[quote=CardiffBaseball]I take back everything I said about Pau Gasol being a puss.
I watched more soccer yesterday as I was forced to at BJ’s with the direction I was sitting.
As an ugly-american I am going to speak for all americans. If the world ever wants us to love this sport, these grown men better grow a pair and quit acting like ballerina’s when they get touched. It’s disgusting to see men act this way.
If you’ve never laced up football pads you cannot possibly imagine how violent the contact is. Yet, running backs often take the contact and keep playing through it. Yes that is part of the game, but that is WHAT WE LOVE. We love seeing Bo Jackson blast through Bosworth, not seeing some sissy flopper flail about trying to draw a yellow card. This is a country who appreciates MMA fighters, and standing tall not tail between the legs guys trying to get one over on the officials. I’d like to see the US do well, but man I hope our guys don’t act this.[/quote]
You are both right and wrong here. The thing about soccer is that there are no pads. Until you have been kicked in the ankle, elbowed in the head, kicked in the face, or tripped running full-speed without any pads on, you have no idea how much it hurts.
The acting, of course, is prevalent and annoying.
The real pain of getting fouled is why the acting works – because when you do get fouled, it hurts like a motherF(*&er. Even the slightest bone-to-bone touches are painful. Go ahead and kick a friend in the shin with your shin and see if you don’t wince a bit.
I think a great solution to all this would be retroactive changes to yellow cards based on replays. This could be done during the game, at half-time, and/or after the game. Retracting yellow and red cards on players who received them but did not really foul, and giving yellow cards to the actors. Wouldn’t affect the game, but it would provide significant and appropriate dis-incentive.
