by Jes

Soccer (aka Football) is the world's most popular sport outside of North America, where it's just Saturday morning TV filler.

(D'uh, Big Moose, we already know that)

Soccer certainly doesn't need a whole lot of help from Ice Hockey, which ranks about like 200th in world sports popularity. Right?

Well, apparently not...

Two moments in World Cup history are guaranteed to start arguments between soccer fans - Geoff Hurst's winning goal for England in 1966 and Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" strike for Argentina 20 years later.

Adding fuel to bar room disputes, modern TV technology now shows up egregious errors by referees who wrongly disallow or award goals when the ball did not cross the line.

That is why Fifa, world soccer's governing body, is considering bringing the sport into the 21st century by looking at introducing goal line technology.

It is not a novel idea - tennis, basketball, rugby and American football have used computer technology or video replays for years to help officials make the right call.

In ice hockey, the use of video to show if the puck has crossed the goal line has become a familiar feature of National Hockey League (NHL) games for a decade.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said goalline technology will be in place at the 2007 World Club Cup in Tokyo. A Fifa committee is assessing various forms of technology and whatever they choose will be operational by the December tournament.

Wow, the NHL actually having an impact on the world's biggest sport?

Perhaps soccer ought to take a few more hints from hockey to make their sport more interesting

1. Allow some actual body contact - Why punish a player for simply breathing on the guy? Allow some body shoving is the guy has the ball. If he's such a good player, he ought to withstand a clean body-check.

2. Fighting - OK, so soccer players fight like sissies, but why not let the fights happen on the field instead of the stands? Wouldn't you like to see David Beckham's face smashed by a good left bitch-slap from Thierry Henry?

3. Pipe in god-awful emo rock music over the PA. Why let the fans chant and moan this 'whoooooa-whoooa-whoooa' crap that makes no sense? It's obvious that the fans are so bored with the game that they have to resort to singing and chanting. By blaring Nickelback over the stadium speakers, you'll calm the crowd down and allow them to sit there and shut up instead of lighting flares and throwing toilet paper onto the field.

4. How about some real uniforms? What pride can Manchester United really have when the players are running billboards? Did you know their team mascot/name/logo is the Red Devils? Well, I don't blame you if you don't, given how their 'logo' is a small one-inch patch on the upper right of their jerseys.

5. Allow some real numbering - Ever notice how all soccer teams give players numbers in the 1-20ish range? Why can't players wear #88, #69, or #99? How many good strikers have worn #9? Exactly...

6. Stop calling players by one name - It's bad enough that the players suck, but you can't look them up in a phone book to throw a bomb through their frickin' window! Which RONALDO are you talking about? The ugly gap-toothed caveman from Brazil or the pretty boy Metrosexual from Portugal?

7. Have the playoffs AFTER the season, and not during the season. There is simply a lot less thrill to the regular season when there is nothing to play for until the NEXT season.

Or, you can just watch hockey and forget about soccer. North Americans are great at that.

Labels: hockey, rules, soccer