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sparkx
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: thekimchipot.com
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 Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| HA wrote: |
Most Americans don't even know there's a world until their late 30s.
Woo! The WORLD SERIES! Featuring teams from...er...where, exactly? |
Teams are American but the players are from across the globe.
Why is it that whenever soccer is criticized, the most common retort is "It's the most popular game in the world!!" Well yah, maybe because 3/4ths of the world is impoverished, and all you need, in order to play the game, is a ball and a bunch of guys who are blessed with nothing more than two functioning legs and the ability to act hurt when tripped on grass. |
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trigger123
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Location: TALKING TO STRANGERS, IN A BETTER PLACE
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| sparkx wrote: |
| HA wrote: |
Most Americans don't even know there's a world until their late 30s.
Woo! The WORLD SERIES! Featuring teams from...er...where, exactly? |
Teams are American but the players are from across the globe.
Why is it that whenever soccer is criticized, the most common retort is "It's the most popular game in the world!!" Well yah, maybe because 3/4ths of the world is impoverished, and all you need, in order to play the game, is a ball and a bunch of guys who are blessed with nothing more than two functioning legs and the ability to act hurt when tripped on grass. |
so whats your point?
if everyone was so financially and culturally enlightened like the yanks then no-one would play football? or what?
games are supposed to be simple, that what makes them popular and accessible. football is the most popular sport in the world.
and so what if you beat us 1-0 50 years ago? the russians beat you at hockey and i recall you getting beat at basketball in athens too.
face it - americans are on a different planet. you play your games and 3/4ths of the world will play ours. |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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you're wrong trigger123- something is only a true sport when you each player requires 50 Kg of padding, there are 8 referees in radio contact with each other, the posts are 12 feet tall, and every 10 second play is preceded by a troupe of dancing girls and a sousa band.
That's when you know it's all about the game  |
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sparkx
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: thekimchipot.com
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| trigger wrote: |
| face it - americans are on a different planet. you play your games and 3/4ths of the world will play ours. |
So tell us, other than soccer, what are "your" games??
All my life i've played Baseball (huge in Latin America and Asia), Hockey (big in Scandinavian countries), Rugby (huge across the globe), Basketball (gaining popularity worldwide) and Football (admittedly America centric) while casually playing sports like golf and tennis (both are big worldwide). When i was in South America I was introduced to Cricket by some Australian friends of mine and grew to love the game. We played everyday and even saw a test match between India and West Indies.
I know that the single biggest reason why myself and most of my friends dislike soccer is that it is the only sport in the world that rewards and encourages vaginaboy-like behaviour.
"Owwww, I got tripped on grass. I'll roll around on the ground with a broken labia until a yellow card is presented to the guy who tripped me and then i'll pop-up and continue playing like nothing happened."
Many a remote control has been broken from having to witness that kind of gayness.
Hell, I have more respect for snooker, ping-pong and dart players than i do for most soccer players. I'll always sit and watch an entire snooker game and marvel at the shots those guys can pot. Kicking a ball into a net the size of a small building? Pfft |
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trigger123
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Location: TALKING TO STRANGERS, IN A BETTER PLACE
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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well done sparx, you are differnet to 98.748320% of americans.
http://www.sgma.com/press/2005/press1113229544-14953.html
so when it comes to participation, more americans camp than play american football, baseball or basketball... interesting....
our games? they would be the ones you played, and the ones that were codified in Britain, and which the rest of the world now calls their own; Cricket, Tennis, Rugby, Golf and Football.
so, can you now explain what you meant by this:
| Quote: |
| Why is it that whenever soccer is criticized, the most common retort is "It's the most popular game in the world!!" Well yah, maybe because 3/4ths of the world is impoverished, and all you need, in order to play the game, is a ball and a bunch of guys who are blessed with nothing more than two functioning legs and the ability to act hurt when tripped on grass. |
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indytrucks
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Incredibly intelligent Swiss James wrote: |
you're wrong trigger123- something is only a true sport when you each player requires 50 Kg of padding, there are 8 referees in radio contact with each other, the posts are 12 feet tall, and every 10 second play is preceded by a troupe of dancing girls and a sousa band.
That's when you know it's all about the game |
Don't forget reams of advertising that turns a 60 minute game into 3 1/2-4 hour marathon of tedium. |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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| I think a lot of people need to distinguish between playing football at the top professional level (where referees reward play-acting and people do fake injuries- it's annoying I admit)- and playing at amateur level where I've never seen someone pretend to be more injured then they are. |
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on_me_head_son
Joined: 26 May 2004
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
| I think a lot of people need to distinguish between playing football at the top professional level (where referees reward play-acting and people do fake injuries- it's annoying I admit)- and playing at amateur level where I've never seen someone pretend to be more injured then they are. |
Good point.
It's really frustrating watching some of the best players in the world cheating to get a free kick, or even pleading with the ref to get another player sent off. This only came into soccer recently,at the same time as TV money and the gravy train it produced.It seems with huge financial rewards at stake some people will do anything to win.
But it's rare to see diving and fannying about in an amateur or semi-pro game.Most teams I know would ostracize any player pulling that kind of crap. |
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on_me_head_son
Joined: 26 May 2004
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| skinhead wrote: |
| onmeheadsonunderscoresomitted, first post I've seen from you outside of song titles. Well done, son. |
Thanks a million skinhead.
This one is dedicated to you.
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Eunoia
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Location: In a seedy karakoe bar by the banks of the mighty Bosphorus
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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| sparkx wrote: |
| "Owwww, I got tripped on grass. I'll roll around on the ground with a broken labia until a yellow card is presented to the guy who tripped me and then i'll pop-up and continue playing like nothing happened." |
Maybe in women's soccer... |
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on_me_head_son
Joined: 26 May 2004
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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| sparkx wrote: |
I know that the single biggest reason why myself and most of my friends dislike soccer is that it is the only sport in the world that rewards and encourages vaginaboy-like behaviour.
"Owwww, I got tripped on grass. I'll roll around on the ground with a broken labia until a yellow card is presented to the guy who tripped me and then i'll pop-up and continue playing like nothing happened."
Many a remote control has been broken from having to witness that kind of gayness.
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If you want to spend your time watching a bunch of pussies in pads and helmets play a poor imitation of rugby thats up to you.
Actually my biggest problem with American Football is that individualism is frowned upon.I remember trying to teach an American friend of mine the rules of soccer. He kept asking me about a 'playbook'.Apparantly there's a book with all the plays in American Football which all the kids have to learn in high school.If you try to do something different the coach throws you off the team!!(OK,this is secondhand information,correct me if I'm wrong.)
Contrast this with the freedom and self-expression that is encouraged by soccer.While there is a certain amount of organisation in set-pieces and the formation of the team,once a player has the ball at his feet it's up to him what to do with it.You can't coach what Pele, Maradonna, Zidane, Best, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Giggs at his best,etc were/are capable of doing. |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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That playbook sounds lame.
The action in footbal just seems a lot more fluid to me, if someone is fouled or the ball goes out of play things stop, but in American Football they're stopping every 20 seconds or so for another "down", or because someone has called a "Time Out".
Baseball is also incredibly stop-start, to the extent where if you compressed down the action where the ball is actually moving, you're looking at- what, a 10 minute game?
Basketball is pretty constant I suppose, but you don't exactly have to travel very far to score. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
That playbook sounds lame.
The action in footbal just seems a lot more fluid to me, if someone is fouled or the ball goes out of play things stop, but in American Football they're stopping every 20 seconds or so for another "down", or because someone has called a "Time Out".
Baseball is also incredibly stop-start, to the extent where if you compressed down the action where the ball is actually moving, you're looking at- what, a 10 minute game?
Basketball is pretty constant I suppose, but you don't exactly have to travel very far to score. |
That's why American football and baseball needs all the cheerleaders, music, food etc. There's a huge amount of downtime in each game.
When I went to a baseball game in the States everyone was eating, chatting and drinking beer. Very nice, but the game seemed unimportant. Very different atmosphere from an English football ground terrace. |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
| Swiss James wrote: |
That playbook sounds lame.
The action in footbal just seems a lot more fluid to me, if someone is fouled or the ball goes out of play things stop, but in American Football they're stopping every 20 seconds or so for another "down", or because someone has called a "Time Out".
Baseball is also incredibly stop-start, to the extent where if you compressed down the action where the ball is actually moving, you're looking at- what, a 10 minute game?
Basketball is pretty constant I suppose, but you don't exactly have to travel very far to score. |
That's why American football and baseball needs all the cheerleaders, music, food etc. There's a huge amount of downtime in each game.
When I went to a baseball game in the States everyone was eating, chatting and drinking beer. Very nice, but the game seemed unimportant. Very different atmosphere from an English football ground terrace. |
Very similar to cricket I thought though. Both of them are a good day/night out rather than something you'd sit watching on TV. |
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sparkx
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: thekimchipot.com
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Trigger123 wrote: |
| so, can you now explain what you meant |
My point was that the argument "The game is great because its the number 1 sport in the world" is a weak one because many countries play the game due to a lack of other options not because they necessarily choose to play. When all that's required to play is a ball and an open field, of course many African, Indian, South American and Eastern European countries will follow the sport. That alone doesn't make it greater than any other game. The actual premise of the game is no different than any other team sport - to penetrate the oposition's "space" while defending your own.
| Swiss James wrote: |
| I think a lot of people need to distinguish between playing football at the top professional level (where referees reward play-acting and people do fake injuries- it's annoying I admit)- and playing at amateur level where I've never seen someone pretend to be more injured then they are. |
Fair enough. A buddy of mine living in England right now is always telling me about watching amateur soccer(football) and raving about how it's viscious, bloody as all hell and completely different from the game we're shown. I'll have to check it out first hand when i visit...I'd be delighted to change my tune and find appreciation for the only sport in the world that doesn't sit well with me (oh, that and NASCAR).
I just wish there were more guys like this:
and less like this:
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