Park Life

I would have thought with all the immigration from Italy and Germany, the sport would have taken more of a hold. How long has American football been going anyway ten years? And who made that up?

That's not a new thing though. It's been the number 1 participation sport for ages. The system over there will still send the cream of the crop into the basketball, baseball and egg-chasing for the foreseeable. It's basically played by posh kids (private schools are well into it as the insurance for 'football' is way too high) and lasses. Two things that make it slightly different this time though is there's a fairly legitimate professional league here now and the sport is actually on TV. I played as a kid, but honest-to-God, I don't think I ever actually saw a match on TV until World Cup '94. Obviously you gotta play and have good coaches and whatnot, but I'm a firm believer in you have to see people playing on TV to get better, and although MLS is probably about 10th in league competitiveness compared to the rest of the world, at least it's a league, at least the teams that are still around seem to be making some money, and at least it's on TV. I tell ya though, and Parky will love this, but as this country's economy gets more and more in the toilet with every passing year, you're going to see more American kids playing football simply because their parents can't afford all the gear and league fees for the other sports. Guy I work with here at the plant has absolutely no interest in football, but his kid brought home a sign up sheet for baseball (which my co-worker loves) and a form for football. He hated to do it, but he signed his kid up for football. It was $50 cheaper and obviously the equipment purchase made even more economic sense. I LOLed. If America/ns get into football in the right way as per your personal predilictions etc, I don't have a problem with that, after all it is a game the whole world should enjoy and to a degree all the fifa bullshit about it bringing people together has some truth to it. What I don't want is the sport being harmed by any wierd rule changes to accomodate America (like 3 half an hour halves to accomodate advertising) or somesuch shit like that. For me I think at some point in the not too distant future American sides will be on an equal footing with African sides, like Mexico, Japan and SK have gone up a gear this world cup and the last decade.

That's not a new thing though. It's been the number 1 participation sport for ages. The system over there will still send the cream of the crop into the basketball, baseball and egg-chasing for the foreseeable. It's basically played by posh kids (private schools are well into it as the insurance for 'football' is way too high) and lasses. Lampard went to private school. Sorry Tarquin, no offence. It doesn't preclude you from being a good player. But that wasn't my point. Vialli's aristocracy ffs.

That's not a new thing though. It's been the number 1 participation sport for ages. The system over there will still send the cream of the crop into the basketball, baseball and egg-chasing for the foreseeable. It's basically played by posh kids (private schools are well into it as the insurance for 'football' is way too high) and lasses. Lampard went to private school.

Not when i play it. Wild lolloping run up?

Thank god for yank football.

The only sport that is safe is darts.

Where do you think the predominance of modern art over traditional painting in Europe started? Where do you think Hollywood got all its ideas from to regurgitate back at us as formulaic tedium? Where do you think the pre-dominance of rap and hip hop that has laid waste to the planet started? Yes sweetheart Amerikkka.

TP is right. Football will one day be flooded with candy bon bons and girls in short skirts and playoffs eastern zone ya'll. America has taken every single significant cultural aspect of Europe, colonized it with idiocy and destroyed it...from Cinema to music.

Let's not kid ourselves here. The group performance as a whole was poor (you can make a case Germany haven't really shone either), against sides (maybe not the Usa) that we would normally tonk and have done in qualifying. Something is eating at the heart of this team and I think it is partly belief and partly niggles and irritation from being out of their PL comfort zone playing sides week in week out they roll over and sides that fear them. WC's are notoriously different as NZ and Aus are showing, players who's career highlight is a WC play out of their skins and fear and whatnot doesn't even enter their minds (plus they have nothing to lose). With England the pressure starts months before the WC with massive and often unfounded expectaiton and jingoism in the polular press (it is essentially a branding and markerting junket these days as well as product placement) and the players get sucked into all this, which in its peculiar way also sucks the mental and rational strenght from their minds. Players earning over 100,000 a week have massive ego's and winning which has become a ritual to them all goes out the window in the first WC game when the players from WBA and Dakota Lions start to out run them and out think them, it comes as a massive shock to that pampered ego and worse, thoughts of failure come to the forefront, normally very good players wilt and the fear of failure becomes greater than the will to do well. Under normal circumstances players should become introspective and get some analysis on these mind blowing early encounters (we have a psychologist there right), but the big ego doesn't work like that and starts to look for exterior culprits (the manager, the formation, he's not friendly enough, no beer, too much golf, sitting in rooms too long, can't take me mobile to dinner, no flip flops, why to I have to play there...the list becomes endless...). In short they have forgotten what made them succsessful in the first place, the early years of struggle and scant reward, the building blocks of improvement, the desire to do better, essentially the foundation like rock of taking responsability. Five times Rooney lost the ball yesterday and with the player only a few yards away didn't chase back.

Aye and it was Podolski last week that missed it. The cracks are starting to show.

Defoe yes. Don't let Rooney take the first cause he'll miss, better he takes the 3rd or 4th. Lampard to take the first.

To finish below a country where football is the third sport. Oh dear.

That keeper is massive as well, probs save all 5 pens.

At the moment I don't think we will win. This normally changes on the morning of the game.

I don't know about this, Ghana had a lot of posession in neutral areas and did their usual silly little individual runs into blind alleys, it would have been more interesting if Serbia had been winning by a couple and that had fileterd to the Ghana bench.

Soothing words Cragie, soothing words my friend. I am working provisions into the English bunker in Hamburg as we speak.

Keep the back 4 as is.

That's what I was tryng to explain earlier, already had Mrs P's brother on the blower giving it large. They don't even think they can lose to us anymore when it counts.

Need a gold stamped Stevie style post to get us going.

Really don't think we can do it. The Germans are fitter, have more pitch intelligence - get stronger as they go and are miles better organised. Klose will be back and they really have no fear of us. Can't see where the win is coming from unless Rooney or someone has a blinder.

Living here I know that they have absolutely 0 fear of playing us.

I'll be convinced we can do it by kick off as per.

I just think Eng are too thick for football. It was alright back in the day when nobody had a calculator but now its a science and we've yet to put a dog in space.

We're out. One of these teams has a clear path to the semi's it should have been us. Ghana Uruguay USA South Korea Gormless fucking cretins have fvked up the easiest WC route gifted on a silver plate by a gold winged eagle. Fuck them.