Also found this (Re: Sepp Blatter)
"The "
silver goal" replaced the "
golden goal" rule in extra time of play-off matches. Under the "golden goal" rule, the match ends immediately if one side scores in extra time. The "silver goal" rule, however, states that the match will end at the half-time period in extra time if one team is leading – otherwise the match will continue until the end of the extra time period. Some fans however may find that this makes the game less exciting while others felt that it makes the game fairer. In addition, the position of the Sun in the sky and the wind direction may give the side attacking a certain end of the pitch the advantage with no opportunity for the other team to do the same in the second half (although the same situation could occur under the Golden goal rule). The rule was first applied in the
Euro 2004 competition, but now it has been discontinued (along with golden goal) and all competitions have reverted to the traditional "
More About "Golden Goal" (no site is saying "why" it was discontinued)
golden goal The
golden goal was a method used in
football (soccer) to decide the result of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of ordinary time (90 minutes). Its public origins can be traced to a letter published in the
Times newspaper in
London,
UK, on
April 16 1992. Two periods of fifteen-minute
extra time are played. If any team scores a goal during extra-time, that team becomes the winner and the game ends at once. The winning goal is known as the "golden goal".
If there are no goals after both extra time periods, a
penalty shoot-out decides the game.
Even though this kind of arrangement is known as "sudden death" in some other games, the term sudden death is only informally used when speaking about football; the only official term used is "golden goal". The term golden goal was introduced by
FIFA along with the rule change because "sudden death" was perceived to have negative connotations. The Golden Goal was not compulsory, and individual competitions using extra time could choose whether or not to apply it during extra time.
The golden goal was first used in the
Cromwell Cup final of
1868, when
Sheffield Wednesday scored the winner against Garrick club.. It was first introduced in a
major tournament during Euro 96. The final of that tournament (between
Germany and the
Czech Republic) was the first match to be decided by such a goal. The final of the inaugural
FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in
2002 was also decided on a golden goal, with the
USA defeating the host
Canadians.
The golden goal rule was introduced to stimulate offensive flair and to effectively reduce the number of penalty shoot-outs. However, it was widely thought that this ruling backfired as more teams decided to play defensive football to safeguard a loss - a notable exception being the match between
England and
Germany in Euro 96.
In the 2002 season
UEFA introduced a new rule, the so-called
silver goal, to decide a competitive match. In extra time a team leading after the first fifteen minute period would win, but the game would no longer stop the instant a team scored. Competitions that operated extra time would be able to decide whether to use the Golden Goal, the Silver Goal, or neither procedure during extra time.
In February 2004 it was decided by the
IFAB that after
Euro 2004 in
Portugal, both the golden goal and the silver goal procedures would be removed from the Laws of the Game.
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As for baseball ... I don't know anyone named baseball. =) In other words, my cardinals are seriously hurting. I have no idea how we're still in 1st place. The Detroit series (and the ChiSox series) was/were hard to watch. My dad, who lives cardinal baseball, has the suicide hotline on speed dial.
I heard some about Verlander the other day. At age 12, he was clocked at 80mph from major league distance mound. Wow.
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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --