Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

This is idiotic, for the reasons you mention. Bird was way more of an "all-around" player than Kobe. He was more limited on defense, because as you say, he was slower. But he was also playing 3, and today likely would have played 4. Moreover, his play making and rebounding more than make up for the difference.

Magic carried his team by setting up other guys, and could guard anyone on the court.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

I don't really think it's about brains. But it does take getting used to. There is a different kind of strategery involved in a sport where you get 3 points for a win and only 1 for a draw, and where there are no playoffs. If all you care about is who wins a given game, then that stuff doesn't appeal.[/quote]

I don't think I disagree, but maybe I'm just tired of watching Kobe's press conferences.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

Now I'm confused as to where you want LeBron to sign.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

lebron is very clearly the most talented player today, or could be. he has no support, and has learned to play such that he is too needy with the ball. I really don't know if he can adjust to being on a team. but the stuff he does 1 guy can do. Kobe is special, but others can do what he does, just not as often.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

plus we need beer/pee breaks. maybe we just need to learn to beat up the other team's fans?

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

i also don't like european porn. it seems to me like they're faking speaking german. and some of the lady parts seem strange.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

I don't get this. I get that NK was playing Brazil for a tie and I get that US might have been playing UK for one too. But mostly you have to win to advance right?

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

It's harder to see the dynamic in the first match of the round, but it seems like a lot of teams have been playing not to lose. For example, the Portugal / Ivory Coast match. If that's the third match, at least one of the teams will think they have to win, and they go at it. By the second and third matches, a team's place in the standing will start to dictate things.

Similarly, when you have a home-and-home series with away goals as the tiebreaker, teams have to take a longer view than just winning that game. I think it makes the sport richer, but if TM or someone else doesn't like it, that's fine. I don't like auto racing.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

do you know about the exposed tits when u c it live?

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

going to take a leak at a soccer game and missing the goal is worse than a premature orgasm

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

really? then the game is way more complex than I thought. I thought you look at your group and try to see two wins- and maybe go for the tie in the third game- but all dependant on the team you play.

like if the US played Slovenia first round they would know they had to win, whereas we knew a draw with the UK would be great.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

I was at the Masters in the days when people still used pay phones. we were watching the 12th green. I had to go make a routine client hand holding call so I walked to the rest area near there and made my call.

there is this huge roar- a guy got a hole in one while I was explaining about a scheduling issue. it was just practice round, but still, I triple billed for the call.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

I had no idea that was the argument I was having. I just said that when I watch a competition, I like to see which team is better. And the best way to prove that is to have one of the teams win.

TM

Greece v. Nigeria
 

Red card! Penalties are worse than hockey penalties -- Nigeria has to play for almost an hour down one man. That's harsh.

ETA: In hockey if someone gets tossed, there is often an entertaining fight to go along with it. This was just a stupid leg lift and sort of kick at someone. Snore.

Re: The thread where Spring has sprung, and Penske has risen from the law. Word!
 

My post was not really directed at you, but at the debate that seems to constantly come up when people talk about soccer. All the analysis about why the rest of the world can like a sport where people don't score a lot or why Americans are unable to appreciate the subtleties of the game seems to be just crap. It really just comes down to people liking the sports they grew up with and understand. Take this shit from that NYT blog:

"We in this country prefer pastimes that are rational and quantifiable. Football plays can be drawn up in a playbook and baseball lends itself to statistical analysis. But the rest of the world follows a sport that rewards resilience and neuroticism. Soccer is a sport perfectly designed to reinforce a tragic view of the universe, because basically it is a long series of frustrations leading up to near certain heartbreak."

Seriously? It reinforces a tragic view of the universe? That is why the British and the Brazilians love soccer?