bugsonglass said:

i read his 40 time would be between 4.24 and 4.30

they were looking at playing him as a running back or a linebacker which i understand is maybe similar to the position of winger he played his rugby as

In reality he would be huge for a RB as most of them are much smaller, but he is fast as hell so why not. He would be the right size for a LB but the speed would be going to waste. As for those positions, the RB is the guy on offense who grabs the ball at the start of a play and runs with it. The LB is the guy on defense who is at the center of the defense, you have the line in front  which tries to penetrate the offenses line behind the d-line are the linebackers, these are the guys that are supposed to hit the hardest and stop the RBs or any of the short passes. They are the guys that are running after the ball more than anyone on defense.

SteelAttack said:

Dvader said:

It is a good discussion but you guys have a tourny going on you guys should be enjoying that. There is no where this can go, I dont like soccer, and I doubt I ever will.

Don't worry, Deedee. It's all in good fun. Besides, there will be no more matches on this tournament until the 27th.

I'll be the first one to admit that all sports require a significant amount of skill to play on a professional level. Even sports I dislike or don't follow too much, like handegg or basketball. I reckon they all need lots of skill and practice to be played at a competitive level, and I respect anyone who likes them, as I'm sure everyone else here does.

I'll just acknowledge one more thing, baseball (no, Robio, i'm not hitting on you) is an unbelievably complex sport that requires skill, concentration, teamwork, and strategy. Anyone who has ever tried to play it, or who has watched a high-level match such as seasons play offs or world series matches can attest to this. Baseball has also a huge following over here, although our league is on a whole different level when compared to MLB. There ar eplaces here in Mexico where baseball is more popular than football.

For sure about the atheletes, I have no idea how anyone can run so much and not get tired like these soccer players do, its incredible. They literally get no breaks, I cant even imagine that as all our sports have timeouts or stoppage of the clock.

As for baseball, yeah I agree. Its one thing to be big and run fast, it does take a lot of training. But its another to be able to hit a 90 MPH fastball, that takes a whole different skill set and normally you still need to be big and fast on top of it. Plus there is all sorts of strategy, it is by far the most numbers oriented game I have ever seen, there are literally stats for everything and those stats influence how you approach every situation.

SteelAttack said:

Dvader said:

That guy could definetly play football. With that speed and size he would be a killer RB.

Rhythm and Blues?

I know there is a position called running back. But I dunno what do those guys do on the field. All I know about (your) football is that a bunch of huge guys try to catch a guy who tries to send the ball to a bunch of smaller guys. Which still would be huge in any other sport except for basketball.

Full backs, running backs, tight ends (hi Leo ), nose tackles, wide receivers, it's all so confusing. In football (mine), there are definite positions, but the way it is played in this age, anyone can attack or defend at any given time, even the goalkeeper.

Right, you know your stuff. Yeah your football is more like basketball or hockey where the guys on the field, even though they each have a position, they can still perform all the same actions like shoot or defend.

Not so the case with handegg. Every position has a set job to do, some are not allowed to catch the ball, and they are different offense and defense players. Its so complicated, just to explain the basics, once you throw in the insane amount of rules and penalties you lose most people.

You guys have seen the George Carlin bit about the difference between Baseball and Football right?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmXacL0Uny0

The best atletes by far are MMA athletes. Think about it, they need technique, speed, power, but also be nimble (high kicks and crazy submissions), fast refelexes, great chin (you have to be able to take punishment), great nerves and good gameplans. 

You need to be at your peak physically and mentally.

Dvader said:

For sure about the atheletes, I have no idea how anyone can run so much and not get tired like these soccer players do, its incredible. They literally get no breaks, I cant even imagine that as all our sports have timeouts or stoppage of the clock.

 There are some players that run alot, but not all. If you have good positional play, you can totally rip open the defense with little physical effort. Most of you guys underestimate the skill it takes. The more simple it seems the more difficult it is. Fast short passes are so difficult to do, but they look so awesome if you get them right. Remember the ball is on your foot, you are not holding it, so bumping into someone means you can lose the ball.

Dvader said:

I doesn't have to do as much with money as it does with what is simple to learn. Soccer is as basic as it gets. 

Football is easy to learn but hard to master, and playing it is actually more fun than watching it.

Dvader said:

We have our own crappy soccer league, there are a ton of youth soccer programs around, ESPN covers this tournament and the world cup. We have tried it many many times and we keep rejecting it cause to most of us its boring.

 Well New York is warming up and Football is getting more popular now because the USA actually managed to get to the quarter finals in one of the World Cups. The sport will become more popular once the US gets better. It is as simple as that. And you are from Florida, you guys are always the slowest to catch up

Dvader said:

There is no where this can go, I dont like soccer, and I doubt I ever will.

 Yes, you will. Just check the World Cup and when the USA trashes Mexico once again, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that Steel is going nuts. 

Vader if you want to start watching Football begin with the World Cups. I don't care who you are, if the USA is a semi-final of the World Cup, of course you are going to watch it. Oh and if you find it boring, it probably means that it is. Not all matches are exiting. We all hate 0-0 scores.

P.S. in Europe football is the most popular, but not the only sport they play. Some of the most popular team sports are:

• Football (d'oh) 
• Basketball 
• Handball
• Waterpolo (fuck everyone that hates this)
• Volleyball
• Rugby
• Ice Hockey 
• Hockey
• Cricket

Yodariquo said:

I'm gone for a 3 days and come back to 4 pages of soccer.

We have our next podcast topic.

SteelAttack said:

I missed today's match while cheating death one more day. How was it?

0 - 0 ... just the kind of match iga loves   a tactical display

chelsea was mostly defensive but they had the one clear chance in the game on the break with drogba (after marquez made a blunder of a back pass) missing twice with just the keeper to beat.  barcelona had a few half chances (especially at the very end) but on the whole they proved pretty ineffective against a solid chelsea backline.

chelsea gave the ball away too easily, especially the keeper with his long aimless shoots (not once taking it near one of his own players), but happy on the whole not to have conceded.  barcelona very frustrated not to have cleared the game on their home leg (as they like to do) but they deserved nothing more.  they proved (not that it needed proof) that they are just another weak spanish side full of cry babies who drop like flies and scream bloody murder for no reason at all.  ref did well not to be intimidated by them or their 110 k cry baby fans.

all to play for at the bridge

Iga_Bobovic said:

Yodariquo said:

How do you get knocked out in soccer?

 Football!!

Both player jump to head a ball. One player is behind the other player and hits him in the back of the head with his forehead or shoulder. 

Twice?