Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“You shall have no other gods before me.

• Deuteronomy 5:7

But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

• Deuteronomy 18:20

I am starting this run-on commentary to come out on the day of the Euro 2024 finals.

Like my usual “A Thought on…” series, it asks more questions than it answers.  I will just start with bullet points after each team in group play has played two games.

• Will Euro 2024 set the record for own goals?
• And is this the year for very early goals, at least two of the quickest scores and other near misses very early, seemingly catching the defense napping?
• Why do they claim one team or another is still “the team to win it all” when they have yet to score, winning 1-0 with an own goal?
• Will the Oranje (Netherlands) ever win a second Euro? Good team with some great players, great fans, entertaining fans, but something is missing.
• Is Belgium the Dallas Cowboys of international soccer (football)?  The talking heads say the team is stacked and a powerhouse, but in Euro play and in World Cup, the Red Devils become some type of bird, in other words they lay eggs.  Dallas has won it all, but not as many times as they have been told they were the best team “on paper.”  Belgium beat Romania, so, Romania may not be as good as their opening victory suggests, or Belgium just laid an egg in the first game.
• Why does the marginal foul that was the tenth foul the first person carded when other fouls before it seemed to be a lot worse?
• Why do they start the commentary with “anyone could win any game” but then are shocked with any upset?
• Yes, British announcers sound like they know soccer better than an American announcer.  Having former soccer champions from around Europe as commentators might be instructive, but when the non-English speaking commentators (that is English as a second or third language) get excited, you could not understand a word they were saying.  Was it even a densely accented English or their mother tongue?
• And why Türkiye?  Matches were played in Cologne Stadium, and they did not insist on Köln.  It was Munich, not München.  Did the French insist on the host country being called Allemagne? No.  Did the host country insist the games be televised from Deutschland? No.
• And I know that British announcers are used a lot for soccer in the USA, but the American in the studio has the last name of Lalas.  His name is not La La.
• And I cannot remember any discussion about gambling – what a blessing.

I flew into Mumbai and Kolkata in India, instead of Bombay and Calcutta.  Those were name changes from British rule to independence.  I can understand that, but if it is just a difference in language, then that muddies the water more than it clears things up.  When I lived in Germany, I lived in Karlsruhe, but the Americans called it Karls Roo.  The Americans called Kaiserslautern, K-town, not even trying to say that one.  But then again, many Americans say that they are Murkins.  (And if you don’t like it, you can leave.)  You know, why get sorely offended, unless someone is afraid on a political level?

Thoughts after the Group play:

• I did not think much of the third place finishers getting a chance to continue in the tournament.  After all, two teams in their own group were better.  But then I realized that it opened up that third game in each group to be meaningful.  At least in most cases.  It seems that in most of the last games in group play, they were afraid of being the one who made the mistake.
• I was down on Belgium in my thoughts above, but we could probably add England and the Netherlands to that list.  I love the Netherlands and they have one Euro Cup to their credit, but they have faded early in the past several international tournaments.  Neither England nor Belgium have won a Euro Cup.
• And again, an early goal, Georgia versus Portugal.
• The only team in group play to win all three games was Spain.  Are they the ones to beat?  Or Germany?  Only Spain and France have pulled off a host country victory in a tournament that started in 1960.
• And maybe they should reevaluate the four best third-place teams going on.  Ukraine had four points (win, loss, tie), a better record than two of the teams that advanced, but they lost on tie-breakers with the other three teams in their group, all having four points.  That is a hard pill to swallow.

And if anyone asks, the COPA is now on, mostly on channels that I cannot get, and after two games, of this note being written, the USA needs a miracle to reach the knockout round.  Is the USA another England or Belgium?  Maybe not, England and France at least made it to the knockout round.

During eliminations, I had these thoughts.

• I had several thoughts here, but I will replace it with one thought to tie in the Scriptures.  Why did the announcers think Belgium, England, and France were the cream of the crop?  Nearly half of the announcers were British, very smuggish, very arrogant, thinking the people in England that did not make the team were better than anyone on any other team.  There were far too many biased broadcasters.  But it was star power.  Because Mbappe was the dominant star in the tournament, of course, France was the favorite to win.  Ronaldo of Portugal was frustrated, probably not ever playing for a Euro Cup again.  But as for the other teams, they ranked them by star power.  Earthly heroes will let you down.
• In the end, Spain has dominated so far.  Their games have simply been the most entertaining with them trying to win rather than trying not to lose.  England has survived each knockout round, only figuring out how to score in the last two games.  I will be rooting for Spain, now that the Netherlands was defeated.

Trust only God.  Do not worship any earthly heroes.  They cannot solve the real problems that you have in your life.  And as for soccer, or football if you prefer, it is a game.  Being fanatical has an element of worship in it.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.