Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

An exception to the rule—for everyone, just a little bit 👍

In any case, I suppose

What's up, wealthy folks?

u armusu

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater
🤷🤣

Well, look at that! Another massive spectacle taking over Madison Square Garden!

Back to a new classic

Just sitting here watching the footage from the U.S. Open. ☕

I'm hunting for a YouTube link to that one match where the goalkeeper catches the ball, then uses it like a slingshot—basically a rubber band shot—straight into the chest of a striker charging at him. If I recall correctly, it was some lower-tier American league, maybe something involving a team like St. Louis City SC or similar... I just remember the ref pulling out the reddest card anyone has ever seen in his life...

thanks

neonfalcon16 said:Well, look at that! Another massive spectacle taking over Madison Square Garden!

Terry Ruiz8 said:Back to a new classic

we're just over here enjoying ourselves (again)☕☕

It seems we weren't deprived of a serving of cinematic art this evening either.
I truly wonder who on earth is curating this programming for them... or if the responsibility ultimately falls upon the viewers themselves...

Read Dežulović's column today about tech in soccer? The guy’s at it again. Honestly, I can't get behind his take on this one. Not feeling it.

On one hand you're twisting the truth, on the other you're feeding people lies just to keep that little sense of mystery and myth alive. Do I even have a choice?

Whatever. Just lurking here.

More correct referee calls means less magic in the beautiful game. Honestly, if they nail every single penalty or foul perfectly, we won't have anyone to blame when things go south. We lose our loser's alibi. It’s the end of football mythmaking and those fake legends people write about. Read this and tell me why you disagree ☕

Walter Grant5 is at it again, isn't he?

I guess I’m on the same page as the columnist, since I’ve mentioned this a few times here on the forum. It feels like there’s way too much focus on the technicalities and not enough on what actually matters. Technology isn't going to fix football; that comes down to better players and coaching. Any bureaucrat can mandate the use of "spray," but nobody can just manufacture a Messi, a Ronaldo, or a Ronaldinho. Tech can't really inject soul into the players or the matches. Maybe you could even compare it to movies. What good is IMAX, 3D, high frame rates, or surround sound at an AMC theater if you're just watching something like Transformers? It seems like money has kind of ruined the artistry in all these fields.

your logic is all over the place. and before you think this is some cheap ad hominem attack, it’s just because you're missing the point entirely. we aren't talking about using tech to level up player skill; we're talking about using it to fix officiating. once you realize those are two completely different conversations, maybe then we can actually talk.

art didn't kill the money. it was the misuse of funds and basic human greed. people being vulgar by treating currency like nothing more than a crude tool for bartering.

CGI isn't precise—it's a total joke. honestly, they might as well just strap jetpacks onto football players mid-game at this point.

Basically, if soccer loses its grip on people just because we're finally cutting out the delusions and the rule-bending, then it says a hell of a lot about the fans, about people in general, and how they actually define what's worth watching.

I think it's really about the focus and the overall direction things are heading. It feels like the emphasis is shifting toward style over substance. Officiating seems to have become this massive secondary distraction rather than being the core of the game. Even at the local park level, people just play without refs. It's almost like the big stadiums too, where billions of dollars are poured into infrastructure for a sport that probably doesn't actually require that kind of scale.

Walter Grant5 said:Basically, if soccer loses its grip on people just because we're finally cutting out the delusions and the rule-bending, then it says a hell of a lot about the fans, about people in general, and how they actually define what's worth watching.

The world isn't perfect, and soccer definitely isn't either. I guess any attempt to sell perfection is just a lie. Soccer filled stadiums long before television was even a thing, and it stays popular because of the game itself, not because of whether the officiating is perfectly accurate or not.