Anybody else who doesn't care about the World Cup?

On the subject of Rugby Union, Wales are currently being thrashed by the 'Boks, so I hereby declare it a Frightfully Silly Game >:|


It's something they need to sort out. Even when they were beating all the Northern Hemisphere teams they always came up short against SA, Australia and NZ in the Autumn and Summer tests.

Don't think they've beaten one of those 3 teams since '08.
 
That would be fantastic, Duncan. I would love that. Having never been to London, it is certainly on my bucket list. You could show me around there as well!

I could try but I'm not much of a tour guide.

If nothing else there's some decent local games around here during the Autumn/Spring. There are a couple of top-division clubs not too far away, either.

One day Larry.
 
It's something they need to sort out. Even when they were beating all the Northern Hemisphere teams they always came up short against SA, Australia and NZ in the Autumn and Summer tests.

Don't think they've beaten one of those 3 teams since '08.

Gah, I know, right? There's nothing like a trip down to the Millennium Stadium, but a win would be nice.

That would be fantastic, Duncan. I would love that. Having never been to London, it is certainly on my bucket list. You could show me around there as well!
I could try but I'm not much of a tour guide.

If nothing else there's some decent local games around here during the Autumn/Spring. There are a couple of top-division clubs not too far away, either.

One day Larry.

Your best bet is to go to France. I volunteer as interpreter.
 
I'm a hockey fan, first and foremost. I think association football is a beautiful game. There's too much diving, but I still enjoy it. European hockey players do still get a bad rap in parts of Canada and the U.S. for diving and not being willing to fight, but that's changing.

Rugby is a beast of a game. I love it. I don't understand it completely, but I love watching it. Those athletes are as tough as anyone in any sport.

American football is brutal. Most players have trouble walking by the time they're 40. The concussions and associated mental health issues have led to over 4,000 lawsuits being filed by former players against the NFL. Former players who appeared young and healthy are committing suicide at an alarming rate. One wonders how long before the game changes significantly as a response.
Did you where scientists proved NHL players hit 17% harder than NFL players, but are 20% smaller?
It must be because they have 75% steelier cojones. ;)
 
Gah, I know, right? There's nothing like a trip down to the Millennium Stadium, but a win would be nice.


Your best bet is to go to France. I volunteer as interpreter.

Thanks for that Madge, yep, rural southern France is rugby country, much more than football. Make sure you drop by in our little town, "we" were French rugby champion in 1970, that was before the big money discovered rugby... https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Voulte_sportif
 
We interrupt other sports programming to point out that the 24 Hours of Le Mans is currently running.
 
Just so there's never any question on this in the future:

I have no interest whatsoever in major televised sports of any kind, including soccer, football, baseball, tennis, NASCAR, horse racing or any endeavor that involves people chasing after or striking an object in some manner of "us versus them" adversarial construct.

While I am a strong proponent of individual athleticism, it is my observation that many televised sports appeal to all the wrong instincts in people. Second, I see these as little more than profit making schemes that distract people and leverage off of their in-group biases.

I see nothing wrong with a bunch of friends getting together to play baseball or soccer or whatever on a nice afternoon. It's good, solid, healthy fun. But sitting on a couch and watching other very highly paid people play that game while screaming at the TV, not so much.

I can't add anything to this. You have summarised my feelings far better than I could.
 
I've got to say Jules, having played Aussie Rules a few times in fitter days, it was a lot of fun and something I could've definitely have played more given the opportunity.

I would never have guessed you'd have had much exposure to it Dunc, let alone play it. Was it at school or is there a local league or something? I believe many of the ex-pats living in London may have formed a social league in order to have a kick, but apart from that I would have thought exposure to the game would be more or less non-existent in the UK.

We interrupt other sports programming to point out that the 24 Hours of Le Mans is currently running.

Go Webber!!

And for those that can move past its tainted reputation and still marvel at the spectacular feats of endurance and all round hardness, Contador's burst uphill to snatch the lead from Froome on the final climbing stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, was compelling viewing too. Bring on Le Tour!!

Those who can, do. Those who can't, watch it on TV!

Or go to live venues to watch tired old farts pull out yet another rendition of Brown Eyed Girl. :)

It can be highly enjoyable watching the best of the best go compete against each other.

Pretty much sums up the enjoyment of watching sports for me too mate.
 
I played it at school. Usually we played Rugby in some of our PE lessons (in the winter at least) but our teacher decided that Aussie Rules was a good idea for a while. It wasn't on the full-sized pitch (we played it on a Rugby pitch) but we got a decent feel of how the game works. It was probably because my class consisted of Big Blokes (me, a guy called David, who at 15 was 6'5" and 252Ibs and a couple of others that played Rugby a lot) and a lot that didn't play Rugby or were smaller. It was a great leveller. Most of the Rugby lessons resulted in destruction...

As somebody that was always discouraged from kicking, I found it tough as nails. The takedowns were a lot more fun though! A really good laugh. I doubt my shoulder would be up to it these days and I'm a couple of stone more than I was in my peak...

I've always had a soft spot for Aussie Rules. I think it's a great, great game. Even if it is Australian.
 
This is a vintage World Cup already. No bad games and plenty of very good ones so far. Some of you are missing out!
 
And if you really don't care, then you won't be upset that Italy beat England 2 - 1.
 
We interrupt other sports programming to point out that the 24 Hours of Le Mans is currently running.

I thought Le Mans was to do with driving, not running.

Thanks for that Madge, yep, rural southern France is rugby country, much more than football. Make sure you drop by in our little town, "we" were French rugby champion in 1970, that was before the big money discovered rugby... https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Voulte_sportif

What a beautiful part of the world you live in, Pico.

And if you really don't care, then you won't be upset that Italy beat England 2 - 1.

Nail/head interface there!
 
I was hoping the English team would be doing better. What happened? It's great to see the Dutch doing well though. Sorry, Aussies.
 
I was less keen to see the Dutch go past us but we often get beaten at this level. As usual, the Asian and African teams are struggling to avoid first found knockout.

We and Spain are already eliminated and have a pride game to finish up. At least we scored a classic goal, even if I can't count the number of times our triumphalist media has replayed it since ... talk about living on little victories.
 
I was less keen to see the Dutch go past us but we often get beaten at this level. As usual, the Asian and African teams are struggling to avoid first found knockout.

We and Spain are already eliminated and have a pride game to finish up. At least we scored a classic goal, even if I can't count the number of times our triumphalist media has replayed it since ... talk about living on little victories.

Sorry to hear that. At least you guys have the #1 golfer in the world. I'm very surprised at the results so far, I've been keeping up with the scores, but all the games are on channels I don't get. Plus, I'm working when most of the action is going on. I've always rooted for the team that had to go through my favorite team to get to the championship game. Ghana knocked out the USA team in the early rounds in a couple previous World Cups, so it was nice to know the USA team is still in contention by beating them. Weird World Cup this year.
 
Sorry to hear that. At least you guys have the #1 golfer in the world. I'm very surprised at the results so far, I've been keeping up with the scores, but all the games are on channels I don't get. Plus, I'm working when most of the action is going on. I've always rooted for the team that had to go through my favorite team to get to the championship game. Ghana knocked out the USA team in the early rounds in a couple previous World Cups, so it was nice to know the USA team is still in contention by beating them. Weird World Cup this year.

I didn't know we had the #1 golfer - bully for us :)

I haven't seen many games because they are mostly on at some ungodly hour in the morning. My dad used to get up at any time to watch the football but he was pretty into it. There have been some odd results - like Spain and Portugal both being flogged. They were the conquerors of South and Central America and now they return to the scene as bit players :)
 
I didn't know we had the #1 golfer - bully for us :)

I haven't seen many games because they are mostly on at some ungodly hour in the morning. My dad used to get up at any time to watch the football but he was pretty into it. There have been some odd results - like Spain and Portugal both being flogged. They were the conquerors of South and Central America and now they return to the scene as bit players :)

Yes, Adam Scott won the Masters in 2013 and is currently ranked no. 1. It's hard for me to not call Football Soccer. Anyway, this is the only game my dad ever played with me. Just kicking the ball back and forth, but I've always been a fan of other sports. I've been known to get up at ungodly hours to watch an F1 race.
 
I was hoping the English team would be doing better. What happened? It's great to see the Dutch doing well though. Sorry, Aussies.

We were beaten by better opposition.

Against Italy, we attacked and got caught out by a more experienced attack when we left ourselves exposed. Against Uruguay, Gerrard had a shocker and that odious little man Suarez was playing.

I'm not actually that upset. England played relatively well and didn't fall into their usual pattern of negative football.
 
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