Posts by giovanni tiso
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Yes, the All Blacks lacked composure when things went wobbly, and yes there were failures of leadership and selection. But why can't you acknowledge that the referee's performance also had a significant impact on the result?
I don't think anybody is saying that the referee had a great day, and it's pretty obvious that in a two point game you don't need many calls to go against the losing team in order to say that the referee had a significant impact on the result. Hell, the correct call on the forward pass alone makes that score a pretty big mountain to climb for the French. But I think it was you who quoted the Haka message of support to the ABs which blamed the whole thing on the ref, and I'd say that it's not what it's about; that refereeing mistakes are part of high pressure games (low pressure ones too), let alone against the tournament hosts; that in hardly any game the score actually starts at nil-nil, in that regard. You ride your luck and luck wasn't on the AB's side, but to say that the best team didn't win on the day (quoting the guy from Haka here) still seems counter to the culture somehow. It's more of a soccer thing, and believe me I grew up among that rubbish - I'd rather it weren't part of the discourse at all than on the few occasions when it makes a certain amount of sense.
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To me the McAlister action (all the more so the way he explained it) looks exactly like the picture here, except he had his back turned to the guy. I still think it was harsh, mind you, but not out of this world.
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You don't often get to gloat in NZ, so I'll just say...
DUCKS! 4-1! The Stanley Cup! Haha!
Dude, that is HARSH.
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And BTW, is there seriously anyone out there who still thinks the McAllister check was purely accidental?
He himself admitted it wasn't, that he merely positioned himself and held his ground in the other guy's running lane - surely the definition of what obstruction is? You do that kind of stuff near the try line at your own peril I would have thought.
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Kind of the opposite in 2002 where the ref didn't bottle and stood up and awarded a legit penalty to minnows that Italy never expected would be given because they were playing minnows.
Nothing wrong with that initial penalty. The ref totally lost his cool in extra time, starting off when he red carded Totti for supposedly diving in the box while looking at the action from 50 metres away. Again, an inexperienced guy, like yesterday, who under pressure started favouring the home team. I wasn't particularly shocked then, and I certainly wasn't shocked yesterday.
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And dispute your assertion that it is correct for a ref to favour the host team.
I'm not saying it's correct, I'm saying it's what happens, way more often than not. If you don't expect it, or if you freeze when it happens (a-la Azzurri against Korea in 2002), then you're going to be in trouble.
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[Brazil,] who went to several of those interim world cups with absolutely fantastic teams (Socrates, Falcao, Zico anyone?), and who for five long tournaments discovered to their cost that playing the prettiest football doesn't always win you the game.
Sadly, the beautiful and romantic game often loses to the prosaic, ruthless, and pragmatic :)
Yes, they brought in stodgy, dour Carlos Dunga and it started raining world cups. Then again, the ABs under Henry had it all - a tremendous backline and a steely, formidable forward pack - and on paper ought to have been able to play both kinds of game equally well. But then, come crunch time, they seemed uncertain on which tactic to employ. It helps to know who you are, I guess.
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The final was poor but for most of the tournament it was a really fine world cup - Roger Milla and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Roberto Baggio and Toto Schillaci, and Gazza's tears. Oh, the memories. Sigh.
That's a tournament we lost in spite of a host-friendly referee (Schillaci's goal in the semi was offside). The next day I had my high school finals and the examiners turned their frustration into the grilling of a lifetime.
Thanks for reminding me of this, y'all.
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I seriously hope this wasn't any of our people ...
heh! Crediting our drunken hordes with the ability to locate a Monet is perhaps overly generous. But just to be on the safe side perhaps somebody ought to check on the Rodin on display at Te Papa.
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And the Wellington Phoenix are battling along okay too. Not over promising but not disappointing either.
And the Ottawa Senators are 3-0-0. It's early days, admittedly.