Off Topic: Soccer and NASCAR

[FVD]

So what were the odds of Germany not making it out of their group?

[Panoptes]

M69, You seen this funny Geico Soccer slide commercial yet? It's as ridiculous as the real game itself, imo.

[Marko69]

[Marko69]

[CGVT]

I was watching Mexico and Sweden yesterday. The announcers were cracking me up. Both had heavy Spanish accents and their descriptions of play were colorful to say the least. It was like watching an Ozzy Man Review without the F-bombs.

[froot loops]

CVGT is getting hooked, now he just has to pick a team in the EPL and follow them. Next thing you know, he will be all in. But you have to pick a team.

The World Cup is important and fun but it isn't the best soccer to watch for newcomers. 75 percent of the teams in the group stage are going to park the bus. Those same teams will do the same if the get to the knockout stage.

[CGVT]

Naw, it's like the Olympics. Every four years you break out the speed skaters and pay attention for a few days, then you put them back into obscurity until the next time.

[froot loops]

Big difference with the Olympics is most of those sports are only covered once every 4 years. Even if you wanted to watch speedskating, it is impossible. Not so with the EPL and Bundesliga. The EPL is there all the time, I know you have it in you. Don't be like Gonz, that dude is watching it every day, he's glued to the TV and hates himself for it. He would be a total Everton fan.

[chemiclord]

Let's not pretend like 75% of club teams don't park the bus. It's simply the best way to deal with the power teams in leagues that are in essence like MLB.

You have Boston, you have the Yankees... then you have everyone else. The same is true in soccer. Pick a league; you have one or two teams that outspend everyone else, and 90% of the time, those teams that spend big wind up winning big.

The Premier League is different only because they have a handful of teams willing to shell out money and usually wind up passing the title around to make it look like it's a wide open league. Anywhere else you can usually name the champion before the season even starts. Bayern is going to win the Bundesliga. PSG owns Ligue 1. Give the Serie A trophy to Juventus and save everyone time. La Liga might as well be Barcelona and Real Madrid with Athletico occasionally playing spoiler for whichever one doesn't win.

For a lot of those leagues, the thrill is in the relegation chase more than the championship.

[froot loops]

They don't generally park the bus in the same way like the World Cup teams. If a team is at the bottom of the table and they face a big 6 team, they will park the bus. You'll see a lot more scoring. The relegation battle is fun but in a more indirect way, those midseason games with the mid table teams are intense because these guys are fighting for every point. Getting dropped is a disaster.

[CGVT]

Big difference with the Olympics is most of those sports are only covered once every 4 years. Even if you wanted to watch speedskating, it is impossible. Not so with the EPL and Bundesliga. The EPL is there all the time, I know you have it in you. Don't be like Gonz, that dude is watching it every day, he's glued to the TV and hates himself for it. He would be a total Everton fan.

Ha!

I like the drama and intensity of championship competition. I find myself drawn to that more than the sport in many cases. I couldn't watch regular season soccer any more than I can watch regular season hockey or NBA. It just doesn't seem to be worth my time.

[froot loops]

Regular season NBA and NHL have playoffs, big difference. The season is devalued, not so with the EPL, the drama and intensity is there in the regular season. No team is mailing it in. A loss on the road in September can have big ramifications in May. Nothing more intense than trying to survive the drop, one day your club is playing with the big boys and 2 or 3 seasons later they are slumming it in League One.

[Marko69]

He would be a total Everton fan.

Nice!

[Marko69]

[Marko69]