World Cup Thoughts

32 countries. 64 games. 1-1 tie after 120+ grueling minutes. And then it was all decided on penalty kicks. Curious.

The play of the game was Italian goalie Buffon's fantastic save, deflecting a rocket header by France striker Zinedine Zidane in the 104th minute. This beautiful exhibition of football will forever be overshadowed by Zidane's brutal exhibition of justice when he planted his bald dome into the chest of Italian defenseman Marco Materazzi. (Still, that was the sweetest head butt I have ever seen in my life... so good times)

The victory by the Italians is the worst thing that could have happened to the sport because other teams are going to start styling their play after the Azzuri. All the Italians do is stack their defensive side, play conservative football and hope for a counterstrike. It's boring soccer and bad for the game. Furthermore, they are the cheapest team in the world and take more dives than any other side. And their deliberate, fraudulent play was awarded with the world cup trophy. That's not sweet.

Proposed changes for next year:

- Ease up on the red/yellow cards in the early rounds
- Have an independent committee (appointed by FIFA?) review the game tapes and penalize players for over-the-top flops (players pretending to be tripped then subsequently writhing in pain on the pitch) during matches. So, if a player flopped in a match and it was an obvious sham fall, he starts the next match with a yellow card. If a player flops more than once, he gets a red card and cannot play in the next match - and their team has to play a man down
- If a player has to go off the pitch on a stretcher, they cannot return for AT LEAST 5 minutes
- bring back the golden goal (first team to score wins) in OT
- Quit the ridiculous, arbitrary 'stoppage time' - just stop the damn clock for serious injuries. And if they insist on counting UP to 45/90 minutes, fine. Just end the half/game at the 45/90 mark.
- Do not let matches end with penalty kicks. After the first two OTs, continue to have 15 minute periods and just start removing 1 player a side until someone scores.