CSNbbs

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5288738

He has this arrogance about him that he can write articles suggesting "fixes" for sports he doesn't watch on a regular basis.

And besides that, his opinions and "fixes" suck.

/rant

I dont disagree with any of those...

What an idiotic blowhard.

Regarding stoppage time, you can't do it the way he suggests because there is more wasted time in stoppage time - you almost always HAVE to add to get the desired effect. Regardless, the time on the referee's watch is the official time and the other clocks are simply unofficial.

I won't get into any of the others because they wreak of ignorance. Well, except for the removal of the photographer bibs from the subs. Those are stupid. I agree with him there.

(06-20-2010 05:17 PM)fishman6581 Wrote: [ -> ]I dont disagree with any of those...

Do you watch soccer?

I do, and I disagree with a lot of it. Especially the vuvuzelas. That's some real American and European arrogance to try and force another country to abide by our customs.

(06-20-2010 05:40 PM)CalallenStang Wrote: [ -> ]What an idiotic blowhard.

Regarding stoppage time, you can't do it the way he suggests because there is more wasted time in stoppage time - you almost always HAVE to add to get the desired effect. Regardless, the time on the referee's watch is the official time and the other clocks are simply unofficial.

I won't get into any of the others because they wreak of ignorance. Well, except for the removal of the photographer bibs from the subs. Those are stupid. I agree with him there.

I'm fine with getting rid of the bibs. That's some cosmetics that are easily fixable and don't change the nature of the sport. The majority of the article sucks.

(06-20-2010 05:41 PM)TN_Tiger Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-20-2010 05:17 PM)fishman6581 Wrote: [ -> ]I dont disagree with any of those...

Do you watch soccer?

I do, and I disagree with a lot of it. Especially the vuvuzelas. That's some real American and European arrogance to try and force another country to abide by our customs.

Yeah I do. I'm from Paraguay so I have been watching them mostly but also the US and SA games. I think the vuvzelas are fine. This is for South Africa and I don't see why we should stop them from having a grand ball over there for this event for a country that has struggled so much. However, it is the most annoying thing ever. Imagine sitting in front of one of those things.

(06-20-2010 06:03 PM)fishman6581 Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-20-2010 05:41 PM)TN_Tiger Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-20-2010 05:17 PM)fishman6581 Wrote: [ -> ]I dont disagree with any of those...

Do you watch soccer?

I do, and I disagree with a lot of it. Especially the vuvuzelas. That's some real American and European arrogance to try and force another country to abide by our customs.

Yeah I do. I'm from Paraguay so I have been watching them mostly but also the US and SA games. I think the vuvzelas are fine. This is for South Africa and I don't see why we should stop them from having a grand ball over there for this event for a country that has struggled so much. However, it is the most annoying thing ever. Imagine sitting in front of one of those things.

I own one.

It's a minor inconvenience.

It's no different than drunk Europeans singing so loudly you can't hear or Latin and South American fans playing drums.

I like his writing, but this was really phoning it in. I guess when most of the country knows little about the game at a high level a writer who knows nothing about the game can write something as weak as that and get away with it.
The bibs are there for the players on the field as well.
When my son was about 11 years old and very tall, he served as a ball boy at a Tiger game. He was wearing blue and gray and stood bout 6 or 8 yards off the sideline. The Tigers made him change shirts after they passed to him a third time.

(06-20-2010 07:33 PM)TiggerFan Wrote: [ -> ]I like his writing, but this was really phoning it in. I guess when most of the country knows little about the game at a high level a writer who knows nothing about the game can write something as weak as that and get away with it.
The bibs are there for the players on the field as well.
When my son was about 11 years old and very tall, he served as a ball boy at a Tiger game. He was wearing blue and gray and stood bout 6 or 8 yards off the sideline. The Tigers made him change shirts after they passed to him a third time.

Quote:The ties. In the NFL in the past 10 years, there have been two ties. As of Tuesday morning, in the first 11 games of this World Cup, there have been five ties. You will not see more ties at a J.C. Penney's Father's Day sale. I hate ties. Doesn't anybody want to win in this sport? All these ties are about as exciting as a Jonas Brothers roundtable on sex.

That's an original thought right there. No one has ever complained about all the draws in soccer. Once again an American reporter tells us the sport is no good because the final score is not 12-10. Great Jonas Brothers reference, too. I'm sure all the 20- to 50-year-old men who read Reilly get that joke.

The only people who complain about ties are Americans. Strange.

Sometimes a game doesn't deserve a winner. Or, rather, sometimes neither team deserves to lose.

(06-20-2010 09:01 PM)Tigers2640 Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:The ties. In the NFL in the past 10 years, there have been two ties. As of Tuesday morning, in the first 11 games of this World Cup, there have been five ties. You will not see more ties at a J.C. Penney's Father's Day sale. I hate ties. Doesn't anybody want to win in this sport? All these ties are about as exciting as a Jonas Brothers roundtable on sex.

That's an original thought right there. No one has ever complained about all the draws in soccer. Once again an American reporter tells us the sport is no good because the final score is not 12-10. Great Jonas Brothers reference, too. I'm sure all the 20- to 50-year-old men who read Reilly get that joke.

What most Americans seem to not be able to grasp is that win-loss record isn't the most important thing in group play. It's the points. Reilly falls into that category as well.

If he thinks shootouts are a good way to settle 90 minutes of hard-fought futbol, he is crazy.
The NFL may not have ties any more, but their overtime system is the worst in all of sport.

He's been at the US Open all week. Must have been made to do a soccer column

Rick Reilly is a douche.

(06-20-2010 05:42 PM)TN_Tiger Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-20-2010 05:40 PM)CalallenStang Wrote: [ -> ]What an idiotic blowhard.

Regarding stoppage time, you can't do it the way he suggests because there is more wasted time in stoppage time - you almost always HAVE to add to get the desired effect. Regardless, the time on the referee's watch is the official time and the other clocks are simply unofficial.

I won't get into any of the others because they wreak of ignorance. Well, except for the removal of the photographer bibs from the subs. Those are stupid. I agree with him there.

I'm fine with getting rid of the bibs. That's some cosmetics that are easily fixable and don't change the nature of the sport. The majority of the article sucks.

As a soccer referee for several years, I will say that the "bibs" have a very practical purpose. The assistant referee's ("AR") primary job is to follow the next to last defender in order to properly judge offsides. The AR spends 95% of his time side shuffling up and down his respective sideline following the next to last defender as he pushes up and pushes back. The most difficult offsides to judge is when the next to last defender is on the far side of the field. The AR's field of vision is often blocked and his depth perception is lacking (especially on a full-sized field like at the WC). When subs are warming up, they usually do so near their bench along the sideline. If the subs who are warming up were not wearing the "bibs", it would be very difficult for the AR on the other side of the pitch to judge whether that person was warming up or was the farside defender in play. Calling offsides requires split second judgment and does not allow time for the AR to distinguish between farside defenders and subs warming up. When I work as an AR, I very often have to tell the center referre to tell the subs opposite my position to put on a distinguishing color. The "bibs" are necessary for the good of the game.

Did anyone see that tv piece he did wherein he automatically assumed that the top American athletes from other sports would be better than everyone else in the world if they decided to take up soccer? Also, I find it creepy that he is making any references to the Jonas Brothers and sex, regardless of whether it was an attempt at a very unoriginal joke or not.

Also, pennies keep a player from switching the ball in a split second decision to a teammate who is not legally on the field. Especially important on the defensive side of the field while the defense is pushing up and /or trying to trap.

(06-21-2010 03:15 PM)memphis88 Wrote: [ -> ]Did anyone see that tv piece he did wherein he automatically assumed that the top American athletes from other sports would be better than everyone else in the world if they decided to take up soccer? Also, I find it creepy that he is making any references to the Jonas Brothers and sex, regardless of whether it was an attempt at a very unoriginal joke or not.

He did have a point about Kobe. Kobe grew up in Italy playing soccer. He's pretty good, and wanted to grow up to be a professional soccer player, but his family moved back to the US and he picked up basketball.

(06-21-2010 03:15 PM)memphis88 Wrote: [ -> ]Did anyone see that tv piece he did wherein he automatically assumed that the top American athletes from other sports would be better than everyone else in the world if they decided to take up soccer?

right...