I'm in the same boat; I enjoy soccer as a thing to do, but it's in the same boat as most televised sports -- not something that I make an appointment to watch. (Actually, that's the same as all TV for me -- being able to start any program on our schedule has totally spoiled us for watching anything live. The Cubs in the playoffs was an exception for my wife, but even that gets to be a big hassle if you don't keep a cable connection.)
I applaud anything that will encourage more famous athletes that look like Tilda Swinton.
I will afford the women's team the same dignity I offer the men's: I will pretend to be interested and informed every four years.
Watching soccer for me means checking Twitter every 5-10 minutes for the score and watching videos of the goals. It's exciting!
Research shows sports provide a critical pathway to leadership for women. One study finds that 94 percent of female C-suite executives are former athletes, and 52 percent played university-level sports, compared to 39 percent of women at other management levels in the private sector. 65 percent of the women on the Fortune Most Powerful Women list report playing sports competitively in high school or college. One study finds that women who played sports in college are 25 percent more likely to consider running for political office than those who did not.Confounds, so many.
Megan Rapinoe is amazing, but in general I'm with dalriata. Also, that article was unreadable.
5: Aren't there similar statistics for men, and it's seen as a sign that there's an old boys' club and it's unfortunate that you have to have done those particular activities in college to get ahead in business?
Or maybe it's that college sports teams for women play the same role as fraternities for men.
7: Actually, it's just because athletes tend to be tall, and tall people are natural leaders.
Athletes can run faster, so they naturally appear to be leading the crowd.
That really is a sweet article.
Also, that article was unreadable.
It's a lovely article, but it may help if you are already invested in the Sue Bird / Megan Rapinoe relationship.
8 and 9 are basically more correct than either the positive or negative spin in 7. People who become leaders (healthy, confident people) are similar to people who become college athletes (healthy, confident people).
Investment banking always recruited athletes. Old boys club for sure. It was also the case that they had some time management skills, physical stamina for long hours and the ability to focus on repetitive tasks.
So, Rapinoe isn't starting today. Does anybody who actually knows something about football have an explanation for this? Oddly enough, there seems to be considerable disagreement on Twitter.
This is not tactical. Rapinoe not even warming up on sideline. She had tape on right leg yesterday.
https://twitter.com/JulieFoudy/status/1146123744965881856
This is an explanation that I can understand.
I didn't realize tape could do so much damage.
15: Starting Xi? I wouldn't even put him on the bench.
18. OK, if I can have your seat in Business class.
Sure. It's a little damp.
That England goal was really good.
23: She even followed Patrick Starr's instruction to raise her pinkie.
23. That will get the English riled up! There might be letters to the Times.
Did they take away a goal? I'm only interested enough to watch the box score.
I think that means the US gave the refs the larger bribe.
Every time somebody explains what "offsides" means in soccer, my mind goes blank and I forget.
29: It's "offside" not "offsides". Someone was mocking someone on Twitter about that.
But that's as much as I know about it.
Not that I should be explaining soccer to anyone, but I think you're not allowed to come into possession of the ball (that is, get it passed to you) unless there are two opposite team members (the goalie plus one more) between you and their goal. If you're hanging out with the opposing goalie, and all the other players are at the other end of the field, and someone passes to you, you're offside.
Why don't all the players just stand in their own goal then?
Hard to score from the wrong end of the field?
32: That makes so sense at all, Moby! I'm surprised at you!
I mean, I've often wondered why once a team has a lead, why they don't all just crowd in front of their own goal so as to make it physically impossible for the ball to go in the goal, but that has nothing to do with the offside rule.
I actually find the soccer offside rule more straightforward than the ice hockey one and I play/coach the latter. The only confusing thing about the soccer one involves rebounds off the post or goalie to someone who was offside at the time of the shot. I gather in that case the shot is instead considered a pass, but I'm not sure what it takes to get back onside in that situation.
The hockey one seems confusing as to whether the blue line is considered part of the offensive zone or not, it depends on whether the play is entering or leaving the zone, except for the purposes of clearing the zone on a delayed offside, so quite simple really.
Peep has assembled a soccer team comprised solely of women at least eight feet tall. Putting an unchallenged shot over a group of 11 people, only one of which can use her hands, is probably doable for most female players over 14.
I understand offsides really well, but not in ways I can explain.
Plus, I've never heard it called "offside".
Possibly for the same reason I say "offsides" (a lifetime of watching regular football), everybody in Texas says "offsides" too.
37: What if you had six-foot tall players, in pairs of two holding a third above their head?
Italy does 35 as policy, but with defence in depth. It actually works quite well, but makes for viewing only Italians can love.
I will now attempt to explain the offside rule to anyone who knows American football.
Say you've got a QB with a good arm and a very fast wide receiver; you're probably going to throw deep once or twice. Your WR gets the jump on the corner, streaks like 5 yards ahead. The safety can't cover, your man's running his route and there's nothing between him and the end zone but forty yards of grass. The QB completes the pass, and here is where in soccer offside would be called.
Contrast:
Next play, the secondary is playing off the receivers, giving them like 8 yards At the snap, your fast WR sprints at his corner. Right before he meets him, the QB releases, and while the ball is in the air the WR blows by the corner back, receives the ball in the open field and can run through on goal. In soccer this would be onside.
Also onside in this analogy are any passes underneath the secondary, but those are never really controversial or inobvious.
Soccer goals can be offside or onesie.
Anyway, as far as sport that I only pay attention to every four years go, soccer is much better than something like track and field.
40: you did great! That's the gist of it. As an offender, you can't receive the ball if you're standing past the last defender.
Recently I was criticized for pronouncing "component" with the emphasis on the first syllable, and now I'm going in circles trying to remember how I pronounce "offender". If it's the offender of a crime, I'd say "Offender", but when it's soccer, does everyone say "Offender"? I think I do, but am I being weird?
Of-Bender. What Molly Ringwald's character is called in the "Handmaid" sequel to "The Breakfast Club."
Soccer is never going to catch on if they stick to this silly format where nobody ever scores. That's why they should get rid of the offsides rule and also shrink the size of the field.
Can still have sex in a minivan, but not until next week.
50. FIFA controls the sporting calendar on three continents. Right now they don't give a shit about the USA, they want to break into China. (They can't break into India because cricket.)
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Looking bad in Sri Lanka. Political arrests:
Sri Lankan police on Tuesday arrested their own chief and the former defense secretary for failing to prevent attacks on churches and luxury hotels that killed more than 250 people in April, a police spokesman said. ... Fernando, who resigned as defense secretary, told parliament that Sirisena had given instructions to keep Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with whom he fell out in October, out of security council meetings. The defense secretary reports to the president, who heads the Defence Ministry.Dutertismo:
Sri Lanka's president on Wednesday signed death sentences for four people convicted of drug-related offences in a decision analysts said is aimed at boosting his chances of re-election later this year. Maithripala Sirisena was elected as a reformist in January 2015, but has struggled to fulfil pledges including addressing human rights abuses, eliminating corruption and ensuring good governance. He has been under increasing pressure since a political crisis last year, and more recently faced criticism for his handling of Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 250 people.|>
29, 36, 43. Good work, but I need a video.
For extra credit, explain (a) icing and (b) the (American) football pass interference rule.
Recently I was criticized for pronouncing "component" with the emphasis on the first syllable, and now I'm going in circles trying to remember how I pronounce "offender". If it's the offender of a crime, I'd say "Offender", but when it's soccer, does everyone say "Offender"? I think I do, but am I being weird?
I think you're the only person who uses the word "offender" in a soccer context.
56 b should be the catch rule, which not even the referees can explain. Though it's sad they got rid of the "football move" part of the rule, which added a very Zen koan aspect to the rule.
they want to break into China.
That's another reason they should shrink the field. A sport that requires a lot of real-estate isn't going to do well competing with basketball in China.
Also I think they should consider letting players use their hands. You know, for variety.
57: yes. If you want the opposite of "defender" in a football context it's "attacker".
Icing is very simple, aside from the fact that there's a bit of a judgement call involved (could the defender have played the puck if they tried harder?)
60: What about an attacker with a criminal history? (I think heebie plays with a rough crowd.)
pwned, but at least I went for a midfielder.