The age-old honesty test -- put a liar next to a baby, and they'll be overcome by remorse and admit everything. The stockpiles of babies necessary to keep the Federal Courts running are frightening in their immensity.
Ogged, soccer is fascinating compared to bicycle racing.
As you just about acknowledge, professional cycling is the most drug-soaked sport on the face of the earth, and has been for about a hundred years.
4: Well I should hope he was clean. You spent the better part of an hour licking him.
Shit, this will do wonders for perceptions of the sport. I guess there just isn't an effective test for a lot of the banned substances, particularly the ones that are synthetic versions of stuff that naturally occurs in the body.
The line between training and cheating seems to be getting fuzzier. For example, athletes went from just training at high altitude (to boost their hemoglobin); to using bottled oxygen during their actual workouts to better take advantage of the altitude boost; to using hypobaric tents that mimic the experience of being at high altitude; to taking out some of their own blood in advance, concentrating the red cells, and putting it back in shortly before an event; and finally, to using drugs to bump up their red cell count.
The effect of all of these techniques is similar, but the method determines what is allowed and what isn't. People sometimes think these regulations preserve some pure, unadulterated form of competition, but that sort of idealized athleticism isn't really how things work.
Argentinians, being the most European of the major South American countries fielding World Cup teams, are also the ugliest. But they still play a pretty game of soccer. And their coach is a hottie.
Our fucking power went out five minutes before the end of regular time. Ahh!! Goddamn storm! Luckily it came back on.
My Eurocentric husband and our traitorous son are rooting for the damn Krauts. I knew I shouldn't have let Mr. B. give PK his horrible German surname.
Argentinians, being the most European of the major South American countries fielding World Cup teams, are also the ugliest. But they still play a pretty game of soccer.
I don't know about that, their game against Holland made me cry. Too many long balls to that super-ugly striker of theirs, not enough beautiful game in the midfield. Sure, their strikers have serious ballhandling talent and great pace, but I still find them annoying to watch.
Damn Brazil and Argentina.
I was rooting for the Germans too, mainly because the Argentinians are so ugly.
I've watched most of this world cup, but I'm so overwhelmingly uninterested in the Germans that I barely watched this game.
When Germans note that my surname is "a German name", which has happened a few times, I always feel compelled to tell them no, it's Swiss. Which it is.
My German co-worker went to watch the game at a bar and suspiciously has not yet returned. I hope he didn't get beat up by Argentina fans or something.
using hypobaric tents
amateurs. the pros use hypobaric houses or bedrooms.
you can stick your chest out and know that you were better than everyone else
I know this is an oft-repeated point, but what does this mean? At the top levels, are there really differences in training? It seems that they all train hard as can be. I suppose you can celebrate better genetics, and that is something. But it's something to be proud of, I should think, not something to stick your chest out about. I don't mean to say, of course, that I'm fine with doping - it's just not as interesting.
He's probably being leveled by a few extra pints of lager.
Am watching the UKR/ITA game now - I believe that the Ukies may surpass the Argentines as the ugliest. They all look like they're trying to emulate Kid Rock.
So - who's the prettiest team? I know it's probably just personal bias - I'm half-Mexican - but I thought the Mexican team had some real hotties on it (hola, Rafael Marquez). Ditto Spain.
I've been marvelling at the ugliness of the Ukrainian men all tournament, especially given that Ukrainian women, at least when they're in the bloom of youth, are total hotties, as a glance at any mail-order bride site will show.
BUt don't you think they possess an irremediable sadness, ogged?
Same weirdness re. Russian men/Russian women, Czech men/Czech women, etc. I've heard people say that's because all the men drink too damn much, but I kind of suspect that's not the case for your world-class soccer players.
Prettiest team still remaining is probably Portugal. I agree that the Mexicans were mostly pretty hot.
Some of them are naturally happy, and have to take remedial sadness.
marvelling at the ugliness of the Ukrainian men
Michael, the Star Wars fanfic blog is down the hall.
Ogged, I watch The Wire - I KNOW those hotties won't look so hot once they emerge from a shipping container in Baltimore. Just saying.
Also, re Ukies, maybe its their team color - bright yellow - that's just unflattering. Maybe a giant black cloak - a holocaust cloak! - would make them not quite so fugly. Did Andre the Giant not cut a striking figure in just such an outfit in the Princess Bride?
Yeah, the prettiest team still in the Cup are definitely the Portuguese. Not that I'm so thrilled to see them play again. The P-NL game was plug-ugly.
I saw a great movie last night--1981 John Huston flick, Victory, with Michael Caine, Sly Stallone, Pelé, and a shitload of European soccer stars. Um, playing soccer to defeat the Nazis.
Ok, maybe "great" is too strong. "Rockin'" may be more accurate.
Maybe I should rent that just to annoy the Nazis German fans in the household.
Why does the motherfucking strikeout take never work for me???
Because it's <strike>, not <strikeout>,
Standpipe, i'll show you my lightsaber if you show me yours.
Victory! That was a pretty great flick, come to think of it. BTW, the UKR/ITA game is over and they're doing the shirt-exchange ritual. All I can think is "KEEP IT ON, SHEVCHENKO!" Nobody wants to see that.
Well, you did strike out at striking out.
Which I have to admit is pretty impressive.
How about: bitchphd strikes out, but only when it's conveniet.
And I spell correctly only when it's convenient.
38: What did she do to get banned this time, ogged?
bitchphd's has also been known to strike out against patriarchy.
41: not to mention stray apostrophe-esses.
Hmph. Ogged is just mad because I know where Ben is, and he doesn't.
46: That tone is not congenial, young lady.
46 - I'm sure he's losing sleep about that at night.
In the UK it's called Escape to Victory and while it is a cheesy classic it's painful to watch the actors trying to play and just looking utterly lame compared to the actual players.
Admittedly, it's been years since I watched it.
So is ogged back as a blogger now, or what?
Please reply by email as I can't reliably check this web BB board.
Just for the next few days, Benji. Well, and maybe after surgery a little bit too.
NOTICE: I am on permanent hiatus. Nothing about the frequency of my posting at Unfogged should be inferred from that fact.
Fucking Germans
Isn't that your department, b?
Nothing in particular. I'm just trying to work it into the discourse.
58: Being as Ben is the one on the ground, I'm turning the responsibility over to him for the summer and going on German-fucking hiatus.
That'll teach my husband to root for the wrong team.
Coming a bit late to this thread, it's worth noting that Carlos Tevez might be the ugliest man EVER, thus bringing the overall quality of the Argentine side way down. Did score the most amazing goal of the whole tournament, however. And there's a Guardian article somewhere that raises the possibility of the whole team being the product of genetic engineering involving Maradona's DNA--and he, too, is one ugly dude.
And the ugly Czech man/hot Czech woman paradox is one of the world's great unsolved mysteries. With the Ric Ocasek/Paulina Porizkova marriage being exhibit A.
I'll admit it: this world cup has crossed the line into unwatchable territory. Like the NBA playoffs and the NCAA tournament, the earlier rounds were better.
I've finally switched to Univision to avoid the O'Brien/Balboa announcing team whose talk during games is not something that ever should be dignified by the name of commentary.
Yes, the last two games have been excruciating.
68: Information on the World Cup isn't too hard to find online, you know. But anyway...
Italy beat Ukraine 3-0
Germany beat Argentina by tying them
England beat Portugal by tying them
Brazil and France play today at 3 PM.
So the semifinals will be
Italy vs. Germany
Portugal vs. Brazil or France
Ugh, I mean Portugal beat England by tying them.
Sucks to my ass-mar.
Information on the World Cup isn't too hard to find online, you know.
Yeah, but I don't care that much. Plus it's pretty dead around here.
So the semifinals will be
Italy vs. Germany
Portugal vs. Brazil or France
I guess I'll continue not caring. Thanks for the info.
B, you wouldn't strike out with me.
It's true that it's my fault that the Germans won, in a complicated sympathetic magic way; otoh, I did get a fourth free shot out of it, whereas everyone else in the venue in which I was located only got three!
That was much more exciting. I must say I'm not so sad to see Brazil go out (since France played so well); they've been in every World Cup final I've watched. But it would be even better if they could take Germany's place. With Deco and Costinha back, France-Portugal could be very good, and certainly better than whatever England could have come up with.
France has teh winn! They face Portugal in the semis. All 4 remaining teams are European, the first time that's happened since 1982 (France, Italy, Poland, West Germany).
56 - If this is what an indefinite hiatus looks like, there is hope yet!
72: Oh, well, if you got extra booze out of it, then how could I possibly be disappointed at Argentina's loss? OTOH, the getting extra booze thing is a direct result of your actually being in Berlin, which means that the "you wouldn't strike out with me" come-on is, like, even more deserving of being in the subjunctive tense than usual. I.e., cold comfort.
And comfort is much needed because I missed the France/Brazil game because I was actually at a goddamn social event! I get out of the house once all summer, and I miss a good and surprising match. Shit. Clearly I must never go outside again.
ON EST CHAMPION!
ViVE LES BLEUS!
And, may I say, I am freaking glad England is finally out of the Cup. The American announcers' Anglophilia seemed to be a result of their not knowing a damned thing about the other teams, and it was really starting to get on my nerves.
France should plow over Portugal, but I think it'll be a good game nonetheless.
That's what sent me to Univision; that particular announcing team analyzes - sorry, "analyzes" - all sorts of things for the English, but would only read the names of the opposing teams without talking much about their strategy. The same thing happened in some of the Germany games, where opposing subs were introduced with no comment on what that might mean to the opponents' team.
Of course I don't understand what they say on Univision, but it's better than pressing the mute button. I actually like the announcers who've been doing the late games.
Do you know whether Univision has a different camera crew? I saw one match on Univision and remember thinking that their camera work was better--less distracting--than what I'd seen on ESPN2. Could that have just been an unconscious expression of my dislike for ESPN2's coverage?
The only good thing about having the annoucers speak English is that I've discovered a few new fav players that way. I doubt I'd be able to pick out their names from a steady stream of Spanish.
I believe ESPN mainly uses the "world feed"; maybe they have their own cameras for a few select games, but it doesn't always sound like they're in charge of the replays. I don't know if Univision is doing something different, and have not watched it enough to notice anything.
The utter dearth of comments picking up on the Tour isn't going to deter me. I'm sorry about the big stars being out of the race but the field has such depth, and after watching faithfully for several years I recognise enough of the other riders, that the race will not only be exiting, but interestingly shaken up. It'll be a free-for-all for awhile, and probably the best race in years. For anybody who would like to get into it, but feels at a disadvantage for not knowing anything, now would be the time.
I'm disappointed that Basso's gone. But overall, so many years of one person dominating the tour (dating back to Indurain) has really cut my interest. I generally don't pay much attention until the time trials and mountains begin.
"world feed"
Yes, I suspected the arrangement was something like that, and that I was being a bit delusional about Univision's camerawerk. Thanks for confirming.
One thing I really hate about most soccer camera coverage is the habit of cutting to a close-up of the player with the ball, usually right when he's making a drive towards the goal. Not being able to see the player in relation to his teammates and the defenders is pretty damn meaningless.
I do like to see some of the footwork up close, though. I agree with you, though, that during a push to the goal, how the team is positioned overall is more important. The problem is that soccer doesn't allow enough breaks in the action to replay the sweeter close-ups.
And, of course, that the halftime reports on US networks are unmitigated quasi-celeb opinion-driven nonsense.
I agree with both of you, but sometimes I also wish we could see not necessarily the whole field, but all of the players at once to get an idea of the formation the announcers are talking about. (I never played soccer, so while I understand, for example, 4-4-2 abstractly when everyone's standing still, I'd like a better idea of what it looks like in the flow of a game.) I suppose I should just go to a game someday, since that's really the least important angle they could give you on tv.
I'm not entirely sure that seeing it live or seeing it entirely in widescope would help you see the formations, eb. At the world-class level, formations become practically Platonic--players suppose they should be somewhere, but reality intervenes, as has always-already planned out.
Also, I've only been to one pro-soccer match (in Mainz--which since moved up to the Erstebundesliga), but my experience there was that one saw much less than one did at home on the tele. It was more exciting and overwhelming, of course. The galllons of beer may have had something to do with that.
But that's just the point, I want to see if you can even recognize what they're supposed to be doing. Just once, I'd like to see the game-in-itself, rather than the shadows cast upon the tv screen.
id score the most amazing goal of the whole tournament, however.
'Twas Rodriguez with the amazing goal, no?
LES BLEUS!
I think you'll agree that the motorcycle-mounted camera operator and instaneous uplink make road cycling a remarkable sport for television today. The issue about soccer is the same one that has always plagued hockey coverage, or at least as long as I can remember. Being in the arena — I'm not talking Teddy Roosevelt here — is a very different experience.
I'm watching the finish of today's stage and wondering: Is the graininess of the picture, very watchable but not more than about vcr quality, due to limitations of the cameras, or does it have something to do with pal vs. secam?
Mr. O'Brien, who is 42 years old, has been a lightning rod for critics. A former play-by-play announcer for baseball's Florida Marlins and New York Mets, he called just eight soccer games before taking on 20 matches in a month in Germany. He says he prepared thoroughly, studying reams of material, visiting a European soccer network and attending matches in England, while continuing to call baseball and college basketball for ESPN.
I guess this explains why he keeps getting players names wrong, including ones who have just scored or almost scored.