Fixing Soccer [Link]
Paul Kafasis fixes soccer. I agree with him on all points, but this is the big one:
Point #4: Play Until Somebody Wins
Baseball doesn’t switch to a home run derby after the 12th inning. Basketball doesn’t switch to a game of H-O-R-S-E after the second OT. So from now on, we’re not deciding which team is the best in the world through what are effectively coin flips. I never again want to hear an announcer tell me a goalie “guessed the wrong way”. If the score’s still tied, you keep playing. You’re tired? Suck. it. up. You play to win, so shouldn’t you keep playing until somebody actually does?
This isn’t just because the U.S. women lost on penalty kicks to Japan in the World Cup finale over the weekend. Twelve years ago the U.S. women won the World Cup in a penalty shootout. And penalty shootouts sure are exciting. But they’re a completely different game, and they involve huge amounts of luck. It’s a terrible way to lose and an unsatisfying way to win.
