JensenS

Anyone else watch what turned out to be an UNREAL game today? Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 26th minute for Man U, and Frank Lampard tied it for Chelsea in the 45th.

They'd stay 1-1 all the way through, and eventually go to PK's. Ronaldo missed his for Man U, and John Terry had a chance to seal it for Chelsea but he hit the post. Man U wound up winning 6-5 in the PK round.

LkwdSteve

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this game.

I've been a fan of soccer forever. Back in the 60s there was a pro league that Cleveland had a team in (The Cleveland Stokers!). That league had a TV contract and some games were televised on Saturdays, believe it or not.

In 64 or 65 the Stokers played a friendly at the old Cleveland Municipal stadium against the touring Brazilian team whose star player was a guy named Pele. Cleveland won on a late penalty kick after surviving an earlier penalty kick (goalie made a great save). Nice sized and knowlegable crowd (many of the immigrants, new and old, were well versed in soccer.

For those who poo poo soccer, tonight's game would have been a good one to watch. Extremely skilled players and the effort and ability needed to be out there was apparent. That they played in a steady rainfall added to the degree of difficulty.

I didn't know wich side to root for! I took turns, being for Chelsea when they went down a man, to being for Manchester (because of Renaldo). Great stuff.

ISU2008

I guess you could say I'm from the Jim Rome school of soccer. 90+ minutes of guys running and falling down doesn't do it for me.

Anyway I watched most of the PKs. How do you think the guy feels who blew it for Chelsea ("blue team" to me)? "Yeah, this guy just blew it. Dude missed a wide open net! What an idiot! Aaaahhh, I'm gonna score! Take a good picture, honey, I missed!"

__________________
I think all radical muslims should skateboard. After all, they are radical.

doublej

I never gave soccer a thought until my daughter started playing. I was actually sitting and having all you can eat wings a BWW yesterday and watched the end of the game. I hate to admit it but I enjoyed it. I think I would rather watch a soccer game than a regular season baseball game. I guess that makes me unamerican!!

LkwdSteve

The McGwire-Sosa circus turned me off on baseball. At it's purest, at the sandlot, watching baseball is a wonderful, relaxing way to spend a summer evening.

In reference to the Cleveland-Brazil soccer game that I attended, a reporter for the Cleveland Press (now defunct), decribed the reaction of the crowd to the afformentioned great save by the Cleveland goalie as "a few in the crowd realized the magnitude of the goalie's save". He slanted the story to portray the crowd as basically soccer-ignorant.

Nothing was further from the truth. The entire lower level (over 20,000 fans) rose as one to give the goalie a standing ovation. I was one of them and I didn't know nearly as much as the other fans, most of who probably grew up playing soccer back on the continent. For this 12 or thirteen year old it was an early lesson in not trusting everything that reporters for newpapers write. And it had an effect on me. I became quick to judge reporters by their accuracy, and in how I approached writing for the high school sports pages later. Reporters have a wide range of choices to make in their writing and it is perfectly legitimate to question, and judge them by, those choices.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OAAAAAAL

jpv

It was a sweet game. I've learned to appreciate soccer's subtleties, so this game was a joy.
C. Ronaldo is one of those dudes it's hard for guys to like: He's extremely talented (like a freight train with a ball), a hard worker, a good guy, and a complete lady killer. Such riches seem unfair (although I have to say I'm at least 2 out those 4 :-D).

ISU2008

Let me guess: hard worker and good guy?

__________________
I think all radical muslims should skateboard. After all, they are radical.

JensenS

In terms of Ronaldo it really comes as a weighing of two factors for me.

My admiration for the fact that he is really, really, really good. As in sometimes yesterday he seemed like he was operating on a completely different plane than everyone else.

Then there is the absolutely epic level of flopping.

jpv

He is a flopper, true.. But, then, so are many (I daresay most) of the modern scoring stars (it's a wonder Thierry Henry can walk down the street without flaying about and falling comically to the ground). They're simply trying to draw free kicks and penalties. Refs can call them for faking, just like in hockey, and they should do.

ISU2008

I think flopping is part of the reason a lot Americans don't want to watch soccer. And if you watch the NBA, the biggest floppers come from soccer countries: Varejao (Brazil) and Ginobli (Argentina), though admittedly that excludes Greg Paulus and the most obvious flop of all time.

__________________
I think all radical muslims should skateboard. After all, they are radical.