amendment statement – he will have a lot of “splainin” to do after this season.
Bud Selig: Baseball’s Decommissioner?
Baseball is a sport of rhythms and routine; something that once you play it , it definitely stays in your veins. And if you watch Baseball enough, the rightstuff also seeps in to your bloodstream and consciousness. Out in Calgary Alberta, one of my favorite pastimes was to sneak out to Foothill’s Park right next to the University of Calgary campus to see the Cannons spray their pitches and hits all over the park – literally.
Remember, baseball has its rituals and rhythms, so I could take the nights assignment in Database Modeling or English Literature and get through most of the reading assignments by the seventh inning stretch yet always have the crack of the bat to alert me to cannonading action in the field.
Now living in Southern Ontario, I went up to Yahoo to check out the Blue Jays and this is what saw:
Literally a Paparazzi Circus – something that might be seen at the food store check out counter, National Enquirer section. Barry Bonds and drug scandals and tainted home run records and the San Francisco Giants and Baseball showing they could be a disgrace to the game. And the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig, once again MIA-Missing in Action.
The Commissioner is missing a simple solution – Barry Bonds cannot play baseball until the various charges of tax evasion, drug taking and what not have been cleared. But Bud should also be acting as an advocate for Barry. He should say to the district attorneys that are carrying their cases forward that Barry will be allowed to play baseball if they have not filed charges by a given date say the All Star Break.
But really, Baseball and its commissioner are doing themselves a pile of rot with their condoning of the Bonds Circus. If you agree pass along a few well chosen word to MLB (The Commish is hiding from any email contact). Or do like me – abstain from supporting MLB until they get their act together.
This a classic case of baseball’s owners and elite being satisfied with “Just Muddling Through” – take the 5th Amendment, Bud, it would be a case of classic incompetent form for you.
(c)JBSurveyer 2007
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