Neither have you to claim the opposite; it’s easy to say “you” - it’s a general you, mind you - wouldn’t do something because it’s not manly if it’s not to your advantage anyway.
Oh no, it’s unfair every time. But usually it’s nothing that changes the game, unlike a foul that injures a player, for example. It’s a question of proportionality.
The USA are the favourites in this game but they need to improve their scoring percentage or they might get into trouble against a team that can soak up tons of pressure in the middle. Ghana has even more problems to score than your team, so their quick attackers, who can outrun your centre-backs, might miss repeatedly a fourth time. Heart attack situations are likely. And you might end up with an 0-0 and a penalty shootout.
On the NFL, and manliness: I’ve seen players with separated shoulders get them popped back in on the sideline and return to the game, and I’ve seen linemen with broken fingers get them shot with cortisone, wrapped up with another finger, and also sent back into the game. But NFL players are crazy. On the other hand, I saw Kenny Lofton (MLB player) separate his shoulder on a rare slide-into-first play, and he cried like a big baby.
Well, I’ve seen similar things in soccer. Beckenbauer played on with a disclocated arm once, I remember.
This macho/manliness thing is barking up the wrong tree. Diving/simulation is annoying because it’s cheating, not because they’re “pussies”. They’re only pretending to be soft. They’re hard as nails, a lot of them.
The culture of the NFL dictates that you play when you’re hurt, otherwise you’re letting your teammates down. To “sit out” for a part of a play because you’re faking being hurt would be an unforgivable sin, and part of the shame would be that it’s unmanly to fake injury in the attempt to draw a penalty.
Whatever the motivation, they come off as pussies. (Including Altidore.)
Yeah, USA was favored against Slovenia too. I expect to lose this game, but will be watching with bated breath all the same.
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to say that the US team is blameless, just that some teams are far and away worse than others. Knorf was saying that there isn’t that much diving and that a lot of the falls are something that really hurts but then goes away. I think if that were true you’d see about the same amount of falling and writhing from all the teams, but clearly there are teams that get ‘hurt’ far more often than others and it’s really a bit ridiculous at times.
I think most people get that. For all his whining and carrying on I know Christiano Ronaldo could kick my ass up and down the street all day. It’s still pathetic though, it’s like a little kid whining to mama to get their way and it’s frustrating to see it work. On the plus side, the schadenfreude I get from seeing a diving diva receive a card for his theatrics sometimes makes it almost worth it.
This is incorrect. I said that there’s less than people often say there is. To hear some people talk, almost every time a player is on the ground it’s a dive. That’s ignoring reality. I’m not saying there’s little to none, I’m saying it’s exaggerated by soccer naysayers.
Contact in professional soccer is very hard, way harder than it looks, and I’m quite certain that a lot of people in this thread would go down and stay down with an average tackle from a pro footballer.
And anyone who has played soccer knows that a lot of the injuries often are in fact the kind that hurt for a moment but dissipate. Actually, the same is true of American “football.” I’ve seen countless plays in football in which some player is left lying on the field but is playing again in a few moments. Watch some college games this fall. It happens a lot. People don’t remark on it because huge gaps of play stoppage are normal and there are lots of reasons for someone to end up on the ground that have nothing to do with a penalty.
You’re not accounting for the fact the some teams play with a lot more rough contact than others. I doubt you’ve seen most of these teams play once or twice; that’s hardly enough for a generalization.
I agree that American football requires more physical toughness than soccer, but I think some of my countrymen underestimate the significance of free substitution. It’s utterly routine, in the NFL, for a player to miss a play or two when he gets his bell rung or the wind knocked out of him. It’s also common for hurt players to head for the sideline (or locker room) for painkiller injections, taping, and other treatment. You can’t really do that in soccer.
Also, for more minor, walk-it-off stuff, you have thirty seconds or so between plays. You don’t have to bounce up and run full speed right away.
Don’t get me wrong, in a fight between Altidore and Clay Matthews Jr., I know who I’m betting on. But it’s not a complete apples-to-apples comparison.
Ok, I see what you’re saying. I agree with you, most of the time when they fall it’s because they’re really honestly hurt. If I were running at a full sprint and took a kick to the ankle I’d be rolling on the ground too. But the game does have a reputation for people faking injury and I think it’s earned it. Most of the falls aren’t dives but there are still too many that are. It’s irritating when it happens and I wish there were some real penalties for faking it, even if they have to be issued after the game.
- wouldn’t do something because it’s not manly if it’s not to your advantage anyway.
