This weekend I caught the U.S. vs. England World Cup game, and the last minute and a half of the Lakers-Celtics game. I'm not sure which took longer. Here are some random and unorganized thoughts on each:
Soccer is like baseball with a clock. Well, baseball off steroids, anyway. There are a lot more, "hey, something could happen" moments than there are times when things actually do happen. It lends a certain tension to the proceedings; we went nuts when the U.S. goal trickled across the line. And the final minutes were tense, but not quite like normal American sports, because you never really know when the next scoring chance will develop.
That said, the clock is huge. I love that the game starts moving, keeps moving, and ends in a timely fashion. Baseball has a huge problem with this. When it's a great playoff series (like Yankees-Red Sox in the Pedro Martinez era), I don't mind, but otherwise I start to wonder about how much of my life is ticking away watching pitchers throw to first base.
Soccer is quite good on TV, and almost great. The problem is the camera angle; for any extended action they have to pan the field because the ball can move so far so quickly. They tried showing a few seconds of the game in a close-up and it got confusing really quickly. But the slow-motion replays of slide tackles or Landon Donovan shaking a defender were great. I particularly liked the first half shots of Tim Howard, the U.S. goalie, shouting at his teammates. Like basketball, the minimalist uniforms showcase the emotional side of the game. I don't expect I really will, but I can see why people get into the World Cup now.
However, I'm sure the announcers wish they could have criticized the Americans' lone goal a few hundred more times.
Speaking of Howard, he was outstanding, and kept getting better as the game went on. He and England's Steven Gerrard (all over the place in the first half) were standouts. That's impressive because outside of Jozy Altidore's breakaway scoring chance, I'm not sure I could tell you what anyone else did.
And the Celtics took Game Five for a 3-2 NBA Finals lead. My favorite part was the Garnett-to-Pierce-to-Rondo lob-toss-lay-up that kept the Celtics' lead up late. Kobe got on my nerves even more than before. I don't understand how a guy who gets as many breaks as he does can be so mad at the refs all the time.
Apparently I underestimated the Celtics and especially Rajon Rondo. Here's hoping they finish the job Tuesday...but a Game Seven would be sick as well.
2 comments:
I have a good friend from South Africa who is an avid sports fan. He constantly complains about watching American sports because of all of the commercials. Now that I am getting into watching soccer (World Cup and Italian Serie A, which broadcasts during the boys' weekend nap), I totally get what he means. It is great to sit down and watch a game and know exactly how long it is going to last, and exactly when the breaks in coverage are coming.
I loved watching USA-England, even if the other guys in the room knew jack about soccer. The game is good, if not great, on tv, and any action livens things up. Howard was a stud, and Altidore was all over the field. And they pulled Tommy Smyth from the broadcast booth, so no matter how bad the announcers are, we have benefitted from addition by subtraction.
But I do hate that so much of soccer seems to be actionless, and that it is acceptable to play for a tie instead of a win. I get bored watching two teams try not to give the game away for the last 30 minutes - if I liked that crap, I would watch Big 10 football. Soccer would be simply unbearable if it had baseball's complete lack of time constraints.
The Celtics' win last night was huge. Rondo is the engine that drives the team - if he plays huge, they could pull it out in LA.
Kobe is an unrepentant whiner. I love to see him lose because I know he will take it out on his teammates.
So people really just sit and blow a horn for 2 straight hours? Wouldn't they rather watch the game?
Aside from playing in a beehive, the USA-England match was surprisingly entertaining. Like John I was annoyed with USA settling for a draw instead of going for the win in the second half, but then again, 1 point is better than none I suppose.
The Celtics-Lakers game on Sunday was awesome until the last 2 minutes of the game when it seemed like both teams were doing everything to try to lose that game. My absolute favorite part of the game was in the third quarter when Kobe was in his 5-on-1 mode and making some ridiculous shots. He scored 19 points in the quarter and the Lakers were still down double digits. I guess he still hasn't MATURED quite enough to know you can't win a championship playing that way. It drives me crazy the way announcers were giving him so much credit for his "tenacity" and "competitive spirit". A couple of the threes he made were from 30 feet and no other Laker touched the ball. I guess one man's tenacity is another's selfishness.
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