World Cup Fantasy League (Spoilers Ahoy!)

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 8:42 pm

Not much of a soccer (er, football) fan, but I always get a kick out of watching some of the matches on US's spanish telecasts. The hyperventilating announcers are usually a riot to listen to. They are like American game show hosts or carnival barkers.

The England/Paraguay match was a hoot: the main announcer spent most of the match making sure we knew the full names (first, middle, last and mother's maiden) of every Paraguayan, while the "expert"analyst, a bitter, retired Paraguayan footballer, spent the entire match critizing his side's (i) physical preparation prior to the Cup, (ii) overly defensive posture (according to him the manager (a very old dude) is too conservative an individual ("the man is not a risk taker"), (and iii) incorrect use of players (the good, young ones were sitting). What Otis saw as "organized" he saw as too conservative. He decided that Paraguay would lose and told us so right after that first, er only, goal, and then spent the entire match trying to justify his call. That little Valdez guy from Paraguay (who I thought played great) almost made him eat his words. He kinda ignored his great play.

In the second half, he started attacking England's side for not playing as well as they do in the Premiership. That's it; no further details on that little nugget. One interesting bit I didn't know: according to them, the guy marking Beckham is so poor that he can't afford to travel to train. Dont' Paraguayan pros get paid? They had a bit of a chuckle contrasting him to Beckham (they called him Mr. Spice). On Beckham, who I thought (I don't know shit about footbball) was kicking the ball around pretty good, the announcer guy asked the expert whether he was truly the British captain. The expert said no way, that he was just the poster boy. The real captains are Gerrard and Lampard.

They focussed a lot on the Mexican referee (Pedro Miguel Rodriguez Fernandez De La Torre or something like that), whose slicked back hair was distracting, reporting admiringly that he kept penalizing the players for minor technical points (the goalie holding on to the ball more than 6 seconds before letting it go; the players not having both feet on the ground on throw ins) that most refs let go. They thought that was a good thing to do at the World Cup.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 8:58 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:gerrard wasn't all bad, had some good moments.

I must have missed those. The only times I noticed him were when he was writing around on the pitch in pain or trying another wonder-volley and skying the ball into Row Z.

For all the criticism that came Drogba's way this past season (some of it warranted), I must say that he is one of the hardest working players I've ever seen, and that was demonstrated again today. He was always tracking back defensively, heading balls away on Argentina's corner kicks (how many strikers do that?), and working for the team the full 90 minutes. He was absolutely drenched at the end, and understandably so. Great performance I thought.

Fishfinger king · Post by **Fishfinger king** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:11 am

How come Beckham didn't get an assist for our great goal?
Grrrrr...

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:13 am

Can you get an assist on an own goal? That match was the only stinker so far - great tournament to date.

Robben absolutely torched the Serbs. Wish he'd do more of that for Chelsea.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:54 am

Beckham got the assist on the FF game I'm playing with my kids.

So, eldest son is winning with 5, youngest son is back to 0 after being -2, and youngest daughter and I are tied at -1. I suck at this all over the place. But at least, I am consistent.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 1:10 pm

But only two of your guys have played as of now, right?

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 4:50 pm

I think that's right, MG. I hope so. Anyway there's no longer a big fat zero next to girlsgoneglobal, so I am cheered. I'll celebrate anything. Last place, but NOT zero! woohooooooo!

WSS? wrote

Drogba's ... one of the hardest working players I've ever seen

Was he the one that should've gotten the pk? If he'd just stayed down a second or two, but he popped right up -- I was impressed. That was the best game I saw. Go, TnT! New world solidarity!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:15 pm

mood swung wrote:WSS? wrote
Drogba's ... one of the hardest working players I've ever seen
Was he the one that should've gotten the pk? If he'd just stayed down a second or two, but he popped right up -- I was impressed. That was the best game I saw.

Yes. It's funny you should say that because since he arrived in England he has (somewhat unfairly IMO) acquired a reputation as a diver. That's the man. I was most impressed by Robben in the Dutch-Serbs match this morning.

Chelsea here, Chelsea there, Chelsea everyf***ingwhere.

Fishfinger king · Post by **Fishfinger king** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:00 pm

Same number 1 and 2 from the Premiership season already. Spooky.
On the subject of Steven Gerrard being over-rated, don't you think he's the Dame Judi Dench of football? Some great performances - yes. However he can turn in the most mundane of performances and still get the critics, particularly Hansen (for the Dame Judi comparison read any American critic you care to mention), purring and doling out the Oscars (or their equivalent).

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:47 pm

Very unfair. Hansen has an excellent sense of who is making a significant contribution to a game, and Gerrard was, in the first half, anyway, despite the Row Z stuff.

Amazing how many of the supposed pushover games for favoured European teams are proving tough. Eng, Hol and Port (first and third after 4 mins) all getting an early goal and sitting on it worryingly for the rest of the game. And as for Sweden and let's not forget the Poland game... Well it's wreaking havoc in my predicitions game, but making it all the more fun. Lots of good fight out there, battling against the heat.

Yes, v good for Chelsea so far, Drogboy, Crispo and Robbing all coming up trumps. Shame they all have sold their soul to the Russky dollarski. Drogba did some typical dives, but gave his all in a way that indicated he was playing out of love for his country, not out of satisfaction with his bank balance and investment portfolio. He scores for Chelsea, but doesn't give it his all in that way.

Aren't players much more likeable in the national shirt? OK it's based on phoney jingoism, but there's something immensely pleasing about the fact that this isn't all about Â£50,000 a fucking week and endless speculation over whether so and so is going to sign a new contract or bugger off to Spain. You come from this country, or your parents, etc., you play for them. Bad news for Giggsy, but generallly a great concept.

I don't want it to end.

And, by the way, Carrick for United! Though Â£10m is quite generous.

How come Christian Ronald is showing zero despite making a big contribution in a game where his team kept a clean sheet? Is it zero for less than an hour? He wasn't booked, was he?

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:52 pm

Less than 60' (the NYT says he went out at minute 60) so no credit for clean sheet, minus yellow card = Zilch. Am I catching on??

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:57 pm

Can everybody just think happy thoughts to my vcr tomorrow at about 11:55 am (USEDT)? I'd really appreciate it. .

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:02 pm

Mechanical Grace wrote:Less than 60' (the NYT says he went out at minute 60) so no credit for clean sheet, minus yellow card = Zilch. Am I catching on??

It's a bit unfair, isn't it? Sometimes the scoring systems of these things are so crude as to be meaningless. I don't think there are bonuses for good play on this league, they were a big improvement on the Prem one for getting away from the crudeness.

Here's to the Czech Republic! Sorry, Moodster, but their beer is the best, I've been at it all weekend. Well, I hope we all enjoy it, anyway. Italy Ghana could be fun, hoping they keep up the African tradition this tournament of proving a handful.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:06 pm

That's ok, OW. I didn't really root for England.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:08 pm

Damn you, woman!

Actually, I have Cech as goalie, so I'm hoping for a cleaner sheet than in the finest hotel.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:18 pm

Let's hope they're (your sheets) are more ****hotelchainIworkforthatshallremainnameless****than Waldorf-Astoria.

People can't live without hope.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:24 pm

Yeah, I'd like a few midfielder goals from Donovan to spoil your sheets! I suspect my whole office will watch over lunch... very excited.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:46 pm

Good to see people getting into this World Cup here. I just hope that a loss to the Czechs tomorrow, should that happen, doesn't demoralize the team or fans too much. This is without question one of the tougher groups, and I think that even making it through to the group stage would be a massive achievement.

I spent the better part of the afternoon shuttling my daughter and son to and from birthday parties while listening to ESPN Radio in the car, and was pleasantly surprised not to hear a single snarky anti-soccer remark and some actual interest being shown in the spectacle (thank you Doug Gottlieb).

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:12 am

I hear we're going for the ol' shock-n-ah.

1st shock: where did Landon's hair go?

Ahhhh: Cherundolo chewing on Koller's shinguards like a puppy.

2nd shock: Dempsey trash-rapping from the bench: Old man like Nedved/almost on his death bed/think he a playa yo/his mama tell him so

Ahhhh2: Another massive knot instantly appears on McBride's head following a collision with Cech's elbow. Everyone stops to stare. DaMarcus Beasley scores, and no one notices except the referee.

It could happen.

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:01 am

Wow - what a showing from Australia. *hearty round of applause*

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:09 am

I think I won best hangover. A 13 hour drinking session together with a curry doth not a straight walk home make! And how I laughed as I had to go shopping yesterday morning.

Still, as I was so useless yesterday afternoon I flopped in front of the TV and watched 2 and a half matches so it wasn't all bad!

And after the Germany game I think I need to get rid of my German defenders.

I bottled out of putting Wanchope in my team so it serves me right.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:09 am

That was a great match. The only bad one so far was England-Paraguay.

Prediction time - USA 1 Czech Republic 1.

Come on the Stars and Stripes!

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:14 am

Amazing finish by the Australians !
This is one of the reason I love the freaking game.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 10:30 am

WSS - I can't see you getting a point but stranger things have happened. Today for instance.

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:35 am

USA better get into recovery mode quick!