The World Cup on TV

I actually got to watch a few games over the weekend and Monday afternoon.

My first chance was Uruguay vs. South Korea while on the treadmill at the gym. As soon as I turned it on the vuvuzelas became obvious and extremely annoying. They remained annoying but somewhere along the line I managed to almost ignore them.

If they were that annoying on the TV, what must it be like at the games? Those things should all be rounded up and burned. Anyone that shows up with one at Giant’s Stadium is going to get it shoved somewhere. I also think they are interfering with communications among the players and that means they are affecting the game.

I then watched the USA vs. Ghana and saw finesse win over brute force. The U.S. has a ways to go if you ask me. I missed Germany beating England but watched Argentina do its thing over Mexico.

I was suitably impressed with Argentina until I saw Brazil. Brazil is a whole different ball game. The size, strength, maneuverability, speed and ability to control the ball were awe inspiring. Chile was obviously a damn good team and Brazil made it look like professionals against a recreation league team.

I won’t get to see any of the Spain vs. Portugal game today and that’s sort of disappointing. As a matter of fact, my next opportunity probably won’t be until Saturday afternoon unless I sneak in a look see at Argentina vs. Germany Saturday morning.

Now let’s talk about the goal controversies. Yes, bad calls are a part of the sport. But a goal is so critical in soccer I don’t see why FIFA won’t use the available technology to at least correct the more obvious mistakes. Their attitude seems to be don’t tell anyone the refs blew a call and the problem will go away. With games being televised, that’s just not going to happen. FIFA should drag itself into the 21st century.

One other thing, by far the best thing about the World Cup is no freaking commercials. With no time-outs, there's no way to cut away. Another reason why the sport will never be big in the U.S.