For world cup fans only

[june]

It has special resonance for me - I met my hubby at the start of the world cup in 2002. Happy days ;D

[♫anna♫]

There is a tremendous amount of interest for World Cup in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. The US has never become a part of this frenzy and American football fans often resent "soccer" being called football too! The USA will nevertheless enter a World Cup team, which unfortunately will be ignored by most Americans!

[june]

I think we invented football and the name was pinched for the game you play - so no need for Americans to get sniffy

[fretslider]

American football is the wuss version of rugby, all that padding, so girly. Why is it called football when the ball is mostly held in the hand???

The history of American gridiron football can be traced to early versions of rugby and association football. Both games have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom. Football originally referred to a variety of games in mediaeval Europe, which were played on foot. These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports (such as polo) often played by aristocrats.

Why is it that baseball a game played by Americans has a 'world series'?!!!! I think we should be told.

[riotgrrl]

May 19, 2010 20:09:38 GMT ♫anna♫ said:

American football fans often resent "soccer" being called football too!

Really? How ignorant of them.

I imagine that in my house just about every world cup game will be watched. I imagine it will be a source of excitement.

We watched the last world cup island in Budapest, on an island (Margaret Island?) in the middle of the Danube in an open park with a bar set up at one side and a huge screen at the other. People from all over the world were there. It was a lovely night.

I'm not hugely interested in watching football, but I do like to follow it.

I will be supporting Serbia and England in the world cup.

[Deleted]

I watch the world cup, because I'm fed up with watching big teams whose players have no connection with the town, or even Britain.

Why Serbia, Riotgrrl?

[Riotgrrlnotloggedin]

May 20, 2010 12:03:40 GMT @skylark said:

I watch the world cup, because I'm fed up with watching big teams whose players have no connection with the town, or even Britain.

Why Serbia, Riotgrrl?

I have a romanticised affiliation to the Serbian spirit.

[june]

We invented baseball too

[♫anna♫]

Not every country qualifies to play in the World Cup! Look here for your favorite country/team!

Ireland and Russia didn't qualify!

[Deleted]

Nor did Scotland, or Rit wuld (presumably) be supporting them.

I see that both Korean countries have qualified; it would be fun if they met head to head.

[mouse]

we watch the world cup...its the only footy watched in this house...but as skylark said its the only time one can in any way connect with a team and even the world cup team is a little suspect at times.....
cum on engerland

we also invented badminton and tennis...

personally i love the idea than genghis khan s people invented polo...with the heads of their enemies..........now that would be a new world cup to watch........zimbawe with mugabes head v suiss..........
or afghanistan with osama bun ladens head v the americas....way to go

[alanseago]

May 20, 2010 17:34:42 GMT @june said:

We invented baseball too

I love explaining to Americans that baseball was originally an English game called rounders.
Played by girls

[june]

I shall be supporting England and also follow Italy and Greece.

[♫anna♫]

May 23, 2010 9:33:44 GMT alanseago said:

May 20, 2010 17:34:42 GMT @june said:

We invented baseball too

I love explaining to Americans that baseball was originally an English game called rounders.
Played by girls

We might both get flack from the political correctness popes for suggesting that some sports are more "feminine" and other sports more "masculine".. ..But really i like the idea of hitting a ball with a bat and not with my head as a football ( soccer ) player would! I confess to loving baseball strategy too! All this positioning of players and putting left handed and right handed players in key positions does remind me of setting up a doll house-and i love it! ;D

Of course to make baseball more "masculine" the referees called umpires are often like vulgar loud mouthed drill seargants and some of them spit tobacco on the playing field. If a player, coach or manager argues a call they may be ejected from the game! The referees in other sports just seem so polite and dignified that it seems improper to challenge their calls!!

[clemiethedog]

May 19, 2010 21:03:07 GMT fretslider said:

American football is the wuss version of rugby, all that padding, so girly. Why is it called football when the ball is mostly held in the hand???

The history of American gridiron football can be traced to early versions of rugby and association football. Both games have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom. Football originally referred to a variety of games in mediaeval Europe, which were played on foot. These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports (such as polo) often played by aristocrats.

Why is it that baseball a game played by Americans has a 'world series'?!!!! I think we should be told.

I'll try to answer.

I am not sure of the origin of calling the US game 'football', and I don't believer there is sufficient documented evidence on how it came about. On only three occasions is the ball kicked: kick-offs, punts, and kick placements.

Like most activities in North America, the game is relatively new, with the first recorded college contest held in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton. The rules were different then, and much more violent than today.

At the turn of the 20th century there was growing concern about the growing violence and serious injury during US football games that President Theodore Roosevelt spearheaded the creation of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) to bring some continuity to the rules.

From this came various unsportsmanlike penalties and formation rules, such as having a set number of bodies on the line of scrimmage. Over the years, many additional rules were added, some to increase scoring or to protect exposed players, such as passers or punters. For many US football is slow and methodical with all the stoppage in play, and I agree to an extent with this observation. It sort of mirrors life, with about three seconds of full activity followed by 60 or more seconds of meetings and conference calls.

To call it sissy is ignorant beyond measure and anyone who makes that claim obviously had never played a single down of US tackle football. The average career of a running back is about 2.6 years long and it's quite common to find football players permanently disabled after a short career (head wounds, non-functioning joints, etc). The combination of the speed, power, and size of a US football player is unprecedented in the world of sport. US football is controlled violence and the object for a lineman (at least five per side) is to beat the crap out of the other guy.

As for baseball, once again I don't know how the term "world series" originated. The first one was played in 1903 and it was, as expected, a small, almost local affair. In due time it became the "national pastime" until it was eclipsed in popularity by football sometime during the late 1960s (the proliferation of television exacerbated that shift).

Through must of baseball history, rosters were controlled by bigotry. It wasn't until 1947 when someone of color (Jackie Robinson) played on a major team, and for years following there was an unofficial 'quota' of black and latino players for each team, with the fear that exceeding the quota would dampen ticket sales.

Today the best players in the world, at least per capita, are from the Dominican Republic (Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez are rightfully regarded the best players in the world today). Outside of the Americas, about the only players of note to play in the majors are either from Japan or Korea.

It's often derided as a 'sissy' game, mainly because a game might be called because of rain and that contact is minimal. OTH, violent collisions and beanings are common. Again it comes from how a body is exposed when impact occures.

It's mostly a mental game requiring extraordinary hand/eye coordination and reflexes. To me the most difficult task in sports is hitting a baseball. Not just because of the speed (Joel Zumaya can regularly throw a ball over 100 mph covering 60'6"), but because of the movement of the ball.

[♫anna♫]

May 24, 2010 14:44:13 GMT clemiethedog said:

Through must of baseball history, rosters were controlled by bigotry. It wasn't until 1947 when someone of color (Jackie Robinson) played on a major team, and for years following there was an unofficial 'quota' of black and latino players for each team, with the fear that exceeding the quota would dampen ticket sales.

If you consider Native Americans to be people of "color" they played in baseball much earlier.
James Madison Toy played in the American Association in 1887 and 1890. Louis Sockalexis started in 1897.

Leo Najo was the first identifiable Mexican player in US baseball starting in 1924.
Many baseball players up into the 1960s died in poverty after their playing careers were over.

[♫anna♫]

This schedule may be hard to read, but we can see that the United States will face England on June 12 in South Africa! I'd love to see a surprise victory for the US!

[Big Lin]

Well, two teams will qualify from that group. England SHOULD beat Algeria easily, Slovenia will be slightly harder, and the American game is a bit of a weird one.

Clint Dempsey is a VERY good player.

I'd like England to win the group and America to qualify as runners-up.

That way both sides of the pond can be happy!

[june]

England and USA draw - good result for USA - shite result for England

[DAS (formerly BushAdmirer)]

The fact of the matter is that I first learned that the USA was in the World Cup competition and that they were playing England by reading June's post directly above just now. Soccer is not on our radar here in the USA. It might be reported in the sports section of our newspapers but you'd have to look for it on the back pages alongside badminton and ping pong.

[DAS (formerly BushAdmirer)]

If you were to stop pedestrians in the streets of Chicago and ask them these questions I would enjoy seeing their answers:

1. The average number of points scored by the winning team in a World Cup Soccer Match is: (a) 2; (b) 4; (c) 8; (d) 16

2. How many players on the field at one time in international soccer competition? (a) 6; (b) 11; (c) 16; (d) 18

[DAS (formerly BushAdmirer)]

More questions for the average Chicago pedestrian:

1. The World Cup is the top prize and competition for (a) Hockey; (b) Soccer; (c) Rugby; or (d) Lacrosse

2. The World Cup competition is played (a) Now; (b) October 2010; (c) February 2011; or (d) May 2011

I'd really be shocked if more than 20% could get the right answers.

[♫anna♫]

Here's how the USA scored it's goal against England! Looks like the English goal keeper had some of that slippery Fish_n_Chips grease on his gloves! ;D
USA 1
England 1

[♫anna♫]

Jun 13, 2010 1:07:51 GMT DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) said:

More questions for the average Chicago pedestrian:

1. The World Cup is the top prize and competition for (a) Hockey; (b) Soccer; (c) Rugby; or (d) Lacrosse

2. The World Cup competition is played (a) Now; (b) October 2010; (c) February 2011; or (d) May 2011

I'd really be shocked if more than 20% could get the right answers.

The big question For Chicago area people is whether or not they've heard of the professional major league soccer club: "The Chicago Fire"! None of my relatives in Northern Illinois have ever heard of it! I had to look it up in the internet to see where their stadium was. Every true Chicagoan has heard of the profi baseball, US football, basketball and hockey teams in Chicago!

[riotgrrl]

Jun 13, 2010 0:49:24 GMT DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) said:

If you were to stop pedestrians in the streets of Chicago and ask them these questions I would enjoy seeing their answers:

1. The average number of points scored by the winning team in a World Cup Soccer Match is: (a) 2; (b) 4; (c) 8; (d) 16

You don't score 'points' at football, you score goals.

And the team that wins (in a league situation) will get points for that.


I'm so bored of Americans on Messageboards going on about how they don't like football or they don't know anything about football or whatever.

The rest of the world does. it's a multi-billion pound industry. It provides a universal language . . there is not a country I have visited where, even if you don't speak the language, you can't get into company with the locals by talking about football.

If the USA wants to be the odd one out in the world, that's fine, that's up to them.

But please stop trying to make out that US disinterest somehow devalues the sport.

The USA is out of step with the rest of the world on this one. Football is the international game, and the international language.