I connected more so with the first part of the article but yea this is a good point.

Baseball and football are broken down into all these segments. The action stops and a very defined set of circumstances is reset for when the action springs up again.

Soccer is the athletics version of a complete stream of consciousness. That is what can separate the truly incredible players of the world from the decent ones. The ones that can creatively create complex attacking on the fly.

Lamar's step-brother is the oil baron. He was the one who got HL's business. While the rest still make bank, its Ray Hunt that is the one that is the money man in DFW.

Man the bitching is bad now for essentially owning a couple of minor league teams in the scheme of things, wait till they purchase an EPL team.

I wonder if HL left the oil business to Ray because Lamar was "too obsessed with this professional football fad"?

LMAO

Argentina has it's own problems at the domestic level, as well. Most countries these days do.

But every league in the world, aside from the top 3 or 4, struggle to keep players. French teams constantly lose their best players. Same with the big Dutch teams. That's just a reality of the game

All you can do is build up your scouting and academy programs, and work on making the domestic experience as fun as possible. Also, have a rational transfer policy, and reinvest profit. Your best players will always move on, but you can still have a fun league.

LOL, I know. It cracks me up when haters say 'soccer is boring because there is no action' or 'it's too slow.' Soccer, basketball, and hockey are three sports where there is near constant play/action going on. Not football or baseball both of which the games would be significantly shorter if there was less scratching and stepping out of the box. Not to mention laid out on the field or in a huddle.

The real kicker is when haters try to argue that soccer players are not that much better conditioned athletes than football or baseball players. I have to mention to them that BOTH football and baseball players spend at least half the game ON THE BENCH or at least on the sidelines or dugout. Whereas, in soccer the majority play 90 minutes and sometimes 120.

Soccer is boring because there's not much scoring......ever

Same reason why hockey sucks on TV...except at least that's at a faster pace and is a lot more physical.

I've always said though that soccer players are the some of the most athletic well conditioned athletes in the world. Doesn't mean shit though when the sport itself is garbage.

It seems to me it was left to the oldest child of the last wife, probably out of spite to the other women in HL's life if I had a guess.

yes - but the talent pool is bigger there - and the style of play is smoother - its a prettier soccer if you will.

Most definitely - The best Argentina players usually leave before they turn 18 - for chump change to "smaller" European clubs, and then get sold to the bigger teams for a markup that is insane. that's because the exposure in the Argentine league isnt there and the fact that Financially - its a freaking mess. River Plate is a perfect example - they sold their farm - and they had no talent to replace what they had - Relegated to the B division.

Yes - and I think something Sporting is doing well.

The Hunt's probaly would have liked to keep the Wizards but the trouble was the stadium deal. The Hunt's knew if they built a new SOS for the Wizards it would hurt them in getting a new deal done at Arrowhead. Public would have railed them for building a stadium for the soccer team while asking public dollars for new Arrowhead. Even though at the time they were building the new stadium in Frisco, TX for FC Dallas.

It was a joke.

Sure, but you still have a lot of financial problems, and problems with supporters. I was there when River got relegated - not pretty. :D

My only point want that there are very few healthy soccer leagues these days. England is a financial mess, dominated by foreign money. Spain - two teams, and **** all. France - money pouring into PSG. Italy, oh where to start? ;)

Every league has its issues. Germany might be the best model out there that comes quickly to mind...

Yes, but Chunt does very well for himself. He's a private equity/hedge fund type. Outside of the Chiefs, he is still a wealthy man.

Love the Bundesliga.

I grew up in and around soccer. Love it. have a respect for it that few can understand unless they'll lived in Europe and other areas of the globe where it's the primary support. As dedicated as we all are to football, it's amazing how dedicated those locals are to their loved sport.

That being said, if they could reinvent the game, they sure could build-in/change a few rules that get the scoring higher. Simply change the offsides rule and you'd see a dynamic that changes the game drastically. Both offense and defense. And I think it'd make it better for all parties involved (sans the goalkeeper!).

Just my opinion...

The offside rule is one of the biggest PITAs in the game on any level. The officials have 1000 different interpretations of it at the youth level. At the pro level, at least in the US, it's called inconsistently. I hate it.

ROFL

There is only one interpretation to it. The issue is just that the officials are human. You have to be able to see when the ball leaves the players foot, head, etc and also see where the receiving player is in relation to the second to last defender at the same time.

Easy to do if there is a slow pace and the two offensive player are in the same line of vision.

Very hard to do when they are moving at a very fast pace and are not both within the same field of view.

As far as gettign rid of the offside rule....This would destroy the game.

Only fix I could see to make it palatable for American audiences is to not allow an offensive player in the box / within the yard line until the ball has crossed, and give a 2-3 yard-ish "buffer" behind the last defensive player and the GK to the point that an offensive player can't be much farther away without the ball as well.

As much as I hate the rule, we shouldn't tamper with it in any way that differentiates American soccer from international rules. We have a hard enough time being taken seriously as a top contributor to the game. Making the rules more offense friendly to appease an American audience would make us look ridiculous.

If Americans want instant gratification and constant stimulation there are plenty of sports and events they can attend to fulfill that purpose. If they can't be sold the nuance, complexity, and intricacy that is soccer then let them go elsewhere.

ROFL

Americans are too stupid for soccer.

The offside law is fine as it is. It is the American's understanding of the law that is the issue no the law in itself.

Judging by the NFL, Americans are also too stupid for football.

I mean, kind of, but not really. A player can be in an offside position, but not be actively involved in the play. There's plenty of interpretation that can go into it on less than clear plays.

This is why KC loves it's soccer team. It's also why the sport will grow in this country.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/22...#storylink=cpy

You know why the sport is growing in this country?

Because they're GETTING THE KIDS.

I live in Iowa - rural America. Granted, we have a lot of Hispanic immigrants here, but the number of kids playing in soccer leagues is EASILY more than Little League baseball and Pop Warner COMBINED.

Soccer at all levels, not just MLS but also the lesser pro franchises, are doing a GREAT job of getting out in the community and energizing the NEXT generation of fans.

A player not involved in the play has nothing to do with offside or not offside.


No there isn't. The law is really simple.

• “nearer to his opponents’ goal line” means that any part of a player’s head,
body or feet is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the
second-last opponent. The arms are not included in this defi nition
• “interfering with play” means playing or touching the ball passed or
touched by a team-mate
• “interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from
playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s
line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in
the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent
• “gaining an advantage by being in that position” means playing a ball that
rebounds to him off a goalpost or the crossbar having been in an offside
position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having
been in an offside position

The issue is that there are humans involved making the call at real speed. the other issue is that most coaches, players, and many inexperienced referees do not understand Law 11.

Have you ever reffed a game? And tried to decide these things? It sounds simple, but it's a bit harder in real life.

Let's say a player is in an offside position on the left wing, but the ball is played late to a player on the right wing, and he scores. Hasn't the offside player on the left played some role in distracting the goalie? But plenty of goals are scored with players in an offside position, but legitimately so. But there are plenty of judgement calls.

It's like when people say "hand ball" is "really simple". No, it's not. **** off. It's called completely differently on the circumstances.

Even your own definition accounts for this: "in the opinion of the referee"... In what world does that not call for interpretation?

I have reffed thousands of games. Youth, College, etc.... The example you just gave above is not off.

And deliberately handling is a simple one as well. It is peoples understanding on what actually constitutes deliberately handling that most do not understand.

My daughter's team has been called the Timbers a couple decades anyways. We just absorbed a club so there was talk of what the name might be?

Fast forward to the beginning of summer. The Portland Timbers are just across the river (just like KC, Mo. & KC, Ks. in that a river separates. With us it's Vancouver, Wa. & Portland, Or.) & approached our club, Vancouver United, & 3 of the top tier clubs' in Portland about starting up what they call an Alliance. So now it's North (us), eastern, western, & south Timbers. We also had a sponsor step up so the uniform kit has "Director's Mortgage" on the front with each club's insignia up in the front corner.

It's cool for the kids' since all the clubs were top notch to begin with so the name Timbers is well represented in the NW. Got to talking to someone & the NW has grown some decent players.

We're hoping for the women to someday move in. That would benefit our daughter. She's currently on the premier team at her age level. She wants to play for the National team someday. With the boys, my understanding is they can add a local player & it won't count towards a draft pick or something??? Which is super cool since they signed one of their 1st off the U23 team.

I'm trying to give her what my Father never gave me. It's been super easy so far simply because I'm there for her. I'm her full time chauffeur.

I too, use to hate soccer but have really grown to enjoy it now. The Portland Timbers sell out @ the beginning of the season. We've talked about buying season tickets cause it's actually not that much money!

It has to be a thankless job. They're always short on referees' & side judges' up here.

I thought that handball rule was modified recently?

We went down to northern Ca. for the Mustang tournament. The refs down there were amazing. I wheeled up to each & every one of them thanking them after every game. I think they were in a state of shock. One ref explained to me he wouldn't call fouls, etc. unless whatever infraction it was, would have made a instant/direct impact on the game.

Some of the parents need to bring lollipops'. They want calls every time their precious little one takes an elbow or falls down. Excuse me, but do you even know how soccer's played? We have about 3 girls' on the team that are solid. It's funny when an opponent runs into one of them. Opponent always ends up on their ass.

Yea - offsides is really tricky - the one that really gets me is the fact that the rule states that there needs to be 2 players (usually a goalie and a defender) in front of the player recieving the ball, once the ball is passed from another teamate.

So basically if the goalie comes off his line - and there is only one defender to beat on goal - if that offensive person makes a forward pass to another teamate and said teamate was behind the defender but in front of the passer - he would be offside as well...

Refs at all levels screw the offsides up - its hard, and you are told if its close to keep your flag down....

That being said on the international and bigger leagues, they get this call right 90% of the time... they are only human -

On the hand ball, you bet your ass its depending on the ref thats calling the game - some have no leeway - it hits you in the hand in the box and its away from your body regardless if intentional or not - its supposed to be called a penalty - and a yellow - and every ref has his own interpretation - sometimes its completely missed, sometimes its fabricated and sometimes its interpreted that a)he was protecting his body, b) had no time to react and wasnt trying to handball it... it sucks -

but yes, handball, and other fouls are judgement calls that the ref makes in game, with a split second to react, he has to interpret a lot of things before making the call (advantage, yellow/red card, intent, etc)

offsides is mostly the lines duty to get it right - but a player that is not active in the play (that is close to the play) might be charged for offside based on being a distraction... but again, the line judge has less to interpret - its almost black and white for them...

Soccer is also fairly cheap to play compared to Baseball and football. Not as much gear to buy.

This is somewhat correct. The referee first has to determine if it was the hand that hit the ball or the ball that hit the hand. If it is ball to hand then there a some other criteria that have to be taken into account to determine if it is a foul or not. Advantage has nothing to do with it being a handball or not.

As far as the yellow card.... Just because it was a hand ball in the penalty area it does not mean you must give a yellow. If it was not a yellow card worthy foul at mid-filed then it is not when in the area either. If anything you are more lenient with yellows in the area because the player/team is already being punished with an almost certain goal from the PK.

Do different referees have different interpretations on "handballs"? Yes, this is part of the game. It is a result of the soccer culture in the US of most people not completely understanding the definition of deliberately handling.

As far as line judges... There are no line judges in soccer. There are Referees and Assistant Referees. (AR's)

Have you ever looked at the cost of a quality pair of shoes?

They all require roughly the same expenditure on shoes.

Whoa, I hadn't heard about this yet. Kinda shocked. Worked out pretty well for SKC, though, and we all know Clark's heart is in Texas~~

ps soccer owns





That's not including literally my favorite game ever (aside from like the US-Portugal match in the 02 World Cup, I guess).

i was translating loosely from spanish to english from what i know - (Juez de linea) is what we call them back home...

also i wasnt going off anything but the rules as how i understood them based on my experience... not a referee or FIFA - just from watching and playing in a crap loads of games... so obviously i can be completely off :p

I really don't get how something as simple as the offside rule can possibly be a contentious or confusing rule after watching your first, I dunno, five matches.

It's simple in theory, and probably on replay, but more nuanced in real time application.