Soccer thread (2014/15)

[Dave B]

Re: General Qatar stuff.

If 4000 people are going to die building stadia, what is the death toll for all their skyscraper development?

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Probably lower than Dubai's by about 15,000

Re: General Qatar stuff.

If 4000 people are going to die building stadia, what is the death toll for all their skyscraper development?

[Dave B]

What's awesome about this fifa thing is the non Americaness of what's going on. If this was all US people, we'd hear nothing. "No comment, the lawyers are talking" is all we'd get.
Instead we get jack Warner holding rallies telling the world he is going to rat out everyone

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I dunno, trying to get the entire FIFA executive committee extradited has a certain Admiral Perry gunboat diplomacy feel to it.

[mitlen]

I dunno, trying to get the entire FIFA executive committee extradited has a certain Admiral Perry gunboat diplomacy feel to it.

I don't see that at all.   I understand how many of the participants and their sponsors are feeling put upon by the Great Satan.     Admiral Perry?     Are we going to send a carrier group to Trinidad/Tobago?    Probably not.    Scare 'em worse if we sent Rick Perry.     If ya can't do the time, don't do the crime.   

[HalfSmokes]

I dunno, trying to get the entire FIFA executive committee extradited has a certain Admiral Perry gunboat diplomacy feel to it.

personally I'm hoping blatter gets replaced by a Russian- for pure comedy, it would be worth it

[Dave B]

Fifa is a useless organization. Its perceived role just kept artificially inflating as sponsors couldn't help but throw money at them. If we were to take the opportunity to start from scratch, would fifa be sitting on a pile of cash for really doing nothing.

Granted soccer is much bigger, but the IIHF and FIBA have nothing approaching fifa's clout within their sports. If those three organizations went away, nobody would care and someone would step up and organize an international tournament.

Fifa might have had a purpose in 1950 & they just snowballed into what they are today. Nobody noticed cuz you only heard about them once every four years

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Oh don't get me wrong, I wouldn't really care if Blatter and the rest of those crooks were lined up & shot...though I am a bit surprised that the AG's heavy handedness is being received as well as it is, considering how many snouts were in the trough in certain parts of the world.

I don't see that at all.   I understand how many of the participants and their sponsors are feeling put upon by the Great Satan.     Admiral Perry?     Are we going to send a carrier group to Trinidad/Tobago?    Probably not.    Scare 'em worse if we sent Rick Perry.     If ya can't do the time, don't do the crime.   

[HalfSmokes]

Fifa is a useless organization. Its perceived role just kept artificially inflating as sponsors couldn't help but throw money at them. If we were to take the opportunity to start from scratch, would fifa be sitting on a pile of cash for really doing nothing.

Granted soccer is much bigger, but the IIHF and FIBA have nothing approaching fifa's clout within their sports. If those three organizations went away, nobody would care and someone would step up and organize an international tournament.

Fifa might have had a purpose in 1950 & they just snowballed into what they are today. Nobody noticed cuz you only heard about them once every four years

FIBA and IHF have to stay in the good graces of the NBA and NHL if they want to have any kind of international play. There is no one league that fifa has to bow down to (even the premiere league wouldn't be able to keep players from the world cup without massive backlash). Without FIFA, who would be in a position to organize a world cup (with less corruption- UEFA could do it, but you can bet every country east of Poland/the czech republic would have its vote just as for sale as Trinidad's)   

[Dave B]

A couple nfl owners could organize a tournament. Prize money, stadiums. That's all you need. NY, LA, SD, Mia. What federation, team, or player turns that down.

Its an easy void to fill

[HalfSmokes]

What federation, team, or player turns that down.

the league teams that would rather their multi million dollar investments either play for them or rest and who don't give a damn about what NFL owners want. The federations that also have stadiums and who would rather host than bow down to NFL owners who they don't give a damn about. 

[Dave B]

the league teams that would rather their multi million dollar investments either play for them or rest and who don't give a damn about what NFL owners want. The federations that also have stadiums and who would rather host than bow down to NFL owners who they don't give a damn about. 

These guys all play international competitions over the summer. The prize money talks. The top club teams all come here for preseason tours. The national teams come here for friendlies. It might be hard to find an off summer where there is no euro tournament, euro qualifying, or world cup qualifying. This could either be an alternative if fifa and world cup went away or if you got uefa and conmebol to give up a euro and copa America. But I'm more seeing as a wc replacement, because organizing a tournament, selling sponsorships and rights, and awarding money is something any rich group of friends with state of the art stadiums in attractive cities could do

[HalfSmokes]

The top clubs also play games the middle east and Asia, them sending scribes to play mls teams really means nothing. If you want to know how the premier league views the U.S., just look at the relationship between NYC fc and man city, the insignificant British equivalent of Cleveland takes what ever talent they want from NYC and sends them kids and dregs in return

[Dave B]

The top clubs also play games the middle east and Asia, them sending scribes to play mls teams really means nothing. If you want to know how the premier league views the U.S., just look at the relationship between NYC fc and man city, the insignificant British equivalent of Cleveland takes what ever talent they want from NYC and sends them kids and dregs in return

I think you are missing my point. I'm not saying the US plan is the greatest. It is just A plan. Europe could host the tournament too with the same amount of minimal effort.

I'm just saying that fifa doesn't have any special knowledge, skills, or abilities that warrant it's lucrative place in the world.

Regardless, this is all might be moot since fifa might be reorganizing and the desire for an alternative might be diminishing

[HalfSmokes]

I'm just saying that the service FIFA provides is both getting multiple countries with different interests to agree on a site and getting the clubs to send their best players- neither of those is trivial

[Dave B]

"Agree" is not exactly accurate. FIFA tells them. And until 2022 it probably won't be worth it to go against the grain.

I think you are also overestimating Fifa getting clubs to agree to let players go. Yes they have reserved fifa international dates, which require or compel players to be made available, but if the national team wants you to go and you want to go, you are probably going. Man city lost yaya toure, their best player, for three weeks in the middle of the season to the Africa Cup of Nations, which did not occur during Fifa dates

The tournament would be in the summer and clubs would have a hard time preventing players from playing for their country.

[HalfSmokes]

fifa tells them, absent fifa, there is no one to tell them. The Africa Cup of Nations is organized by CAF- i.e. it's under FIFA's umbrella- a league team will let a player participate in that, whether or not they'd give the same deference to a random tourney is another question

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/11229335/Fifa-Sepp-Blatter-awards-2026-World-Cup-to-Hell.html

[Natsinpwc]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/11229335/Fifa-Sepp-Blatter-awards-2026-World-Cup-to-Hell.html

I guess they will play in winter?  Or maybe some of the games in purgatory where it's not quite as hot.

[Natsinpwc]

What happened?  USA was losing 3-1 and looked terrible. Left the tv and somehow they won.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

WWC starts tomorrow...it's a crime they will be playing on astroturf, but I'm glad they widened the field this year...Thailand!! 

[Optics]

FCB secure the treble 

[Dave B]

Good game. Juve seemed in control after they tied it

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Pirlo playing in MLS next year. NYCFC is starting to feel like the old Cosmos. 

[Dave B]

I'd love to hang out with pirlo and buffon for a night. I think they just chill like the most interesting man in the world. But they probably don't say anything. At least pirlo anyway. Buffoon might talk a lot when drunk. They definitely don't drink beer