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Sunday, May 17, 2009

Long live soccer; May penalty shootouts die.

I love soccer. Its my favorite sport by far. I love to watch it. I love to coach it. And most of all, I love to play it. But I have a huge problem with soccer that I need to take a moment to address and vent about. I hate penalty shootouts. When both teams pour their hearts into the game, are tied, and have to go on to penalty shootouts to determine the winner, I hate it. Especially when my team outplays the other team, but loses in the shootout. Sure, its an exciting way to end an intense game as far as the fans are concerned. But, as a player, I think it is a cheap and lazy way to determine a win. Hockey has it right: keep playing until a goal is scored. May the most skilled and best in shape team win. So, in my opinion, may penalty shootouts die.



But, we can take a look at the bright side: Penalty shootouts do not have to happen often and for that I am thankful. Long live soccer! :)

5 comments:

Katie said...

Unfortunately, hockey only has it half right. They revert to penalty shots after 5 minutes of overtime for regular season games. It's only in playoffs that they play til the death.

The Bright Side said...

Well, at least when they get it half right, they get it half right in the right half (explanation: at least they do it for the playoffs and not the other way around, haha)

Mandy said...

Can you imagine every regular season hockey game going until a goal was scored? It could take days to finish a game (like Quidditch). But I have to say that I agree with you in general. Some games (important international games, playoff games, championship games) should go until someone scores. Shootouts are a sucky way for those important games to end.

The Bright Side said...

Amen to that, and that is mostly what I am talking about, those important games where it should be play til you drop. :)

CBC said...

Hmmm, I like shootouts. I cant stand to watch a soccer game go to final with a 1-1 score and just... end. How unsatisfying! I feel like I wasted 93 minutes of my life. There needs to be a winner! I agree with everything Kristin said in principle though, so go easy with the torches and pitchforks ladies. :o)