In an epic act of frustration last Thursday night, New York Red Bulls forward Luke Rodgers pelted a soccer ball into the crowd, nearly caving in the face of an innocent woman.
It happened in the eighth minute of New York's 2-1 loss to the L.A. Galaxy in the first round of the 2011 MLS playoffs.
For some, the fact that the MLS playoffs are actually being televised by ESPN is more shocking than the clip of Rodgers' close call with the fan's face.
Rodgers is from England, so naturally, he probably has a hatred for American soccer fans, like this poor woman in the front row who pulls a Neo from The Matrix at exactly the last second.
She is all by herself, sadly, and if she had company, that company would be headless at the moment.
The power and speed with which Rodgers struck the ball would have gotten past any World Cup goalkeeper and would have likely helped the Red Bulls to a victory Thursday night had it occurred in the field of play.
Although it sounds terrible to say, a part of me wonders how much more amazing this clip would be if Rodgers actually connected with his unintended target, the woman's mug.
She would have survived, but her glasses, vision, sense of smell and teeth—that's an entirely different story.
Let us just imagine if that was a line-drive baseball off the bat of Albert Pujols or a hockey puck slap shot off the stick of Alexander Ovechkin, this clip might have become crime evidence.
(Bleacher Report)
11 Comments
IronDwarfNearly beheaded, nearly caved in her head, would have severely disabled her; hyperbole is the best thing ever.
EMPIREsays...i second that. Please use proper titles for the videos. What a fucking exaggeration. When I read the title I immediately assumed he had hit her, and with a lot of force. Didn't even touch her.
DeanoShe could have headed it back into play.
gharkPulls a Neo? She tilted her head slightly...
schlubYeah, she was really in danger there....
RedSky... woman's head.
luxury_pieI was expecting some ball slammed into some face. This is shit.
DeanoMakes you wonder about the quality of the MLS. This guy played in the heady heights of the First Division. That's below the Championship which in turn bows to the Premiership.
gwiz665Couldn't even hit one little head..
Americans.
Yogi>> ^Deano:
Makes you wonder about the quality of the MLS. This guy played in the heady heights of the First Division. That's below the Championship which in turn bows to the Premiership.
Actually there's no wondering. I watch the MLS, La Liga, EPL and Bundesliga. The MLS is way below in quality of play of those leagues. It's sort of just an American thing, we've got a lot of speed and power and we know how to build athletes. This game though is a mystery to a lot of American players. Division 1 of the NCAA you'll see some skill, but it's mostly trumped by physical play which carries over into the MLS.
It's not easy to explain, but lets just use a Messi or a Neymar as an example. It's a good chance that they wouldn't even get a chance to shine as kids in the US right now. Because they wouldn't be picked for teams being scrawny and in comparison, slow. Messi is a slow player compared to US players but he's got technical speed...he is fast with the ball GLUED to his foot. Also players like that would look like they're worse than they are because they have NO ONE to play with. It would just be them...being triple teamed and sometimes they'd break free like Neymar in club play or Messi playing for Argentina. But by and large you're playing with a team that you have to play the same level as...so you're not who you were.
An international coach gave me a more simple explanation of what the difference is between the leagues. Look at how a player dribbles the ball, and look at how far they can place it and run onto it while keeping control of it. In the EPL is maybe a couple yards...the more technical players like Suarez would keep it at most a yard from them. La Liga if you watch the most technical players it would be within a foot of them...it's constantly close even when at speed (Messi the ball is either under him or within an inch, he's crazy). The MLS though...the ball is yards away sometimes...and there's still bad and late tackles because players just cannot read the game fast enough.
DeanoI support Spurs and it would be interesting to compare speeds. We must have one of the fastest sides in the Premiership at the moment. Definitely think we'll get into the Champions League for next year once Newcastle start to fade.
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