Soccer's a Good Sport

I'm siting here as the USA v. Algeria World Cup game is beginning. It occurred to me that soccer is a definitely different sport than the American favorites of Football, Baseball, and Basketball.

Ours has always been a nation of "we are the best" and I think overall that has served us well. We have gone from a fledgling nation along the east coast, winning two wars against arguably the strongest nation in the world, to a global powerhouse in right about 170 years when we were instrumental in ending world war II. Plus, we had the bomb. Nobody was going to mess with us.

So, it's understandable that we would consider "our" sports better. We love the quick action and mind numbing hits of the NFL. I can think of nothing better, when I was a youngster, than seeing the NFL Today starting up and watching the slo-mo replay of a receiver just getting laid out by a defensive back. The NFL is king in America.

We love the strategy, the almost military like procedure to it all. We love how after each play the teams huddle to plan their next tactical approach to moving the ball ten yards forward. We cling to the hope of the sudden BIG play in which the ball is thrown with such precision, with that perfect spiral, as to make us all wonder what it would be like to be that good at something. We even love the punt. For although it admits losing a battle, it gives hope to the underdog that just maybe putting them back in their own end may allow something good to happen for our team, for a change.

Baseball used to be our nation's passion. Talk about strategy! Strategy and pushing minute edges of probability to be one of few teams to have even the chance of winning the whole thing. How many times do you think a manager has to decide, over the course of an entire MLB season, whether or not to bunt the runner over? Given the situation in the game, the batters and base runners, the other teams infield, the ability of the pitcher to cover first base, the manager must put that into some sort of algorithm that gives him an answer. Even if the immediate result turns out wrong the manager can feel safe in knowing, if his math is almost right, he has made the right decision.

It's no wonder so many people love poker. Poker is exactly like that. I never thought of baseball and poker being similar, but damned if it isn't. Back to the point, if there ever becomes one.

The NBA is quite arguably our second most popular sport. We have fallen in love with the speed and absolute raw power of a monstrous, thundering dunk. Traveling? No big deal as long as the payoff is something akin to watching a cirque de soleil show, with defense.

The USA just had two wonderful scoring opportunities in this soccer game. They had a goal taken away as well, the result of an erroneous off-sides call. This is a truly wonderful game. I can't believe more people don't like this sport.

This game is particularly good because both teams are playing a clean game. The whistle isn't blowing every minute. The teams are playing solid defense when a man gets the ball. There isn't a lot of kicking at the back of the heels, and arms up around the faces of opponents. It is what soccer is supposed to be.

The Algerians just played a flag ball to the left corner. The Algerian forward and American defender ran stride for stride towards the ball. Control of this ball, in this spot on the field, was vital. As the two of them, both still stride for stride, neared the ball they instinctively put their shoulders down and delivered a shoulder to shoulder blow that sounded like two sides of beef being slammed together in a slaughter house.

That is just about the most contact you are supposed to have in the game of soccer. You can't hit someone like that from behind, or from the front. This game today is very clean, and very good.

Soccer has the strategy of a war game, and the tactics of a realistic battlefield situation. The game continually changes. the pieces are in constant motion. Gain the ball in an area of the field where you have more men than the other team and you are probably going to b able to put together some sort of opportunity. That is why teams play four defenders and four midfielders while only usually starting two forwards, or strikers. They give up numerical superiority in their opponents end of the field in order to have it in their own.

Attacking the corner flags of the opponents half of the field stretches out the defense forcing them to cover more space. It also keeps the ball out of the hands of the only person who can pick it up with his/her hands, the keeper.

Three good things can happen when you get the ball to the flags, as they say. You can gain possession, earn a cross or go around a defender and create an immediate scoring opportunity. You could gain a corner kick. You can gain a throw in from deep in enemy territory. Wait make it four. You could gain a free kick if the defender fouls your striker while fighting for the ball.

There are probably more benefits, but any one of these can produce an IMMEDIATE scoring opportunity. Wait, there are more benefits. The ball that deep in your opponents territory keeps them from having a scoring chance. That is, they cannot counter-attack from that spot on the field very easily. The opponents will also have their faces to their own goal which is a rough spot to defend from.

Wait, more.. the ball, if gained in the corner, is crossed from a point where your team would have a harder time being off-sides. It is similar to a corner kick because it is near the end-line. A corner kick has to be one of the best scoring chances in soccer. Your team is facing the others goal while the ball approaches from the corner kick...HUGE advantage.

Bad things that can happen on a flag ball are few and far between. The other team can gain a throw in deep in their own end (not really a bad thing). Or, they clear the ball back out (not all that bad noting your team is facing their goal, and their defenders are doing the same). Or, they get a goal kick, which against a good team is giving them possession. But it's not horrible.

Anyway, I babbled there for a bit. Soccer is awesome. This game is incredible. The skill level of some of these players is astounding, but a good team will normally beat a one person show. Employing the correct strategy, winning the small battles, and getting more opportunities than your opponent, is usually the key to winning.

I know what American HATE with a passion that makes me cringe that it is even involved in sport at all. Faking injury to draw attention and hopefully a call from the referee. It happens far too much watching international play, and I wish it would go away.

Dempsey just hit the post for the US on a fairly wide-open shot. Jesus man, finish it one time, will you? OH MY GOD, I just saw the first dive taken in this game. And the US player charged with the foul was given a yellow card. Now that player has to play tentatively for the rest of the game, and he has been dominating that defender creating many scoring opportunities.

Use the replays for yellow cards, please. Jesus, he barely touched the guy, and you would have thought the defender broke his leg or something on the play. The defender should have been the guy getting the yellow card for faking injury. The replay makes it look obvious.

See, Americans are never gonna put up with crap like that. Your average football fan is going to call that guy a pussy and probably some other politically incorrect names. It's too bad too, because this is one helluva a great game.

Maybe the rest of the world doesn't want the US to be interested in soccer... if we were more of our best athletes would play soccer and eventually we would dominate the mother. Maybe that's why the refs appear to be biased. I hope they are not, biased I mean, but I can understand in a way. If we were to give soccer our full attention, just like most things, the United States of America would DOMINATE!

US just missed two more scoring chances... good lord. Come on! great game though.

Codsey out.