Maguire Not really folllowed this but it seems people are arguing that it's stupid to get excited at a corner because only a small % of them directly result in a goal. Kind of misses the point - the chances of scoring from it (or from pressure that follows it eg. ball being cleared then played back out to the wing again) are still way way higher than when the ball is on the half-way line, or at the keeper's feet, or hanging in the air over midfield etc.
It's not that people expect a direct goal as such (although sometimes it does happen) but more that it reflects a period of territorial domination, a chance to get bodies/the ball in and around the oppositions penalty area which is, after all, where most goals are scored.
So sorry, Zac et al, but i'm not buying that people "get excited over corners for no reason". Pressure is exciting. Attacking is exciting. If you're not going to get excited when your team has the opponents under the cosh then, well, I don't know why you'd watch football at all.
No no, I'm arguing that when you are getting excited at a football match that excitement colours your perceptions of the match. Which may lead to some dodgy recall later down the line. Which in turn could lead to things such as thinking we score more corners than we do and in turn means that stats really do have a place in analysing the game otherwise all your doing is arguing your perceptions and not what happened.
*obviously you need to do it right. I never said I agree with snowballs conclusions.