Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="roguerouge" data-source="post: 5217347" data-attributes="member: 13855">With all due respect, I feel like you're fundamentally misreading what I'm saying at times in this post. The points on instant replay, I understand are also towards other people, but you quoted my post while arguing that issue, so I wanted to make crystal clear what my stance is.I've never disputed that. I've said that it harms the sport to have a massive, sports-mad wealthy nation hate your product. No matter how successful you are, you can always be more successful. That's why so many businesses are selling their souls to get into the Chinese market. As an analogy, the NFL's doing just fine, but if it could open up foreign markets, it would be doing better. Same deal here.  First, I've never argued for replay. Second, you're not acknowledging the point I actually made, which was that just because something works, doesn't mean it couldn't work better. Otherwise, we'd still have the Model T, black and white TV, and football without the forward pass. Third, lots of media coverage indicates that FIFA is QUITE interested in the American market, so clearly they think it does make a difference. If nothing else, look to the Olympics for an example of an international sporting event that gets a huge boost from American ad dollars. FIFA clearly wants that. Finally, just because something's going splendidly well now, doesn't mean it always will. Baseball was once the most popular sport in America. It's now fourth behind the NFL, NBA and motor sports.I've said before that not being required to label infractions to someone, anyone, is unusual and unfair and genuinely stupid as a policy for a sport with several massive corruption scandals. I even used the example of the inadvertent whistle in the NFL. No matter why he blew the whistle--inadvertently, to make the correct call, or to make an incorrect call--he SHOULD be required to announce the penalty.Otherwise, you put players on "double secret probation" in ways that undermine the trust in the sport. And that's the currency that really matters for the long-term health of the sport.  Again, I made no argument for instant replay. Second, while I can understand that you might think that I'm arguing that the game should be changed to accommodate the US, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that this is an example of bad practices of FIFA and that FIFA, as a self-interested body, probably is interested that in the reactions to those practices by the people of one of its last two big markets for financial growth.And that's why Americans finding a new reason to hate watching a sport that they play a great deal is a problem. FIFA is a capitalist entity. They are ALWAYS interested in growth. Historically speaking, capitalist entities that are not good at growth get beaten by those who are. Actually, that's called stagnation, not thriving. This distinction's I think central to the differences we're having over the health of the sport, which is why I call it out, and not to be snarky.My plan's absurdly simple: FIFA refs should have to announce what the call actually is. There doesn't have to be reviews, do-overs, or managers running on the field to argue the call, as in MLB. There just has to be less opacity. Otherwise, you have the judging that's served figure skating so well. And no major sport wants that.</blockquote>

Verification