World Cup

[cutout]

I use Netvibes and have a big wall 'o soccer feeds/widgets that keep me up to speed -

[Martin]

Football Weekly is the gold standard of football podcasts, at least if your main interest is the English Premier League. Very entertaining, informative, witty, whathaveyou.

And yeah, that's probably the easiest way to get started - pick an English team and follow them. The PL is a very easy league to get into.

[samir]

It's back!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/audio/2010/aug/12/football-weekly-new-season-preview

[Martin]

Football Weekly preview: digested!
TV channels who provide PL coverage in Sweden: updated!

I'm ready!

[MarcInLiverpool]

I use Netvibes and have a big wall 'o soccer feeds/widgets that keep me up to speed -

Liverpool fan CutOut?

If anyone is still deciding on which team to follow I would recommend Liverpool for the emotional ups and downs they've given fans over the years. Arsenal if you want an excuse to visit London. Avoid Manchester City, Chelsea and Man Utd.

When I use to watch MLB I got stuck with The Mets as it just happened to be the first full game I watched. The Braves were their opponents but I preferred Mike Piazza over Chipper Jones.

[cutout]

Liverpool fan CutOut?

Yep

I would recommend Liverpool for the emotional ups and downs they've given fans over the years

Yes

Avoid Manchester City, Chelsea and Man Utd.

YES

[Martin]

cutout gets it.

[redmedicine]

Thanks for the tips, Martin and Samir.  Between the podcasts and the magnum opus book I'm reading at the moment (The Ball is Round by Goldblatt), I'm actually starting to understand the world of association football.  Coming at it from just watching internationals, it is a bit disconcerting still to see Tevez playing with Silva and De Jong for example, but I'm getting used to it.  With a grand total of two EPL games and a few summer friendlies under my belt, I'm liking Celtic (SPL, I know) and Tottenham. 

I'm still impressed that you guys can keep up with this stuff.  Adding Spain, Germany, and Italy to the mix as well as Champions League and Europa Cup makes my brain hurt.

[Jason]

[cutout]

I'm still impressed that you guys can keep up with this stuff.  Adding Spain, Germany, and Italy to the mix as well as Champions League and Europa Cup makes my brain hurt.

Browsing footytube between games just to keep up on goals and highlights helps a bit -

http://www.footytube.com/

[Wes]

Wes vs. Martin in the real final. How's everyone betting?

An American v. a European in football? Is this even a serious question?

Not just an American. The American.

Congratulations: Wes.

I don't want to call myself a hero...so if somebody else wants to go ahead and do that, I would appreciate it.

Happy "World Cup" everybody! I hope everyone has a "goal" of enjoying what I like to call "the beautiful game" as much as I will. My take, as an expert on the sport, is that we just might be in for some pretty spectacular action on the ol' pitch this time around.

-Dr. Soccer

[buffcoat]

My friend's three-year-old watching the World Cup: "Daddy, why don't those girls pick up the ball and throw it?"

I love the World Cup. I've adjusted to the significant possibility of a 0-0 tie in any particular game, I've adjusted to an enormous field and to long stretches where it seems like nothing happens.

What I will never adjust to is grown men faking injuries and being rewarded for it (cf. Honduras' entire strategy yesterday, and "Italy"). Flopping is justly called out, fined and ridiculed in the NBA, almost does not exist in American football - soccer needs a Reformation.

[Big Plastic Head]

My friend's three-year-old watching the World Cup: "Daddy, why don't those girls pick up the ball and throw it?"

I love the World Cup. I've adjusted to the significant possibility of a 0-0 tie in any particular game, I've adjusted to an enormous field and to long stretches where it seems like nothing happens.

What I will never adjust to is grown men faking injuries and being rewarded for it (cf. Honduras' entire strategy yesterday, and "Italy"). Flopping is justly called out, fined and ridiculed in the NBA, almost does not exist in American football - soccer needs a Reformation.

11 matches, only one tie so far? Pretty great start.

Yeah, the flopping is bad. It's frustrating to see but when you watch how someone like Messi rarely falls...it's what you hope to see. The MLS is getting better at calling and handing out fines for embellishment and I hope it is enforced more.

I may have posted this before but it's still pretty great...

Lionel Messi never falls never dives.