{"id":1212,"date":"2008-08-14T05:45:15","date_gmt":"2008-08-13T21:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asianramblings.com\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2008-08-14T05:45:15","modified_gmt":"2008-08-13T21:45:15","slug":"observations-from-an-olympic-soccer-newbie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/observations-from-an-olympic-soccer-newbie\/","title":{"rendered":"observations from an olympic soccer newbie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I watched the first half of an Olympic football match (soccer to you North Americans) last night. Brazil, the yellow-jerseyed powerhouse, squared off against home team China. Everyone knew it was hopeless, China had as much of a chance as winning as George W. Bush has of joining Mensa.\u00a0 (update: Brazil won, 3-0)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been a fan of soccer, or any team sports for that matter. American football? Hockey? Baseball? Looking down my nose at most sports, from a high-and-mighty intellectual vantage point, they seem ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Prospective Player: What do I do?
\nVeteran Player: You strap these big knives on your feet, then slide around on that ice. Wait, you also have to hack at a little piece of rubber with a long, curved stick.
\nPP: Anything else?
\nVP: If you get bored, hit somebody. People only watch for the fights.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Okay, I digress.<\/p>\n

I watched my first Olympic soccer match. Not watching the Olympics is not an option I have. Of the 50 channels provided by my cable company, I think 62 of them feature Olympic coverage. (Check my math, it\u2019s correct).<\/p>\n

Watching soccer<\/span> Olympic football, as someone with no knowledge of the game, its rich history, lineage, and culture, I made the following observations:<\/p>\n