madviking
north american scum
That was pretty tragic.
FIFA Womens' Football WC 2011 Anybody watching?
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shadowplay
your ad here
What a bunch of screwy penalty kicks. Regardless, Japan played really well and are deserving champions. And Hope Solo can go back to piloting the Millennium Falcon.
sophie
Break My Heart
Welp, now Americans can go ahead and go back to not caring about soccer again. When's real football start?
Lambert Simnel
One across
OK, that wins.
Owen, you make a good point about the longevity of the sport. And, thinking about it, amongst the scattering of American football fans in the UK, you can almost always tell when they got into the game from the team they support. So there's a fair few redskins fans from when it was first broadcast on TV here in 82, 83, a few '9ers fans from 84, a lot of Patriot fans (yawn...) etc.
Thinking about it, Azale's indefatigable support of the terminally putrid Astros pretty much makes your point for you
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
I concur. Japan showed true heart throughout the match by never giving up. The US certainly gave them lots of chances to do so by not scoring on plenty of great opportunities, especially early on when they really dominated the game. And the penalty kicks were simply embarrassing.
At least it was far better to lose to great sports like Japan, instead of whiny divers like Brazil.
Verarde
Pondering Wearing A Hat
Ffffffffffuuuuuuuu---
classical_hero
In whom I trust
Congratulations Japan. 
Wow, Japan played a hell of a tournament. The US blew it but...amazing work from Japan overall.
We've only been terminally putrid since about 2009.
Thinking about it, Azale's indefatigable support of the terminally putrid Astros pretty much makes your point for you
We've only been terminally putrid since about 2009.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I only watched a bit of the first half and the penalties. They all looked horribly taken to me except the very last one.
I was 50/50 on this one, totally neutral, so wasn't sure who to cheer for.
I was 50/50 on this one, totally neutral, so wasn't sure who to cheer for.
Lambert Simnel
One across
Ten years since you won the division, and even then that was only half a win, wasn't it ?
sophie
Break My Heart
Nope. They won the NL Pennant in 2005. The above picture is showing Roy Oswalt winning the NLCS MVP.
MeteorPunch
#WINNING
We'll start caring again soon enough when the Olympics come up!
Lambert Simnel
One across
I said "ten years since you won the division". In what way is "nope" an accurate reply to that ? They haven't won the division since 2001, and that one was a split. Being 10 or 11 games off the pace but still getting a wild card into the post-season and riding your post-season luck to a league title is all well and good, but only if you then don't get swept in the World Series.
sophie
Break My Heart
I'd take winning the pennant over winning the division any day. And they lost the WS in 5 games, so at least they didn't get swept!
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
A local newspaper pundit called it the second worst US loss of all time:
Putting the U.S. Women's Soccer World Cup final in perspective: The worst losses in U.S. history
Putting the U.S. Women's Soccer World Cup final in perspective: The worst losses in U.S. history
Stapel
FIAT 850 coupé
Sorry man, but it really only sounds like that if you want so. Never ever did I imply this had anything to do with Americans feeling good or bad about anything. You COMPLETELY made that up yourself.
I simply have the opinion women's football is extremely crap to watch. That's it!
Lambert Simnel
One across
I realise we're drifting off-topic, but my point was that they hadn't won the division, you said "nope", but I was (for once, and it doesn't happen very often
) actually right.Further, the Astros did get swept by the White Sox in 2005. Which game do you think they won?
Not sure why we're arguing about this (other than I hate getting corrected when I'm not actually wrong).
A token comment about women's football to maintain some semblance of being on-topic: how many of those who have been enjoying the tournament or who are advocates of its qualities are actually now going to go along to a women's football match as a result?
I really don't get all of this "terrible loss" hysteria surrounding this game. Women's soccer isn't a two horse race between developed European countries, the USA, and a heavily invested in Chinese team. There are many really good women's teams from all around the globe now. Japan was not exactly a bad team either at #4 in the world and it would be stupid for anyone to have counted them out of the final before it even started. They were a great possession team that beat the 2-time defending champions. Sure, the USA dominated the final and in were unlucky in losing, but there should be no shame in losing to Japan, a quality team. (It surely was better than possibly losing to France, which very well could have happened in the Semifinals.)
And Lambert, no, I'm not going to watch women's soccer now, but I enjoyed the World Cup as a spectacle. I'll definitely be tuned-in in 2015, but I'm not an intense follower of the USWNT and I see no reason I have to just because I followed the Women's World Cup. But what this event did is add on to the rising tide of soccer in America. The final was viewed by more people than some games of the World Series.
And I absolutely despise the argument of "quality." I also watch the MLS and Mexican league in addition to La Liga, the EPL, and Serie A. There's an obvious difference in quality between those tiers, but it's still enjoyable soccer (for the most part.) Even international men's games are inferior compared to the top European leagues, yet people still watch them. Quality, when talking about women's events, is usually used merely as a thin veil of a person's sexism against women's sports.
Lambert Simnel
One across
And that's fair enough. I suspect that some (many? most?) of those who followed the WWC are merely dilettantes, who have no real interest in the sport as a whole, and would get excited at potato peeling if it was the world championship and the one wearing an American (or, in my case, Scottish) shirt stood a chance of winning. I guess, at one level, sport is just an idle distraction from the mundanity of life, the old "bread and circuses" argument, if you will, and in that case why not get excited about WWC, synchronised swimming, or potato peeling.
On the other hand, there are some moments of sublime beauty when these things are performed at the highest level (like Cabrera's behind the back flip for a double play against the White Sox back in May, or Messi's goal against Madrid in the UCL) that are just breathtaking, and then I think it's right to say that some sports moments are more than just temporary passion, but are about real brilliance or skill. And when people mistake defensive ineptitude for attacking genius, then I feel no inhibition in pointing out that they are just marvelling at fool's gold.
"usually used", eh ? So are you accusing me of sexism or not? I could point out that there are some women's sports that I watch and enjoy happily, but that's irrelevant. The quality in women's football is unfortunately well short of that in the men's game, with the tactical nous, defending, and goalkeeping being particularly poor. My feminist credentials are completely unaffected by calling poor play what it is, poor play. It would be patronising for me to pretend otherwise.
Edit: PS, I fully agree with your point on the "terrible loss" stuff.
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