5 ms·

Exactly right. Football grew to be what it was from the slums in Latin America. It's always been human, analog, with all the faults this may have - perfect in i

Exactly right. Football grew to be what it was from the slums in Latin America. It's always been human, analog, with all the faults this may have - perfect in its imperfection. If you've grown up watching the game, many of the memories are about some poor (intentional or not) calls -- offsides that weren't, handballs that were let to pass, penalties that weren't called, etc. And we still talk about these moments (or even still argue about them) at social gatherings and coffee shops. That's part of the appeal of the game. Celebrating the humanity of it, with all its mishaps. Similar to e.g. a vinyl record vs a lossless FLAC multi-channel recording - no denying the latter is superior, but the former has bugs (imperfections) that for some are features. Sadly, with more and more $$ being poured into the game (at least for big leagues like UEFA CL), we've lost some of this "analog-ness" of the sport. You gain something by losing something else.

chrisseaton 6y ago
I can get that analog simile... but not the toleration of cheating. Wasn't the 'hand of God' cheating? He knew he hand-balled and he didn't own up to it. To me that's such a grave betrayal of sportsmanship. Everyone else seems to see it as a bit of a joke? Why play at all if you're going to be dishonest? Seems like if we're going to tolerate that the whole thing is corrupt and rotten and has no honour.
- gen220 6y ago
  It’s a fine line, for sure. Cheating is considered by some to be part of the game, too. The referee is there to prevent cheating, and without VAR they are liable to fail. We do not tolerate cheating, but but we can not prevent all forms of it, only punish it when it is uncovered with some certainty. The litmus test for somebody’s football beliefs, of this generation at least, was the Luis Suarez handball against Ghana at WC 2010. Was Suarez justified in volleyball-spiking the shot out of the net? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tDpx9GGH79I https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tDpx9GGH79I When I was younger, I was bitter and thought it wasn’t fair. But I’ve come around. Handballs are part of the game. The punishment in that circumstance is a red card and a multiple game suspension. Most people would have done the same thing in his boots. If you want to remove cheating, you’d have to ban people from the sport. But I think people would prefer to have controversy than to have a synthetically clean game. (Where I draw the line is tackling with intent to injure, or intentionally escalating physically dangerous situations. That is never OK.) People are gradually trying to make the game more binary. They tried to make the handball rule more black and white this season, and many players and most fans agree it’s a regression.
  - xapata 6y ago
    I dunno, I can do without Robben's no era penal. 2x. Vs Mexico and Costa Rica in successive games. And Panama's ghost goal keeping USA out of the last World Cup. Ridiculous. I thought they at least had goal line sensors.
  - zorked 6y ago
    Luis Suarez's move was like sacrificing a queen in chess. He used his hand and accepted his red card. "Cheating" would be being on steroids or bribing the ref or something like that.
- xapata 6y ago
  The context matters. At the time it felt justified given the violence of England against Argentina.
- Mulpze15 6y ago
  Because it is part of the game, hate it or love it. English players and fan where pissed, but Maradona got away with it, so respect. All of them would have done the same if they knew they could get away with it. Especially in such a big game. Plus, it's just a game, nobody died. And it's fun to watch how a very small player beat a giant keeper through creativity and boldness.
iso947 6y ago
People said the same thing about instant (and not instant) replays

chrisseaton 6y ago

I can get that analog simile... but not the toleration of cheating. Wasn't the 'hand of God' cheating? He knew he hand-balled and he didn't own up to it. To me that's such a grave betrayal of sportsmanship. Everyone else seems to see it as a bit of a joke? Why play at all if you're going to be dishonest? Seems like if we're going to tolerate that the whole thing is corrupt and rotten and has no honour.

gen220 6y ago
It’s a fine line, for sure. Cheating is considered by some to be part of the game, too. The referee is there to prevent cheating, and without VAR they are liable to fail. We do not tolerate cheating, but but we can not prevent all forms of it, only punish it when it is uncovered with some certainty. The litmus test for somebody’s football beliefs, of this generation at least, was the Luis Suarez handball against Ghana at WC 2010. Was Suarez justified in volleyball-spiking the shot out of the net? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tDpx9GGH79I https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tDpx9GGH79I When I was younger, I was bitter and thought it wasn’t fair. But I’ve come around. Handballs are part of the game. The punishment in that circumstance is a red card and a multiple game suspension. Most people would have done the same thing in his boots. If you want to remove cheating, you’d have to ban people from the sport. But I think people would prefer to have controversy than to have a synthetically clean game. (Where I draw the line is tackling with intent to injure, or intentionally escalating physically dangerous situations. That is never OK.) People are gradually trying to make the game more binary. They tried to make the handball rule more black and white this season, and many players and most fans agree it’s a regression.
- xapata 6y ago
  I dunno, I can do without Robben's no era penal. 2x. Vs Mexico and Costa Rica in successive games. And Panama's ghost goal keeping USA out of the last World Cup. Ridiculous. I thought they at least had goal line sensors.
- zorked 6y ago
  Luis Suarez's move was like sacrificing a queen in chess. He used his hand and accepted his red card. "Cheating" would be being on steroids or bribing the ref or something like that.
xapata 6y ago
The context matters. At the time it felt justified given the violence of England against Argentina.
Mulpze15 6y ago
Because it is part of the game, hate it or love it. English players and fan where pissed, but Maradona got away with it, so respect. All of them would have done the same if they knew they could get away with it. Especially in such a big game. Plus, it's just a game, nobody died. And it's fun to watch how a very small player beat a giant keeper through creativity and boldness.

iso947 6y ago

People said the same thing about instant (and not instant) replays