Guy Cheating At Soccer Game

With the World Cup, the globe’s most-watched sporting event, just a day away, it’s a good time to reflect on an activity that strikes some as funny, others as reprehensible, and still others as simply part of the game. That activity, of course, is diving.

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For you soccer addicts who will be watching matches constantly from June 12 to July 13 as the 2014 World Cup from Brazil dominates the global sports consciousness, you no doubt have formed your opinions on diving. I’m curious. Do you think diving is:

Just another tactic, not a question of right or wrong. It’s like the “professional foul.”

Jan 23, 2020 A man who was caught kissing a woman while attending a soccer game in Ecuador is now in hot water, Metro reports. Last Saturday, CBS reporter Roger Gonzalez shared a clip in which the man. The chain gang is a group of assistants to the officials whose job is to mark where a team begins a series and how far they need to go to get a first down. They do this by holding vertical marking poles on each of the field’s sidelines.

Always wrong. It cheapens the sport, disrespects the game and the opponents, and is unethical.

Funny, at least when my team isn’t involved.

If you are not a soccer fan (or even if you are a fan and want to be amused or irritated), here is an example of the basic dive in many of its variations. As you’ll see, the dive doesn’t necessarily require the presence of a soccer ball, as the first example in the link demonstrates. Of course, as you might expect, it is not often that a player demonstrates the creativity to hit himself with his opponent’s hand, as we see at the 2:05 mark of the linked presentation.

At its core, of course, diving is an attempt to deceive the referee by either exaggerating minimal contact or by simply inventing a phony reaction to non-existent contact. Diving is especially dramatic when the effort takes place in the opponent’s penalty box. If successful, a penalty kick will be awarded, a potentially game-changing decision.

If you’re not a soccer fan, perhaps a good analogy is the flopping that sometimes takes place in the NBA. But, consider the crucial difference between basketball and soccer: shot attempts. NBA teams typically take over 80 shots per game (not counting attempts on which a player is fouled). So while the basketball team that loses a close game will always look to the one play on which the official made a terrible call (at least in their opinion), the fact is that there were plenty of other plays that also entered the equation.

Contrast that with soccer, where depending on the style of play utilized by each team, the weather, the condition of the field, and many other factors, a team may not even have one legitimate scoring opportunity. Flopping successfully in the penalty box (that is, fooling the referee into awarding a penalty kick) can be the difference between winning and losing, since the vast majority of penalty kicks are successfully taken. Of course, not all flopping occurs in the penalty box, but that is the area where the referee’s decision can have particularly significant impact.

There are subtle differences in diving, for example:

A player might encounter zero physical contact from his opponent, and totally manufacture a reaction to the mystery contact. Here is an example of such phantom contact. I include it because it involves Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s top players and someone the USA will somehow need to control in its June 22 match in Brazil. For a more complete review of Ronaldo’s considerable diving repertoire, check this out, complete with titles for the various maneuvers. Full disclosure: I am not objective regarding Ronaldo. Short of a bone sticking out of his leg I will assume he has faked his fall to the ground every time.

My personal favorite? This one. What was the official thinking?

But as comical as some of these examples might be, let’s remember that the World Cup is the most important sporting event globally, with more viewers than the Super Bowl or the Olympics. A player who dives in the World Cup risks tarnishing his reputation forever, but also could help his team to a historical win. A referee who misses a dive and penalizes the defender likewise takes a huge hit to his personal and professional reputation. An improperly awarded penalty kick resulting in a goal could result in riots and even suicides in the losing country.

I’m not a fan of diving (or flopping), but for another perspective, please see this article, “How to Take a Dive in Soccer.” Let me quote from this article: “One fact about soccer that every player should know is that diving is not cheating. In fact, it’s a part of the game that can protect players and help referees make the right call.” And this: “Basically, a good dive merely emphasizes the contact, and doesn’t create the appearance of contact when there was none.”

What do you think? Do you agree with the writer’s analysis?

Finally, at what age is it appropriate for a coach to discuss the art of diving with players? Or, is it never appropriate to do so? Do we really want to see players in youth leagues taking dives?

I welcome your comments. Thanks, and GO USA!

© Dan Scanlan/Florida Times-Union Soda cans and food containers lay where they fell in the aftermath of a Sunday night shooting at this Arlington Football Association field that left a man dead and a 7-year-old child injured, police said.

Toppled tents, abandoned chairs and trash remained scattered along the Arlington Football Association field the morning after gunfire killed a man and wounded a 7-year-old boy in what Jacksonville police called a targeted attack at a youth game.

Investigators told news partner First Coast News the victims were father and son.

Monday across Macy Avenue from the field, a mother sat with her children at a bus stop next to Arlington Heights Elementary School, stunned to learn of the shooting only 13 hours earlier.

Saying it may be time to find another bus stop, the young mother was unaware of Sunday's bloodshed at the football game or the other fatal shootings east and west of there over the weekend in Arlington.

'I find that very sad. Let's be honest, it's very, very sad,' the woman said. 'All in the same week? It really needs to stop.'

Four distinct shots can be heard on a video posted by MAD DADS Jacksonville at bit.ly/2IDVnM0 taken at the game between the MOT Cowboys and Duval Jags. Players are seen running or getting down on the ground as the gunfire stops.

Eyewitnesses shed tears on the association's family fan Facebook site, one woman saying her nephew was playing 'and had to run for his life.' A man wrote that 'it's a shame these kids can't even enjoy playing football.' And another said he shielded some children as they watched in horror.

Guy Cheating At Soccer Game Drills

'My grandkids just witnessed a child and a man laying in the road shot, bleeding,' he wrote. 'Brought tears to my eyes to hear them screaming and crying they don't wanna die.'

Sunday evening's victims were with a large group of people watching the game when a gray or silver sport-utility vehicle pulled up near where they were sitting. The shooter, wearing a mask, got out from the rear of the vehicle and fired at the victims. It did not appear to be random violence, police said.

Both were taken to a hospital, but the 27-year-old man died. Police said the 7-year-old boy is expected to recover.

Guy Cheating At Soccer Game Play

© Dan Scanlan/Florida Times-Union A football remains on the grass near the Arlington Football Association field on Macy Avenue where a Sunday-evening shooting left a man dead and child injured, police said.

This follows a weekend of violence in the Arlington community that included a Sunday-morning shooting that injured a woman in the 1100 block of Arco Drive, the same vicinity where a 20-year-old man was killed Saturday. And an 18-year-old man was found fatally shot about 7:30 p.m. Saturday behind stores at Regency Park Shopping Center at 9400 Atlantic Blvd., police said.

Saying she is 'mortified' about the latest atrocity, City Councilwoman Joyce Morgan said she could not believe something like this could happen at a youth football game as she expressed her sympathy to the victims' family. She said she had already spoken with the police zone commander about 'what needs to happen' to stop tragedies like this, as well as the weekend's other fatal shootings in other parts of Arlington.

'How do we keep our kids safe? And this, this is a total disrespect for life that we are seeing, and we are seeing it escalate,' Morgan said. 'It's totally unacceptable. There's something going on out there. ... It's already bad enough, but when it hits our kids like this, innocent kids and families just out for their son's football game, we can't continue to tolerate this?'

Police have not commented on whether any of the shootings were related, but Morgan said she wondered about that. The councilwoman also wondered if the association had hired an off-duty officer for the game. Association officials have not responded to a request for comment.

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Sports association fields have been the scene of previous shootings in Jacksonville, including two on June 20, 2017.

Officers were called to Charles “Boobie” Clark Park at 8793 Sibbald Road after a 12-year-old boy on a basketball court was hit in the leg by gunfire. A witness said three gunmen in a vehicle even reloaded firing several shots, with dozens of youth at a football camp running for cover. Minutes later a 34-year-old woman was grazed by one of many bullets fired from the same car at Yancey Park at 3352 Soutel Drive.

The shootings prompted the sheriff to increase police presence at several parks.

Anyone with information on any of the shootings can contact the Sheriff's Office at (904) 630-0500 or leave an anonymous tip with First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477 (TIPS).

Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Shooting at Jacksonville youth football game kills 1, wounds child