# 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677 "2010-06-10T17:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/401 "2010-06-14T16:16:47Z")
> [@candide](#): > > Who in the English/American speaking world isn’t itching to watch [Victory](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083284/) right now? One of the finest directors, John Huston, uses three of the finest actors in the English speaking world, Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Pele, to kick some German ass (or arsh, what, what). He even sets the game in Paris, with a hot French babe thrown in for good measure. Hmm, we call it “Escape to Victory”. But you’re right, it is a cinematic masterpiece, perhaps the pinnacle of John Huston’s glittering career. Who would have thought that journeymen Ipswich midfielders such as John Wark and Russell Osman would turn out to be such gifted actors? Kudos too to the editor for managing to cut miles of footage of Sylvester Stallone into something resembling football ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/402 "2010-06-14T16:42:43Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I understand the Buckner reference now, having studied the incident on YouTube, but I’m still unsure about the “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29” thing. It means it was a moral victory for the underdogs, right? Here’s a paragraph from the [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard%E2%80%93Yale_football_rivalry) on the Harvard-Yale football rivalry: In what is usually considered the best Game, in 1968, the Harvard team made a miraculous last-moment comeback, scoring 16 points in the final 42 seconds to tie a highly touted Yale squad. Yale was coming off a 16-game winning streak and its quarterback, Brian Dowling, had only lost one game he started in since the sixth grade. (Dowling was the inspiration for the character BD in Yale graduate Garry Trudeau’s comic strip Doonesbury.) The tie left both teams 8-0-1 for the season, inspiring the Harvard Crimson to print the headline “Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29”. [2] This headline was later used as the title for a 2008 documentary about this Game directed by Kevin Rafferty. [3] One of Harvard’s offensive tackles was Tommy Lee Jones, later to find fame in Hollywood. As it turned out, this would be the final tie in the series. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/403 "2010-06-14T16:49:31Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > Nobody else watched the Japan match? They seemed to do quite well for themselves, though I’m not a soccer fan and have a hard time judging such things. I was only able to catch the last half an hour or so. They looked composed and confident and Cameroon seemed at a loss to create something. Kudos to Japan for their first Cup win off of home soil. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/404 "2010-06-14T16:56:55Z")
Man, I thought that Tommy Lee Jones thing was a joke, perhaps some kind of reference to actual footballers appearing in “Escape to Victory”, as mentioned above. But it seems he really did play for Harvard. I’m still not quite seeing the parallel with the England - USA game, though. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/405 "2010-06-14T17:08:29Z")
Go with the moral victory thing. England was big and bad, and expected to clobber us. A tie against them counts as a win, sorta kinda. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/406 "2010-06-14T17:13:00Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > Nobody else watched the Japan match? They seemed to do quite well for themselves, though I’m not a soccer fan and have a hard time judging such things. A terrible game – both sides can do much better and need to if they don’t want to lose against Holland and Denmark decisively. Japan uncharacteristically lost its order many times, passed poorly and with no eye for the open spaces – but Cameroon was .. I don’t have words 😕. How so many good players can form such an abysmal team is beyond me. Not even the poor decisions by their coach, Paul Le Guen, (why on earth was Eto’o wasted on the right wing against such an opponent?) explain it. They made mistakes like players from the eighth division: they ran with the ball across the field to pass it about three metres to the next guy, they ignored any position play to free their players, they reverted to rely on long passes towards the box while praying for a miracle during the last 15 minutes, and then the clownish keeper .. a total disappointment. I hope, they resolve whatever issues they have among each other and show the world their true talents. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/407 "2010-06-14T17:15:13Z")
Just thought I’d share this [classic clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ82aMQONvc) from the days before the '94 World Cup. Of course we know American coverage isn’t _really_ like that… right? ---
**Author:** ![candide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@candide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/candide)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/408 "2010-06-14T17:15:43Z")
I know this isn’t the dominoes thread, but as an interesting aside, Tommy Lee Jones was Al Gore’s freshman roommate at Harvard and George W. Bush was a DKE fraternity brother of Garry Trudeau at Yale. Sorry for the hijack…gotta go to work. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/409 "2010-06-14T17:20:16Z")
Re today’s second game, you did yourselves a favour, those of you missed the first half. The second half was more like it, but I don’t think the chap who engraves the winner’s name on the trophy at the end of the tournament is going to have to spend too much time worrying about how best to render "Cameroon"or “Japan” on the base of the cup. Should he use traditional Hiragana, or just “Japan” in Roman script? Mate, it’s not going to be an issue, trust me. So yeah, Cameroon looked a bit complacent, Japan looked decent enough, and hats off to them for what is a historic win. [/patronising] ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/410 "2010-06-14T17:23:40Z")
If Cameroon played the whole match like they did in the last 10 minutes, they might have done a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/411 "2010-06-14T18:14:19Z")
[England vs USA via the medium of Lego](http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jun/14/world-cup-2010-england-usa-brick) ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/412 "2010-06-14T18:24:45Z")
Missed my first two WC matches ☹ Ready for what I expect to be a very rough Italy/Paraguay match. ETA: A red card or three wouldn’t surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![LikkleStoops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@LikkleStoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LikkleStoops)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/413 "2010-06-14T18:29:20Z")
Italy must go down. Only because I’m for France and I’ve not yet forgotten what happened between Materazzi & Zizou in '06. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/414 "2010-06-14T18:32:33Z")
There’s an ongoing thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566590&page=9](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566590&page=9) France have no right even being there. Check my location 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/415 "2010-06-14T18:33:55Z")
Moving thread by **LikkleStoops** (including **yojimbo** ’s post) into the thread in The Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![LikkleStoops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@LikkleStoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LikkleStoops)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/416 "2010-06-14T18:42:27Z")
I remembered the Game Room two minutes after I posted. Sowwy. France has every right to that cup. But they’re not lookin too good sooooo… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/417 "2010-06-14T19:10:16Z")
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Paraguay, on a header by Alcaraz coming from a FK. 1-0 ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/418 "2010-06-14T19:10:33Z")
Goal for Paraguay! I must confess this was unexpected for me! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/419 "2010-06-14T19:10:49Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Paraguay, on a header by Alcaraz coming from a FK. > > 1-0 woooot! :D. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677/420 "2010-06-14T19:14:22Z")
I keep opening this thread forgetting that I’m DVR’ing all the games. Oh well. At least I know I can win a bet with my cat when I get home tonight. Then again I always win bets with my cat. Because he’s a cat. Fucker owes me 50 grand at this point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa/542677.md?page=22)