World Cup 2010

[Maggi Young]

What a bloody racket those vuvuzelas are.  I made her watch the match with the sound off in the end.

Amen to that, Neil! These noisy devices are areal pain.... the prospect of weeks of them buzzing away is too hard to bear.... plus, on TV coverage of one of the many other interesting sprorting events yesterday ( I was so 'exhausted' from the combination of cycling, football, rugby two sorts of motorsports that I can't remember which it was....) I saw those tooteroo things (which I now know to be vuvuzelas!) being brandished by some of the crowd..... heaven forbid this craze should catch on and spread 

Mind you, so much commentary is feeble that perhaps the prospect of just watching the TV with no sound is a real improvement!
For radio coverage which usually includes some crowd noise for 'atmosphere', though, it will be a nightmare to have to suffer the din. 

[Martinr]

Mmmm...I'd love to do my bit to wind up my English friends but.........that goalkeeping was too reminiscent of a number of Scotland keepers over the years. I also hope English football is not in the process of descending to the dire depths of the FIFA rankings where Scotland now languish hoping to compete with Iceland and the Faeroes!

Better luck in the next game but some improvement needed I fear.

I've only seen one game through and that was the SA - Mexico game which was one of the better games I've seen in a while...both teams actually seemed to want to win!

[ArnoldT]

BBC Headline:

World Cup 2010: South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban

You may get your wish.

[Maggi Young]

Since my experience of attending football matches in either South Africa or South America is sadly non-existent, I have had to resort to an internet search to learn more of this plastic monstrosity, the vuvzela.... some information seems to suggest that the use of these things is  "traditional" to football in South Africa and, also in S. America.....  my first thought was how "traditional" ( which in this country suggests a loooooonnnnnnggg history, perhaps of centuries) could a plastic trumpet be?
This link told me.... from the 1970s in Mexico !! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuvuzela

Merciful heavens....that's not much in the way of traditon from my viewpoint, but if these things have been blasting the air for 40years  I wonder there is a single football fan in Mexico with undamaged hearing.  

[Neil]

BBC Headline:

World Cup 2010: South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban

You may get your wish.

Then I would here the inane commentary. She can watch it with the sound off and its not open to discussion. 

[Lesley Cox]

Do we have another despot in our midst?

I am in the happy position of all these matches being in the early hours of the morning or other unsociable hours so I can avoid watching the whole lot. Since my only REAL sporting interest is cricket, I learned years ago to watch on TV with the mute button on, while listening to (quite frequently) learned and erudite commentary on the radio. Alas that nowadays that is now interspersed with advertising.

[ArnoldT]

Lesley:

You "ain't seen notin yet", try watching a baseball game on TV.  So much down time the announcers are promoted as much as the players.

Out of a 60 minute American Football game there is only 3 to 4 minutes of actual play.

[Anthony Darby]

.......and virtually none of it played with the feet! Grid iron was designed with commercial televison in mind. I'm glad Formula one is back on the Beeb. No interruptions! Apparently the ITV HD channel missed the England goal! I stick to the BBC as I hate adverts. I remember trying to watch the US open golf a few years ago. Every few minutes we were subjected to two commentors chatting about the play as the US channel had cut to adverts and there was no live play being filmed!

[ArnoldT]

.. and with betting in mind as well.

Grid-iron is the perfect TV sport.  Commercial breaks, jammed full of stats to keep the masses confused, random violence and cheerleaders!

They print the odds on games in every newspaper but " league officials" deny that betting takes place.

I admire the rest of the world for this.

Acknowledge the betting and  make some money from it.

[David Nicholson]

.. and with betting in mind as well.

Grid-iron is the perfect TV sport.  Commercial breaks, jammed full of stats to keep the masses confused, random violence and cheerleaders!

They print the odds on games in every newspaper but " league officials" deny that betting takes place.

I admire the rest of the world for this.

Acknowledge the betting and  make some money from it.

Not on betting on England to win

[Lesley Cox]

Alas, we have no non-commercial TV except there is no advertising on Good Friday or Christmas Day. They still do promos for upcoming TV programmes though, and to my mind, that IS advertising. On radio, the so-called National network is commercial free as is the Concert programme. National consists of lowbrow music, interviews, more national and international news, some politics etc etc. Our (mis-named) public broadcasting radio stations.

You have to be joking Arnold, about the shown play time for football games.

[Neil]

Do we have another despot in our midst?

I am in the happy position of all these matches being in the early hours of the morning or other unsociable hours so I can avoid watching the whole lot. Since my only REAL sporting interest is cricket, I learned years ago to watch on TV with the mute button on, while listening to (quite frequently) learned and erudite commentary on the radio. Alas that nowadays that is now interspersed with advertising.

I would not call it that, its a democracy and in case of a vote being tied its a case age before beauty

Cricket now that's a real game, but can't watch it as Murdoch has bought all the rights and WE refuse to pay im so i go without.

[ArnoldT]

Lesley:

Wish I were joking. The ball is snapped and ten seconds later the referee blows the whistle to end the play.

[Lesley Cox]

Well NZ's test crickers have been promoting that game in the USA recently, so perhaps you'll have something better to watch soon.

Neil, if it's case of age before beauty, I win on both counts. (see the Puzzles thread but remember the picture is close to 30 years old).

Murdoch here too, and like you, we don't buy pay TV but we do get some free to air on one of the more obscure channels.

[Anthony Darby]

Lesley:

Wish I were joking. The ball is snapped and ten seconds later the referee blows the whistle to end the play.

That's the bit I don't understand. It's like basketball (another minority sport in this country). The timeouts are much longer than the play. At least in football, rugby and cricket the play is more or less continuous.