World Cup Wrap-up
First of all, congratulations to Italy. I was very happy for all my Italian American friends, and I was very happy that they beat France. The 5 of 5 for penalty kicks was very exciting.
Also, here is a video of the ghana team practicing for the world cup. I think that is Pimpong sharing his personal expertise with the rest of his team mates. I would also like to see a video of some of the Referees prepairing for this World Cup. I am sure that it would involve blindfolds, a lot of looking the other way, and sneak peaks up at the instant replay on the big screen.
Here is something to debate. The comentators said that one of the linesman saw the replay of the French head-butt to the chest and relayed it to the center linesman who issued a red card. Technically there is no instant replay in soccer, so is that really right? Should there have been a red card since none of the referees saw what happened first person real time? If we say its ok in this case since it was so flagrant, then what if one of the referees glance up and notice they had the wrong call and reverse it on something not quite as black and white, like an out of bounds or a foul during play? How do you handle this technically since the fans deserve to see instant replays, and thats what those big screen TVs are for? Very interesting.
Warren Said,
July 13, 2006 @ 08:13
Out of curiosity, how many Italian-American friends do you have? I personally only know two real Italian-Americans, though it might be interesting to meet more.
bradlands Said,
July 14, 2006 @ 11:03
Depends on your definition of Italian American. I am sure that you have a very stringent definition involing ships that arrived that morning. My definition is anyone whose name ends with an i or an a, and I know a few who are italian on their moms side. The Falciolas, the Perozzis, the Dianas, the Skiffs, the Tetros, the Kruzeks, the DeLisis, The VanDalens are 1/4 Italian, Neal, James, and I am sure there are others that i am not thinking of. Congrats to all you guys for Italy’s world cup win.
Jesse Said,
October 24, 2006 @ 09:01
As to your discussion question: I think the red card was valid. Despite the need for the refs to review; the foul was so violent and blatant that not dong so would have set a poor precident for a sport already suffering negative attention from violence. I see your point though.
However, Zidane is one of the best players of all time second only to a couple brits and Brazillians. I was sorry to see him sent off the pitch due to his lack of self-control in the face of the typicaly dirty Italian style of playing. Now every time I wear a Zidane Jersey people begin a head-butt tirade. But does anyone remember Les Bleus triumph over both Italy and Brazil in 1998? The Final was France 3, Brazil 0. Probably not.
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/label_france/ENGLISH/SPORT/france/france.html
Jesse Said,
October 24, 2006 @ 09:02
precident = precedent