World Cup Fever

[Eddie]

Anyone else starting to look forward to the end of all of his? The World Cup is a wonderful thing, but I'm starting to get bored by the fact that everyone is a football fan, I'm looking forward to the day when everyone goes back to not caring and these so called fans will forget about the sport for another four years.

[philipl]

Good point Eddie.

If the under-performing England players hadn't carelessly tossed away their chance, Ewood would have been full 30,000 every week next season.

Look what happened to Div 1 attendances in 66/7.

[blue phil]

Nonsense . The attendances would barely have shifted at all at Ewood .

[Eddie]

I'd agree with Phil there, I just want this all to be over so I don't have to listen to people who don't know a thing about the game talking about it like it is a life long passion.

[Tris]

I'd agree with Phil there, I just want this all to be over so I don't have to listen to people who don't know a thing about the game talking about it like it is a life long passion.

Are you going to stop posting then?!

Seriously - how can you peddle this line that you want the tournament over because other peoples opinions are annoying you. The World Cup is once every 4 years, and this one has been fantastic, as was the last one. Just watch and enjoy the games, lap up the atmosphere and ignore annoying comment.

And in fact stop commenting rubbish yourself. Elsewhere in this section of the board you lament - as you did during Euro 2004 - that the "favourites" have gone out and are not meeting in these final few fixtures at the sharp end of the competition.

You completely don't understand tournament football with comments like that. "Favourites" are favourites in whose eyes? Ladbrokes? FIFAs? Yours? Mine? It's totally unimportant - in tournament football, the winners win because they won consistently - through qualification, group stages, last 32, last 16, last 8, last 4 and last 2. There is no debate - I know you hate the fact that Greece won in 2004 but win they did, and it's in the history books.

Argentina won't win this WC. Brazil won't. Holland won't. England won't. You - Eddie - are moaning that the "favourites" are out and your friends know nothing about football and are annoying you.

Maybe they understand tournament footy better than you do - winners go through, losers go home. Eddie's favourites don't have a divine right to meet in the last 4. If the WC is pissing you off, then stop watching it, get back to the Sorbonne and go and solve world poverty.

[stuwilky]

One of the best matches of the tournament tonight.

Gotta love the world cup.

(was I meant to say that?!)

[neekoy]

Not at all, hopefully it brings more fans into the game and subsequently the possibility of more Rovers fans through the heroics of Neill and Emerton

What I am getting sick of hearing is players dreams

"It is like a dream, this has always been my dream, playing with blahblah has been my dream, my dream is being fulfilled"

and of course the excuses from every team that 'should have won it'

[Eddie]

Are you going to stop posting then?!

Seriously - how can you peddle this line that you want the tournament over because other peoples opinions are annoying you. The World Cup is once every 4 years, and this one has been fantastic, as was the last one. Just watch and enjoy the games, lap up the atmosphere and ignore annoying comment.

And in fact stop commenting rubbish yourself. Elsewhere in this section of the board you lament - as you did during Euro 2004 - that the "favourites" have gone out and are not meeting in these final few fixtures at the sharp end of the competition.

You completely don't understand tournament football with comments like that. "Favourites" are favourites in whose eyes? Ladbrokes? FIFAs? Yours? Mine? It's totally unimportant - in tournament football, the winners win because they won consistently - through qualification, group stages, last 32, last 16, last 8, last 4 and last 2. There is no debate - I know you hate the fact that Greece won in 2004 but win they did, and it's in the history books.

Argentina won't win this WC. Brazil won't. Holland won't. England won't. You - Eddie - are moaning that the "favourites" are out and your friends know nothing about football and are annoying you.

Maybe they understand tournament footy better than you do - winners go through, losers go home. Eddie's favourites don't have a divine right to meet in the last 4. If the WC is pissing you off, then stop watching it, get back to the Sorbonne and go and solve world poverty.

I just like to see games between the top sides, as pleased as I am to see France going far, or as pleased as I would have been to see England get this far, one of the wonderful aspects of the world cup is the clash of the best sides in the world, especially once your side has been knocked out and you are once again a neutral. For me though this is really unconnected to my complaint.

What annoys me is people who have suddenly developed this passion for the game where you know very well that on July 10th they simply won't care. You probably haven't experienced it to the same degree because in France I have been in a nation that has gone from thinking their team were old and rubbish and using every excuse to insult them to suddenly everyone praising them and thinking that they are world beaters and yes, I know that football is always a fickle sport. I understand the concept of tournament football and I do enjoy it, but that doesn't mean that every tournament shoud consist of the better teams not really turning up and the final four consisting of four unexpected sides, it gets a bit boring after a while.

Will many of these supporters actually gain an interest in football? Very few. It is like any little fad for them and right now the thing to be is a football supporter.

As for the personal insults, please leave them out. If you don't agree with me then that is all well and good, it is simply my opinion.

[neekoy]

I don't think that is entirely fair Eddie, why not look at it as the smaller teams lifting to the big occasion

The best World Cup stories come from the Cameroons, Senegals and South Koreas, smattered with the class of the big guns

[Eddie]

I don't think that is entirely fair Eddie, why not look at it as the smaller teams lifting to the big occasion

The best World Cup stories come from the Cameroons, Senegals and South Koreas, smattered with the class of the big guns

Yeah, but the problem with these sides is that none of them are really small, they are just sort of B sides. If there was a South Korea or someone in there then I would be right behind them and loving the success story.

[DanLad]

What I am getting sick of hearing is players dreams

"It is like a dream, this has always been my dream, playing with blahblah has been my dream, my dream is being fulfilled"

You won't have seen the LET billboard that emblazoned the interview inside where Roberts talked of his 'dream' move to Blackburn!

[Drakefyre]

I don't know, I like it. It's a chance to bond with people over soccer that you wouldn't normally get to watch/talk about sports with. Even if I'm only one of couple of friends that actually liked the US national team.

[neekoy]

Yeah, but the problem with these sides is that none of them are really small, they are just sort of B sides. If there was a South Korea or someone in there then I would be right behind them and loving the success story.

I don't quite understand what you mean by B sides

Portugal never got this far, France have Zidane retiring, the turmoil in Serie A, Germany were written off as inexperienced and no good

What more could you want?

[3rdpillar]

Look what happened to Div 1 attendances in 66/7.

Back in the days the working man could afford to follow football.....

A few 1000 extra at every ground that can take it, for the first half of the season at best.

[FourLaneBlue]

I've been sick of the damn thing ever since the second England got knocked out and I had to jealously watch all those rubbishy countries gain glory.

All because they are better at football than us...I ask you...how is that fair?

Edited July 9, 2006 by FourLaneBlue

[Oklahoma]

Portugal never got this far?

Correction, Portugal was 3rd in the 1966 WC. Only lost one game, in the semis against England.

[neekoy]

Correction, Portugal was 3rd in the 1966 WC. Only lost one game, in the semis against England.

Yeah sorry, I was flying off the cuff to ramp up excitement