[mcoomer]

Congratulations to the Seattle Sounders on winning the MLS Cup. I was trying to watch on a Fox feed on the internet from Riyadh and the damn thing froze right before the last penalty kick. When the feed started again the Sounders were running around on the field so I figured something good happened.

Seems to be a pattern. I was trying to watch the Seahawks-Minnesota playoff game last year in Paris and it froze right before the missed field goal. The Swedish post game show made up for it though. Looked like a bunch of lumberjacks onscreen talking football in a different language.

Mike

 

[mcoomer]

On another note...if I ever have to watch another cricket match for entertainment I think I'll go play in the middle of the freeway instead. They've even got a dedicated cricket channel. OSN Sprots Cricket in HD (it's misspelled on the TV too!). Boring as hell!

 

[Chris Johnson]

Yes congratulations, I'd like to say it was a good game but it was not. Toronto out played them for most of the game, if not for Steffan Frey they would have lost. He made a couple good saves, and one fabulous save. Oh well, a win is a win. hoist the cup!

 

[mcoomer]

I believe the connoisseur would say that it was an epic match of stingy defense, punctuated by some tremendous play in goal. It was fairly slow though wasn't it. Still, given the start of the Sounders season I don't think anyone would have ever predicted this finish.

 

[Peyton00]

Toronto had the worse luck with shots on goal.

This win reminds of the scene in pulp fiction where the guy unloads the pistol and misses Jules and Vincent.

Congrats on escaping with a championship.

 

[Ernie Adams]

I watched a hockey game. Then I watched about 15 minutes of the soccer match. It was unwatchable. I have tried and tried. I don't understand the allure.
I've come to the conclusion that the only way to enjoy soccer is to watch something else.
Seattle had 0 shots on goal and won. Think about that. They might as well have just had a coin flip.

Go sox,
Cds

 

[chief]

I watched a hockey game. Then I watched about 15 minutes of the soccer match. It was unwatchable. I have tried and tried. I don't understand the allure.
I've come to the conclusion that the only way to enjoy soccer is to watch something else.
Seattle had 0 shots on goal and won. Think about that. They might as well have just had a coin flip.

Go sox,
Cds

Actually they had 6 shots and scored on 5 of them....... (Edited for accuracy)

 

[Ernie Adams]

Actually they had 7 shots and scored on 6 of them.......

Pretty sure (100%) that the box score puts it at 0 shots on target. Shots on target is synonymous with shots on goal, no?

Tough to watch.

Go sox,
Cds

 

[chief]

Pretty sure (100%) that the box score puts it at 0 shots on target. Shots on target is synonymous with shots on goal, no?

Tough to watch.

Go sox,
Cds

Maybe they don't count the PK's in the box score, but both teams had 6 and Seattle scored on 5 of them and Toronto only converted 4.... It was a pretty pressure filled and exciting 10 minutes.....

 

[Ernie Adams]

Maybe they don't count the PK's in the box score, but both teams had 7 and Seattle scored on 6 of them and Toronto only converted 5.... It was a pretty pressure filled and exciting 10 minutes.....

Glad you enjoyed it.

Go sox,
Cds

 

[Philonius]

So, I could have tuned in for the last few minutes and seen all of the meaningful action? That sounds way to much like Basketbore.

 

[Peyton00]

I watched a hockey game. Then I watched about 15 minutes of the soccer match. It was unwatchable. I have tried and tried. I don't understand the allure.
I've come to the conclusion that the only way to enjoy soccer is to watch something else.
Seattle had 0 shots on goal and won. Think about that. They might as well have just had a coin flip.

Go sox,
Cds

I feel the same way about regular season baseball.BORING....
I did watch the second half last night, since it had some merit to sports fans of Seattle.

 

[MotoBoat]

Actually they had 7 shots and scored on 6 of them.......

Where is the "do not like" button! Sounders "0" shots on goal during official game.......fact. Winning the way the Sounders did was a travesty to the other team, which dominated, and played better than Sounders during the entire game.

Watching soccer is painfully dull. I did watch the entire game, including double overtime, and through penalty kicks. A hard fought game such as that should not end on chip shots.

This would be like the super bowl ending in a tie. Kickers then attempt field goals (from the old point after yard line, not new one implemented this year) until one kicker on either team misses. Where is the team effort in that?

Comparing both teams play. Sounders looked like they always do, chase the ball as it is passed around in the backfield. On the other hand Toronto was "pressuring" each of those kick the entire time!!!!! Toronto was on there game, and looked good.

Listen to me..........this is the first Soccer game I have watched from beginning to end. That because home team was in the MLS cup. Won't happen again, rather find out the outcome on the evening news.

 

[Nick Clayton]

I know nothing of soccer so please forgive my ignorance, but how exactly did the other team dominate if none of their shots went in the net? Why does the number of shots really mean anything? Is two hail Mary type shots at the end of the game, with little chance of success, make for style points over a team that has taken none?
I've tried to get into soccer and hockey both and I just can't. I wish I could as fans of both sports seem to be pretty passionate about it and they look like they're having a hell of a lot of fun at the games.

It seems funny to me that in land of sports dominated by the defensively minded Seahawks teams that so many people were upset about what seems like a pretty spectacular defensive performance. But again I know about as much about soccer as I do brain surgery.

 

[PhilR]

Soccer? Huh. I thought that was for little kids, and the French.

 

[3369]

I'm not a soccer fan (other than cheering for my 7 year old daughter) and have watched three games this year - free tickets to a Sounders game, the US Women's Olympic loss and the game last night. The only reason I watched last night is I had a bunch of papers to grade and needed some background noise.

Interesting comments by motoboat, Peyton, Chris and others with sentiments that "the Sounders didn't deserve to win, Toronto was unlucky, hoist the cup but you shouldn't feel good about it etc. etc."

I just listened to Pete Carrol being interviewed 10 minutes ago as he spoke to his coaching philosophy. "Get yourself in a position to win and then finish. "There's been close games where the Hawks have finished and there have been times when they didn't, including on the biggest stage a couple of years ago.

Sounders haters comments echo Hope Soloesque after the US women's loss. Toronto may have been the better team or may have played a better game, but they couldn't get it done during regulation and OT and then their best scorer choked on a penalty kick.

It seems simple to me, the Sounders put themselves in a position to win and then finished. Good for them.

Go Sounders

 

[FinLuver]

Pretty sure (100%) that the box score puts it at 0 shots on target. Shots on target is synonymous with shots on goal, no?

Tough to watch.

Go sox,
Cds

A PK is a "shot on goal"....
How else do you think the ball gets in the net??

For clarity though...there were probably no "good" shots on goal during regulation and OT play....hence the PKs.

A defensive game makes for a boring assed championship.
I can say this with 100% certainty as I played the game for 30 years.

 

[mcoomer]

I know nothing of soccer so please forgive my ignorance, but how exactly did the other team dominate if none of their shots went in the net? Why does the number of shots really mean anything? Is two hail Mary type shots at the end of the game, with little chance of success, make for style points over a team that has taken none?
I've tried to get into soccer and hockey both and I just can't. I wish I could as fans of both sports seem to be pretty passionate about it and they look like they're having a hell of a lot of fun at the games.

It seems funny to me that in land of sports dominated by the defensively minded Seahawks teams that so many people were upset about what seems like a pretty spectacular defensive performance. But again I know about as much about soccer as I do brain surgery.

You see this in football (football Americano, aka the NFL) where a team drives up and down the field, putting up unbelievable stats and loses the game due to turnovers. Toronto was the more active and aggressive team for 120 minutes and lost.

Mike

 

[Richard Olmstead]

I grew up playing American football in upstate NY in the 60s. Varsity letters three years; I loved it. Soccer wasn't a thing back then, apart from once a year in gym class where the instructor had us count off into 11-boy sides and run around kicking a soccer ball for 30 minutes and then go to our next class.

Then I was an exchange student in Peru. I learned to play soccer, cuz that's what you did if you were athletically inclined anywhere else in the world. I learned what a skillful, competitive, demanding, and beautiful game it is. I continued to play competitively into my 50s (on a >50 league), until a couple of injuries made me realize bodies don't recover as easily when you age. I still walk my dog at Magnuson park on Saturday mornings every so often and wish I could join the >50 pick up games there every week, but realize I no longer have the conditioning to keep up with those guys.

I can sympathize with folks who don't get it and find it boring to watch. I have no sympathy for folks who don't get it, but feel like that's a problem with soccer and not your inability to appreciate it (I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here; many of the comments above seem genuinely to understand that the commenter doesn't understand the game).

I still enjoy watching football, if it is a team I follow (UW, WSU, Seahawks), but, seriously, how many folks play football into their 50s and beyond?

D

 

[jersey]

The game got me through school, saw Europe several times, friends from around the world and finally, my profession for almost 15 years, as a coach.

A common theme, which is difficult for folks to understand, is the coach not being in control of what happens. It's a players game and they are the decision-makers. Designed plays, controlled choreography (per my brother in law who is a football coach), consistently reoccurring scenarios just don't happen often enough for coaches to impact the game as it is happening.

This is hard for many based on direct experiences with football, baseball, and basketball.