Okay, I guess justice can be served in more ways than one, eh? FIFA decides to change the rules for one team? Fine. Just give Belgium a shot at said team. Elimination settles the question, once and for all. Only Belgium had to face the artificially improved USA team and they were having none of it. Four goals later? Problem solved. 47 shouldn’t have gotten involved. Everything he touches turns to rubble.
Did the overturned red card have anything to do with motivating Belgium in their game? “No,” says USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino, “It had no impact.” After their victory, Belgium posted, “Overturn this!” into social media. That sounds like it might have been a factor, to me.
Oh, I solved another problem while I watched. Part of my lack of interest in soccer is based on how slowly the game moves. Players just kick the ball around. A LOT. Up and down the pitch, up and down. They’re looking for strategic advantage, of course, but it’s just a bunch of guys kicking a ball back and forth. There’s not much aggressive play, trying to get the ball to the net. There doesn’t have to be.
I realized somewhere along the way the thing that would pick things up in soccer is an idea borrowed from basketball: a shot clock. Give each team a certain number of seconds while they control the ball to take a shot on goal. None of this go forward, go back stuff. You push the ball, you shoot the ball, or you lose the ball.
It would increase the speed of the game. It would, likely, increase the scores as teams changed strategies to comply with the new rule. It would also increase the chances of a come-from-behind win if you find your team down, say, 4-1 with time running out and the team with the 4 just keeps the ball away from you. If they have to shoot, you have a chance to get the ball back.
It’s just an idea but one I’m rather fond of. Of course, I’m in no way qualified to come up with new rules for a game in which I don’t even know the old rules, but that didn’t stop me…
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X-box is heading down. I don’t play video games like I used to. I don’t have (or make) the time. I DO still enjoy a good game, though. The thing is, as corporations monetized video gaming, they also ruined it – just like they do with all of their monetized misadventures.
Ultimately, they reduce whatever product or service they offer to it’s lowest common denominator, which usually loses much of whatever attraction it had in the first place. People become less interested because the product isn’t as good anymore and the geniuses in corporate scratch their heads? “Why are we losing market share?”
It’s a known dynamic of every corporate venture but in the case of video games, the answer is, “Well, you harmed your product by stripping out features. You harmed your product by charging real money to have any chance at success in the games. You destroyed the social aspect by taking out local multiplayer options. You dropped titles that sold unless they were TOP sellers. You bought up all of the independent studios in an effort to eliminate competition, but in eliminating competition, you eliminated creativity.”
In their efforts to squeeze every nickel out of every penny, they focused their attentions on online games – games you play while thousands of other people – strangers, mostly – are playing at the same time. They focused on franchises. “Oh, this game sold well? Make it again.” In short, corporations gutted the video game industry, watched interest decline, and now wonder why interest declined.
No matter. Shut down the service. It’s not profitable enough anymore. Microsuck is slowly backing away from video gaming, laying off something like 4,800 people from their X-box section and spinning off some of those studios they bought and corporatized.
Sony has announced they’re going to stop making physical discs for players to use on their PlayStation decks, too. That addresses a problem game corporations hate. People can share games or buy them second-hand if there’s a physical disc. Lots of games are worth the second-hand price, though, and not the full retail price. Buying a game becomes a MUCH riskier proposition if it’s only a digital download.
I suspect PlayStation game sales are going to drop. Then the corporate types will complain that people aren’t buying video games anymore. Then they’ll start cutting. I feel like they should give people what the people want instead of what the corporation feels like giving. They would do much better. Hmm, this turned into much more of a rant than I had expected…
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So, do you suppose his stupid war is back on? THIS round, I think, is on Iran, though overall responsibility for all of it remains with the moron who started it based on delusions and fantasies. Iran is trying to control the Strait of Hormuz completely. They required ships to take a specific route and follow Iranian protocols. A few ships tried a different route. Iran fired on them. The US fired back.
I think it was a mistake on Iran’s part. They had sympathy on their side. They had been victims of an unwarranted attack and everyone knew it. They had the chance to stand down and walk away the winners but they just couldn’t take yes for an answer. It was a ridiculous overreach. More people are going to die. Gas prices are going up again. More stress on the world economy. It turns out, the problem with putting a moron in charge, is that, then, you’ve got a moron in charge…
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So what’s up with Mitch ‘the bitch’ McConnell? He collapsed recently and was rushed to the hospital. Nobody has seen him since. Speculation ranges from ‘He’s recovering nicely, thank you,’ to ‘He’s dead.’ If he’s dead, goes the theory, the cons don’t want to announce it until AFTER August 3 because that’s the deadline to call a special election. So pressure is mounting to prove McConnell is still alive.
We have comments by two or three Republicans claiming they had conversations with him and he was fully lucid and ready to come back to work. Comments from Republicans?!? Can we get something credible please? How about having him hold a twenty minute conversation in which he’s lucid and ready to come back to work with, say, Rachel Maddow? Hey, how about having him just, you know, come back to work, since he’s so ready?
I’m surprised at the number of far righties that hate him. He did a LOT for Team Evil and their evil intentions. Now they hate him because he didn’t do every single little thing. He probably should have, though. His place in history is already very definitely assured – and it ain’t great.
Like most people, I still struggle as a human being sometimes. Because it’s what decent people are supposed to do, I’m supposed to say I wish McConnell good health and a speedy recovery, but I don’t. I actually hope that some of what he sent around is coming back around to him. Yeah, I’m working on that…
