OT: 2022 World Cup Thread

[mildone_rivals]

So what is everybody doing tomorrow afternoon? Working from home? Taking off? Watching at work? Think I'm leaving the office at 1 and taking the next few hours off.

I highly recommend procuring a sizable mound of blow and a half dozen hookers. Invite one buddy and have a world cup party.

As always, remember to combine good manners (guests go first) and the buddy system. Have your buddy try the blow first in case it contains Fentanyl. If he starts to look sluggish or sleepy, continue the good manners and be certain to very quickly thank him for his altruism.

As mom taught us, the proper use of good manners is it's own reward.

 

[mildone_rivals]

The language is mostly "British" words.

Eee's right, you know.

 

[RUHotTrumpetMonkeyLove]

I highly recommend procuring a sizable mound of blow and a half dozen hookers. Invite one buddy and have a world cup party.

As always, remember to combine good manners (guests go first) and the buddy system. Have your buddy try the blow first in case it contains Fentanyl. If he starts to look sluggish or sleepy, continue the good manners and be certain to very quickly thank him for his altruism.

As mom taught us, the proper use of good manners is it's own reward.

That all goes without saying, but I already said that I'm LEAVING the office. You make it sound as though I'm staying.

 

[RU848789]

sarcastic? no.. more like an extreme scenario analysis not meant to be taken seriously.. just a mental exercise... like this response.

Yes, ironic underplay may be more accurate. Congratulations on making the most minor grammatical correction in the history of the board. Yes, that's sarcasm.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Yes, ironic underplay may be more accurate. Congratulations on making the most minor grammatical correction in the history of the board. Yes, that's sarcasm.

So you're saying my ironic underplay meter is broken? Hm...

Well, anyway, I feel compelled to point out that there is no such thing as a minor grammatical correction. Grammar is always pass/fail. It's black and white. Right and wrong.

And you, sir, were WRONG!

 

[NorthernKnight_rivals]

Our team speed is a lot more competitive than it once was. We're less defenseless against elite speed forwards than we have been in prior WCs.

In the recent past, our biggest problem with speed was at the back where most of our defenders were too slow, particularly against teams with very quick forwards. But I think this latest iteration of the team is pretty fast everywhere, even on D, with the starters, at least.

In this world cup, my concerns are inexperience and fitness. A lot of key players for us were injured in the not-too-distant past. That impacted the amount of playing time they got with their club teams as they recovered. Perhaps due to that, we appear to not be quite as fit in this WC as in prior WCs.

And the loss of Robinson really hurt our speed and balance in the center back position.

 

[mildone_rivals]

And the loss of Robinson really hurt our speed and balance in the center back position.

Agreed.

M Robinson's play in the back has been the biggest difference-maker for the USMNT in terms of the luxury it provided to be super aggressive getting numbers forward. We played England w/a fair amount of trust in our back line. But I bet Berhalter was dealing with a lot of big-gamble stress all game long in no small part due to Robinson's absence.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I feel like Reyna being able to go closer to 30 minutes could be a deciding factor for this game. I think we'll need his creativity with the ball to help produce more scoring opportunities. I would like to see him and Weah on the field together for a while as that, IMO, produces the US's best chance to produce quality shots for everyone without having to expose ourselves too much defensively.

I'm thinking 4-3-1-2 with Reyna being the nominal center forward but playing as more of a high midfielder role so he has more space to dribble-penetrate. We get into the final third a lot on the edges, but Reyna adds pressure up the center of the field which is often more unbalancing to defenders. Without him, that's often missing from our attack.

But all that is contingent upon Reyna being both healthy and fit enough to go 100%.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

So you're saying my ironic underplay meter is broken? Hm...

Well, anyway, I feel compelled to point out that there is no such thing as a minor grammatical correction. Grammar is always pass/fail. It's black and white. Right and wrong.

And you, sir, were WRONG!

But that wasn't my point. I know I appreciate such corrections when they are actual mistakes and not a question of style or ability to type... or even spell, sometimes.

Using a word the wrong way... well.. a lot of people will notice that and think you are stupid.. and not tell you. I thought I gave a humorous and good-natured response.. now he'll probably say my anti-climate change alarmists and Wuhan Virus postings mean I was "going after him"... so, it's not on him.. it's on me.

Back to soccer.. if we beat Iran.. who would you prefer to see in the first knockout round.. Netherlands or Ecuador? I suppose Senegal might beat Ecuador to take 2nd but I expect the Netherlands to score enough vs Qatar to take 1st in Group A. So unless we go on a huge scoring binge vs Iran, we can only get 2nd.

 

[CERU00]

So what is everybody doing tomorrow afternoon? Working from home? Taking off? Watching at work? Think I'm leaving the office at 1 and taking the next few hours off.

Flexing my time...work at night from home to make up for game time. Fortunately my manager is French and is understanding.

 

[leftoright]

Brazil has a Premiere League all star team and no goals at76'

 

[leftoright]

Casamiro!!!

 

[MadRU]

Brazil starting to show glimpses of the beautiful game.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Do they include an estimate of the crowds that gathered in bars and other large scale watch parties?

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2...-change-to-how-tv-viewers-are-counted-674275/

 

[mildone_rivals]

But that wasn't my point. I know I appreciate such corrections when they are actual mistakes and not a question of style or ability to type... or even spell, sometimes.

Using a word the wrong way... well.. a lot of people will notice that and think you are stupid.. and not tell you. I thought I gave a humorous and good-natured response.. now he'll probably say my anti-climate change alarmists and Wuhan Virus postings mean I was "going after him"... so, it's not on him.. it's on me.

Back to soccer.. if we beat Iran.. who would you prefer to see in the first knockout round.. Netherlands or Ecuador? I suppose Senegal might beat Ecuador to take 2nd but I expect the Netherlands to score enough vs Qatar to take 1st in Group A. So unless we go on a huge scoring binge vs Iran, we can only get 2nd.

I think he was probably joking around. I was definitely just joking around. You know me. Way more often than not, I'm going for laughs and am perfectly willing to distort stuff to get them.

I don't know enough about either Netherlands's or Ecuador's current teams to form an opinion about whom we might match up with best. But I think this USMNT is capable of winning games against pretty much any team if we play our very best and improve some on scoring.

Problem is, we're young and have been pretty inconsistent throughout qualifying. Also inconsistent in this world cup so far, righty? Because, if we had played as well against Wales as we did against England, I think we would've scored 4 goals in that game and beaten them easily.

So right now, I'm mostly just anxious for the game and hoping to see back to back consistency, a full 90 minutes of great play, and a lot more scoring chances. I'd be very happy just to make it to the next round no matter who we play.

 

[leftoright]

Uruguay 0 - Ronaldo 0 half

 

[leftoright]

Porto 2 - 0

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Porto 2 - 0

Some wild end-to-end play during 1-0 and ref'd by Seargent Schultz who "saw nuthink!"

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I think he was probably joking around. ..

Yes.. looking at it that way and re-reading.. yeah.. he was definitely joking. That one was on me.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Yes.. looking at it that way and re-reading.. yeah.. he was definitely joking. That one was on me.

Ah, don't sweat it.

I sometimes look back and realize I didn't exactly follow what someone was trying to say to me - my mind read it and filled in other stuff that wasn't there that led down some different path than what the person was trying to communicate.

I'm actually pretty fascinated by the mechanics and complexity of human communications. We humans can be weirdly good at times, and weirdly bad at times, in our communications.

This is super geeky of me, but I sometimes, at parties or tailgates or other gatherings of people, kind of check out from the conversations and mentally step back and just observe the conversation. And often, when doing that, I realize that some conversations take place where the participants think they're talking about the same thing, but they very obviously are talking about completely different things. It used to be astonishing to me, but after seeing how common it is, I've grown used it now.

If it's that hard to communicate face to face, imagine how bad we all must be at communicating on social media or other mediums where we don't have the added hints that come from facial expressions or other body language.

 

[leftoright]

Ah, don't sweat it.

I sometimes look back and realize I didn't exactly follow what someone was trying to say to me - my mind read it and filled in other stuff that wasn't there that led down some different path than what the person was trying to communicate.

I'm actually pretty fascinated by the mechanics and complexity of human communications. We humans can be weirdly good at times, and weirdly bad at times, in our communications.

This is super geeky of me, but I sometimes, at parties or tailgates or other gatherings of people, kind of check out from the conversations and mentally step back and just observe the conversation. And often, when doing that, I realize that some conversations take place where the participants think they're talking about the same thing, but they very obviously are talking about completely different things. It used to be astonishing to me, but after seeing how common it is, I've grown used it now.

If it's that hard to communicate face to face, imagine how bad we all must be at communicating on social media or other mediums where we don't have the added hints that come from facial expressions or other body language.

but that is exactly why we invented "social media". However, We are not sheeple. We are THE OUTLAWS
and we couldn't be prouder,
If you can't hear us now.
we'll yell A LITTLE LOUDER!
read my facial expressions there. Good luck U.S. tomorrow.
(Bomb, bomb Iran)

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

But that wasn't my point. I know I appreciate such corrections when they are actual mistakes and not a question of style or ability to type... or even spell, sometimes.

Using a word the wrong way... well.. a lot of people will notice that and think you are stupid.. and not tell you. I thought I gave a humorous and good-natured response.. now he'll probably say my anti-climate change alarmists and Wuhan Virus postings mean I was "going after him"... so, it's not on him.. it's on me.

Back to soccer.. if we beat Iran.. who would you prefer to see in the first knockout round.. Netherlands or Ecuador? I suppose Senegal might beat Ecuador to take 2nd but I expect the Netherlands to score enough vs Qatar to take 1st in Group A. So unless we go on a huge scoring binge vs Iran, we can only get 2nd.

We have beaten Ecuador the last three times we met. Overall 5-5-5 record.

We beat the Dutch last time we met. Overall 1-4-0 (or 1-0-4 for the purists).

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Some wild end-to-end play during 1-0 and ref'd by Seargent Schultz who "saw nuthink!"

I thoroughly enjoyed that game - even with the reffing. All the matches were good today - a great day for the World Cup.

 

[BigEastPhil]

If we can’t beat Iran tomorrow, we’re hopeless . No excuses! Get it done! Make us proud ! Go Red White and Blue!

 

[Colbert17!]

Iranians under a tremendous amount of pressure from their government. Threats against family members, etc.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/iran-threatened-world-cup-players-families-ahead-of-us-match/

 

[Knight Owl]

Hopefully the US players watched highlights of the 1998 debacle vs Iran (2-1 loss) in the World Cup group stage.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Iranians under a tremendous amount of pressure from their government. Threats against family members, etc.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/iran-threatened-world-cup-players-families-ahead-of-us-match/

The entire tourney is a disgrace regarding human rights

 

[leftoright]

Interview with Adams was telling. All the dopey interviewer wanted to know was he was enduring this terrible racist country. Sometimes ya just gotta smack one of these guys.
Bomb, bomb, Iran!

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

Interview with Adams was telling. All the dopey interviewer wanted to know was he was enduring this terrible racist country. Sometimes ya just gotta smack one of these guys.
Bomb, bomb, Iran!

I read a story that the government threatened the families of the Iranian players. They told them that their families would be tortured and put in jail if they didn’t “behave.” I read the players didn’t sing their national anthem in protest in the first game. After the threats, they sang the anthem in the second game. It didn’t sound like they had much freedom of movement in Qatar without being watched.

 

[leftoright]

I hope they choke because of the tension. Am I bad guy? Anyone getting a little nervous?

 

[NorthernKnight_rivals]

Interview with Adams was telling. All the dopey interviewer wanted to know was he was enduring this terrible racist country. Sometimes ya just gotta smack one of these guys.
Bomb, bomb, Iran!

This is what happens when the most accepting country in the world (USA) gets bullied to accept silly racist propaganda and we severely wound ourselves in the world court of opinion.

 

[NorthernKnight_rivals]

Very excited to see our USA Team in a big match directly dictating their future on the world stage!

USA USA USA USA USA

 

[RUtrumpet92_rivals498139]

Sargent starting up front, Carter-Vickers in for Zimmerman.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Looks like Zimmerman has been replaced by Carter-Vickers. Interesting and I wish I could ask what GB’s thinking is, or if there is some other reason like injury or a cold or something.

 

[leftoright]

Talk today was his experience with Celtic, which attacks teams that pack it in.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Looks like I won’t get my wish to see Reyna and Weah on the field at the same time today. Understanding that the coaching staff are far more knowledgeable about the situation than me, I am a little disappointed as I think that combo gives us our strongest attack.

 

[RUhasarrived]

The sports world is enraptured here instead of denouncing the NBA-particularly that Mao mo fo,Steve Kerr-for their laryngitis since the latest activities of their Beijing Buddies.

 

[leftoright]

Iran is the oldest team U.S. the youngest. I usually root for the elders, but not today. Iran players singing today.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Iran is the oldest team U.S. the youngest. I usually root for the elders, but not today. Iran players singing today.

I would think they would. I don’t believe the rumors about their families being threatened, how would anybody know? But I can easily believe the players were yelled at and threatened with imprisonment if they protested like they did in their first game.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Iran playing a reasonably high defense to start. Not what most were expecting, but what I would’ve done if I were their coach. At least for a bit.

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

Finally cleared the ball.