[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

taking a dive is what the brits call match fixing.

ah like boxing you mean. this is how things get confusing. cuz cronaldo "took a dive" (dived, dove, whatever) in the penalty box trying to ectract a penalty kick but got himself a yellow card instead

he's really an expert in diving you see, and the world knows it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixxt3nVORVs

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

it is when a player throws a game and intentionally loses. Lebron James is a ridiculously talented NBA player who had an explosive career during the regular season, and yet until this year seemed to have wilted in the clutch moments of crucial big games deep in the play-offs. I believe the brother took a dive because I believe in the conspiracy that the NBA is fixed. In regards to Portugal then the Euro 2012 Semis, I can't say exactly who took the dive or how or when, but my gut feeling watching their meh performance when I know they could have played at a higher level suggested to me a dive, that the match was fixed for Spain.

no way portugal threw that game. they left everything on that field.

--

ps- threepeat: i kinda figured out the word but didn't know the source-- basketball lingo is like chinese to me

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

ah like boxing you mean. this is how things get confusing. cuz cronaldo "took a dive" (dived, dove, whatever) in the penalty box trying to ectract a penalty kick but got himself a yellow card instead

he's really an expert in diving you see, and the world knows it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixxt3nVORVs



no way portugal threw that game. they left everything on that field.

--

ps- threepeat: i kinda figured out the word but didn't know the source-- basketball lingo is like chinese to me

It was literally patented by Pat Riley, which I find hilarious!! In regards to Portugal taking the dive, I just didn't see enough offensive urgency, consistency, or strategy to really believe that they were playing at top form, and whenever top-tier teams play shitty I am skeptical that its a coincidence, but like I said, in regards to sports I am an avid conspiracy theorists I treat professional sports like cinema, I know movies and novels are not really, but I enjoy them just the same, and so I feel that way about sports. That it may not necessarily be real does not take way the fun for me, especially then the rigging looks to go my way

[demonrail666]

El Symbols is right that there's 'diving', falling down to look like you've been fouled in an attempt to get a free kick or penalty and maybe get the opposing player unfairly booked or even sent off. and then as you say say, there's the boxing association where, you're right, it means throwing a fight. I don't see any evidence of the latter going on during the tournament but the former is a real problem. Although some are better at it than others.

Have to agree with symbols again, re the Portugal game. No way was it 'thrown'. I'm sure it's happened in the past and I remember hearing stories a few world cups ago of pressure being put out on some South American side by big organised crime affiliated gamblers but I don't think anything actually happened. The only really high profile instances of it that I know of for sure have been in Italy, which is currently going through a big scandal about it, but that only effected its domestic league. Maybe I'm being naive but I really don't think it's that widespread a concern.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

 

 

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

If Spain had been playing their usual level that game, I would have believed it a fair match, and if Portugal and been playing their level of offense, I would have also believed it a fair match, but Spain was playing half-assed and Portugal simply looked lethargic on offense (their defense was sharp though).. I'm not buying it.

Also, you guys are taking the word "dive" way to literally. It was only literal in boxing, when fighters dived to fake getting knocked out. However, in the concept of match fixing, the term is not literal. It could happen a number of ways, but I believe this match was fixed in favor of Spain.

[demonrail666]

"Shit. He's rumbled us!"

 

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

If Spain had been playing their usual level that game, I would have believed it a fair match, and if Portugal and been playing their level of offense, I would have also believed it a fair match, but Spain was playing half-assed and Portugal simply looked lethargic on offense (their defense was sharp though).. I'm not buying it.

Also, you guys are taking the word "dive" way to literally. It was only literal in boxing, when fighters dived to fake getting knocked out. However, in the concept of match fixing, the term is not literal. It could happen a number of ways, but I believe this match was fixed in favor of Spain.

suchfriends, as an angelino you probably have encyclopedic knowledge of the game of basketball, which i'm never going to question. if you say lebron james is the son of jesus i believe you.

when it comes to football, however, and by this i mean the game you grew up knowing as "soccer", you're a very uninformed gringo. sorry!

to cure this condition, let me recommend a couple of resources:

1) http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_.../channel/espn3

^^ if you have the right internet provider, you'll be able to watch shit for free clicking on it. otherwise, sorry.

if you can watch: skip altogether the fucking MLS and go for the spanish, italian, and german games (there's also some dutch and french).

2) http://www.foxsoccer2go.com/

^^ $15 a month will buy you a subscription to this website. you can stream matches from the english premiere league plus some extra others and, for some weird reason, rugby (though i've never seen those as i don't understand the sport). best thing is no commitment: i am letting my subscription go dormant during the summer and it will be reactivated august 6 when we have fresh games to watch again.

--

it shouldn't be hard to get the hang of things. i know you love conspiracy theories and all but if you keep saying the portugal spain match was fixed all you're saying is that you really know a lot about basketball.

Originally Posted by demonrail666

"Shit. He's rumbled us!"

 

ha ha-- this is one of those unusual times when tone is perfectly conveyed on the internets.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

!@#$%!, when you're done patronizing me, remember, I am an Angelino, and we tore up all our baseball diamonds and turned them into futbol pitches yo!!

I follow carefully the World Cup, the Americas Cup, I admit, I don't really like the Euro, but I am not exactly as woefully ignorant of the ins and outs of futbol like you may suspect, even if I am more adept at basketball. That being said, is stand by my initial suspicions, I have watched PLENTY matches with Portugal, and plenty of matches with Spain, and even one or two of them playing each other, and I say, this was a dive. Spain played meh, without their usual force, and Portugal equally was meh, albeit their defense was playing a bit bitter, but I can't really say what was more impacting, Spain not really showing up on offense or Portugal only showing up on defense, but either way, I think Portugal could have played better, and *gasp* even have beat them

by the way, you know I am already an ESPN3 junkie, but again, I think your patronizing tone was more innocent than condescending, so I won't take it personal..

also, I am only half-serious, half-trolling. Was the match necessarily fixed? Who knows? Really, who the fuck cares? Those assholes don't pay any of my bills, so I could care less how they pay theirs. However, I think it was obvious that both Spain and Portugal played lethargic, half-assed, urgency lacking futbol. Whether it was a dive or not then is irrelevant to the fact that I don't think either of those teams really showed up. I think the entire Semis were the same. Perhaps it was exhaustion then? Maybe teams played a bit too hard in the group matches and ran out of gas a bit down the stretch, either way, I was disappointed with the Semis, and also with the final.

[demonrail666]

So UEFA has named Iniesta its player of the tournament and named its 23 man 'dream' squad.

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservic...d=1838241.html

Not much to argue with over the 23 but I'm not sure I'd agree that Iniesta was the tournament's best player. I'd have to give that to Pirlo.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

So UEFA has named Iniesta its player of the tournament and named its 23 man 'dream' squad.

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservic...d=1838241.html

Not much to argue with over the 23 but I'm not sure I'd agree that Iniesta was the tournament's best player. I'd have to give that to Pirlo.

i guess if i had to choose a single superhero of the tournament, pirlo stands out as a single-man team. but here's the thing-- was pirlo really the best? or did he just stand out because he was so central to italy? because iniesta was amazing but you could take him out & spain wouldn't collapse the way italy wouldn't work with pirlo under pressure.

still though the two players that made the greatest impression for me were pirlo and buffon--the way buffon commanded his team, damn!!

btw someone already put together iniesta's reel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNgNmaOHg4U

(you might wanna play that on mute, but the visuals are amazing)

(wow, that guy is really extraordinary)

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i guess if i had to choose a single superhero of the tournament, pirlo stands out as a single-man team. but here's the thing-- was pirlo really the best? or did he just stand out because he was so central to italy? because iniesta was amazing but you could take him out & spain wouldn't collapse the way italy wouldn't work with pirlo under pressure.

still though the two players that made the greatest impression for me were pirlo and buffon--the way buffon commanded his team, damn!!

btw someone already put together iniesta's reel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNgNmaOHg4U

(you might wanna play that on mute, but the visual's are amazing)

(wow, that guy is really extraordinary)

It's a difficult one. As you say, Pirlo stood out but had a team built around him, while Iniesta was very much a cog in a bigger wheel. Given Spain's system, to award an individual player almost seems to deny the very point of what they 'mean', in a footballing sense. But these awards exist and if it goes to the player who really shone in a tournament, I'd still have to go with Pirlo, even if Italy's set up made it easier for him than Spain's did for Iniesta. Actually, in terms of isolating one Spanish player who I thought was most key to their success throughout the tournament, I'd maybe even go with Xabi-Alonso over Iniesta.

Saying all that, I then watch that youtube clip you linked and find myself immediately agreeing with you. Yes, Iniesta is just extraordinary.

[demonrail666]

So, John Terry, racist or just deeply unlikable?

 

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

So, John Terry, racist or just deeply unlikable?

 

i tried reading about this a bit the other day

they can sue you for "offensive language"?

[demonrail666]

It's a criminal offence here to make what's considered a racially abusive remark, although I'm not sure how that works in practice. Anyway, Terry admitted to calling QPR's Anton Ferdinand a "fucking black cunt" during a match but insisted that he said it out of sarcasm and the court couldn't decide on whether it was or not, so he got off.

[jon boy]

so leeds could be 'sheiking all over' pretty soon. i really hope that it means the end of master bates.

[demonrail666]

Anyone looking to invest in a sleeping giant has to put Leeds quite high up the list. I don't know if they've still got massive debts but if they're sorted those out (and putting aside the fact I think anyone who invests in a football team is a bit daft) it seems like a no-brainer. Although I'd say the same about Newcastle, which Ashley still can't find a buyer for (assuming it's still even on the market).

[the ikara cult]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

It's a criminal offence here to make what's considered a racially abusive remark, although I'm not sure how that works in practice. Anyway, Terry admitted to calling QPR's Anton Ferdinand a "fucking black cunt" during a match but insisted that he said it out of sarcasm and the court couldn't decide on whether it was or not, so he got off.

And yet when I make obscene phone calls to the childrens hospital they miss the sarcasm in my voice every time. Double standards, thats what it is.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

It's a criminal offence here to make what's considered a racially abusive remark, although I'm not sure how that works in practice. Anyway, Terry admitted to calling QPR's Anton Ferdinand a "fucking black cunt" during a match but insisted that he said it out of sarcasm and the court couldn't decide on whether it was or not, so he got off.

real sarcasm or just mere irony? anyway, speech police reeks of newspeak--sorry! i mean if the club suspends him for giving everyone a bad image, sure-- but prison or whatever? yikes! then again, every country copes differently with shit.

anyway, another 2 weeks and this whole show starts again, yes? my football website resumes charges on august 6th so it must mean something. anything i should look forward to? i'm new to your league...

[demonrail666]

I'm not sure Terry would know the difference between real sarcasm or irony. Personally I can't stand him but I don't think he's any more racist than any other footballer. The courts would've found things a lot more straightforward had they just charged him with being a total cunt.

As for the Prem, it's all just transfer stuff right now. Will Van Persie leave Arsenal? Will Modric leave Spurs? And where will they go? That kind of thing. The first games are on the 18th August. Prior to that, there's a charity match, the Community Shield, on the 12th, a fairly pointless annual fixture, played between the previous year's winners of the Prem (Man C) and the FA Cup (Chelsea). I don't know anyone who bothers with it, though.

Before all that starts, and while I said I wouldn't give a shit about the football in the Olympics, I can't help getting a little bit interested in them, especially seeing the South American sides that apparently take it very seriously. Plus we have the circus that is Team GB that'll at least provide something to laugh at. The real action doesn't start until the 18th, though.

The newspapers here tend to do quite detailed previews in the week leading up to the first games so I'll link them when they start coming out. They'll give you a better overview of the key players and an overall picture of the individual teams. And if you're that way inclined, I can also link some great weekly Prem-centric podcasts that run throughout the season.

I hope Paulybee revives his Fantasy Football league but haven't seen him around in ages and, if not, I know of a couple of other ones starting up on other forums that I go to, that we can all use.

[!@#$%!]

hey, i thought van persie was going to juventus, now i find out that maybe not-- ha ha, thanks for the heads up.

i might be watching the olympics final maybe if they show it but not really crazy about it.

and thanks for the heads up on the dates! i'll reschedule my automatic reactivation for the 18th cuz i'm not crazy about friendlies.

speaking of which--- there was an england-brazil friendly the other day but i didn't recognize any of the names from the euros... people are probably on vacation. so i didn't watch just scrolled to see it ended 2-0. but meh.

keep me posted on leagues! i'm ready to go down in flames just like i did with the euros ha ha ha!