Hartley Miller's Slap-Shots July 7th Edition

By Hartley Miller

It’s what you might call soccer heaven for those that love the game in Prince George. Currently, the PG Youth Soccer Association is hosting the Provincial “B” youth boys championships at Rotary. As well, the Canadian and Chinese Under-20 womens’ soccer teams are both in PG, and will play exhibition games against each other on July 8th and 11th at Masich Place. In addition, folks can gather around the television, load up on the munchies, and party as they prepare to watch Sunday’s World Cup final.

I am probably like the majority of people in Canada in that I don’t watch a lot of soccer, but every four years, I will tune in now and then to watch the World Cup. I am similar to baseball fans that only get interested in the World Series, football fans who tune in to the Grey Cup and/or Super Bowl, and those so-called hockey fans, who only watch the Stanley Cup finals.

When viewing this year’s World Cup, I get the feeling that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is in charge, especially with so many yellow and red cards handed out. There have been games when teams have finished two men shorthanded, a stat that would make Bettman proud.

And then there is the shootout or penalty kicks. My dislike of the hockey shootout has been well documented, but at least hockey doesn’t use it in the playoffs. With goals at a premium in soccer, I believe something has to be done about breaking ties. It’s too bad that a game at the highest level can get decided on such a minor part of the game. Everyone seems to have a suggestion about how to avoid penalty kicks to determine a winner. After all, England might as well face the fact that they will never win a penalty kick contest and therefore may not capture another World Cup in our lifetime.

Here’s some “food for thought” on how to resolve the penalty kick issue (Are you listening FIFA ?):

-    Implement sudden death overtime, and not a straight 30 minute time.
Increase overtime periods from 30 to 60 minutes, especially for the semi-finals and final. 

-    Allow more substitutions, including any player who had been removed from the game prior to the two overtime periods. Fresh legs can always make a difference.

-    After 30 minutes of overtime, go to nine on nine for 15 minutes, or if one team had been playing shorthanded, nine on eight. For the final 15 minutes of overtime teams can go eight on eight. If still tied after 2 ½ hours, why not corner kicks? Say five for each side? At least that gets more than one player per team involved at a time.

-    In the final, if the score is till tied after the overtime periods, you could consider replaying the game two days later with the winner to be determined on a sudden death goal. In the other playoff games, if still tied after all my aforementioned suggestions, then the penalty kick option can be used, and to add to the drama I would make it sudden death. In other words, as soon as one team scores and the other does not, the game is over.

These suggestions I believe can add excitement to soccer, however, excitement and soccer aren’t necessarily two words that are associated with each other, at least in North America.

From the quote rack:

"FIFA president Sepp Blatter publicly lashed out at the referees in the World Cup. Something tells me it's not the first uncontrollable Blatter in Germany these past three weeks."                             

--Jeff Funnekotter of Calgary in Cam Hutchinson's Saskatoon Star Phoenix column.

"Michael Jordan denied that he chose Adam Morrison because he was a fan of 'That 70's Show'

--Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, CA, following the Charlotte Bobcats first round
pick (third overall) in the 2006 NBA draft.

"I think I saw him marking his ball with a Junior Mint at the U.S. Open."

--Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel, on signs that Phil Mickelson is gaining weight again.

"Recently."
--Retired cyclist Lance Armstrong, to Men's Journal magazine, when asked (now that he is free of training for the Tour De France)  the last time he had too much booze.

Husband: "What in heavens is going on?"

Wife: "It's 'Antiques Roadshow.' They do this sort of thing all the time."

--From the Toronto Globe & Mail, after a replica of the Stanley Cup was on display in London, England. It prompted this conversation between a couple of Brits, who witnessed the trophy during a touring exhibition.

And in case you missed it……..

--Former Prince George Cougar and Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard received a first-place vote from a hockey writer for the (get ready for this) Lady Byng Trophy, which is presentedto the  player exhibiting the most gentlemanly play. Boogaard finished third in the NHL with 16 fighting majors this past season.

And how was your week?

Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97fm. He also writes for the
PG Free Press. Hartley's e-mail address is hmiller@94xfm.com

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