Jamie Probin's Page

Oh well, it only took me 3.5 months to get round to writing part 2! At least in the interim period, my (hardly prophetic) prediction of a new ball for the World Cup came true. But back to this issue of cheating.

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Well, it’s only about eight months until the World Cup, the greatest sporting event on earth and the four year highlight for soccer fans the world over. Which can only mean one thing: deep in FIFA HQ the powers-that-be are getting ready to bugger things up.
Inexplicably the lead up to the World Cup always stirs FIFA to mess around with things. Two changes in particular can be guaranteed – a new type of ball and a new rule.

All major international soccer tournaments now seem to be the designated… Continue

This one is for Davo, who keeps nagging me to blog


Top 3 stupidest (is that a word?) things soccer commentators say:

3) “That was the best possible start for [Team A]!” Also known as “In their wildest dreams [Team A] could not have imagined a start like this!.”

How often have you seen a team go 1-0 up in the 8th minute, only to hear the commentator say something along these lines? You would have to have a pretty limited imagination if the best start to a game you can imagine is a goal in the… Continue

When I first thought about moving to the US, I had a great fear based on a standard European prejudice: that the Americans hate “soccer”, and have no interest in playing or watching it. It turned out that I was half-right.
The stereotype of US soccer in England is that the “yanks” don’t really get the subtleties of the game, and hate the fact that there “isn’t enough scoring”. Like most Brits, I knew very little about US soccer beyond the fact, trumpeted like it was a sign of the Apocalypse, tha… Continue

Anytime a conversation about soccer turns to the topic of what you would change if you had the power, the consensus always seems to end up being the offside rule. The offside rule is a curious creature: a necessary evil, perhaps, and who hasn’t breathed a sigh of relief after watching what appeared to be a goal for the opposition chalked off after the ref spots an assistant’s flag? Yet for most players it is an irritation that gets in the way of a good game.

Part of the issue is that soccer, fo… Continue