Off Topic: Soccer and NASCAR

[Marko69]

Dual citizen Germans who have no hope of playing for Germany? Know what you mean,..... We have Englishmen in our squad simply because they ain't good enough for England.

[froot loops]

Pretty much. I guess the quality of these guys are improving. 10 years ago they were taking journeyman guys who couldn't speak English. At least with Green there is the slight chance that he could play for the German national team.

[Fraquar]

I'm trying to figure out what exactly Klinsmann sees in Altidore. Beyond broad shoulders he offers nothing.

[Marko69]

I haven't really looked at the groups in detail until now. Dear oh dear!!! You guys look a bit screwed before you even start. You'll do very well to finish 3rd in that group. Groups B & D are tough. Looking very much forward to the England v Italy match. Me and the wife will be watching that game in the Italian Cafe Artista in Marchmont, Edinburgh with Bruno & Co. Cannot wait.

[Tony G]

Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Joey Logano: My sport's a lot safer
By Michael Rothstein
ESPN.com

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- When NASCAR driver Joey Logano wrecks after reaching speeds of 200 mph in his stock car, it can look dangerous, ugly and sometimes death-defying.
Yet Logano, while visiting the Detroit Lions' practice Tuesday, said he felt his sport was safer than football.
"We take a hit maybe once every 15 races or so, on average, and these guys are taking hits on every play," said Logano, who has two Sprint Cup victories this season. "So I feel like my sport's a lot safer. We may look crazy going 200 miles an hour thinking that, but I'd much rather hit a wall at 200 than have a 300-pound linebacker coming at me."
While he said he feels football has tried to make the game safer, he also touted NASCAR's safety measures -- from the new structure of the Car of Tomorrow to the HANS safety device and the constant testing the sport does to help with crush zones and trying to improve safety.
He also explained that unlike football players, who collide at obviously slower speeds, drivers have more around them than football players, who have just helmets and padding.

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano visited the Detroit Lions and coach Jim Caldwell on Tuesday. "There's areas that we have to improve on. I don't think there's as much area in football to improve on," Logano said. "Obviously you got your pads, you got your helmets, stuff like that, but you're still going to get hit every time.
"There's still going to be big guys hitting you, and obviously when you get all that adrenaline going, those hits don't become softer. I think they are big and that's just a big difference. You are kind of comparing apples to oranges on that."
So what does Logano say when he sees a rough football hit?
"I'm glad I'm in a race car," he said. "That's what I say. These guys get hit up a lot harder than a race car does."
Logano was visiting the Lions to help promote the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 15.

[Panoptes]

Brazil soccer referee killed during match; his head displayed on stake midfield

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/07/brazil-soccer-referee-killed-during-match-his-head-displayed-on-stake-midfield/?intcmp=HPBucket

[Marko69]

Brazil soccer referee killed during match; his head displayed on stake midfield

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07...ntcmp=HPBucket

I've read this somewhere before. Maybe TonyG posted it in the other "off topic" soccer thread.

Fairly sure a few Hibees could've carried out a similar act after the 2012 cup final!!! Craig Thomson had to receive a police escort away from Hampden that day, but that's just craziness at its worst.
But the lower ends of the soccer pyramid are definitely more hostile. I think that is the case the world over. Go to a West Pilton v Muirhouse Sunday league game in Edinburgh. You can go, I'll give it a miss!

[Tony G]

Klinsmann questions catering to stars




Steve Nicol and Craig Burley react to Jurgen Klinsmann saying the USMNT can't win the World Cup, as well as his critical assessment of Landon Donovan.
United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann criticized what he sees as an American custom of sports teams catering to star players, in quotes released on Wednesday.
Klinsmann, who left star midfielder Landon Donovan off the U.S. World Cup squad last month, singled out the NBA as ignoring his philosophy of favoring a player's future potential over past accomplishments.
The German native told The New York Times Magazine in December that he could not understand why the Los Angeles Lakers would give Kobe Bryant a two-year contract extension for $48.5 million, when the 35-year-old basketball icon's best days are likely behind him.
"This always happens in America," Klinsmann said in the interview, which was released on Wednesday. "Kobe Bryant, for example -- why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers? Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?"

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann does not understand why teams pay for a player's past accomplishments. Five months later, Klinsmann had to decide whether to bring the 32-year-old Donovan to a fourth World Cup, after Donovan had spent the first three months of 2013 on a self-imposed sabbatical away from his sport.
Although Donovan returned to play well for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Klinsmann did not immediately invite him back to compete in World Cup qualifiers for the U.S.
The time off was part of what led to Donovan's omission from the World Cup, the Times Magazine reported, as Klinsmann was "put off by what he saw as Donovan's inconsistent motivation," and did not think Donovan was the same player as before.
"He came back, and he was playing in MLS, and people say, 'Oh, he's playing well,' but what does that really mean?" Klinsmann said. "This is where MLS hurts him. He was playing at 70 percent, 80 percent, and he was still dominant. That doesn't help anyone.
"I watched the games. What was I supposed to say? That he was good? He was not good. Not then. No way. So he had to wait."
In the wide-ranging profile piece, Klinsmann also reiterated statements that his job is as much to show consistent growth and improvement in the U.S. program as it is to win the World Cup.
Klinsmann signed a new contract last year that will take him through the 2018 World Cup, likely securing his future no matter the result of this month's tournament. And at the time, Klinsmann expressed severe doubts that the U.S. could succeed in Brazil, where they will face a stacked deck of Ghana, Portugal and Germany in the group stage.
"We cannot win this World Cup, because we are not at that level yet," Klinsmann told the magazine in December. "For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament.
"Realistically, it is not possible."

[froot loops]

Jozy looked good against Nigeria, hopefully he's rounding into form.

[Tony G]

[essek031]

Just one more day, don't know how my girlfriend will accept my watch every game plan :D

[DeanUK]

The bad news for you is that Markos going to be cheering Croatia on, and he already supports Hibs and the Lions. Not exactly encouraging

I'm going to a Stag do this weekend, apparently we're watching the England game in a nightclub at 11.00pm, after a days drinking. I can remember a time when I would have look forward to it...

[Marko69]

It's a big day for Croatia tomorrow, Essek. We had the same privilege back in 1998 with the opening game against Brazil. Narrowly defeated 2-1 and it was a Tommy Boyd OG that did the damage. We matched them but it was a very sore defeat, and ultimately bombed after that.
Hoping Croatia do well tomorrow. I really hope that's not a jinx as Dean suggests! Play like Hibs though and you will be stuffed, convincingly......, by an American football scoreline...... 28-0.

Sounds like a fantastic Saturday night ahead, Dean. I would say I hope the result is good, but I'll be in a buddy's Italian Restaurant in Marchmont, supporting Italy.

'MON THE EYE TIES.

Edit, .., I suppose this ^ is positive for England if your theory is correct!

[Tony G]

[ame]http://youtu.be/LR310VlL2wI[/ame]

[Marko69]

What the hell was wrong with Oliver Khan? On his monthlies or what? The player didn't do anything. Maybe he said something that pissed him off.