I think we have interacted more on whatsapp regarding soccer than we ever did about MotoGP. (Well, except when your phone experiences that intermittent gremlins of the type that surely sabotaged Valentino's fateful Valencia race in 06, caused in part or not by a soccer t-shirt, who knew?)
Notwithstanding, I must register my disagreement with you regarding the ref’s plight, even specifically in this match. As you know I have expressed my disdain for refers often, especially during the FIFA World Farce (Mexico’s exit to the ........ tournament aside), but…I have had a change of heart. The game in question did end up being a farce, but as much as you wouldn’t blame the physician for your health negligence, I see a parallel here as well. Blame the doctor? No, the ref is a single man running around trying to make split decisions in a game where one single call can decide to erase 90 mins of action. First of all, the rules are ........ and need to be “modernized” (I’ll get to your point about the “modern game” below). Only in soccer can one bad decision be so monumental that it makes the entire contest meaningless. Its like the players are playing this game while there is this hair-trigger bomb poised to explode at any second or not, in any given game, regardless of its importance or lack their of. Its called the penalty rule, and I have yet to hear a consensus whenever it has been applied properly, ever. Imagine that, a rule that nobody agrees on but yet decides a contest, regularly.
Second, the ref is trying to manage a game where 22 players on the field are trying to deceive him first and contest the contest second…this my friend is what I perceive as the “modern game”! Diego Costa’s job is certainly NOT to “exploit the vulnerabilities” of players personalities, that is utterly a rubbishing of the game, a perversion of the contest and its rules at best! In fact, its why I never liked this sport, because its constant manipulation, contrivance, deception, and a circumventing of the spirit of this game. How many times have we heard the following to accept this hogwash (sorry Cameron): “Soccer is like life.” This ........ rationalization doesn’t even hold up for its intended ostrich like rationale. It is NOT like life, but it certainly is a rationalization and cliché that has tricked the masses into living an dying by an arbitrary contest that has often been decided by little to nothing regarding the skill of the player’s performance on the pitch.
What needs to happen to legitimize the arbitration of this “modern sport”? I don’t think the Penis rule will ever be modified, and in theory it makes good sense, but in practice, it is impossible to apply. Therefore, the recourse for this and all the other shortcomings of the game could be mitigated by the introduction of referee aids, in the form of more referees, technology to assess calls to make more accurate calls, and heavy handed sanctions for attempts at manipulating the rules. How many dudes would do what chickenshit Diego Costa and Pepe do on a regular basis, if they knew when getting caught it would result in a 3 month ban? It’s the same with MotoGP, the Fenatis and Marquez’s of the sport, and ......... in life, exist because the policing of them is so weak. And before anybody says, this would disrupt the “flow” of the game if say we were to introduce instant replay, for .... sake, tell the guys running around (even when they are losing) who just scored a goal like they just cured cancer to put their shirt back on and ....... get back on the pitch. Not to mention those feigning injury masterminds, it is still called “injury time” right? You know, those few minutes they add to every single half ever. Haha.
Regardless, I still have hope for soccer. I am a fan.
Go Shrewmberry Town
Go Leisure City
Go Southcrapton
