Heads or Tails
The World Coin Flip concluded today, after Italy roared back from a nearly insurmountable 1-0 deficit to send the game to penalty kicks. And yes, once again, the world's best goalies were forced to guess about the direction of the kicks, and the best guesser won! (Rock Paper Scissors, anyone?) Keeping to form, 8/10 kicks found the back of the net.
France nearly won with World Cup without scoring a single goal, except for penalty kicks, in their last two games. Zidane was awarded one in both their semi-final match and the final match, and that accounted for their only scoring.
As a casual observer, I don't understand how a soccer snob could find any satisfaction at all in the way the world's greatest sports competition is decided. It's comical, really. If I get lucky enough to have a true soccer fan stumble upon this post, I'd love to know if you are as disappointed with the randomness of these results as I am.
Ah well...four more years until I watch el juego bonito once again.
posted by Sweet Tea @ 7:41 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
This is a tough one for me because I was actually for France. (That's italicized because so far that hasn't earned me much respect.)
I have to say that the first time I saw a game decided by penalty kicks, I found it to be exciting, sort of filling the room with a raw energy. My team won on PK's, so that didn't hurt.
Today, after watching Italy play a decent first half and a miserable second half, I wasn't impressed by their win via PK's. Unless you are a dipshit like Trezeguet and hit the crossbar, there is almost no chance of the goalie stopping the ball. What's the matter with a "Golden Goal?"
Last comment about a sport that I will actually miss (the next time it will be played, my oldest son will be sixteen years old!) --- if you're going to retire, if you're going to do something heinous in the last moments of your career, I guess you do what Zidane did. He went out with a bang, for sure.
And, ABC, that most revered media outlet, decried the fact that such a great football player, a legend, perhaps the best of his generation, would be remembered for this final act in the World Cup Championship game. The announcers (Musburger among them) were outraged that this would tarnish who Zidane really is, what he really means to football.
Three minutes later, in the closing montage, what did they have the editors in the booth quickly paste into the uplifting moments of the tournament? Shots of Zidane headbutting his opponent and being given the red card.
Disgraceful. And I'm not talking about what Zidane (who I can't help but still like) did --- I'm talking about ABC. Disgraceful.
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