Here are the jerseys though some are missing: http://www.soccertools.com/World-Cup-2010-Jerseys/

Puma jerseys are horrible.

Who will you be cheering up for?
I'll be cheering for Portugal, but we suck so I don't have any hope whatsoever.

Other than that I wouldn't mind if the USA, Japan or China won.

Who do you think will be the winner? Brasil or Spain.

It's nice to see that Japan chose Adidas instead of those ugly toga-looking Puma jerseys.

Adidas is my favourite brand of footwear, partially because they are the only brand that consistently has my size in Japan (29).

That said, soccer is incredibly boring to watch.

Jarvik7 Wrote:That said, soccer is incredibly boring to watch.

It's grown on me since I came to Japan, probably due to scarcity. I mean, as far as televised sports go, it seems like the choices boil down to soccer, golf, and baseball.

Though, from what I've seen, Japanese soccer is kind of... eh. It's like the WNBA of soccer leagues.

I want to get into following football this year, but it seems so complicated to keep up with the schedule. Is there an idiot's guide?

Oddly, it was all the references to Manchester United in various HK flicks I've seen that made me want to get into it. When I think of the sport, I think of gangsters in smoky rooms relaxing between politicking and gun/knife fights. ;p

nest0r Wrote:I want to get into following football this year, but it seems so complicated to keep up with the schedule. Is there an idiot's guide?

Just find a European roommate, that should do the trick.

Jarvik7 Wrote:That said, soccer is incredibly boring to watch.

Really? the fact that not alot happens is what makes it so exciting when an attack happen or a goal is scored.

Plus the pace of the game makes it perfect to watch with your mates down the pub - during dull moments you have a chat or go to the bar and get a round in..

On the other side, I went to a basketball game at Madison Square Gardens, and though it was enjoyable it just just so high scoring, I honestly couldn't care less when the 40th basket went it. Watching them play/run/score actually got seriously boring. I think the know this, as the venue had to create an artificial atmosphere of excitement by having cheerleaders dancing and playing stupid annoying sound effects every 10 seconds..

Ever since I watched a baseball game while in Japan I actually think soccer is pretty exciting. In comparison.
That being said, my bet is on either Mexico or Portugal.

aphasiac Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:That said, soccer is incredibly boring to watch.

Really? the fact that not alot happens is what makes it so exciting when an attack happen or a goal is scored.

Plus the pace of the game makes it perfect to watch with your mates down the pub - during dull moments you have a chat or go to the bar and get a round in..

On the other side, I went to a basketball game at Madison Square Gardens, and though it was enjoyable it just just so high scoring, I honestly couldn't care less when the 40th basket went it. Watching them play/run/score actually got seriously boring. I think the know this, as the venue had to create an artificial atmosphere of excitement by having cheerleaders dancing and playing stupid annoying sound effects every 10 seconds..

That's funny, since just the other day I was actually thinking about how basketball and soccer are actually quite similar conceptually, but end up going in totally different directions with all the details. I came to the conclusion that while both games are characterized by the regular turnover of the ball between teams, in soccer these turnovers are rarely punctuated by goals, which makes the act of scoring itself the major source of excitement. Whereas, in basketball, an individual goal has little value since they happen so often, but the excitement comes from the tension of the endgame, where every play becomes crucial to coming out on top.

/Besides, everyone knows that college basketball is where the real action is.

While we're on the topic, was it just me, or was drifting outside Japan that was briefly (?) televised a different kind of drifting, the scoring and courses less technical and more about powering through turns? I could be wrong though, I'm a drifting n00b.

MMA's pretty much the only thing I follow.

Hockey is a pretty good balance between low scoring soccer and high scoring basketball.

..not that I watch Hockey either

The best spectator sport is obviously Sasuke.

If I was in Japan I'd be watching sumo.
I <3 Sumo, but it's not on TV here in the US.

England's one is way too plain. I might as well just buy one of those ugly white Umbro polo shirts for £6.

nest0r Wrote:I want to get into following football this year, but it seems so complicated to keep up with the schedule. Is there an idiot's guide?

Try watching one of the derbies in the Premier league. The mutual hate between the fans and players provides a good atmosphere. The Spanish La Liga is quite good as well. If you want to see the best teams from Europe playing each other, then be sure to check out the Champions League.

Unless you like seeing grown men theatrically go to ground under the slightest of contact and remain there feigning agonising pain for minutes, before getting up and sprinting away unscathed, I'd avoid the Italian league.

All the leagues have their own websites in multiple languages, so try googling them for fixture lists. Ultimately though, it depends on the games you can see on TV in your country. Even in England, we can only see a maximum of 4/10 of the Premier league games every weekend (after paying about £25/month for sports channels) even though every one of them is filmed live. Highlights shows can be a good way to keep up with the scores and action, while cutting out the boring bits.

How did this topic get derailed so quickly?

I'm not going to defend that soccer is exciting to watch per se, although I really love soccer (and basketball too for that matter).
Here in the Netherlands I think World Cup Soccer is something special though. Cheering on the Netherlands, watching with your friends or family or with the whole neighbourhood on a big screen. I think the whole point of watching soccer is watching with other people and cheering together. You can actually hear if NL scored a goal, even when you don't have a TV turned on. And everything is orange

So you bet I'm going to be cheering for the Netherlands. Also fun that we're playing Japan, probably going to watch that with a Japanese friend.

I would really mind if Portugal won (Holland has a recent soccer history with Portugal) or USA.

Winner? Hmm, Spain or Brazil probably. I always consider Germany a dangerous outsider.

nest0r Wrote:I want to get into following football this year, but it seems so complicated to keep up with the schedule. Is there an idiot's guide?
p

Do you have a local team? Live football is infinitely better than watching on TV. (Unless your in a pub for a big game)

Well, on the topic of the World Cup, I'm really digging the theme this year. It's catchy.

kame3 Wrote:Here in the Netherlands I think World Cup Soccer is something special though. Cheering on the Netherlands, watching with your friends or family or with the whole neighbourhood on a big screen. I think the whole point of watching soccer is watching with other people and cheering together. You can actually hear if NL scored a goal, even when you don't have a TV turned on. And everything is orange

That's what happens here in Italy, too (except for the orange!). You won't find anyone walking in the streets when the national team is playing, and football becomes the main topic at work or on TV during the month of world cup. Actually, it's a tough time for anyone who doesn't like football.

By the way, I'll be also cheering for Japan this time!

what is this "soccer" all you non-Americans keep talking about?

But seriously, GO JAPAN!

bizarrojosh Wrote:what is this "soccer" all you non-Americans keep talking about?

But seriously, GO JAPAN!

Ｇｏ　Ｊａｐａｎ!

Whilst I'm in Japan I hear England are playing a friendly against Japan on the 30th. Maybe I should pretend I'm from somewhere else if I'm about?

I miss the golden-goal sudden-death rule from extra time, some insanely exiting moments years ago there were, always ending in England defeat...

We English crave disappointment though.

My hometown club Wolves stayed in the Premier league this year and hopefully there will be some epic games between them and the rivals West Bromwich next season... usually followed by a mass brawl afterwards though.

Go Japan? I can't wait to see Brazil play again personally, ワールドカップ２００６で日本はブラジルに五対一で惨敗した！But seriously I want to see that shit happen again this year(not against Japan though), Brazil gets North Korea this year, so I am sure it will be a fun to watch Brazil crush them, and there following take the CUP!

But anyways, a World Cup post is not complete without some conversation about Brazil. It's the one pride we Brazilians have! GOAL Du BRASIL SIL SIL!, oh childhood memories coming back.

georgative Wrote:If I was in Japan I'd be watching sumo.
I <3 Sumo, but it's not on TV here in the US.

Did you try the streams linked to in this post? Sumo is on BS2, just figure out the schedule depending on your time zone. It's mostly between 9 and 11am for me, so I record it to file with VLC and watch it in the evening. Except this morning because I forgot.

Otherwise you have a recap with the results and the 2 or 3 most important matches of the day here on youtube.

I miss Asashoryu...

Zainichi Korean J-Leaguers Will Play in World Cup (for North Korea)

Jarvik7 Wrote:That said, soccer is incredibly boring to watch.

Well one man's meat is another man's poison.

As for me I love watching soccerball.

I am from Ireland and as we won't be there (Thierry Henry you naughty man!!!) I will support Japan, where I live. They have a very tough group though so I am not sure how they will do.

I don't mind who wins as long as it's not England (only joking). Although if they do win we will never hear the end of it. 44 years of hurt and all that ...

But if they have no injury problems Spain should win easily - they have a ridiculous amount of talent. Argentina have Messi who is rather brilliant but they also have Maradona as manger who is rather eccentric. You can always count on Brazil and Germany to do well.

I would like to see an African side win it but I don't know much about them to be honest. I will also support the Ivory Coast as they have the same colours as the Irish flag.

I'm looking forward to some late nights down the pub.

Wanna watch World Cup in Tokyo?: http://forum.koohii.com/post.php?action=post&tid=6038

Portugal 7 - 0 N. Korea