World Cup 2014

k3v otm

this is reminding me of the enforcer/fighting arguments in hockey

fuck a taboo tbh - if I'm a pro footballer who relies on his legs to make a living I'd rather be spat on or have my shoulder chewed than have my legs broken

you've got Shearer and Savage and Wright calling for life bans when they've all got previous for deliberately attempting to injure opponents - there's some underlying Real Men Go In Hard nonsense with all this that makes it somehow *not* taboo to try to injure an opponent while treating spitters as uncouth vermin who are ruining the game

you play footie and arms and legs are flailing around. bad tackles and elbows are the violent extreme of that. but teeth are an outside element entirely. that's closer to pulling a sock full of pennies out of your shorts than a studs up leg breaker. whatever the practical consequences of the action, that's why the bite seems so outre imo.

a lot of contrarian pro-biting slatepitching itt

I think there is a valid question here, which is: Should the severity of the penalty be proportional to the severity of the injury caused (in terms of affecting the victim's ability to play, length of recovery, etc.) or should it take into account the unusual manner in which it was caused?

I think there should be lengthy bans for disgusting savages who bite and spit.
I think there should be lengthy bans for deliberately dangerous actions that could result in injury.

e.g. this guy wants the book thrown at Suarez but went unpunished for this:
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view6/2315959/alan-shearer-o.gif

I guess you're saying biting and spitting deserve more severe penalties than other actions that cause relatively mild injuries because they are more disgusting? But who decides what is disgusting? It's ultimately an aesthetic judgement, isn't it? Genuinely curious. For comparison, Zidane's infamous headbutt was arguably pretty disgusting, but it only earned him a 3-game suspension, which was moot anyway since he retired.

who argues that zizou's headbutt was disgusting?

thought the general consensus was WTF? Oh it's Matarazzi. Reasons.

French newspapers's called it "odious" at the time. There was lots of disgust as I recall.

Thought he returned to a hero's welcome? President and all.

onimo i don't think anyone would disagree with that; i do think emphasising the former by way of comparison essentially diminishes the latter tho

it's like idk, condemning public antisocial disorder by equating extremes of insobriety with covering urself in ur own excrement

aye I think there are lots of gradations of "dangerous" from flailing arms to elbows to straight leg tackles to headbutts and blatant kicks in the face so it's more difficult to set how people should be punished - like kicking a guy in a mistimed tackle isn't *too* far removed from kicking a guy in a deliberately mistimed tackle.

Spitting and biting can't really be dressed up as anything else so it's understandable it gets an instant lynch mob.

what's the game today, bos Iran or arg nga

arg-nig draw sees them both thru' i think.

weird one today - only Iran really need to win to I'd say go with that one but otoh I keep (naively) expecting Argentina to click at some point and destroy the opposition

yeah was gonna say am waiting for Argentina to reach lift off

i'll start with Messi see if Arg can look a little smoother. Nig were p entertaining vs Bosnia iirc.

http://talkingbaws.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/mermaid.jpg

I will keep an eye and ear on Bosnia to see if ITV follows the BBC in "Edin Dzeko"-ing it.

nice tackle from odemwingie there

MESSI

Dzeko without the Edin just now

Just about to post that this is the first game Arg have had at WC where Di Maria hasn't been man marked.

And then you see what happens

OOFF

Moussa 1-1

ok then

ooh now Iran only need to win 1-0 if that argy game stays

Yeah I'm sticking with Argentina-Nigeria

jesus everytime I switch to the other game

I'd see onimos deliberate tackle causing injury and raise it to 'reckless and likely to cause injury' but we've done all this in our excellent ilx thread on the tackle

Oh his name is Musa not Moussa

or is it 2?

Arg-Nga going for 4-4 to avoid arousing suspicion of playing out a boring draw.

christ I can't keep up

oh fuck off i turn on 6 minutes in and its 1-1 already? i r so annoyed, its gonna be shit now isn't it

Iran gd -1
Nigeria gd +1

It's interesting that in the case of spitting on an another player the FIFA disciplinary code requires a minimum of a 6 match suspension whereas the minimum is only 2 matches for assault (elbowing, kicking, etc.). There don't seem to be any mentions of biting:

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/fifa_dc_en_34118.pdf

I guess I don't have a problem with treating it more severely as long they're consistent about it.

Iran need Nigeria to lose. By more than 1 goal preferably. Assuming Iran at best win by one goal, can't see them doing more than that.

The Tackle

There was a spitting case last season, Hart the victim. The spitter didn't get 6 games. I guess the FA is different.

incredible dive by pjanic

Another bomb in Abuja, I wonder if the players have heard

Watching on replay that Messi finish was really difficult.

Edin Dzeko 1-0 long daisy cutter

Iran off the underside of the bar and out

how did that no go in