Quote:
|
Originally Posted by !@#$%!
don't expect sports night to be some kind of awesome thing-- it did win plenty of critical acclaim in its day but it's still a 30-minute late-90s network tv sitcom (sitcom of sorts... not sure what's called)-- though it foreshadows the west wing in so many ways.
re: stats-- i've seen a rise of those in football, or maybe i didn't watch european football before but the display of miles traveled or passes completed etc. is new to me. this could open the door to a moneyball-style analysis. don't they have those shoes with microchips now? that's gotta change the way people look at teams. me i'm always noticing the defenders who score at corner kicks-- who keeps tabs on that?
in any case... loyalty in the prem... hm... gerrard? i suppose there are a few players who are connected to their teams/towns-- but loyalty has to go both ways, i.e., teams have to treat players like something other than mere commodities, otherwise it's like the battered wife who's afraid to leave the marriage. if a team treats you like a piece of meat with skills you should be entitled to treat it like an ATM in return.
|
There's been a rise in stat information relating to football in recent years. I'm not sure why. Most likely just the broadening of its appeal. English fans have traditionally not been that preoccupied with tactics, etc, and stats are still looked upon largely as an unwelcome import from US sports. Things like assists were never even recorded. I'm wary of the value of stats but a bit of a geek when it comes to tactics. I dunno. I'm in the minority, I think, but not as much as before. For me, though, it's just another aspect of the game to obsess over. My cousin, who's about as big a fan of West Ham as it's possible to be, couldn't tell one formation from another but can read a game better than anyone I know.
In terms of loyalty, Gerrard seems like an obvious one but even he nearly went to Chelsea a few years ago. Carragher might be a better example, but then I don't know if he was ever actually
given a big money offer from another club. Loyalty's easy when it's never tested. In terms of current players with reputations that could've likely taken them anywhere, the best example I can think of is Paul Scholes. Still for me the best English player of his generation and he's never, to my knowledge, showed any sign of leaving Man Utd, even though just about every top side in Europe has wanted him at some point.
Just look at the praise heaped on him by his peers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzg6cR0lONw