In the 'other' football...
by SMQ
on May 22, 2008 6:25 AM EDT
I heard on the radio this thing they do across the way called the Champions League final was "magnificent...exhausting hammer-and-tongs relentlessness," in which "each side took the other to its limits" on a night where "emotions were frayed and tempers flared." Thrilling business.
Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-1 on a shootout. After 90 minutes or however long it is of an instant classic embodying the competitive spirit and cliffhanging emotion of the proud, graceful game that captures the mind of most of the world, the thing is decided by...shooting an uncontested, point-blank shot directly at the goal? I thought they were playing soccer.
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Funny you should mention this...
Two points:
1. I also find it funny that the most prestigious club championship in soccer is determined by “penalties.” When the conversion percentage is so high it’s almost as if you have to get really unlucky or really screw up to not convert. However, I don’t think they should end in a tie and I can’t see them going on for days as they do in hockey (although I did enjoy the 4 OT game between the Stars and Sharks a few weeks back). So I don’t really know of a better way to settle things in this case. Which brings me to…
2. This is the argument that many people have against football OTs. In the NFL a simple coin-flip loss can lead to a quick loss. The NCAA gives both teams a chance, but it is a shortened field which tricks up the game in some ways (sometimes making it a battle of FG kickers, which might be worse than “penalties”). Again, I don’t know the right solution, but I’m not sure anybody’s doing what I would consider ideal.
by TexasTiger on May 22, 2008 11:54 AM EDT 0 recs
Valid points about the football OTs
I thought the same thing, especially about college OT, because it eliminates the kicking game.
by SMQ on
May 22, 2008 4:12 PM EDT
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The solution for football OT
NFL-style, with one change: if the receiving team scores, they kick off and the (original) kicking team gets one possession to match or beat it. If they’re still tied, do it again. (Could make it sudden death after one possession each, if you want the games to end reasonably quickly; that’d still guarantee one possession each, and either the kicking team would have had a chance to win and failed to score enough to do so, or they would have failed to stop the opposition twice in a row.)
by SpartanDan on
May 24, 2008 10:57 AM EDT
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To be fair, SMQ
Before resorting to penalties, they give the teams 30 minutes of extra time (which the ref turned into about 36 on injury time) to sort it out in a dignified, soccer-like manner. Looking at the stats, the two teams covered collectively over 280 km of ground between them. During every break in the last few minutes of play, almost everyone on both teams would buddy up and stretch each other’s various ailments out of their legs. I agree that it seems silly to decide the Champions League on who screws up less at something that’s supposed to be easy, but they couldn’t sort it out in almost 300km of running themselves, and someone has to be the champion (Your argument about not giving out a championship notwithstanding).
--Horn Brain--
by Horn Brain on May 22, 2008 12:28 PM EDT 0 recs
Horn Brain would come up with ther numbers
In the old days they would simply replay the game a week or two later but currently there is too much “fixture congestion” – even now at the end of the season Euro 2008 starts in a couple of weeks so that is extremely problematic. Furthermore even then there is no guarantee of a victory and obviously the process couldn’t go in indefinately.
by marcillac on
May 23, 2008 5:40 PM EDT
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