Instant Replay in the World Cup?

For better or for worse, instant replay has changed the rules (or maybe the "laws") of several American-based sports. In the wake of several blown calls in the FIFA World Cup, is soccer next?

2 Minutes by DoNoUhOh: The refereeing has been conspicuously poor during this world cup. I liked when Jen Chang, SI's soccer editor, said it was FIFA's attempt to show american fans that refereeing was terrible all over the world, not just in MLS. It is obvious there needs to be some sort of replay on plays where goals are scored (or disallowed). Soccer is a little bit behind a lot of other well established sports in professionalizing to the fullest degree possible. There is still an odd attachment to the history, similar to baseball and while this history is certainly rich think about how the best in the world, the English Premiere League was only founded in 1992.

2 Minutes by No,MoneyDown: Wow, I couldn't be less in favor of instant replay at the World Cup, or for soccer in general. Want to stick another ref back there to be sure about offsides or the ball crossing the goal line? That is a great idea. What we don't need is another sport ruined by instant replay, one of the lamest things to happen to Pro Sporst in awhile. Ok, I'll admit it COULD have been done right, but nothing is worse than being in the final 15 seconds of a tight NBA game and having proceedings delayed because the refs want to look at a ball knocked out of bounds approximately 25 times. And don't get me started on NFL replay.

NBA Finals

Two Minutes on the NBA Finals, let's see how we fare:

2 Minutes by No,MoneyDown:

This one is a really tough call, I've gone back and forth a lot b/t Celts and lakers. I went on the whole "Kobe will NOT be denied" premise (I'll try not to make anymore rape jokes). I mean he's really in that mode, you're gonna have to shoot him to keep him from winning that ring. But the Celts have a lot of guys, there's just one Kobe. It hinges on one thing: If Rondo has one more series of brilliance (and if his back can hold up) then the Celts win it, and I say he does, so that's what I'm going with, Celts in 7.

2 Minutes by HighTimeforCrime:

This should be a helluva series, and not just because it's the finals and it ought to be. Both lineups are stacked top to bottom (ok, not you Derek Fisher) and there are thirsty veterans on both sides. Garnett v. Gasol is basically a draw, and I think Ray Ray and Pierce switch off guarding Kobe and do a reasonably good job on him. My ex-factor in this series? Kendrick Perkins: big, nasty. If Andrew Bynum's knee continues to be troublesome, Perkins will take advantage of him all day and night. Celtics in 7.

2 Minutes byDoNoUhOh:

I'm gonna do this two minutes the right way. On that note, I don't like either team. But I really hate Kobe so I'm rooting for Rajon Rondo, who I have always thought was badass, and the Celtics. Man, Rajon Rondo. Crazy. Just two seasons ago announcers kept saying "if Rajon Rondo can just be serviceable he'd be good enough but he isn't" claiming he was the achilles heel of the 2008 Celtics. Look at him now and you think maybe I should look back and see what we were missing back then.

2 minutes on the Worst Sports Nicknames

"Magic", "Larry Legend", "The Great One", "Reign Man", "The Freak". Those are some of the best nicknames in all of sports. These, are not:

2 minutes by TheNobleSavage
I just heard the third string TNT color commentator call Mickael Pietrus (sic?) "Air France." Why would anyone ever think that nicknaming someone after an airline known for its delays and typically French customer service (i.e. indifferent at best) was a good idea? Anyway, I nominate Gheorge "The Milkman" Muresan as the worst nickname of all time. Yes, that's made up. I just couldn't help but imagine Big Gheorge as the world's creepiest milkman.

*Response by No,Money Down*
I also heard them refer to Pietrus as "Air France", and they even threw in some comments about the airline possibly "taking off" (he sank a three). I take it he's french...why don't we just start referring to every player by his country's crappy airline...think of all the american based ones: "And delta passes it to TWA, sets the screen for US airways, and US airways dunks RIGHT OVER CONTINENTAL!!!!" let's ban this practice.

2 minutes by HighTimeForCrime
Easy. It's "The Black Mamba," Kobe Bryant. Anytime you have raped a girl, you are not allowed to make your nickname a pseudo-reference to your genitalia. While we're at it, why don't we just call Ben Roethlisberger The White Mamba and call it a post.

2 minutes by No,Money Down
Not very exciting, but I think one of the stupider nicknames in sports is AD, for Adrian Peterson. Supposedly this stands for "All Day", as in he runs all day (not anymore based on last season). But um, his initials AP are already cool and roll-off-the-tongue enough that we can refer to him with 'em, why are we tweaking them to almost the same thing? He's AP, not AD, it's just stupid.

2 Minutes on the Idea of Trading Chris Cooley

Chris Cooley is the shit, but with the emergence of Fred Davis, the Redskins are suddenly overstocked in the serviceable TE department. What to do, what to do...

2 Minutes by No,MoneyDown:
I can see the logic behind this, but here are reasons why we SHOULD NOT trade Chris Cooley:

-He's THE fan favorite, this just wouldn't be very cool.

-He's in no danger of expiring, this isn't a "Let's trade him now before he sucks/gets injured so we get good value for him" situation like with Portis. Cooley is in his prime and could easily (w/ McNabb) have has best season yet in 2010

-Are we really going to trade our most consistent offensive player because the 2nd year TE finished hot during the junk-time 2nd half of a lost season? I still say Fred Davis is unproven.


2 Minutes by TheNobleSavage
Yes, the Redskins should absolutely trade Cooley. The 'skins will undoubtedly be terrible this year, so they'll just be wasting Cooley's talents and squandering an opportunity to blood Davis if they don't trade Cooley. Moreover, they might be able to turn Cooley into real draft picks. Lord knows they could have used those this years. I'm already depressed about football season...

2 minutes by HighTimeForCrime
This has nothing to do with Fred Davis and everything to do with Chris Cooley. No, you do not trade him. The man is tough, intelligent, and clearly one of the best-liked guys among his teammates and certainly the most-liked among the fans. And shit, he's a hell of a football players, lest we forget. It was great seeing what Davis could do when Cooley went down; that's what you WANT your backups to do. But trading him for a pick, just to see management stroke their own egos by nailing it? No sir.

2 Minutes on the Jason Campbell Trade

During the 2010 NFL Draft, the Redskins sent obsolete QB Jason Campbell to the hapless Oakland Raiders for a 2012 4th Round Draft Pick (if the world doesn't explode like the Mayans predicted).

2 Minutes by No,MoneyDown: Poor Jason Campbell. Poor, poor, POOR Jason Campbell. Consider these wrinkles in the poorness of Jason Campbell...

-He's going to the only, repeat: ONLY organization in the league that is a step down from the Redskins. Don't buy the idea that anywhere is better than here for JC, because this will not be a happy ending.

-We traded for his mentor to replace him, nice.

-He's been begging us (presumably) for years to draft some Offesnive Linemen to protect him, and we finally did! Except he's not on the team anymore, we're protecting someone else. Poor, poor Jason Campbell. His career never had a chance.

2 minutes by HighTimeForCrime
People were so disappointed with Jason Campbell's play because he was a "first round" QB; but what if Old Man Gibbs just drafted him too high? What if he's really just a second or third round talent. Put in that perspective, didn't he actually do pretty well for himself? I mean, it was apparent last season that the front office wasn't trying to help him out at all. I mean, MIKE WILLIAMS as the only "upgrade" on the line? Get the fuck outta here. He'll be fine in Oakland, and I think they'll just be happy he's not Jamarcus Russell.

2 Minutes on the Masters

Let's pretend the Masters haven't ended yet...

2 Minutes on Tiger and the Masters by DoNoUhOh:

I really want Tiger Woods to win the Masters. I really want him to win. And then during his victory interview I want him to say "I'm Tiger Woods. I'm the best golfer the world has ever seen and I can do whatever I want." Because that is pretty much true. Because we need some good badass villains. Because being rich and famous means you don't play by the same rules no matter what everyone wants to pretend. A little honesty, a little taking advantage of reality, a little in your face challenging. I like Tiger Woods because he's a good golfer not because he's a good person. I don't really care if he's a good person. And actually I imagine that there is a huge number of men out there who would act as Tiger has acted if only they could.


2 Minutes by No,MoneyDown:

Very impressive what Tiger is doing. I expected his return to be cosi cosi, like MJ or anyone in a big, hyped “return”, good but not great (I’m talking immediate, return, first game or match back). So far he’s great. There’s so much smoke in this whole thing, whether you love him or hate him, that I’d like to touch on something new…Do you know what was maybe the most disapinting thing about Tiger’s philandering?? His taste in women. Honestly dude, what are you, 10 years old?? Me like big boobies!! Me like bottle blondes!!! And porn stars?? Trashy girls? How about some variety? Why not be banging some foxy asian girls, some foxy black mamas (um, aren’t you black and asian, Tiger?).

2 Minutes on the Donovan McNabb Trade

On Easter Sunday we were all shocked to hear that the Washington Redskins had traded for Donovan McNabb, the face of the Philadelphia Eagles for the past decade and division foe. Wow.

2 Minutes on McNabb Trade, by No,MoneyDown:

OK, first I wasn't happy about this. Excited? Sure, I get excited for just about every big (often ill-advised) trade the Redskins make. It seemed that again we were mortaging our future to try to win now. Techincally, yes that is what Snyder/Shanahan is doing yet again, but I'm amazed at how little we gave up for McNabb. In fact, that is the one thing that raises eyebrows: Why would the Eagles trade McNabb to a division rival unless they thought he was totally washed up? At least we can all count on this being an interesting season (because even if McNabb goes down, we'll be in for a season of Rex Grossman!)

2 Minutes from HighTimeforCrime:

Well he's definitely better than any qb we've had in the Dan Snyder era. Yes, his success has diminished in the past 5 years, as he's only made one pro bowl and one nfc championship game, but again, that's better than anything the Redskins have done in that time. I think this move ensures that we go ahead and draft the highest-rated OT at the #4 spot in this year's draft. McNabb's accuracy always struck me as a strength of his, both in the short-to-intermediate passing game as well as the long bombs, which is more than I can say for Jason Campbell..a qb not having strength in the short, intermediate, or deep passing game, that can't be a good thing.