ramantheb.com

Two weeks into the world Cup, there’s a sense of anticipation all over. The 16 will be decided in a couple of days and the world cup has had only one major surprise so far-> Ghana beating the Czech republic and ultimately qualifying for the round of sixteen. In my opinion there will be no more major upsets until the round of 16. France will make the round of sixteen.

Watching the soccer on ESPN/ABC has been a real disappointment. The americans dont seem to understand that soccer is a game in which there is importance attached to one statistic and one statistic only -> goals. Thats it. If its baseball, stats about ERA’s, RBI’s, SB’s,AB’s are thrown at your face all the time. Same with the basketball the NBA coverage is so meticulousy filled with numbers about FT %, FG%, PPG, RPG. Thats acceptable, I sometimes do want to see those numbers while watching baseball or basketball. But not when i am watching a soccer game. Soccer is all about the fluidity, and the only numbers we need to see on screen is the scoreline. Maybe an occasional stat or two is ok. What i dont want to see is the “last time Wayne Rooney scored as a substitute for England between the 70th and 80th minute” . Thats just rubbish. These guys think they can break the game down completely with numbers and they are leaving a lot of fans unhappy.

But since i have no choice, i have to watch it on either of these two channels. maybe some-one will come with a stat-blocker plugin for cable TV content soon.

May England win.