Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures." -- Daniel Webster
Sunday, July 09, 2006 :::
Does anyone happen to know when the qualifying rounds begin for the 2010 World Cup?
Some thoughts on today's final:
I find it ironic that the Italians conceded a goal based on a bad penalty. It was, in fact, the first goal scored by their opponents in World Cup play.
The Americans placed last in their group with a single point, but their world cup run is somewhat salvaged by the fact that they got a draw against the eventual champ. Okay, not much salvaged, but somewhat salvaged.
After Zidane was sent off for head-butting an Italian player for no apparent reason, announcer Brett Mussberger mentioned that it was surprising, not just to see a player do something like that in an important match, but particularly a player at Zidane's level. I wonder whether Mussberger has heard of Wayne Rooney. Of course, England had to play 45 minutes without Rooney, and France only had to play ten minutes down a man. It seems wrong that the penalty depends so much on the time of the game in which the foul occurs. Not that I have a better idea.
I hate that they resort to penalty kicks. Could we at least go to a golden-goal overtime if the game is tied after the regular overtimes? At least in the final game? It's not like anyone is going to give up on the game at that point.
On the other hand, if the Women's World Cup didn't use penalty kicks to decide things, we might never have seen Brandi Chastain take off her shirt.
