Olympic Conclusions

[Slaninar]

Thanks, I like to think I'm in touch with my feminine side  :rollin

No, I haven't played football. And nor would I, its far too dangerous. Not the game itself, but the w@nkers who play and think, because their role models get away with it, that they can get away with abusing the ref, and doing hatchet jobs on opposing players because they think they'll get away with it.


Just one example, son of a friend of mine was 2 weeks from joining the army, and took part in a charity tournament - his legs were chopped out in a hideous foul, wrecked his achilles tendon, and delayed his army career by 6 months. The opposing player? Got off scot free, not even a yellow card - and he was playing on the fire service team, somebody supposedly a decent member of the community, but on the football field, he's a thug. Any why is he a thug? Because his role models are, they get way with it, no respect for the referee.

Shit happens. If you know how to take care of yourself, and if opponents aren't complete idiots, you should be fine 90% of the time. There is an unspoken agreement on what you can and can't do. You respect defenders, they respect you.

If that opposing player's start was out of place, someone should have taken care of him on first opportunity.

Nobody is saying it doesn't hurt, when you do get a boot in the shin (well I'm not, anyway), its the way they whinge about it, like no other sport does. But my original point, was that they play act when they haven't been touched. Cheating, in effect - and we're back to abysmal role models.

It's all a part of the game. You put pressure on opponents, on the ref. Try to make the best of it. While I hate fouls that deliberately injure other players (except when in retribution!), everything else is a part of the game. I truly respect players that can foul you without the ref seeing it. Just as I respect those that make it look like you've fouled them, when you haven't. It's almost the same skill as dribbling.

Once as kid in a local league game i got very frustrated. Got fouled and tackled a lot.  After sprinting past two guys pulling my shirt and shorts I got tackled from behind by the third guy. Managed to skip most of it, got some sloppy shot at goal, keeper bounced it into corner. I was furious with the ref! "What do I have to do to get a foul here?!?" The ref calmly replied: "fall down." 

Defenders who foul and tackle hard try to scare you and change your style of play. It's a challenge. Good teams cope with that no problems.

One exception is fixed games - when referees or certain players know what the result should be in the end. That is idiotic and quite common these days. Often catch myself trying to figure if they're playing for real in the first half when watching our local championship... or Italians.