margin

I hope Portugal doesn't make it too far like they did on 2006, otherwise it'll be a bitch to walk around this neighborhood for the duration of the cup (nevermind sleep). Of course once Portugal is out they often root for Brazil anyway but at least not with the same ardor.... In 2006 i was living with french roommates in this portuguese neighborhood (they faced each other in the semi)....while i do by default root for France (well it's the closest affinity i have with any of the countries, at least all my ancestors do come from there all the way back in like the 1600s and 1700's...), my god this was annoying.

I like it, for a few weeks people don't talk about politics or evilimmigrantz, the usual daily stuff just vanishes.
If a team does well happy faces left and right, flags out of car windows, honking all night.
I'm gonna miss that here.

i'm not sure if i remember. what happened? (is it comparable though?)
it's just that a lot of people here believe that belgium will definitely make it to the quarter-finals at least. there's flags everywhere and other silly stuff. now belgium should be able to get fairly far, on paper. but those people will be disappointed if that doesn't happen. they're expecting way too much.

i used to root for croatia. they've always had a good team. but the last tournaments i've gone off them. they play too dirty. it's not nice to watch that. fuck them.

heh I'm used to absolute madness over the matches, I wonder what it'll be like here. Do you guys do fireworks for every goal? lol

I also sympathize with Croatia, but... yknow.

yea I can't help it. Dirty fucks, I love them.
well switzerland and ireland dropped out, sure the fans were sad, but they celebrated just for having been part of it. it was pretty awesome.
Personally I hope Belgium makes it to the quarter-finals.

Fireworks??? you throw beer for goals!!! I hope they score once. Just for their fans back home. Anything else is wishful thinking.


jesus christ Löw shut the fuck up or I'll be happy when Germany plays like shit just to slap you with your damn arrogance

Damn, so you've never experienced watching a goal and then for the next 10 minutes the entire city is exploding with fireworks?

Nope, actual fireworks weren't allowed in any of the cities I've been during world cup. Some bengalo fires, and people singing. Car parades. Music.

Or maybe.... could be there were some in 2006, and I wasn't paying attention.
You do fireworks in France??

Ah that makes sense, fireworks being dangerous and all. And I meant in Brazil, no idea what to expect from Paris.

I wonder if italy will flop out early or get to the finals. Also, a final without Brazil would suck.

I made plans to go to the 20th (SKETCHY) to a specific place that will have samba and be all Brazilian-friendly or whatever. Idk I'm just ready to start crying ughhh

they have a world wide following and get a disproportionate amount of coverage compared to other teams of the same tier

I compare them to the Cowboys and Notre Dame because it seems a lot of the coverage has this background noise of "well they should be contenders, why aren't they and whose fault is it?"

perhaps the Maple Leafs are the same

are you familiar with the idea that brazilians play their league over the summer

Agreed. I am always amazing how shocked people are when england loses, they ALWAYS LOSE!

YES. The leafs are still considered "Canada's team". I mean it's still the team that the CBC officially follows. Over you know.... any other fucking Canadian nhl team that's ten times better.

Since 1968 (last leafs win) the canadiens have won the cup 10 times, the Oilers 5 times and the Flames once. ALL Canadian teams except Winnipeg (which doestn count so much since it was gone for so many years) since have also made it to the finals at least once (Vancouver 3 times, Ottawa once) something the leafs have never done since their '68 win. What the fuck. Why are we supposed to care? Why do they have one of the strongest fanbase still in the NHL and are ine of the richest team in the league? It defies all reason.

yeah then definitely the Cowboys, Notre Dame* or England of their respective sport.

Dallas is "america's team" because someone in the media decided they were in the 70s (most people hate the shit out of them it seems these days) and they are relentlessly considered contenders and relevant even though they haven't been good in 20 years now.

Ultimately, I understand that the English have come to their senses about the prospects of their actual team, I still fully believe that english fans believe they should be much better than they actually are.

fortunately the NBA doesn't have an equivalency. Celtics and Lakers have all been relevant and won titles within the last 10 years.

*Eulogy will be here shortly to contend that because ND was in a title game within the last 5 years and this is unfair. I however contend that because the title game for college football is determined primarily by the media (2/3rds of the vote, the other third is indeed a computer which rated ND highly) that ND did not get there entirely based on merit and the media/fan hype factory contributed significantly to the appearance in the national title game that they, by the evidence of the final score of that game, had no business being in.

So true about the Cowboys.

Every year it's like "Why aren't The Cowboys winning it's America's team!"

And The answer is: they just aren't any good. They're just super mediocre in every way.

I long ago came to terms with the fact that they're a 8-8 or 9-7 kind of team.
And it will be that way until JJ finally croaks

No one care but I guess I've been wrong, '67 was Leafs last win, not '68

Did you guys know that The Cowboys didn't win a single game on their first season as an NFL team?
They're the only team to ever do that.

AWWW YEAHH AMERICAS TEAM

guuuuyyys pleeeease....
THIS IS A FOOTBALL THREAD YOU FUCKS

Exactly. Your point?

jk I think its bs that they call north American football football. you kick the fucking ball like a handful of times a game... how is that fucking football.

I should have said World Cup

It's Egghand

btw it's because they are from the by FAR most populous city in the country. We're talking one of the ten biggest cities in the world. It makes total sense.

and AFAIK, toronto is also your media capital

i also realize that the Knicks might be the NBA equivalent of these teams but ultimately that comes down to the fact that NYC and Chicago are the two most fertile grounds for ballers, and NYK fans are die hards and the team is run badly. it's not like anyone has expectations that they are contenders any given year, it's more of a mourning about how a team in the most talented city has been so consistently underwhelming and often straight out terrible since the 90s

I'm really looking forward to watching Canada's team....................


I mean whenever they manage to make it to the World cup again like they did that one time in 1986. I have faith some time before I die they may make it.

Whoawhoa, Toronto is not in the top ten biggest cities in the world not even close. I just chekd for exact numbers, by metro area population they're 35th, by urban, 52nd. And by city proper they don't even enter the top 60. Biggest in Canada yes and likely the biggest market in the league after Chicago, NY and LA, sure. But not top ten in the world. Your point still stands, just saying...

For the most part, any good players will often go back to their heritage country (if there parents were born somewhere else) and play for the team there.

Also, unlike england, leafs fans don't run around saying their team is better than other teams, they know their team is garbage.