tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post234529327130920754..comments2024-02-09T08:07:26.090-08:00Comments on Dodgy At Best: Penultimate Day of La Liga = Que RidiculoKanuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02959256951835399304noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-75775719294130191622007-06-11T14:01:00.000-07:002007-06-11T14:01:00.000-07:00See, Moin, I said you would come through, and you ...See, Moin, I said you would come through, and you did.<BR/><BR/>El Pichichi- gracias, senor. And congrats on scoring more goals than anyone else in La Liga, this year and any other.<BR/><BR/>Hopefully, however it turns out, it will be as dramatic and entertaining as the last month or so has been, although the chances are that is may very well be anticlimactic, especially after last week. Hopefully it won't be, but there's always the Gold Cup... ;)Kanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02959256951835399304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-2823629202450615272007-06-11T13:49:00.000-07:002007-06-11T13:49:00.000-07:00You know, I could get behind Sevilla winning the t...You know, I could get behind Sevilla winning the title, just for a change of pace.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-91104523903299487982007-06-11T12:38:00.000-07:002007-06-11T12:38:00.000-07:00Well, to clear things up a bit moreSevilla wins if...Well, to clear things up a bit more<BR/><BR/>Sevilla wins if:<BR/>1)Sevilla wins, Barca loses, and RM doesn't win.<BR/>2)That's it, it's the only way they win.<BR/><BR/>Barca wins if:<BR/>1)Barca wins and RM draws.<BR/>2)Barca draws and RM loses.<BR/><BR/>All other scenarios leads to RM being crowned champions.<BR/><BR/>As plodding as RM have been, I don't think their play have been ho-hum, by all accounts, they dominated the recent matches, just that the pay offs have come very late. Not to mention RM has, by far, the best away record in La Liga.<BR/><BR/>But Madrista or not, to be fair, the most consistently excellent team in Spain this season has been Sevilla and it would be justice if they do end up winning it all. But their rather pedestrian performance right after the winter break, where they drew Betis and Sociedad and lost to Gimnastic, cost them.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and just a note, it seems like Kanoute and Diarra will be missing the final weekend for Mali's qualifying match in the African Nations' Cup. I wonder if Eto'o and Cameroon have a match?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-60539104581328516252007-06-11T12:32:00.000-07:002007-06-11T12:32:00.000-07:00I was at a local watering hole watching this and t...I was at a local watering hole watching this and towards the end I'm going crazy. The few others who were there had no idea what all the fuss is about (I'm in SEC country, mind you)....luckily the bar-keep knows me so I carried on as if I was in my own living room. Great stuff.<BR/><BR/>Also, to what DC Trojan said, I'm afraid Real has jinxed themselves with this Beckham thing. Karma wants its pound of flesh for that shameful behavior (and I'm a Real fan...)<BR/><BR/>Keep up the good work, Kanu.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-43622223260496035052007-06-11T10:14:00.000-07:002007-06-11T10:14:00.000-07:00Even as I like Barca, I think the coolest would be...Even as I like Barca, I think the coolest would be if Real & Barca both ate it and Sevilla won, giving them the title. Watching the dueling media meltdowns {Marca/Mundo Deportivo} would be wildly entertaining.<BR/><BR/>Of course the odds of that happening are significantly more remote than the odds of RM & Espanyol both scoring in the last minute on Saturday.Kanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02959256951835399304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-67251478810174749252007-06-11T10:02:00.000-07:002007-06-11T10:02:00.000-07:00This makes my head hurt. Partly because of the per...This makes my head hurt. Partly because of the permutations, partly because part of me would be entertained to see Real Madrid take La Liga off a move or a goal from Beckham, and then watch the RM governing monkeys writhe in trying to keep that midfield media conglomerate away from his only natural retirement destination in Los Angeles. And how absurd is that? <BR/><BR/>Besides, at some level, what's worse - consistent ho-hum play just enough to win games (Real), or wildly erratic results (Barca?) Hard to know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-70002380290011465802007-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:002007-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:00Oh, here a question that's worth considering: what...Oh, here a question that's worth considering: what are the Spanish FA going to do about Messi?<BR/><BR/>I know they can't go back and take the goal away, as it would be massively unfair to the way the game was played. But since it would have been a borderline red card offense (according to a strict reading of the rules, it is a straight red, but nobody ever enforces football rules according to the book anyways), do you think it is possible to suspend Messi next match? I know it won't make much of a difference against Gimnastic but I think it would be somewhat fair.<BR/><BR/>In the end, this is pure speculations since I don't really think the Spanish FA will do anything because it was not caught on the field. It seems like FIFA and FAs are willing to rescind or overturn cards that were handed out, but unwilling to give out deserving cards that were not caught on the field. So I guess it is a moot point in the end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25555967.post-43525485848155063332007-06-10T05:50:00.000-07:002007-06-10T05:50:00.000-07:00Thanks for the vote of confidence there. But to b...Thanks for the vote of confidence there. But to be honest, I don't really know what would happen if there is a 3 way tie atop La Liga. So I went around looking it up. It took a while, since everybody was so obsessed with the 2 way tie that nobody addressed the 3 way tie situation (the 3rd link on my google search was this entry, just so you know). The only place I found it is <A HREF="http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=es%7Cen&u=http://www.lfp.es/competiciones/2006-07/primera/reglamento.htm&prev=/language_tools" REL="nofollow">here</A>.<BR/><BR/>Thank goodness for google translations.<BR/><BR/>But in case of a 3 way tie, the first tiebreaker is a mini-league, then goal differential in said mini-league, then goal differential overall, then goals scored overall, then lastly fair play standings.<BR/><BR/>If they do use a mini-league format, then Real Madrid would be top, with 7 points in 4 matches, Sevilla would be number 2 with 6 points, and Barca would be third with 4.<BR/><BR/>One extra note I took out of that page is the 2 way tiebreaker between RM and Barca isn't a strict head-to-head tiebreak. It's a goal differential in head-to-head matchups that's the tiebreaker.<BR/><BR/>I wonder how long it's gonna take for Barca to produce another split screen comparison between this Messi goal and the original Maradona one? My money is on the over, as in "never". The thing is, if not for Messi, Barca wouldn't even be in this thing. RM was leading 10 men Barca 3-2 at Nou Camp before Messi completed his hat trick in added time. So just another example of Messi claiming this season as his own. Oh, and the funny thing about his Palm of God goal is it seemed to have turned some public sentiment for RM for the first time in... well forever. I guess the English just have a visceral reaction to the sight of a short Argentine scoring a goal with his hands like that.<BR/><BR/>Besides the absolute craziness of what happened between the 2 top teams, some other craziness happened in La Liga last night too. Levante beat Valencia 4-2 in a match that saw 7 yellow cards and 4 red cards (including 2 straight reds). Osasuna beat Real Betis 5-0 away in a match that featured a pitch invasion by disgusted Betis fans.<BR/><BR/>God I love La Liga.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com