Topic: WE LIKE SPORTS (Read 588110 times)

KaosPilot · « **Reply #1900 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 15:11 »

And we've got Kyle Bartelby on loan from Arsenal til the end of the season. Central defender/right back which is good. With Weir's legs going we need cover there.

valley_parade · « **Reply #1901 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 14:32 »

Awwww, Wayne. Finally found where that net was! 3-1 win for United, 2 goals for Rooney, and I forgot to record the game.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1902 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 18:05 »

(ignorant American raises hand)

When exactly does the EPL/UEFA "fixture" end? (Or, as we call them, "seasons")

alli · « **Reply #1903 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 19:42 »

I think I’m correct in saying that the Champions League final is the end of the football season in Europe, takes place in the end of May.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1904 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 19:59 »

Okay, so when do the various leagues begin? In the fall, around September?

alli · « **Reply #1905 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 20:06 »

The English league begins in the second or third week of August, Italian and Spanish maybe a week or two later, not sure about other leagues.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1906 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 20:34 »

Good Lord... a nine and a half month season?

alli · « **Reply #1907 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 21:09 »

Something like that yes, but I’m pretty sure there aren´t as many games in a football season as in basketball or baseball.
See Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant for example. In the 09/10 season Messi played 53 games in all competitions (not including internationals) where as Kobe played 73 games in the regular season and a further 23 in the playoffs. And Google tells me that there are 162 games in a baseball season.

scarred · « **Reply #1908 on:** 01 Feb 2011, 21:25 »

i see your point but it's situational. games played ≠ season length. i mean baseball series' are usually played back to back days, which is why the team has 3-4 starting pitchers.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1909 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 01:25 »

(Snerk) "Three to four?" Yeah, maybe ones who start exclusively. You're talking to a fan of a team that hasn't carried less than 12 pitchers on their roster at any one time in the last decade or so.

I've never really understood why baseball season has so many games as compared to other sports, other than simple historical reasons and a lack of "recovery time" needed between games. Basketball could legitimately play more games a year, but they come up against scheduling issues - mostly around holidays and the fact that many teams share facilities with other sports teams, like college squads and hockey clubs.

Hockey, I really couldn't see teams playing more than four (scheduled) games in a week, without at least three or more days off.

American football may have developed the "once a week" thing from the college game - you go to class Monday through Friday, and you play sports on Saturday. That kinda got ingrained into the sport, and I doubt that the idea of playing more than once a week would take hold.

So that would leave us with Futball. 38 games in league, and about seven "non-league" games, roughly two a week. Looking over a couple of "fixtures", it appears that there are very few times where teams play more than three times in a one-week period - and definitely not all against league opponents.

I wonder if this schedule is essentially due to the physical exertion (90 minutes is a long while to be running up and down the pitch, after all) or some other reason?

-----
"Don't mind the dumb questions, just trying to gain some knowledge about all this footy stuff..."

The Seldom Killer · « **Reply #1910 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 05:48 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 02 Feb 2011, 01:25

I wonder if this schedule is essentially due to the physical exertion (90 minutes is a long while to be running up and down the pitch, after all) or some other reason?

Not a football expert, but I would guess not.

If you look at cycle racing, schedules can be very tightly packed, especially around the classics and the 6-days. Domestiques and riders in the Blue Train could expect very long periods without a break and enduring more exertion than a 90 minute game.

I suspect that the football schedule more likely stems from it's roots as a working men's sport. Matches would be held at the weekends with training sessions on weekday evenings so as not to . Also the spectator base would have largely been expected to be from the same demographic. The same would apply to the other two main British sporting seasons of cricket and rugby.

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #1911 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 06:35 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 02 Feb 2011, 01:25

I wonder if this schedule is essentially due to the physical exertion (90 minutes is a long while to be running up and down the pitch, after all) or some other reason?

You've pretty much hit the nail right on the head here. I mean, have you ever tried playing a full-length game of competitive football? It's 2 halves of 45 minutes where you're running around for about 35 of those minutes, there's very little rest time during the game other than the 15 minute break. The top footballers should be athletic enough to be expected to play 2 games a week regularly but seeing as they train every day too it's a very draining regime.

Compare that to baseball where the most strain in a game is running between bases and there is a lot of rest time during the game and you can see why they can play more than 4 times the number of games in a season.

Quote from: The Seldom Killer on 02 Feb 2011, 05:48

Not a football expert, but I would guess not.

If you look at cycle racing, schedules can be very tightly packed, especially around the classics and the 6-days. Domestiques and riders in the Blue Train could expect very long periods without a break and enduring more exertion than a 90 minute game.

Cycling is a whole different kind of sport though. Cyclists are expected to be athletes and nothing more, their skill set is how to get the most out of their cycling over whatever distance they cover and there is nothing more than them and their bicycle. Also, taking nothing away from their athletic nature though, they don't tend to stop and start unless something goes wrong so they can get a steady motion and keep the momentum up for long distances and there is no slipstream for footballers the way there is in a cycling train.

The Seldom Killer · « **Reply #1912 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 06:55 »

There is a very strong tactical element to cycling as well. You have to know your opponents well and there's as much physical contact in the peleton in 90 minutes as you'll see in a premiership match.

As for steady motion and momentum, that really doesn't apply in things like mountain biking, cyclo-cross and some of the track disciplines. As for slipstream, it's a massive part of road racing but not so much in other disciplines and to be fair there's not really a lot of slip stream to be had on a mountain stage, either up or down.

valley_parade · « **Reply #1913 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 07:31 »

Seven non-league games? Take into example a team like..well..my team, Manchester United. Not only are they playing their 38 league games, they, like other Premier League teams, come into the FA Cup in the third round proper. To get to the Cup final from there is at least 7 or 8 games. The group stage for the Champions League alone is 6 matches, not to mention getting into the knockout stages, which are two games per round up until the final.

And there's the League Cup as well..but West Ham kicked our asses in that one and knocked us out early. Thanks guys.

alli · « **Reply #1914 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 07:54 »

And then you can add international games to that for some players.

valley_parade · « **Reply #1915 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 12:39 »

Or no games, if you're Gary Neville: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/874957/man-utd-defender-neville-announces-retirement?cc=5901

Hell of a career, Gaz.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1916 on:** 02 Feb 2011, 19:57 »

HOLY SHIT GOALIE FIGHT

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=49&id=95819

I was just thinking yesterday that it'd be pretty rad to see two goalies drop the gloves

Akima · « **Reply #1917 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 02:57 »

Quote from: the_pied_piper on 02 Feb 2011, 06:35

Cycling is a whole different kind of sport though. Cyclists are expected to be athletes and nothing more, their skill set is how to get the most out of their cycling over whatever distance they cover and there is nothing more than them and their bicycle. Also, taking nothing away from their athletic nature though, they don't tend to stop and start unless something goes wrong so they can get a steady motion and keep the momentum up for long distances and there is no slipstream for footballers the way there is in a cycling train.

Cycling is not a single sport, but a whole family of sports with widely varying physical and mental demands. BMX racing, cyclocross, time-trialling, stage-racing, and velodrome sprinting don't have a lot in common beyond involving bicycles. About the only discipline in which "there is nothing more than them and their bicycle" is an individual time-trial, in which there is no paceline and drafting is illegal.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1918 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 06:24 »

Quote from: David_Dovey on 02 Feb 2011, 19:57

HOLY SHIT GOALIE FIGHT

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=49&id=95819

I was just thinking yesterday that it'd be pretty rad to see two goalies drop the gloves

Meh. I've seen MUCH better ones. Fleury and DP weren't fighting as much as they were play dancing.

valley_parade · « **Reply #1919 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 07:17 »

For good goalie fights, please search for Patrick Roy in games against the Red Wings. The ones against Vernon and Osgood were epic.

Actually, that rivalry lead to some amazing fights, mostly in the late-90s, after Claude Lemieux had ripped Kris Draper a new facehole in the playoffs. It's really calmed down since about 2003 or so.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1920 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 10:24 »

Oh, I've SEEN some great goalie fights.

There will always be respectful tones reserved for the Ads/Blades match two days after the 2000 elections. Chris Mason kicked some ass and took some names in that one.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1921 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 11:58 »

Speaking of soccer jerseys and sponsors on uniforms and American sports and so on:

This is pretty neat

jwhouk · « **Reply #1922 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 18:05 »

Quote from: David_Dovey on 03 Feb 2011, 11:58

Speaking of soccer jerseys and sponsors on uniforms and American sports and so on:

This is pretty neat

NO.

McTaggart · « **Reply #1923 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 20:27 »

Some of those are really cool.

Spluff · « **Reply #1924 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 20:34 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 03 Feb 2011, 18:05

NO.

what's wrong with you

jwhouk · « **Reply #1925 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 20:52 »

The Second Commandment of Lambeau:

THOU SHALT NOT DESECRATE THY FOOTBALL TEAM'S JERSEY WITH ADVERTS.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1926 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 23:18 »

They didn't?

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1927 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 23:21 »

Like I'm a fan of hyperbole as much as the next guy but they're not desecrating anything doggo, these are imaginary things, they're not slapping sponsors on existing jerseys and also who fucking cares

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1928 on:** 03 Feb 2011, 23:21 »

NOW THAT'S HOW YOU DO HYPERBOLE

The Seldom Killer · « **Reply #1929 on:** 04 Feb 2011, 05:10 »

Individual Pursuit 4k Record Broken

Very impressive, and by quite a large margin by track cycling standards. It'll be interesting to see the reaction to this at the Manchester World Cup event later this month. Really wish I really wish I'd managed to pick up tickets for this but never mind. I shall have to suffer watching it on telly instead.

scarred · « **Reply #1930 on:** 04 Feb 2011, 13:54 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 03 Feb 2011, 18:05

Quote from: David_Dovey on 03 Feb 2011, 11:58
Speaking of soccer jerseys and sponsors on uniforms and American sports and so on:

This is pretty neat

NO.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1931 on:** 04 Feb 2011, 17:52 »

Besides... the Packers already have a naming sponsor. It's not our fault they went out of business 90 years ago.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1932 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 04:52 »

Packers 24, Steelers 17.

You heard it here first.

McTaggart · « **Reply #1933 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 05:46 »

I hope so.

It seems like the Steelers are the Collingwood of the NFL.

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #1934 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 11:22 »

I agree that Dalglish has really lifted the team and his decision to switch Johnson (to left) and bring in Kelly (on the right) has been an absolute masterstroke. However, his best decision has been this new 3-5-2 system with Kelly and Johnson as wing backs. It works so well because Kelly can play freely without having to worry about mistakes as there are 3 defenders behind him and because nobody has any faith in Johnson's defensive abilities so the 3 other defenders behind him can help mop up.

Chelsea really presented very little threat at all and the one real chance that they had was ultimately scuffed by Torres although the sliding block by Carragher was excellent defending. Maxi should have scored before half-time and that may have worked against us in the end but it was still a horrific miss. A great win and moving into 6th place is fantastic after the torrid start to the season so hopefully this run of form keeps on going.

I'm going to have to disagree with your ratings of Johnson and Kalou though. Johnson is a great wing back because his defending is so poor but is in no way mercurial and Kalou is rated as highly as he should be i.e. very little as that is what he brings to the Chelsea team.
I agree that Malouda should have started, that was a poor decision by Ancelotti.

jwhouk · « **Reply #1935 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 13:36 »

So for all these footy people on here who presume so much about their sport </light_sarcasm_mode>, what EPL/UEFA teams would you compare the two Super Bowl combatants to?

EDIT: By the way, for those of you who might not have gotten it from my Avatar - Hannelore is wearing an Aaron Rodgers jersey and a Packers "Wisconsin Heisman" logo hat.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #1936 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 13:47 »

Right, I am here looking for some advice from you football (the real kind) fans. What does a manager do? And how does it affect the results of the match? I would have thought the trainer was more relevant to that, am I wrong?

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #1937 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 14:36 »

Well, that's a difficult point to make because there are so many coaches but let's start with the Manager. The Manager (el jefe, the gaffer, the boss) is the person who makes all of the final decisions. They decide which formation to play, which players will be playing in the game; they make all of the in-game decisions i.e. who to change if a substitution is warranted, what to change if things are going wrong; they also have to deal with the press and the higher-ups but in this role they ultimately get the final say on which players the club buys (unless there is a Director of Football but we won't go into that abyss).

Next there is the first team coach/assistant manager. This is the person who puts into action everything that the manager wants on the training ground but also generally sets up the training sessions and keeps an eye on any possible fitness drops/injuries that could be occurring and reports them to the manager so that maybe a player is rested for the next game.

Under him there are a multitude of other coaches; fitness coach, physiotherapist, attacking/defending coaches, goalkeeping coaches etc. who run the training sessions that the first team coach has set up.

So in the end the Manager is the top decision maker. At all times they watch every aspect of the game from the sidelines and relay instructions to their players on the pitch to make changes to hopefully benefit their team and to win matches or even just to shut the other team down for a while. Some people might argue that a Captain can do this kind of thing but ultimately the Captain is a player and has their own job to do on the pitch so there is no way to have the kind of scope that a manager has during a game (plus most footballers really are kind of dumb).

Barmymoo · « **Reply #1938 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 14:46 »

Oh right I thought the coach did all the decision-making relating to the playing and the players, and the manager was just the business admin side of it. So I was confused why managers kept getting sacked and the coaches were still around.

Thanks!

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #1939 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 15:21 »

Actually, a fair portion of the time the assistant manager is linked to the Manager and will also leave the club at the same time as the new Manager will want to bring in their own assistant. This sometimes applies to lower staff too but as they are not Mr. Big Shot Numero Uno it isn't really reported.

Inlander · « **Reply #1940 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 15:29 »

Ugh, I'm really starting to feel the Fox in this Superbowl coverage. "This is so much bigger than just a football game." No it's not!

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1941 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 15:55 »

Quote from: jwhouk on 06 Feb 2011, 13:36

So for all these footy people on here who presume so much about their sport </light_sarcasm_mode>, what EPL/UEFA teams would you compare the two Super Bowl combatants to?

Which soccer teams have the most rapists?

Inlander · « **Reply #1942 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 17:25 »

Amazingly, the Black Eyed Peas halftime show was even more awful than I'd anticipated.

Dazed · « **Reply #1943 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 17:52 »

Yeah, a group of non-musicians with no talent performing a musical act which I despise managed to disappoint me.

That took some doing.

Inlander · « **Reply #1944 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 18:06 »

You've got to admire them for it, in a way.

A hate-filled, loathing way.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1945 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 18:47 »

I've had the game in the background on mute while I go about my day and I've gotta say, without the sound, half-time show was pretty cool. You guys are doin' it wrong.

imagist42 · « **Reply #1946 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 19:17 »

Usher was the best part. That and the look on Slash's face when Fergie tried to rub up against him.

Inlander · « **Reply #1947 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 19:21 »

Those are the parts I missed because I was in the toilet.

Also since when can you see Slash's face?!

David_Dovey · « **Reply #1948 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 20:21 »

Quote from: imagist42 on 06 Feb 2011, 19:17

Usher was the best part. That and the look on Slash's face when Fergie tried to rub up against him.

"get off me woman, I'm tryin' to noodle!"

jwhouk · « **Reply #1949 on:** 06 Feb 2011, 21:06 »

It was a sloppy game, but the Pack Prevailed.

And that is all that matters.

13 NFL titles in 92 years.

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Author Topic: WE LIKE SPORTS (Read 588110 times)