Yeah, I was so shocked by the goal, which probably clouded my assessment of Switzerland's actual performance.

hahahaah!

glad spain lost.

does everyone hate spain because they are favorites, or were?

Haha, brilliant! And i'm totally with you on the Vuvuwhatsits.

I definitely don't hate Spain and, besides the interest that an upset inevitably brings, I wanted them to win. The problem is that traditionally this is what Spain does. It builds up the expectations of the world and then fuck things up. If Spain were a band they'd be Queens of the Stone Age, post Songs For the Deaf.

i don't hate them, i feel a little sorry for them, they field these teams that look awesome on paper and then they always inevitably fuck up, and it's hilarious.

The only positive I can think of for Spain is that they may have gotten their inevitable blip out of the way now, before it can have any real impact. I still think they're very serious contenders. (Unlike QOTSA)

so S. Africa plays again today. excellent.
Can Uruguay win? They need the points!

the vuvuzuelas is like having an Earth record playing at full blast during a futbol match! I think that shit is great! drone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not everyone complains about vuvuzelas, in fact i heard that prettyboy losers; spain actually encourage spectators at their practices to bring tha noize

that's cuz you're confusing a futbol game with a concert


ps- im being polite even though you called us idiots!!!



that's to get them accustomed to hell-- next world cup: firebombs

I meant the losers in the media who havenothing better to write about!!! and you!


;)

But it's the world cup, which is as much a sporting spectacle as it anything purely to do with just the game. The ridiculously light ball seems to be having a far bigger impact on the actual matches than a few thousand people blowing trumpets. And I do really think they sound awesome. Sort of menacing, but in a good way.

ha ha ha ha-- damn newbie!



at this point broadcasters are managing to partially shield their mics from the barrage, which is why most of us can watch a little better, but i'm concerned that it's affecting the players, and ultimately that's what matters. sure, it's the same noise for everyone (you can say the same thing about wet pitches, balls that are too light, wind, etc), but i want to see as many good games as i can and not 144dbs of dumbass blowhorn. i have a couple of ear-splitting maryanne amacher cds that i play often, but not when i try to hear what somebody else is saying-- and players need to be able to hear each other to play at their best.


anyway, uruguay has a good defense that could stop the south africans cold (i think if they put someone on tshabalala's ass that's 50% of winning the game), but what's left to see is if uruguay's world-class strikers are able to get their shit together & actually score instead of the team just frustrating their opponents. last game the strikers didn't get many balls from the midfield and their play together had not gelled, but on a good day uruguay can play incredibly well-- the problem is that they are not consistent. physically, they are bigger and stronger than the mexican players, which is a good thing against the big & fast south africans. cuahutemoc blanco looked like a fucking ladybug the other day. so i think yeah uruguay can win, and the support of the crowd for south africa, which is usually a big factor, will be rendered null by those awful trumpets.

you guys need to speak up. i can hardly hear u

Chile looked very good this morning constantly looking to attack instead of passing back and forth chewing up the time. North Korea should look good as they have been together as a team longer than anyone else. The announcer claimed that North Korean fans were hired actors as the government certainly wouldn't allow folks out of the country. Swiss looked ok as did Spain. Spain's major problem was over passing if you ask me.

How do they seed the teams for the knockout rounds? Most points earned #1 least amount of points earned #16. All ties broken by goals scored?

they started out the first half looking awesome compared to the swiss who took 40 minutes or so to get into it, the swiss started playing, to quote larry bird "like sissies" and I was so surprised they pulled it off.

I'm waiting for SA to start at 11am.. damn you folks back east are lucky, these games start at 430AM pacific, I catch the first one before leaving for work around 540ish..

NBA FINAL tomorrow, fucking Boston is getting tossed, I was rooting for Phoenix but I got to go for home team against those dickwads in boston, they are the only team more thug, more crooked, more cocky than LA!

the 2 top teams of each group qualify & play in a bracket against those qualified in adjacent groups-- it's elimination from then on

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/kostage.html

"1A / 2B" is first place of A group vs 2nd place of B group-- apply to the rest.

the number in the middle is the game number. along with the date (day/month). games 49 and 50 are on june 26: [49] 26/06, [50] 26/06

W49 means "winner of game #49". etc.

The NBA is a FIX.

fucking shit refs.

the goddamn celtics played like they got paid to drag it out to 7 games.
fucking asshole NBA

yes, true, I even started a revolution with my students at work about this and I was the truest NBA Hater of the Year 2009, I wouldn't even check the scores BUT as I explained to them, theater and movies are still good, even if you know they are scripted, so I am just trying to enjoy the show.

and last night was a SHIT SHOW. I was so upset.

this is after reading about how Doc Rivers was on the NY Knicks team that had a 3-2 lead heading back to Houston and my beloved Rockets took it to the hilt winning the 94 championship. they asked Rivers if he had discussed this with his team and he said he had, because it is important to finish when you have the chance, and not let a team get hope.

He said the Celtics team was too young to remember that series and that they rreally did not care. it showed last night. stupid assholes.

only cuz you were rooting for Boston, though honestly I don't usually enjoy 20 pt spreads either, they are not very excitied nor entertaining to watch, but this is the scripted drama of the Championships, and it is a fucking nail bitter. I usually don't keep up with futbol for the same reasons, it is kinda boring to me, it is dragged out unless I know what it is worth. In the Championships, huge deficits are OK, especially after Boston humiliated LA in Game 5

hijackers

time for the pregame!

I think its game time!

how good and a pleasant it would be, before God and Man, to see the unification of all, Africans..

12:30mtn /11:30pac

as I ran to the TV i noticed. so here I am back as a SYG vagrant..

I am ditching work to catch the US game manyana, these early AM games are a TRIP for Angelinos, we are not quite late nite games like Eastcoast, but we usually watch games around 6-8ish. watching games before the sun is literally tripping me out.

back on the NBA derailment, I'm glad you noticed that ROB, i totally noticed Boston playing sluggish on purpose, just like it was brutally obvious that Cleveland gave up, it was Nick Nolte Blue Chips all over again (and no coincidence since Shaq was there ;) )

of course, this does mean that regardless of scripts, Boston will be better rested for Thursday..

why were the Swiss playing so sluggish this morning? I would have never thought they woulda pulled off a win they way they were playing, it was SOOOO boring (*yawns.. scratches ass*)

at least Honduras gave Chile a run for their money.

I really don't think they've affected the quality of the games at all so far. Most of the players play in Europe and S'th America which can be just us noisey, even without trumpets. It's bad refereeing decisions (which we've thankfully had very few of so far) that will once again prove pivotal. That and the lightness of the ball, which really does seem to be affecting players, especially during free-kicks and corners - but i suspect that'll right itself in a round or two.

World cups always have their problems. The heat of America and Japan, the high altitude of Mexico, the lightness of the ball and the stadium noise in S'th Africa. But that's all just part of the event.

If you wanna see seriously disruptive stadium conditions, come to Europe.

and back to politics, did y'all here about the protests going on in Durban and J-burg? the low and underpaid stadium workers started a post-game rally that was closed out with tear gas and typical SAP police brutality. Is it a coincidence that LAPD and SAP are sister agencies ;)

Wed Jun 16 10:01am EDT
Thousands protest against FIFA, World Cup excess

By Brian Phillips
http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_spor....TmTDD6xhcFCzx

It's a story that's received virtually no coverage in the Western media, but thousands of South Africans held a march in Durban today to protest against the government's massive spending on the World Cup. They were joined by hundreds of stewards caught up in the ongoing dispute over low wages, which saw riot police break up a demonstration with tear gas and percussive grenades on Sunday, and which has now spread to five of the ten South African World Cup stadiums. From the Mail & Guardian, a South African paper:

"Get out Fifa mafia!" chanted the crowds in a Durban park, their ranks swelled by stewards who were involved in clashes with riot police on Monday after protests over their wages.
Monday's protests triggered walkouts by other stewards, which have led South Africa's police to take control at the World Cup stadiums in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Durban.
Ever since it was awarded the staging rights, South Africa's government has faced accusations it should not be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on stadiums when about 40% of the population lives on less than $2 a day.

Spending on the World Cup has cost South Africa around $4.3 billion, a significantly higher figure than was estimated in their initial bid, and due to a variety of factors, early hopes of a financial windfall for the country have largely been dashed. Ticket sales to foreigners have been slower than expected, and FIFA, thanks to the concessions it demands from any country that wants to host the tournament, is apparently paying no taxes on the event. FIFA expects its own World Cup profits to approach $3 billion from television rights alone.
In the meantime, the South African government has asked its citizens to use less electricity to ensure a smooth power supply for the World Cup.

"We urge our communities and the public at large to continuously reduce their consumption of electricity, and thus ensure that Eskom and other role-players are able to keep the lights on,” Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said.
The minister expressed satisfaction that the stadia hosting the games have not experienced any electricity disruption so far.

Image: Getty Images

do not forget the cold in south africa!

I know it is all family friendly and shit, and about the "growth" of the game, but I really hate seeing the players come out to do BATTLE while holding little kids' hands and shit. I findit cheap bullshit and hate it.

would you prefer them to do something more hardcore like behead them or something?

Nope. just leave the children out of it. This is a MAN's competition

ha ha ha. rob, you're such a newb. children all over the world watch this tournament & a lot aspire to play the world cup one day. futbol is the main entertainment of elementary school playgrounds and streets all over the world. the team "mascots" (translating from spanish here) are a tradition, and a reminder that the game is meant to be played by gentlemen-- this isn't always the case of course, there are thugs out there (e.g. poor tzidane in the final vs italy), but there's also a lot of exemplary fair play and comradery between opponents. many opposing players are friends and professional teammates. this isn't hockey, and most players have their teeth.

====

back to the game: nice goal by forlan, bounce & all, i like what the uruguayan midfield is doing vs. their previous game. suarez is really causing danger on the right and another game could come from that band.

uruguay's week link seems to be their defenders on the left, with fucile and godin replacing victorino and gonzales who got cards. fucile is managing to stop modise, but he's been resorting to fouls, which are a sign of insufficiency. plus, he's the smalles player on the field and that can't help.

speaking of yellow cards, dikgacoi (sp?) won't play france cuz he just got his 2nd one today.

uruguay needs to stay on the attack & increase the difference-- no sense in falling back to protect their advantage just yet.

very entertaining so far.

screw the kids I say.

Anyone know what the outright odds for each team to win the cup were before the start of the tournament?

pervert

spain managed to fuck up, eh?

missed the game, busy prepping for exams, fml!

spain was sloppy at times and lackadaisical at times