World Cup final

[Lemon Drop]

3d wrote:
[quote=Ombligo]
No one could have asked for a better match (better outcome maybe, but not a better match)

If the above statement is true, I think it'll be a long time before I watch another match. I gave it a fair chance but I kept nodding off.
I get that. This was not the most interesting match of this tournament, at all. The teams were so evenly matched that it was basically a matter of who got tired, physically and psychologically, first. And it took over 100 minutes for somebody to wear down. What made it exciting was the fact that it was the world championship.
Really nothing compares to attending a match in person. The pace is electric. I love this game and my local team so I watch on TV, especially the big matches. But if had never attended Seattle Sounders matches in person I doubt I'd follow the sport much, even though both my kids played through high school.

[davester]

Lemon Drop wrote:
I recommend streaming watchespn, it's Steve McManaman and some other Brit, they are not dull.

That other Brit is Ian Darke, arguably the best announcer in sports. He seems to know in detail every move ever made in every match ever played, and is eager to recount them and their relevance to the game at hand, all while firing zingers out that utilize his amazing vocabulary to voice words that american announcers don't even know the meaning of (I actually heard him use the word "lugubrious" a few days ago). If only the american announcers viewed their profession as something to study and excel at. There hasn't been one who cared about the craft since Howard Cosell. Oh well!

[dk62]

3d wrote:
[quote=Ombligo]
No one could have asked for a better match (better outcome maybe, but not a better match)

If the above statement is true, I think it'll be a long time before I watch another match. I gave it a fair chance but I kept nodding off.
It was not a good match at all. They were messing around the center, neither team did any spirited attacks. Argentina had two chances handed on a platter and fumbled both horribly, Germans were nowhere near as precise as they were with Brazil.

I watched it in a sports bar in Europe, where almost everyone was cheering for Germans (with notable exception of a large table full of Argentinians). As the 70th minute passed, we were all just wishing that someone would do something, anyone, anything, whichever team, just to get the match out of its misery (again, with the exception of Argentinians, of course).

But I did run into a few people today who actually liked the match, although they were in a minority. And i am at an international conference, so my sample is not nationally/culturally biased. My opinion agreed with the majority's - an uninspired game with a beautiful goal.

[Lemon Drop]

davester wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
I recommend streaming watchespn, it's Steve McManaman and some other Brit, they are not dull.

That other Brit is Ian Darke, arguably the best announcer in sports. He seems to know in detail every move ever made in every match ever played, and is eager to recount them and their relevance to the game at hand, all while firing zingers out that utilize his amazing vocabulary to voice words that american announcers don't even know the meaning of (I actually heard him use the word "lugubrious" a few days ago). If only the american announcers viewed their profession as something to study and excel at. There hasn't been one who cared about the craft since Howard Cosell. Oh well!
Thanks for that info, I quite enjoyed listening to him.