UCONN headed to OT in scoccer championship. ESPN3

[UConnDan97]

I'm no college soccer fan - but penalty kicks is a stupid way to decide a winner.

I understand why they do it. They don't want players running for over 2 hours, in what would be considered something close to "marathon levels" of running for each player. But it is extremely brutal...

 

[Matrim55]

Reid has shown a great ability to keep guys with those offers. Even when it's been a bad decision for nearly every player.

Very true.

He had a nice long stint with the Burn. It was a good enough stint that there was speculation of him playing for the US National team, until he decided to play for Liberia. He was still a really good player.

Gbandi cost himself -- I'm being conservative here -- hundreds of thousands of dollars by staying in school. He was never the same after that injury (remember, he played 2.5 more games AFTER blowing out his ACL), and would have been the No. 1 pick in every MLS draft from 1998-2001.

He had a "nice" or a "decent" career. He should have had a "legendary" career, something I've discussed with everybody from Jason Kreis to Bruce Arena to Alexi Lalas.

White was a similar story, though he wasn't as good/didn't have as much upside as Gbandi.

Reid is a very good coach who does a better job of preparing his guys, tactically speaking, for the next level. But he's read "The Prince" once or twice, and a number of UConn players have had lesser pro careers because of it.

 

[whaler11]

I understand why they do it. They don't want players running for over 2 hours, in what would be considered something close to "marathon levels" of running for each player. But it is extremely brutal...

So start taking a player off the field every 5 minutes until it's 8 on 8. Allow more subs for OT. Hell take the goalies off the field.

Really anything other than random kicking of the ball from point blank range would be better.

 

[UConnDan97]

So start taking a player off the field every 5 minutes until it's 8 on 8. Allow more subs for OT. Hell take the goalies off the field.

Really anything other than random kicking of the ball from point blank range would be better.

The 8 vs. 8 idea might actually be worse, because trying to cover that distance with 8 is brutal. However, I've certainly felt like more subs in the pro game in extra time might be a good idea. The argument against it is that some of the countries or clubs are far deeper than the others. So the second set of 11 players for Italy will absolutely toast the second set of 11 players from a country like Ghana. However, a team like Ghana can really play with their starting 11.

Still, you feel like that would at least reward the better side, in a manner of speaking, more often than you do with PK's. If the goal is to see who the better team is, then they should do something like that...

 

[Gurleyman]

The problem is that if you play unlimited overtime (or go down to 8-on-8 and keep playing), players will be very conservative. If you know you could have 3 hours or more of running all over the place, you'll sit back, not taking chances coming forward, and not chase the ball when you're outnumbered. If you know a match is 110 minutes at most (and overtime is only 20 minutes if you end regulation tied), you'll empty your tank knowing where the finish line is - especially if you feel you are the better team (or have momentum) and don't want to take a chance on PKs.

It would be like going out running and not knowing if you had to run a 10K or a Marathon.