Off Topic: Soccer and NASCAR

[Marko69]

Froot & London ......., Man Utd fans!

[TheLondonLion]

There?s a song sung to them by other fans which epitomizes them:

?always the victims, it?s never your fault?.

[Marko69]

There is no bigger history in world soccer for both glory & tragedy than Liverpool FC. Every other club pales into insignificance. Not a fan, but do recognise and respect that fact.

[Marko69]

Has there been a better game ever at a World Cup? Portugal v Spain was just unbelievable tonight. I could watch that Nacho goal all night long.

[Panoptes]

https://youtu.be/3D2KSx9Tdo8

[Trickalicious]

[Marko69]

I have a feeling that?s what the Spanish commentator would?ve shouted......, ?NACHOOOOOO!?

[Marko69]

https://youtu.be/a85UrjVyosY

[Marko69]

Even you can appreciate that Panoptes. Come on, man!

And don?t post any baseball dudes smacking balls out the stadium ???> that?ll always be Shyte!

[CGVT]

I watched a little of the World Cup last night. It was the game where the one-name guy tied it up lat with a free kick. It was pretty impressive.

My only question is why the fuck can't they have a clock on the scoreboard so people and players know when the fuck the game is going to end?

Jesus.

[chemiclord]

I watched a little of the World Cup last night. It was the game where the one-name guy tied it up lat with a free kick. It was pretty impressive.

My only question is why the fuck can't they have a clock on the scoreboard so people and players know when the fuck the game is going to end?

Jesus.

Ostensibly, the reasoning is that in a close game, the refs can show discretion and allow an attacking team to finish their possession rather than let a defending team simply run out the clock.

Whether that is how it's actually USED is another matter entirely.

[Marko69]

It?s not something I?ve looked for at the World Cup, I just assumed there?d be one. There is a clock on the scoreboard at Easter Road stadium for the Hibs games. But I suppose that?s for people contemplating suicide...... a sort of, ?don?t do it, there?s only 10 minutes left of this pish? type of thing.

[Marko69]

I also need to buy a dictionary. Wasn?t expecting ?ostensibly? in the ?thick a fk? soccer forum.

[CGVT]

That may be the reason that some give but really this explains it a little better:

Why is the referee in charge of time in the first place? Well... follow me back to the 1880's.

In the very earliest days of association football, the referee was not the arbiter of fouls he is today. At least, not the first arbiter. The players called their own fouls, in a gentlemanly way, and their captains would settle disputes. If they could not settle disputes, they would turn to two umpires (one per team), who would discuss the matter like gentlemen. If the umpires could not agree, they would refer the matter to a third person for a final arbitration. Being the person the question was referred to, he was known as the referee.

When not adjudicating foul disputes, the referee kept the time. Back when this was how fouls were called, it was easy for the referee to do so--- he wasn't even on the pitch.

Referees moved onto the pitch only in 1891, as part of a broad rules reform that finally recognized that players weren't so gentlemanly after all.. this reform also brought goal nets and penalty kicks into the sport.

As part of the reform, the referee was given absolute power over the entire proceedings--- the sole person who could call fouls, send people off, declare goals, etc. The umpires were kept, as assistant referees. They could signal to the referee for fouls or boundary violations, but only the referee could actually grant them.

The reform did nothing about the time, though. The referee was left in charge of that, as he was in charge of everything else. And that's how things have stayed--- it wasn't until 1991 that the IFAB (who control the Laws of the Game) even allowed a fourth official to help with things like substitutions and controlling behavior on the benches.

In matches with a fourth official, usually the fourth official will also help the referee keep track of time. They will also indicate with the substitution board how much time the referee has decided to allow for time lost as per Law 7 above. The referee is still in charge of the whistle, though, and can blow it pretty much any time after the posted minutes, with one exception: If a penalty kick has been awarded, the ref cannot end the match until it is taken.

And this guy spells out why it is so fucking stupid:



The short answer is either because no one protests or that no one has really noticed how idiotic the rule is. The non-stoppage of the clock in football (or soccer) has a number of overwhelmingly negative effects:

1) Despite the efforts of the few referees that actually care about compensating for the wasted time, the common result is that the wasted time is not compensated. This is partly because it is virtually impossible to do so (imagine calculating all the accumulated seconds wasted for every throw, corner, foul etc.), and because referees are assholes who give less than a shit about the game or its time and all they want is the final whistle to go home and enjoy life.

2) It encourages stoppages and ridiculous theatrics by the players whose team is winning/served by current result. It does so by giving players actual REASONS; it is simply irrational for a player not to waste time or pretend injuries if doing so means maximising his team?s chance of retaining a favourable result.

3) It gives excessive/unreasonable authority to a single person (i.e., referee) who he and only he can decide the amount to be played. This has the astonishing (or ridiculous, depending on your mood) result of only one person knowing when the game is going to finish out of the millions that might be watching (say) a world cup?s final. Things elsewhere in sports (e.g., basketball) or life are as they ought to be: transparent. That is, everyone can know when something is due to finish.

4) It is an independent source of frustration for those involved: apart from worrying about turning around an unfavourable result, one also has to worry about retaining his right to receiving the playtime one is by the rules of the game entitled to.

These are just 4 basic consequences, there might be more.

Now, some will say ?it is part of the game as we know it? and that ?it serves [this or that] purpose?? The fact of the matter is: it is an idiotic rule which has detrimental and unacceptable consequences for the fairness and the proper functioning of the game. That said, one may wish to preserve it without necessarily being an idiot him/herself. He may wish to do it because of (say) sentimental or some other independent reason. But are these ?reasons? important enough to justify one of the most ridiculous features in the history of organised sport?

[CGVT]

It?s not something I?ve looked for at the World Cup, I just assumed there?d be one. There is a clock on the scoreboard at Easter Road stadium for the Hibs games. But I suppose that?s for people contemplating suicide...... a sort of, ?don?t do it, there?s only 10 minutes left of this pish? type of thing.

It's not just a clock that is needed, but a time keeper to stop and start it at the appropriate time so there is none of this ridiculous mythical "extra time"