Comments on: Euro 2008: Tourney Wrap and Final Fantasy Standings (like, fantasy soccer…not the playstation game)

By: Fig Jam

Fig Jam — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:36:36 +0000

I particularly enjoy the fallout policies that soccer clubs employ. Didn’t win it all? Fine - everyone’s fired (Italy). Not only that, but from the article that I read, they aren’t really even firing the guy in the classic sense of the word. Firing someone in the sports world means paying them their money. Italy is just going to “annul” the contract (and the contract is structured to allow this!). Never happened. That is awesome.

The NBA/ MLB should take a look at these contracts.

By: Beef's Dad

Beef's Dad — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:15:36 +0000

Good match yesterday! I just wish they wouldn’t schedule these things opposite women’s golf.

By: Fig Jam

Fig Jam — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:30:26 +0000

I thought it was a great showcase for the game. Part of the problem I always had with Soccer is the complex nature of the leagues and national play. They sometimes blend together both at the league level (ie Premier - Series A - bundesleague - La Liga - etc.) and the National level (friendlies v. qualifiers v. actual tournaments, etc.). I know it's not rocket science, but as a casual observer, it's difficult to grasp sometimes.

I liked Euro 08' because it brought a lot of things together. I understand the qualifying process, and in a strange way, having a lot of the players from the various leagues in the tournament helped clarify those as well. A lot of commentating on who is speculated to go where, and who is teammates with who on the club level, all of which makes it easier to understand. I think the massive amount of coverage allowed for a lot of information to get to a casual observer like myself, who watched virtually every game in lieu of watching MLB (which is way more boring. by the way).

Anyhow, as someone who has always liked soccer, but never really followed it closely on an international level outside of World Cup, Euro 08' was about as good as it gets in terms of intro courses.

By: Sager Bombs

Sager Bombs — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:03:16 +0000

Gotta agree with your assessment of the tournament being better than the World Cup (and was actually going to write a post saying as much before I decided to bash ESPN instead). The shorter length of the tournament, overall quality of squads, and history amongst the European nations make it the ideal experience. I’m sad it’s over.

By: hotdog

hotdog — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:26:45 +0000

Here’s a cool slideshow of the best goals of the tournament.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0806/euro.2008.best.goals/content.1.html?eref=T1&eref=T1