# Brasil 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 6, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840 "2014-05-06T21:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/381 "2014-06-14T04:36:54Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I can still complain about bad calls, right? Absolutely! šŸ†’ ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/382 "2014-06-14T05:04:45Z")
Obviously, **asterion** , you hardly need my permission. I do think complaining about officiating is part of the fun of any supporting event. I just have issues with someone like **amanset** coming in here to say that the World Cup is a ā€œsuch a shit sport.ā€ It doesnā€™t seem to me to be too much to ask for people like him to please take such comments to a different thread. In general, it seems to me that that short of thread-shitting is frowned upon on the SDMB, and rightly so. I even said ā€œplease.ā€ More than once. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/383 "2014-06-14T09:33:13Z")
A bit late to the party, because ofā€¦ well, the party :D. Explanation for the colours: Officially Spain at home, so in red while the Dutch play in the away strip which is blue. Apparently that is too little of a contrast (especially when watched in black and white), so Spain would switch to their away stripā€¦ which is black, and doesnā€™t help much. So they required their third strip which is the white we saw today. Why the dutch didnā€™t just go white, whit spain in redā€¦ I donā€™t know. But this was the explanation give on dutch tv. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/384 "2014-06-14T09:44:36Z")
Hereā€™s a theory for you. It is obvious to pretty much everyone that a quick referral to a TV official could cut out most of the howler decisions. Just like existing technology could have instigated much earlier in order to confirm goal-line decisions. Many simple and obvious tweak can me made without fundamentally changing the nature of the game butā€¦and hereā€™s the theory, FIFA and Sepp Blatter (AKA ā€œthe C\*\*Tā€) only ever warm to them when FIFA is facing yet another round of corruption and incompetency allegations. Deflecting attention from their wrongdoings. So prepare yourself for Blatter suddenly becoming a fan of designated refs, TV officials and post-match punishments in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/385 "2014-06-14T11:23:01Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Itā€™s your own fault you chose a loser side. Howā€™s that exciting League One play working for you? Weirdly, I find enjoyment in all aspects of the game, not just winning. > [@Knorf](#): > > Aw, thatā€™s so sweet. Hereā€™s a biscuit. Belgian, I take it? > [@Knorf](#): > > Then _donā€™t watch_, and please do take your ā€œthis is a shit sportā€-type threadshitting posts to some other thread. Thank you. No, because I am watching the World Cup. I do, however, reserve the right to moan when the luddite nature of FIFA and terrible refereeing brings it down. Note, as well, that I didnā€™t say football was a shit sport. International Football, due to the way FIFA runs things, is these days ruined by terrible refereeing which could easily - and simply - be solved by embracing the twentieth century. That in this day and age we can have terrible decisions like the Brazil penalty is an embarrassment. EVERY OTHER sport has solved this. > [@Knorf](#): > > How about you demonstrate first how this is done? Send me a video, Iā€™m sure Iā€™d enjoy it. Maybe with music by Miley Cyrus. Thereā€™s a good chap. Ta-ta. Yeah, your Mum is coming round in an hour or so. About time we put up another video on the site. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/386 "2014-06-14T11:37:46Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Nobody cares about how you feel about refereeing. And as it is, the English have had their fair share of generous calls, so this is a pathetic example. The thread is called ā€œBrasil 2014ā€. I have posted about Brasil 2014. There have already been two terrible penalty decisions and weā€™ve only had four games. It isnā€™t a pathetic example, it is an example of a problem that has been solved in every other sport and only now, in 2014, probably due to how bad that decision was, theyā€™ve allowed technology to be used in one specific circumstance. Thereā€™s still no use of replays for dives, off the ball incidents like Costaā€™s headbutt in the Netherlands- Spain game (and the dive that Martins took after it, should have been a red for Costa and a yellow for Martins), dubious offside decisions and whatnot. These are still problems that need fixed, they are problems that have needed fixing for decades and yet FIFA still does nothing. I think it speaks volumes that I was extremely impressed by the attitude of the Australians. They got back up straight away every single time they went down. No messing. It is unfortunate that a team like that is in the minority. I apologise for posting in the ā€œBrasil 2014ā€ thread with an on-topic post that isnā€™t ā€œooh wow football is aceā€. I mistakenly thought, over the fifteen years I have been coming to this site, that it is a place for discussion. Apparently you just want everything to be ā€œoooh pretty lightsā€. Unfortunately for you, I donā€™t. And everything I have written has been on topic and so I shall continue posting my thoughts about a sport I have followed for decades. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/387 "2014-06-14T11:42:41Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I just have issues with someone like **amanset** coming in here to say that the World Cup is a ā€œsuch a shit sport.ā€ It doesnā€™t seem to me to be too much to ask for people like him to please take such comments to a different thread. In general, it seems to me that that short of thread-shitting is frowned upon on the SDMB, and rightly so. Take issues all you want, in the post you are moaning about I made on-topic observations about the standard of refereeing in the opening game. I posted about the standard of refereeing in Brasil 2014 in a thread called ā€œBrasil 2014ā€. I am clearly a very bad man. Your problem is that you made an assumption: that I was one of the anti-football people on here, like those that come into threads about TV shows and declare that they donā€™t own a TV and are above all that. In fact it is the opposite, I have watched the game for decades and care passionately about it, which is why I donā€™t like to see FIFA allowing it to become a mockery. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/388 "2014-06-14T11:46:01Z")
Was it just me, or was Cahill whinging after every single play in the Australia-Chile match? It was getting pretty annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/389 "2014-06-14T15:57:37Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Take issues all you want, in the post you are moaning about I made on-topic observations about the standard of refereeing in the opening gameā€¦ > Your problem is that you made an assumption: that I was one of the anti-football people on hereā€¦ No, my problem is that you came into the the World Cup thread to call it ā€œsuch a shit sport.ā€ Thatā€™s threadshitting, which apparently you are not mature enough to own up to. I donā€™t care if you support some League One team or think telling someone to ā€œsod offā€ is appropriate behavior in the Game Room, but politely asking you to take your threadshitting comments elsewhere, as I did, is reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/390 "2014-06-14T16:03:34Z")
Colombia v. Greece. Could be interestingā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/391 "2014-06-14T16:08:20Z")
Yeah. Looks like itā€™s going to be another dull 0-0 stalemaā€¦ Oh. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/392 "2014-06-14T16:20:29Z")
Iā€™m looking forward to England vs. Italy later today. Iā€™d say Italy has the better team, but itā€™s far from guaranteed - England definitely has a fair shot. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/393 "2014-06-14T16:27:18Z")
Another random questionā€¦ Iā€™ve noticed with 3 South American countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia) that during the national anthem, the music stops, and then the team and the crowd keeps singing for a fair length of time, very excitedly. Is there some kind of unofficial second verse to their anthems or something? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/394 "2014-06-14T16:30:37Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > Iā€™m looking forward to England vs. Italy later today. Iā€™d say Italy has the better team, but itā€™s far from guaranteed - England definitely has a fair shot. Oh, I hope so. England are my second side, for kinship and my love of the Premier League. In other news, the early goal notwithstanding, this GRE v. COL affair is indeed turning out to be a bit dull. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/395 "2014-06-14T16:51:46Z")
At the halfā€¦the game picked up quite a bit in the late minutes from its earlier slow pace as Greece started to threaten. Colombia seem likely to hold onto the points, though. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/396 "2014-06-14T17:09:05Z")
Wow, Samaras falls over attacking in the box and asserts immediately there was no contactā€¦ Sportsmanship? Is that a thing? ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/397 "2014-06-14T19:00:08Z")
M is for the mistakes we sometimes make Surely a bit of controversy is part of the games appeal ā€“ [The Refereeā€™s Alphabet](http://youtu.be/uqpJ6XYykHE), Half Man Half Biscuit ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/398 "2014-06-14T19:05:24Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Wow, Samaras falls over attacking in the box and asserts immediately there was no contactā€¦ > > Sportsmanship? Is that a thing? Very rarely it is a thing. Miroslav Klose conceded to having scored a goal with his hand in the Italian league and won a fair play award for it some time ago. But thatā€™s an exception, and Klose has always been an exceptionally fair player. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/399 "2014-06-14T19:23:43Z")
Costa Rica are better than I expected. Denied a stonewall penalty. Not sure if thatā€™s good or bad for England. Perhaps Uruguay just arenā€™t very good. I wasnā€™t impressed with them at the Confed Cup last year. Anyway, I thought Iā€™d post some unofficial World Cup anthems: [Fair Play Trophy](http://youtu.be/3yO_ny9_OZM), MJ Hibbert and the Validators; [Begging You As A Friend](http://youtu.be/jy1a147tMGs), Boothby Graffoe; [The Andy Townsend Rap](http://youtu.be/skNc9RFBAek), Goldie-Looking Chain; [1966 And All That](http://youtu.be/OntYDt8KaO4), Half Man Half Biscuit. Not exactly Three Lions, or World in Motion, but all entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840/400 "2014-06-14T19:25:11Z")
Costa Rica are playing pretty well so far against a Suarez-less Uruguay. But Uruguay have had the only real chance. But now a penalty! Forlan to take it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brasil-2014/687840.md?page=21)