[dktorode]

Sombra, on 14 June 2010 - 12:36 PM, said:

dktorode, on 14 June 2010 - 12:27 PM, said:

Sombra, on 14 June 2010 - 12:19 PM, said:

And most of my reservations about SA holding the Cup are - like Poland/Ukraine - to do with infrastructure and organisational competence.

It would be a sad world indeed if everyone had this elitist type of view.

You say "elitist", I say "realist". And it's already a sad world.

What has been so bad about this world cup?

[Gothos]

40,000 hellish items that can blow as loud as a fucking airliner are more than just an annoyance - that kind of noise poses a real threat to health. I'd rather the players and fans that took the trip down there wouldn't be in risk of sacrificing their sense of hearing to see/play a few matches. Not to mention that this level of noise distracts the players, from which we get worse performance and worse matches.
Not to mention that the various venues and their dramatically different conditions - you've got sub-tropical, humid port cities, then you've got stadiums in a high altitude climate, then there's the dry and arid ones, the dramatic changes in conditions across a few days for teams traveling all over the place, it's another aspect affecting the quality of the tournament.
I don't know about the infrastructure for travel and lodging, but I'm betting it's going to be a major problem in POL/UKR. If you decide to visit, don't be surprised when you ask some locals about a highway and they laugh at you. Deciding upon countries like ours on this short a notice is a dangerous gambit. Plus, it means that our team automatically enters the tournament, which will lead to a lot of hillarity and embarrasment from their performance.

[Tapper]

alt146, on 14 June 2010 - 11:53 AM, said:

Tapper, on 14 June 2010 - 10:32 AM, said:

Holland is up and playing in an hour, I predict a relatively easy win - first match is usually our best and then the arrogance kicks in.

Now if only those f***ers partying outside in the street in anticipation of the game would stop playing on those damned vuvuzelas!

I'm chuckling quietly at the image of vuvuzelas in Holland, I didnt think they would be even remotely tolerated anywhere outside SA.

The thing you have to remember about vuvuzelas is

1 vuvuzela - irritating
10 vuvuzelas - very irritating
40 000 vuvuzelas - one hell of a party

They give them away at the supermarket if you order enough.

I don't mind them on the tv so much - it is the same as singing (remembers the dutch version of 7 nation army, 'starring' Luca Toni), football always is loud. Outside of my window while I'm supposed to be working is an entirely different matter.


edit: re match: that wasn't too disappointing a result.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 14 June 2010 - 01:29 PM

[dktorode]

Gothos, on 14 June 2010 - 12:43 PM, said:

40,000 hellish items that can blow as loud as a fucking airliner are more than just an annoyance - that kind of noise poses a real threat to health. I'd rather the players and fans that took the trip down there wouldn't be in risk of sacrificing their sense of hearing to see/play a few matches. Not to mention that this level of noise distracts the players, from which we get worse performance and worse matches.

Ive been to matches and its not as bad as you would like to believe.

Gothos, on 14 June 2010 - 12:43 PM, said:

Not to mention that the various venues and their dramatically different conditions - you've got sub-tropical, humid port cities, then you've got stadiums in a high altitude climate, then there's the dry and arid ones, the dramatic changes in conditions across a few days for teams traveling all over the place, it's another aspect affecting the quality of the tournament.

Altitude change?....Its a wonder our locals can even play at all!!??
God forbid it rains...or worse...IT DOESNT RAIN....oh shit what are those poor pommies going to do without the rain?!!
Hah...actually our winter climate is rather constant throughout. Only really the cape that gets allot of rain, the rest of the country its relatively dry but cold. Its in the summer you get the funny humid weather and the sub saharan/tropical rains up north.

Gothos, on 14 June 2010 - 12:43 PM, said:

I don't know about the infrastructure for travel and lodging, but I'm betting it's going to be a major problem in POL/UKR. If you decide to visit, don't be surprised when you ask some locals about a highway and they laugh at you. Deciding upon countries like ours on this short a notice is a dangerous gambit. Plus, it means that our team automatically enters the tournament, which will lead to a lot of hillarity and embarrasment from their performance.

We have had 6 years to prepare...so we have highways, going right through the rain forests and deserts.
just watch out for the elephants. But im sure they were able to russle them all up and stick them somewhere in the knysna forrest or something.


Having said all that, Jo’burg is undoubtedly one of the world’s most dangerous cities. Just ask those Taiwanese tourists who got out of their hire car to take close-up snaps of tawny beasts at the Lion Park a few years back. Actually, ask what’s left of them. And did you know the chances of being felled by cardiac arrest from devouring a mountain of meat at one of our world class restaurants has been statistically proven to be 33.3% higher in Jozi than in any other major urban centre not built upon a significant waterway? It’s true. I swear. I read it in a British tabloid.

Any foreign tourist or media representative who is worried about his safety in South Africa should have a word with the Lions rugby fans from last year, or the Barmy Army cricket supporters (lilywhite hecklers by day, slurring, lager-fuelled lobsters by night). They managed just fine, just like the hundreds of thousands of fans who have streamed into the country over the past fifteen years for various World Cups, Super 14 matches, TriNations tests and other international events. Negligible the crime incidents involving said fans over said period of time.

Trivia question: which country has hosted the most global sporting events over the past decade and a half? You don’t need me to answer that, do you?

[Ulrik]

I have to support dktorode. So far, WC in South Africa didnt made anything worse than "usual" cups (OK, vuvuzelas put aside, thats pretty subjective thing as I see). Different altitude? Its nothing brutal, they dont have to use oxygen bombs or something like that. No rash rains, no brutal heat (remember Germany 2006!!!). This is pure prejudice without proof. No, weather in SA is in winter phase if Im right, so temperature cca 20 degrees of Celsius is ideal.

To security of Joburg - I can tell only from what happended - and so far - nothing. I wont believe mainstream newspapers etc and I wont believe of SA representatives. But nobody was killed as many predicted...so it looks well for me.

Pity that they didnt allowed playing football to prawns from District 9...

[dktorode]

Fook those prawns!!

[Satan]

I'm just predicting this will give AIDS a HUGE boost worldwide...

[dktorode]

Brynjar, on 14 June 2010 - 02:40 PM, said:

I'm just predicting this will give AIDS a HUGE boost worldwide...

Only if they dont take a shower afterwards...

This post has been edited by dktorode: 14 June 2010 - 02:44 PM

[Satan]

...and then it will be hell on earth for all the virgins of the world! Watch out, Tiste! Got a couple thousand football fans looking for an easy fix for the itch!

[Tsundoku]

dktorode, on 14 June 2010 - 01:28 PM, said:

Trivia question: which country has hosted the most global sporting events over the past decade and a half? You don’t need me to answer that, do you?

Australia? World Cup Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Cricket, Summer Olympics, Commonwealth Games. Actually the only major sports events we haven't had are the World Cup soccer and winter olympics.

I have a nagging feeling I've forgotten something though. Oh well.

EDIT: seems the vuvuzelas got on more than just a few peoples nerves:

http://www.news.com....i-1225879605264

This post has been edited by Sombra: 14 June 2010 - 03:16 PM

[Aristai]

Every WC since 86 in Mexico, has arguably suffered from a lack of quality. I've got no qualms with this tournamnet so far. Some games lacking in pace and excitment, others running at a high tempo and providing tons. The usual. Point is, I'm enjoying watching the coverage and atmosphere here in Shanghai, with it's tens of thousands of expats from everywhere...I'd still trade it all in to be in SA though. So yeah, lovin things so far. The opener was lots of fun I thought, Argentina/Nigeria was glorious both in terms of wasted chances, and just sheer talent on display. Germany massacring Austalia was great if you wanted to see someone start thumping in the goals (and who else but Germany, to show the world how to efficently score goals.) Good show so far, and fuck it's early days..

[alt146]

Not to be blindly patriotic, but I agree with DK. I can understand that people are annoyed by vuvuzelas - they irritate me anywhere outside of a stadium, but I dont think anyone can fault the job we've done hosting the cup.

It's gone way better than any of the nay-sayers (both locally and internationally) would have led people to believe. It remains to be seen what the long term economic impact of hosting the games will be (especially since we got shafted out of hosting either of the next rugby world cups, but that's a different story), but in the short term it's going very well. Pretoria is absolutely packed with tourists, all of whom seem to be having a good time. Except maybe the Argentians the got chewed out by my girlfriend for being way too forward.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

I like the vuvuzelas, they're a damn sight better than that fucking whistling shit Europeans do whenever the opposition has the ball. Now THAT'S annoying.

I'm disappointed by the prescence of large numbers of armed security guards; they're ruining our beloved nation's supporters of their opportunity for the traditional brawl before and after every game. Not one single time have I seen news footage of an England fan throwing a chair outside a bar, with running commentary including the word "disgrace" over and over.

It just doesn't feel like a world cup without it.

[HoosierDaddy]

Over here, a national sports call-in show had the vuvuzela soundtrack going on for half the show. People would call in, the buzzing would increase and you could hear nothing they were saying. Hilarious.

However, it doesn't really annoy me. Maybe I got used to it watching the Confed Cup, but I kind of just drown it out. For those that are used to hearing chants and singing throughout the game, perhaps it's a different sounding background noise, but it's still background noise to me. Whenever I watch the EPL I have no idea what the hell the lyrics are anyways, so it's as nonsensical as the droning to me.

[Coco with marshmallows]

ah, but the chant's are part of the fun.

Especially the wittily informed chants, a la:

"Did you shag the ref as well?" to John Terry after news of his extra marital affair broke....


"Two Andy Gorams! there's only two Andy Gorams!" to Rangers keeper Andy Goram from Aberdeen fans after he admitted suffering mental health problems.......


and so on. Seriously, i find the noise of the vuvezala on the telly....odd.

Personally, I'm quite fond of listening to matches to figure out what the fans are singing about, and so from that perspective this cup is lacking for me, but meh.

[HoosierDaddy]

Oh, if I could understand what was being chanted or sung, I'm sure it'd be great. The fact is that those chants and songs have as much significance to me as the buzzing of the vuvuzela. Also, I'm sure the South Afer's think the vuvuzelas are fun as well.

The pictures I've seen have shown other countries fans blowing on the damned things just as much as anyone else. Lol.

[Aristai]

I do miss all the singing and chanting to be sure, and the whole vuvezula thing is seemingly getting a lil overkill. But whatever. I'm still enjoying. Spent most of the last year watching football with Mandarin commentary...And my Mandain is crap. So now unless I'm out doing satillite, I'm getting Mandarin and vuvezulas..Good times. Still I prefer that to muting the volume.

[dktorode]

Sombra, on 14 June 2010 - 03:12 PM, said:

dktorode, on 14 June 2010 - 01:28 PM, said:

Trivia question: which country has hosted the most global sporting events over the past decade and a half? You don't need me to answer that, do you?

Australia? World Cup Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Cricket, Summer Olympics, Commonwealth Games. Actually the only major sports events we haven't had are the World Cup soccer and winter olympics.

I have a nagging feeling I've forgotten something though. Oh well.

EDIT: seems the vuvuzelas got on more than just a few peoples nerves:

http://www.news.com....i-1225879605264

South Africa has had World cup cricket, world cup 20/20, world cup rugby and rugby 7's, Confederations cup, world cup soccer and the African cup of nations.
Can throw in the Indian Premier League because its so huge the amount of people that came for it was astounding. [img]http://forum.malazanempire.com/public/style_emoticons/default/:thumbsup:.gif[/img]


You can scratch off netball and rugby league from that list of yours as they are not exactly major international sporting events ...
And, "last 15 years" i said... so scratch cricket off your list too.

Cocoreturns, on 14 June 2010 - 10:29 PM, said:

ah, but the chant's are part of the fun.

Especially the wittily informed chants, a la:

"Did you shag the ref as well?" to John Terry after news of his extra marital affair broke....


"Two Andy Gorams! there's only two Andy Gorams!" to Rangers keeper Andy Goram from Aberdeen fans after he admitted suffering mental health problems.......


and so on. Seriously, i find the noise of the vuvezala on the telly....odd.

Personally, I'm quite fond of listening to matches to figure out what the fans are singing about, and so from that perspective this cup is lacking for me, but meh.

what about this one

"Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool,
Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool,

Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool,
Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool,

Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool,
Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool,
Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool, Liverpool, liverpool, liverpooool "


thats my favourite one

This post has been edited by Cougar: 15 June 2010 - 11:32 AM

[polishgenius]

dktorode, on 14 June 2010 - 12:27 PM, said:

It would be a sad world indeed if everyone had this elitist type of view.

I'm sorry? Concern over the competence of a country to hold it is elitism? Cool, next time let's just give it to Somalia. Or Colombia. We wouldn't want to be elitist leaving them out now, would we.

Now, I know SA is better off than those countries, and was vetted, so the comparison is... well, extreme, but to say that being concerned over security and organisation was elitism rather than a legitimate worry is just... wrong. Okay, there's been no major incidents reported so far, so yay, and by and large everyone seems to be having a great time, but there was those journalists who got robbed before the tournament and currently a pay dispute means that the security guards are rioting between matches and walked out of the Italy/Paraguay games entirely. This sort of thing doesn't strike you as a problem?


As for the Vuvuzelas, there's a difference between atmosphere and noise. But that's completely subjective, so eh. But I really really do hope they don't spread, especially since several players have complained about them.

[dktorode]

polishgenius, on 15 June 2010 - 08:41 AM, said:

dktorode, on 14 June 2010 - 12:27 PM, said:

It would be a sad world indeed if everyone had this elitist type of view.

I'm sorry? Concern over the competence of a country to hold it is elitism? Cool, next time let's just give it to Somalia. Or Colombia. We wouldn't want to be elitist leaving them out now, would we.

Now, I know SA is better off than those countries, and was vetted, so the comparison is... well, extreme, but to say that being concerned over security and organisation was elitism rather than a legitimate worry is just... wrong. Okay, there's been no major incidents reported so far, so yay, and by and large everyone seems to be having a great time, but there was those journalists who got robbed before the tournament and currently a pay dispute means that the security guards are rioting between matches and walked out of the Italy/Paraguay games entirely. This sort of thing doesn't strike you as a problem?


As for the Vuvuzelas, there's a difference between atmosphere and noise. But that's completely subjective, so eh. But I really really do hope they don't spread, especially since several players have complained about them.

So stating that developing nations should never ever be given a chance to hold these events is not an elitist view now?
His statement was an elitist point of view....period...and i find that sad...period.