Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

White supremacy is terrorism.

This fight is for everything.

Republicans in disarray!

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Is trump is trying to break black America over his knee? signs point to ‘yes’.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Euro 2012 Championship Open Thread

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  3. 3.

    Mark S.

    Italia! Italia!

    (I never thought I’d type those words in a football context)

  4. 4.

    Raven

    Last week I was at an Italian Restaurant for a big private family event. The owner was having trouble with folks being able to see his computer to watch the game so I went home and got mine. He was watching an Italian feed and would not watch the ESPN feed even though it was much better. He was funny as hell “This is an Italian Restaurant, and Italian team and we watcha the Italian feed!”

  9. 9.

    MikeJ

    I’m not normally a fan of Italy, but Balotelli is a great talent and that’s got to burn the racist football fans in Italy. So I’m cheering for Balotelli to piss off racist Italians. And Nazis, since his foster parents are Jewish.

  10. 10.

    BGinCHI

    It would have been more fun rooting against the Germans, and since I like Spain (Xavi!) it would have been ideal, but I’m glad gli azzurri are in. They’re playng solid football.

    Going to watch it on the dvr this evening, so I’m commenting and running.

  19. 19.

    ThresherK

    My regular “sports bar”* is taken over with attendees of an Italian car show. I’m not kidding. There are more Azzuri jerseys and Ferraris than I’ve seen with my own eyes in one place.

    I couldn’t get a seat, so I’m elsewhere right now, and given the exploits of Spain, probably saved myself the collective agony.

    *Edit: In my suburb, an Irish-named gastropub with good beer selections, which advertised itself as the place to watch football starting with the 2010 World Cup.

  21. 21.

    MikeJ

    Might I say, fuck Comcast. TV froze, “Your channel will be available shortly” filled the screen. Same when I flipped over to the standard def feed. It finally came back to show a 1-0 game.

    Fuck you Comcast. Fuck you, fuck, fuck you.

  26. 26.

    Boudica

    OMG! I just found out about Glenn Beck’s Restoring Love rally at Cowboy Stadium in Texas on July 28th. But the cheap seats are sold out-guess I can’t go.
    This cracks me up. The event banner shows Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Beck is a true humanitarian!

  28. 28.

    Alison

    Man, if that outage had lasted much longer, I would have suggested bodyguards for any employees at ESPN. RAWR.

  31. 31.

    ThresherK

    There was a blurrage here too. DirectTV, I think.

    I’m closest to Bristol, CT. I’ll lead the charge, but I can’t promise enough pitchforks and torches for all.

    Note that listening to the online bit at espn.go.com/espnradio/play?s=euro1 has been glitch free. This broadband stuff might have a future.

  33. 33.

    MikeJ

    @Randinho: I have more long term hatred for Comcast than I do for ESPN. If anybody is going to fuck something up, you can usually count on it being Comcast. I could go all warblogger now and say that the fact that I was wrong in instance merely proves my larger point.

  46. 46.

    SRW1

    Must have been a long time for Spain not to win after they have been up by two.

    PS: How come Kiev has an Olympic Stadium when Kiev never hosted the Olympics?

  49. 49.

    Raven

    @SRW1:

    “The Olympic National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium; Ukrainian: Національний спортивний комплекс “Олімпійський”) is a multi-use sports facility in Kiev, Ukraine, located on the slopes of the city’s central Cherepanov Hill, Pechersk Raion. The stadium is the premier sports venue in Ukraine and the second largest in East Europe after Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The complex also features several other sports facilities and is designed to host the Olympic Games (the stadium hosted some football matches at the 1980 Summer Olympics).”

  50. 50.

    Raven

    We had the Olympic Soccer in Sanford Stadium in Athens even though Atlanta was the official home.

  51. 51.

    J.W. Hamner

    Hard to imagine the Azzurri coming back from 2 goals down when Spain has given up exactly 1 all tourney… but I suppose anything can happen.

  53. 53.

    Brad

    Spain is painting beautiful pictures. It is a privilege to be alive at this time to witness it myself.

  55. 55.

    Amir Khalid

    Okay, Spain lead by two absolutely killer goals. But I urge Italy fans to remember the 2005 Champions League final. Liverpool were 3 – 0 down at halftime, and manager Rafa Benitez was in such a state that he sent 12 players out for the second half. But Liverpool equalized within ten minutes of the restart, then held on to win on penalties. They call it the Miracle of Istanbul.

    An alumnus of that Liverpool line-up is on the field today. On the other hand, it’s Xabi Alonso of Spain.

  59. 59.

    Raven

    @SRW1: I went to LA in 84 when the commie rats bailed out and tickets flooded the market. Then, in 96, I was able to walk to the stadium for every soccer game.

  60. 60.

    SRW1

    @Amir Khalid:

    On the other hand, this has all the ingredients for a slaughter: Italy is probably gonna go for it and Spain will fillet them on the counter attack, possibly more than once.

  68. 68.

    burnspbesq

    The least happy person in the world watching this game?

    Gotta be Arsene Wenger.

  69. 69.

    Randinho

    From the Guardian MBM:

    “If this performance is anything to go by then Spain are the street-hustlers of the football world,” suggests David Wall. “They’ve lulled all of us dupes into thinking they’re dull and running out of ideas then as soon as we agree to play hunt-the-queen they happily relieve us of the contents of our wallets.”

  73. 73.

    SRW1

    Looks like Italy used up all of their luck in the semi-final: Down to ten men three minutes after the third change.

  74. 74.

    Amir Khalid

    Oh dearie me. it’s going to take a miracle for italy to come back from two goals and a man down.

  76. 76.

    Amir Khalid

    @Randinho: That’s the risk you rake when you bring on the third sub early in the second half, but Italy had to throw the dice.

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    Balotelli, to his credit, seems to have grown up over the course of this tournament.

  88. 88.

    SRW1

    And Spain expose all incredulous (football) apostles Thomas. They still own the beautiful game.

    Humble pie for yours truly.

  89. 89.

    Randinho

    Well that’s it. Thank you all for adding your comments. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be in Brazil next year for the Confederations Cup and there in 2014 for the World Cup.

    Whether you agreed with me or not, just keep loving the game!

  91. 91.

    Valdivia

    @Randinho:

    Thank you for keeping us soccer enthusiasts happy and with a home to hang out and talk about the game. I didn’t comment a lot this tourny but I read it every time.

  92. 92.

    pseudonymous in nc

    The match ended as a contest when Italy went down to 10 men, which is a pity, and the last couple of Spanish goals were against a knackered side. Still, that was a scarily good performance by a team that only seems to need to attack at top gear for ten or fifteen minutes in a match.

  93. 93.

    Splitting Image

    Wow. Makes me sort of regret picking the Netherlands over Spain in my fantasy bracket.

    Oh well. Wait Till Next Year, as they say in Brooklyn.

  95. 95.

    Randinho

    Bragging rights go to Phishbulb who won the ESPN bracket. He or she only missed picking Poland over the Czech Republic, the order of Group D winners (had France winning the group, but England did) and Germany beating Italy.

    Well done!

  97. 97.

    dollared

    Wow. Could not possibly have worked out better for Spain, and they were worthy of all the good fortune. My Facebook feed is bubbling with ecstatic Spaniards and grumpy Portugueses (I was with my Italian friends, so no need to comment on their silence).

    Thanks Randinho for hosting! Looking forward to the World Cup – Germany, Spain, Argentina, France, Brazil and Italy all have improved in the last year – it might just be epic…..

  98. 98.

    handsmile

    Es-pa-na 2008! Es-pa-na 2010! Es-pa-na 2012!

    There are not enough superlatives to describe Spain’s triumph in repeating as European football champions. More than a victory, it was an emphatic, even indisputable, declaration that La Furia Roja over the past four years are the greatest national team ever to play European football.

    My preference to watch the knockout matches at partisan watering holes, coupled with the absence of a personal mobile device, means that I can read and/or comment on these threads only retrospectively. I recognize it’s quixotic (at best) to do so on an unspooled thread, but having commented extensively in the opening weeks of the tournament, I wanted to write some final thoughts.

    Even though this match was effectively over in the 61st minute with Thiago Motta’s injury (and one could reasonably claim it was done and dusted with the astonishing combination of Xavi’s pass and Jordi Alba’s strike for the second goal), Spain’s performance from kick-off was overwhelming in every way, in every category. They “unflattered to deceive” in their first five matches: Spain’s glory was revealed in all its splendor only in the final. (And I am thrilled that Andres Iniesta-my favorite player in world football-has been named tournament MVP.)

    Much credit to italy for its unexpected success at Euro2012, a result personified by Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli, stark contrasts in both career and temperament. The noble Gigi Buffon and the inspiring Antonio Cassano were also superb throughout the tourney. Perhaps this explains the perennial match-fixing scandals that plague Italian professional football: adversity seems to inspire the national team.

    Until its surprising semifinal defeat, Germany had impressed most observers as Euro2012’s most commanding team. Although certain frailties were exposed in central defense, the German squad is replete with young (but seasoned) and immensely talented players, e.g., Ozil, Khedira, Neuer, Hummels, Gotze, Reuss. Die Mannschaft should be the dominant European team at the 2014 World Cup.

    Ghastly tournament for the Netherlands, its glittering promise once more erased by intra-squad dissent. Portugal, under coach Paolo Bento, presented a more comprehensively skillful and less cynical style of play that could lead to greater success. I’m disappointed to learn that coach Laurent Blanc has terminated his contract with the French national team, but his likely successor Didier Deschamps should continue rehabilitating Les Bleus. (Like Germany, some young great players-DeBuchy, Menes, Cabaye; like Holland, internal squabbles among veterans.)

    Russia, Ukraine, and Croatia each played some eye-opening football, but all were hard done by by UEFA’s peculiar decision on group stage advancement. Like all other international competitions, goal differential, not head-to-head, should be the determining factor. Also, it is very regrettable that Euro 2016 will be expanded to 24 national teams. While surely appealing to its citizens, to include teams of a caliber below what was displayed by Greece and Ireland here will only diminish the quality and competitive spirit of the tournament.

    Finally, once more many thanks to Randinho for his extensive Group summaries and for posting match open threads for football aficionados here. When compared to the 2012 World Cup (which first induced me to write comments on Balloon Juice), these threads seemed a little threadbare on football commentary. Nevertheless there does seem to be a sufficient number of devotees of the beautiful game to hope that there will continue to be an occasional football thread on the European and American (north and south) professional and transnational competitions.

    Thanks very much, Randinho, and to many fellow commenters! Ole! Ole!

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