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You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

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If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

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And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

We will not go back.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

You are here: Home / Sports / Russia v South Korea Open Thread

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  8. 8.

    Origuy

    They shouldn’t have too much trouble with this Korean team; half of the players are named Lee, Park, or Kim. They’ll have more trouble with the Russians. I hate to think what they’ll do to Shchennikov or Dzakoev.

  9. 9.

    2liberal

    so we have a couple more weeks of 5 soccer threads per day to scroll past? Am i reading the schedule right with the groups all sorted out by June 26 followed by the round of 16, the quarters, the semis, and then the finals?

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    The Korean grad student in my lab just left informing me that she was heading off to watch the game. Earlier today, the Chinese student was watching Belgium v. Algeria and informed me that she was rooting for Belgium because the goalkeeper was hot.

    I’m fighting the good fight, but not much work is getting done this week.

  15. 15.

    Liquid

    Every time I hear the Russian Anthem it’s Hunt for Red October-time.

    “It sounded like singing, sir.”
    “Singing?”

  18. 18.

    scav

    @Morzer: Well, then, explain how more work would be done under those conditions. I’d say less would be the more likely option, possibly by a lot.

  19. 19.

    Morzer

    Well, I think Korea should win this one and in the spirit of reckless predictions I am going for 3-1. No doubt this proves to BobInPortland that I am objectively pro-facist, but hey, it isn’t my leader who swans around bare-chested in front of muscular young Russian men while denouncing gays for wanting to be happy together.

  21. 21.

    Long Tooth

    What team has a not entirely implausible shot at winning the Cup, but is still a borderline “you’re dreaming” pick? That’s the team (teams?) I’d like to see win.

  25. 25.

    2liberal

    @Randinho:

    Yes. Then we go to the round of 16, quarterfinals, etc

    Thanks for the information.

    Raven and burnsbpesq, i note you often tend to get involved in dust-ups with others. To you , not so much thanks.

  26. 26.

    SRW1

    @Long Tooth:

    I would suggest that you go with Belgium then. They have the talent, but not the experience.

    Oh, and a note of caution: they also have a defender called Vertonghen, who apparently is Barcelona material because Barca is on a mission to demonstrate that real football shouldn’t need competent defenders.

  27. 27.

    Origuy

    Can someone explain the Google doodle of the octopus with a halo picking the winning team? Is he an FSM angel?

  28. 28.

    Schlemizel

    I have questions for the long-time fans.

    This bullshit of flopping when someone gets near you, is it a new phenomena? Has it always been this awful? In the last 30-40 years has the game become more physical, are players more aggressive about slamming into opponents, even when legal under the rules? If so, do you think flopping is at least in part a response to this?

    I’m not saying anything is wrong (well, except for the flopping crap that should be an immediate red card, gawd that is sickening) but I am trying to understand. Is the game substantially different than it used to be?

  29. 29.

    Schlemizel

    @Origuy:
    4 years ago a German zoo had an acto pick between teams & it was 100% correct for every game it picked. Sadly, it was a type that did not have a long lifespan & it died shortly after the cup. I’d have to google but I think it was like 20 for 20, whatever it was well beyond simple chance and into woo-woo territory!

  30. 30.

    Schlemizel

    @2liberal:
    I am in no way a soccer fan. I really tried 4 years ago. I watched a lot of games my kids played when they were young. Nope, just cannot develop a burning interest in the game. That said WTF makes you feel you can just drop in on a thread and piss in the corn flakes of people who enjoy it? Does it make you feel really manly?

    I gt not liking it so scroll past, STFU and let people have their fun. Its not all about you pal.

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    Not seeing a trend in the game so far. Thought I didn’t care, but I realize I want Korea to win.

  37. 37.

    SRW1

    @Schlemizel:

    I’d say football has become less physical in the last 30-40 years. There were times players could get away with pretty nasty tackles that will earn them a red card these days.

    At the same time however, the game has also become faster and more athletic. And there is essentially still one ref to judge the actions (though these days are miked and in contact with their two assistants on the side lines and a fourth ref).

    As long as the ref has to decide instentaneously and there are only weak post game sanctions against flopping, it probably will remain a temptation for players. And of course, these days it’s much easier to catch them doing it because almost every situation can be replayed from almost every angle.

  38. 38.

    Morzer

    @SRW1:

    If you read accounts by great players of the past, you realize just how much players got away with in the “good old days”.

  41. 41.

    Schlemizel

    Thanks for the information folks. I know all sports have gotten more athletic in the last decades so much faster and stronger in every game. I wondered how that affected foosball. It certainly can be very physical so I wondered if the increased athleticism lead to rougher play. Sounds like it went the other way.

  42. 42.

    Morzer

    @Schlemizel:
    I think what changed things was TV plus replay. Players used to get away with various misdeeds when the referee wasn’t watching – spitting, kicking, occasionally a punch in the ribs. Now, if you behave that way the odds are you’ll be caught and suspended after the game.

  43. 43.

    Morzer

    A small shout out to the ref’s comb-over. It is indeed the Cristiano Ronaldo of Gollumesque hair.

  44. 44.

    HumboldtBlue

    I think in the knockout rounds each game thread should be accompanied by one food recipe representing the competing teams and I leave that work to all of you because I think so highly of you and you guys rock and are really cool an’ stuff and are all-around good eggs and nice and smart.

    So get them recipes ready

  45. 45.

    Steeplejack

    @HumboldtBlue:

    You’ve got me lusting for Mexican after the cookbook stuff in the other thread. Another excellent one is Robb Walsh’s The Tex-Mex Cookbook. Great recipes and lots of history about San Antonio as Ground Zero for old-school Tex-Mex.

  46. 46.

    2liberal

    @Schlemizel:

    I am in no way a soccer fan. I really tried 4 years ago. I watched a lot of games my kids played when they were young. Nope, just cannot develop a burning interest in the game. That said WTF makes you feel you can just drop in on a thread and piss in the corn flakes of people who enjoy it? Does it make you feel really manly?I gt not liking it so scroll past, STFU and let people have their fun. Its not all about you pal.

    I checked history and find 17 Randinho open football/soccer threads over the past few days. I have posted 3 comments (now 4) in two threads. if you are calling me a troll this is not exactly Brick Oven Bob or Cornerstone level output. I think some of the commentariat should calm down a little and just scroll past my comments.

  56. 56.

    raven

    @Steeplejack: Korean:

    헐 (hul) We’ll start with a nice and easy expression. This exclamation is used to express frustration, disbelief, or discouragement depending on the context. For example, when I’m feeling especially cruel and decide to assign my students extra homework (which happens pretty frequently cos, well, I’m kind of a mean bastard) all of my young charges will simultaneously sigh “Hul!”

  58. 58.

    SRW1

    Question is: does Capello think he needs to go for the win? A draw might not be enough to finish first or second in the group.

  59. 59.

    Randinho

    @2liberal: For the record , in January 2010, I sent John Cole (the blog owner) an e-mail expressing an interest in blogging on the World Cup. He jumped at the idea, asked me for a user name and password. I blogged that WC, the 2011 Women’s WC, the 2012 European Championship, did the occasional post about the various leagues and also the 2012 European Championship and the 2013 Confederations Cup.

    I continue to post here at John’s pleasure. The turnout and participation has been pretty good and it’s not in my nature to be too rude, but in the event that you find these threads either offensive, annoying, disconcerting, disgusting, etc., I would urge you to e-mail John directly to discuss your concerns.

    Let’s all just try to get along.

    Warm regards,

    Randy Paul

  64. 64.

    Schlemizel

    @2liberal:
    So you really do think it is all abut you!

    TO paraphrase the good doctor:
    A troll is a troll, no matter how small.

  66. 66.

    Schlemizel

    @Randinho:
    EMAIL JOHN?!?!

    The guy does you a favor of letting post here & you do that to him? Man you are a cold dude!
    :)

  67. 67.

    Pogonip

    My aunt’s from S. Korea, so I’m rooting for them. Viva Hanguk! (The world’s shortest multicultural cheer.)

  69. 69.

    Pogonip

    @Origuy: Half the folks in, or from, Korea (either one) are named Lee, Park, or Kim.

    My aunt, though, is a none-of-the-above.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    @Randinho: You are channeling my gentle father. We 3 sisters would be squabbling about one thing or another, and we could hear our dad walking down the long hallway. We knew what was coming: “Why can’t you girls just get along?”

  72. 72.

    Schlemizel

    @Randinho:
    Yeah, I get that, but JC does not leave me with the impression he considered whiny emails as ever appropriate!

  73. 73.

    Schlemizel

    @Randinho:
    I truly wish we could all be nice but a small number of people make that impossible. You can’t be nice to Brick Head Bob, conerslime or Билл в Портленде because they just won’t allow it or respond in kind. I just ignore them. But I thought that guy was just being rude so I pointed out that he was unhelpful and should simply move on. He made the hilarious defense that he was not as bad as conerslime or BrickHead so not much of a troll. I thought my response was appropriate.

    He goes into the ignore file I guess.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    @Schlemizel: I think you’re being kinda hard on 2liberal. He’s been commenting here for years. This started with one whiny comment about all the world cup threads, I think it’s easy to let that go. YMMV

  75. 75.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @2liberal:

    There’s nothing about these posts which precludes the other FPers from posting. Hell, they bigfoot each other on a regular basis. That they aren’t posting much now may have something to do with them being busy with other things or just not feeling the inspiration to post.

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