I have to run errands this afternoon so the DVR will get me the Uruguay-South Africa game. I’ll have more later including some thoughts on the Spain v Switzerland shocker.
Go Bafana Bafana!
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?
Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?
When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.
He really is that stupid.
Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.
This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.
We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.
Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.
Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.
Usually wrong but never in doubt
I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.
Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.
I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.
Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?
I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.
JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?
People are complicated. Love is not.
If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.
The worst democrat is better than the best republican.
I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.
Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.
I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.
Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?
Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.
NobodySpecial
I would die laughing if SA steals three here. That said, they play the kind of game that does steal three now and again.
A Guest
SA can be a lot of fun to watch. Uruguay is strong. Should hopefully be a relatively open game and fun to watch. Lucky duckies.
Cat
I wish there was a way I could still follow the BJ RSS without learning way to much about the WC games I plan on watching when I get home from work. :(
SLKRR
Unless you are uruguayo, you pretty much have to cheer for S. Africa in this one. I’ve gotta run some errands, too, so I guess I’ll have to listen on the radio. It would be pretty sweet if S. Africa finds a way to get to the next round.
chicago dyke
for whom am i supposed to root? i can never keep up with sports.
Martin
@chicago dyke: SA is the home team and the clear underdog. I have no stake in Uruguay. Cheering for SA is a no-brainer for me.
frankdawg
For those that can’t follow the game with audio:
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!
chowkster
I am watching the Swiss go nuts in real-time. Even the die hard fans probably did not expect beating Spain. S
Joey Maloney
Fuck the World Cup.
White House, BP agree on oil spill damage fund; company to pay $20 billion
Paula
Hey Joey Maloney: see those linkies everywhere? YOU CAN GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, like the Palm Beaches & Boca Raton apparently.
beltane
Pretty disgusted with Spain right now. I had picked them to win the whole thing but they refused to mount any kind of detectable offense. Germany has been far and away the best team so far.
Crusty Dem
@beltane:
Not an unusual problem against Switzerland (pretty much the gold standard for WC defense), I’d be more concerned with the complete lack of defense on counterattacks. Those backs are supposed to do something, right? The Swiss made 2-on-4 look like even numbers, imagine what the Brazilians/English/Germans will do to them..
Surreal American
OT: At the risk of insulting vuvuzelas, Palin is the vuvuzela of American political discourse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrsQkIzzPbc
Kurzleg
It’s been a long while since I’ve read a game report as stylish as this. They don’t even credit an author, which is a shame.
batgirl
@frankdawg: I tried to watch the US match with the sound on but that nonstop incessant drone drove me crazy so I turned it off.
winguts to iraq
for fuck sake, someone should beat those damn horn blowers over the head.
Is there ANYTHING more annoying in sport?
wengler
Somebody on the other thread was worried about Slovenia stacking the box against the US. I can tell you that the US plays against teams in CONCECAF that do that all the time and they beat them.
The problem with Spain today and to a lesser extent Brazil yesterday is they are tactically rigid. If a team is going to bunch up the middle and try to play the counterattack, you gotta put your two guys up front and start serving long balls to them. The US is pretty good at doing this, perhaps because their passing game is never going to be as good as Brazil or Spain.
Also see how the US played Spain and Brazil last year at the Confederations’ Cup to see how to beat those teams. The US employed the exact same strategy against both teams: scoring 2 early goals and then going into complete lockdown. It worked against the Spanish but not the Brazilians for the exact same reason that Brazil won yesterday and Spain lost today. Brazil is just a better team and they will win the whole thing.
Mark S.
@wengler:
It’s always a good strategy to get a 2-0 lead. I don’t know why more teams don’t try it.
wengler
@Mark S.
Bob Bradley thinks outside the box.
catclub
@winguts to iraq:
More annoying things in sports:
1.Howard Cosell
2. The Yankees
3. The RedSox
4. Nascar
5. Synchronized swimming
6. Gymnastics – Rhythmic Dance
7. Ice Dancing
8. The Lakers
9. Rush Limbaugh as color commentator
10. 99% of color commentators
Let em blow.
Tony J
Spain lost to Switzerland? Oh, that will not go down very well with the Spanish Sports Press. Honduras are in for a world of hurt on Monday. That said, crazier things have happened than one of the tournament favourites getting squeezed out at this stage. If Chile and Switzerland draw their game it might come down to Spain having to beat Chile in their next match to guarantee progression. They’re certainly good enough to beat anyone, but there’s no such thing as a sure thing at this level of competition. Just ask Brazil.
And the vuvuzela is annoying. That prick who had half a dozen stuck together should be kicked to death by all right thinking people, and their wrong thinking friends.
Miss Kitka's Comrade Wayne
Yes. Tim McCarver.
El Cid
The TeaTards are maintaining a vigilant watch for signs of the Obama Kenyonesian / UN martial law forces.
Uh huh. Sure. It’s just some sort of ‘coincidence‘ that thousands of Kias are just sitting in some industrial lot somewhere just when a variety of TeaTard investigators are seeking signs of the oncoming UN martial law.
And the UN would probably be driving in foreign cars anyway, since they hate America.
J.W. Hamner
Wow, that was a nice F-in shot.
stuckinred
@winguts to iraq: Yea, stupid motherfuckers who bust in a thread about the most popular sport in the world and make comments designed to demonstrate how fucking smart they are. I’m talking to you Maloney.
Joey Maloney
@Paula: What’s your problem? It’s an open thread.
…and the first thing I said was about the World Cup. Which should get fucked. Like some people, maybe, in order to help them relax a little bit.
I’m just sayin’.
mcd410x
@Mark S.: Lol. This.
@wengler: I am worried about Slovenia bunkering, and they’ll be a lot more effective at it than their Central American counterparts as a) they qualified and b) they had to beat real teams (Poland, Czechs, NIreland, Slovakia) to get there.
Further, long ball works against best against a stacked midfield (going over it, rather than through), not stacked defenses (no space to exploit behind them), at least in my opinion. No way they’re going to play a high line with the speed we have. A more effective route is advancing down the flanks, with Donovan crossing back into the middle. Like what England tried to do to us.
Personally, I hope we break them down with ease, but I’m wary of giving up a cheap one — which our defense is prone to — as we press forward. Like Spain did.
Morbo
@J.W. Hamner: Or more poor goalkeeping, take your pick.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
I’m out of the house and tried to watch on the espn3.com feed. That was a disaster. It skips and freezes so much that it’s worthless.
Steeplejack
Lazy question: can someone point me to a site that handicaps the World Cup matches? I am familiar with the European teams, in general, but this match is making me realize that I have no clue who is favored or by how much. Don’t need detailed analysis, just something like “Uruguay is favored to win 2-1,” something like that.
David in NY
@Steeplejack: I looked at a betting site briefly, but naif that I am, did not understand the weird numbers. +600, -250 … and some in red some in other color. I am obviously not with it.
J.W. Hamner
@Morbo:
I guess the keeper was out of position, but it was still a really nice shot… even if it didn’t have a lot of pace.
Steeplejack
@Joey Maloney:
Yeah, it’s an open thread, but it’s an open thread about the World Cup. It’s fine if you’re not interested in the World Cup, or soccer in general, but there’s no need for you to come in and take a giant shit in the middle of the floor before bringing us breathless word of news that is already on 20 million other Web sites.
Randinho has repeatedly, and politely, asked people who don’t like soccer or the World Cup to keep it to themselves on the World Cup threads. It adds absolutely nothing. Explanation here.
ETA: And your response to Paula was completely classless.
David in NY
The formatting here is getting out of control.
Hamner’s comment got glommed into mine. What gives?
Paula
@mcd410x: Geez, now I’m spooked. Was THAT what the English were trying to do? And now the Slovenian team are looking to do what we did to the English? crikey.
wengler
@mcd410x
Bradley better start Holden then for service in from both sides. Slovenia is obviously not a bad team, but I am skeptical of their ability to play compact and go forward without being vulnerable to the counterattack. The US has good speed at the front that can be exploited.
It will be interesting to see how Slovenia comes out to start. I expect the same 4-2-2-2 from the US that they played against England.
Steeplejack
@David in NY:
WordPress does not like an unaccompanied hyphen in front of a word. It transmogrifies it into strike-through of the following text. Your minus number did the trick. And, since it occurred at the end of your message, it put the vampire squid move on the following comment. You’re lucky it didn’t take down the whole thread, which has been known to happen.
Paula
Hmmm … is there something going on w/ the site?
Also, in all honesty, I don’t care if people don’t care for soccer. I’m not one of those who’re going to be obsessed w/ justifying the sport to others. But fer frak’s sake, I sooo tired of people waltzing into designated soccer threads and feeling like they need to show off their disdain. It’s a sports event, the biggest in the world, and it happens every 4 years, so people are excited. No one goes around saying “I Hate the Olympics”.
Re England: Seriously, I’m ignorant about the strategery of soccer, but wouldn’t they have had to make absolutely sure that their guys were faster than OUR guys for that to work? As “undisciplined” as he is, I don’t think you can look @ Jozy Altidore and go, “Hmmm, we can just mark him w/ whoever.”
bh
@Steeplejack
haven’t looked it up or anything but i’d guess a Vegas type line would be Uruguay -1 (or maybe -1.5). That’s what i’d bet anyway…and at half it’d be a push.
@catclub
can’t believe in 2010 Cosell is still getting the hate. I was a kid when he was on but i always kinda liked him. an orginal.
catclub
@bh:
I think I free-associated the horn sound and the nasal voice.
I should have left him out.
Violet
@Paula:
Yeah, they do. People say all sorts of things. Especially when they think it’ll annoy someone else on teh interwebs.
Question: Will any work get done in Brazil during an actual World Cup match in which the Brazilians are playing? A friend has to go there for work and was wondering.
Miss Kitka's Comrade Wayne
@Violet:
Answer: Unless s/he’s going to be selling beer, no.
Paula
@Violet:
My guess is no. I’m having trouble concentrating on work as it is, and I’m an American surrounded by baseball fanatics @ work who are currently talking Lakers-Celtics. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to be a Brazilian hosting the World Cup.
Steeplejack
@Violet:
Short answer: no.
And forget “in Brazil.” I know a fair number of Brazilians here in NoVa, and they won’t be getting anything done either.
Violet
@Miss Kitka’s Comrade Wayne:
My friend has to teach a class, which is already scheduled on a day in which Brazil should be playing a match, if all goes well for them in the Group stage. We did some time zone calculations and figured that perhaps they can arrange for the class to have an extra long lunch break to accommodate the Brazilians, who would probably skip class anyway to watch the match.
In Brazil during the World Cup. Crazy.
PanAmerican
@J.W. Hamner:
I believe that’s the return on a 10 unit bet. i.e. +230 means a $10 bet returns $23.00. With three possible bets per game, both sides and the draw.
wengler
@Violet
They will probably skip the class anyways. The beer will be flowing and the mind will be fixed on whether Brazil won or not. If not, a national disaster of epic proportions. If they did would they have scored more goals if Dunga wasn’t their coach. And on and on and on.
mcd410x
@wengler: Plus, they didn’t show much ability to score v. Algeria until they were up a man. We should win. I just want us to do well. Not used to being the in role of favorite.
Violet
@wengler:
They are not really able to skip the class. It’s a work requirement and skipping it will put their jobs in jeopardy. My friend is responsible for teaching it (flying to Brazil specifically for this reason) but also recognizes how huge football is there. So he’s hoping to find a way to accommodate the Brazil football fans, but also help them complete their required course. If he can do that, he’ll be a very popular instructor!
Steeplejack
@Violet:
Is this more cultural tone-deafness by scheduling the class on a match day in the first place?
Mark S.
Red card on the goalie! They have another sub, right?
mcd410x
That’s horribly unfortunate. Was a good game. Goalie clipped him, though.
GR
Very questionable red card on the goalie IMO. Looked like he was making a play at the ball, not the player. The uncalled foul in the box a few seconds earlier looked more deserving of a penalty kick.
… That said, the South Africans need to quit bitching and get back to the game. The ref isn’t going to reverse his call.
beltane
The only good thing about that red card was that the vavuzelas were silenced for a moment. Oops, they’ve started blowing them again.
Miss Kitka's Comrade Wayne
@Violet:While it wouldn’t be unreasonable to hold class until up to an hour before kickoff (1:30 pm, local time), expecting anyone to be present during the game or even after that very same day would pretty well be out of the question. (Bear in mind that the final whistle would sound at 3:30, roughly; if it goes to ET 4:00; to penalty kicks, 4:30).
I don’t envy your friend. If there’s stuff on the curriculum that he can’t cover and have done with by 1pm on game day he had better schedule a supplementary meeting.
Violet
@Steeplejack:
No, this was scheduled with the Brazilians. There are multiple people whose schedules have to be taken into account, including the Brazilians. People fly in from various countries and locations, so it’s not a situation of Americans telling the Brazilians “this is when the class is.”
But that being said, I’m not sure just how well it would have gone over for the Brazilians to say, “We can’t schedule a class this day. Brazil might be playing a World Cup match.” While that’s an entirely realistic way to look at it, that sort of thing doesn’t always go down well with management.
My friend gets it. He’ll do what he can to accommodate them. He’ll probably have to explain to his management here in the US why they have to rearrange the schedule once the exact date and time of the match is determined.
cmorenc
WELL IT’S OVER. A send-off (red card) to the SA GK in about the 76:00 for DOGSO (a direct-free kick foul which denies an opponent a goal-scoring opportunity). To me (I referee competitive levels of soccer, albeit well short of WC levels) the GK’s foot position wasn’t “careless” (a quite natural position for attempting a save in this sort of situation) and the ball was moving away from goal (and the player allegedly fouled) at the moment this happened. I would have given a YC (yellow card), nothing worse.
But Diego Forlan (the only worthily magnificent player on the Uruguayan side) converted the PK. Game effectively over, tournament effectively over for SA. Though it would be sweet to see them defeat the thoroughly unworthy French team.
Eric S.
@catclub: I would put Miller and Morgan on my list but this. Long live the vuvuzela!
Also, it looks like we’re going to have 3 winners today.
Violet
That stinks for South Africa. I really hoped they’d get out of their group. Looking impossible now.
cmorenc
To amplify why IMHO the SA GK’s foot position wasn’t “careless” (the inarticulate FIFA LOTG 12 (fouls) description for a tripping and several other fouls)…the “foul” was by the tip of the GK’s boot against the tip of the opponent’s boot, in the course of a legitimate GK attempt at a save, in which the opponent really at the moment in question had little, very dubious further chance at a ball that was either headed out or away from goal, well outside the post.
But then again, they didn’t invite me to referee at WC 2010. I’m a few ranks short of a FIFA badge myself.
wengler
@ GR
It’s a rulebook red card. A foul on the “last man” to goal is considered a professional foul resulting in a sending off.
mcd410x
Oh, LORD, please take this discussion to the referees thread on bigsoccer. ;)
RSA still have a shot if France and Mexico draw tomorrow.
Leeds man
Suarez has been watching old Maradona swan-dive videos. I give him a 9.8
Loved the death-throes look of agony on his face after having his toe lightly brushed.
calling all toasters
Ha ha Bafana yomama. They can go suck a vuvuzela.
SLKRR
@Violet:
My wife is a university professor (here in Brazil) – she had an afternoon class originally scheduled for yesterday, but had to cancel it. It wouldn’t have mattered if the class was held or not, because not one student would have showed up any way.
People who’ve never been here during a Cup have no idea how it is (I didn’t). Everything shuts down for the games – schools, universities, businesses, shops, malls, even churches. The streets become a ghost town. Today before my daughter’s classes began, the nuns at her school were offering prayers for the Brazilian team – seriously. 2014 is going to be all kinds of crazy.
You’ll need to bend the class schedule around the game somehow, if it’s going to conflict – either that or bring in a big screen so the students don’t bolt early to try to make it home before the game starts.
burnspbesq
@winguts to iraq:
“Is there ANYTHING more annoying in sport?”
Yes. North Carolina fans. SATSQ.
maus
@Violet:
Whoever scheduled this is an incredible moron. What kind of material is there for them to learn?
SLKRR is correct, even if you have it playing in the background, people are going to want to be elsewhere to watch with friends. What use will it be if nobody shows up? The only possible thing I could think would be to reschedule it as early as everyone will agree too, and pack the time in as efficiently as possible.
Randy Paul
@Violet: I just asked my wife your question and she said “Claro que não” (Of course not). She they even stop going to the bathroom during a game.
@SLKRR: Drop me a line offline at randinho at yahoo dot com. We should keep in touch. Se Deus quiser I’ll be living in Brazil in 2012.
Irritable Liberal
That was horrible. The fire that Bafana had in the second half of the Mexico game was never there today. There was no commitment, no energy and little cohesion. The indicator was Uruguay got to virtually every 50/50 ball first. That isn’t from a lack of skill but a lack of commitment/desire.
Bafana are technically not out of it yet although they will have to beat France by at least 2 goals. If today’s team shows up that will be impossible. With little left to lose they they might come out fighting. Sad because they are a better team than they looked.
That being said Uruguay looked like a solid, well disciplined, well organized team today.
If Spain qualifies in 2nd place they will meet Brazil in the round of 16. They can still win the group with comprehensive wins against Chile and Honduras.