Team ratings...onto OT football/soccer discussion

Ghost of Pariah · Post by **Ghost of Pariah** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 2:29 am

Neo,
You do pull numbers from yer arse, don't you?

41 billion? Do you mean 4.1 billion? Even that is extremely high. I seriously doubt there are 4.1 billion soccer fans around the world.

Deathwing · Post by **Deathwing** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 8:03 am

I think those numbers are probably cumulative, i.e. adding the viewing figures for each game together to produce a grand total. Misleading and increasingly prevalent nowdays.

Post by **DoubleSkulls** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 8:43 am

According to http://www.acnielsen.co.id/news.asp?newsID=75 1.5 billion people watched the world cup final in Japan - and this match is shown in the middle of the night in South America too.

Anyway, is it really that confusing to have people refer to football and talk about 2 different sports? Occassionally I look at a post and it takes me a few seconds to realise they aren't talking about footie, but otherwise it isn't a problem.

Ian

Ghost of Pariah · Post by **Ghost of Pariah** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 7:37 pm

I just look at where they are from. Europe = soccer. Canada & USA = football. Easy enough.

neoliminal · Post by **neoliminal** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 7:45 pm

Pariah wrote:Neo,
You do pull numbers from yer arse, don't you?

41 billion? Do you mean 4.1 billion? Even that is extremely high. I seriously doubt there are 4.1 billion soccer fans around the world.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/c ... eature.htm

Cheers.

Ghost of Pariah · Post by **Ghost of Pariah** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 8:09 pm

I think DW is correct. I think those numbers are cumulative.

If you are gonna compare it that way then you need to add all the people who watched the NFL play offs, the AFC & NFC championships and the Super Bowl.

Anthony_TBBF · Post by **Anthony_TBBF** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 8:16 pm

"American Football" shouldn't be called football in the first place. How many times does the ball actually get kicked in a "Amercian Football" game? Maybe it should be called handball. Oh wait...

manusate · Post by **manusate** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 9:40 pm

"American Football" shouldn't be called football in the first place. How many times does the ball actually get kicked in a "Amercian Football" game? Maybe it should be called handball. Oh wait...

Yeah, Anthony has a point. And it´s not even played with a ball (balls are spheric).

It should be called "North American Handmelon".

American Handmelon just wouldn´t be precise enough, because they play football in the rest of the damm continent. People from Brazil and Argentina are quite famous for so doing.

Now, some quick advice for United Statesians

1) Show more respect for history. The brits invented the sport, so it´s their perogative to name it they way they like.
2) Stop looking at your navel like it was the center of the universe. There is a real big world abroad, and football is what they play out there.

Manu

Some extra quote:

That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: "I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?" An American says: "I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?"

-- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

Ghost of Pariah · Post by **Ghost of Pariah** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 10:19 pm

Yeah but we can kick the rest of the world's ass so we do what we like.

Advice for Bits...Get rid of Tony Blair. That guy has no back bone. He sucks up to whatever pres we have.

longfang · Post by **longfang** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 10:21 pm

If the Americans could legally put a copywright on the ENGLISH language we would have to change the name of our country.

Maybe all the football teams with over a centuary of history will soon have to start calling themselves "soccer clubs".........MUSC, CSC, LSC, ASC........Next it will be the English Soccer Association (English is used by kind permission of the United States of America) and the European and World governing bodies will have to become EASA and FISA.

And bugger me we actually use our feet to play the game!

Marcus · Post by **Marcus** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 11:00 pm

Get rid of Blair? Sure he's gutless but Smith has fewer balls than an Amazon team.

Anyway, if you call Football "soccer" you're just abbreviating "Association Football". It's still football.

The rest of the world calls American "football" Gridiron anyway, and thinks it's all a bit silly. Sure it can be fun to play but it's so bloody slow. I'd rather watch a live League match than Gridiron and that's saying something.

Why don't you guys play more lacrosse? Now there's a game the North Americans can be proud of.

Zombie · Post by **Zombie** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 12:32 am

Slow? Funny you should say that, as soccer is the slowest sport on earth after golf and the most boring after... wait, it is the most boring!

manusate · Post by **manusate** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 1:42 am

I agree Marcus, north american handmelon is quite slow. You are watching a supposedly spectacular match full of adrenaline... but they just seem to stop the action before it really starts, and next thing you know is Enrique Iglesias singing some bullshit in the middle of the field. That´s not serious man. I mean... Enrique Iglesias. What´s that, a sport or a nightmare music festival?

And there is this helmet thing. Real men don´t wear helmets. Helmets are for faggots. Plus, 45 people in a team seems way too much for me. They are supposed to invade some small country after the game or what? 45 five players. For god´s sake.

Let me tell you one more thing, I have a friend who lived in the States for a year (when he was 16 or so). When the coach of the Highschool saw him playing football with the girls, he knew he had a new kicker for the school´s handmelon team. He was chosen Most Valuable Player of the Season, because he was really good kicking. But he didn´t even know the damm rules. He didn´t know how to play handmelon AT ALL. He just was wearing this silly helmet around and kicking the ball when he was asked to.

I mean, can you imagine a serious sport where a guy that doesn´t know how to play can still be chosen MVP of the year?

Well that sport MUST be kinda silly, huh?

neoliminal · Post by **neoliminal** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 3:15 am

manusate wrote:I agree Marcus, north american handmelon is quite slow. You are watching a supposedly spectacular match full of adrenaline... but they just seem to stop the action before it really starts, and next thing you know is Enrique Iglesias singing some bullshit in the middle of the field. That´s not serious man. I mean... Enrique Iglesias. What´s that, a sport or a nightmare music festival?

They start fresh every down... soccer players poop out after just a few minutes. Hell, they stop running when the camera isn't pointed at them.

And there is this helmet thing. Real men don´t wear helmets. Helmets are for faggots. Plus, 45 people in a team seems way too much for me. They are supposed to invade some small country after the game or what? 45 five players. For god´s sake.

Helmets were add because players were dying. Show me another game where players where dying, and I'll show you helmets.

Let me tell you one more thing, I have a friend who lived in the States for a year (when he was 16 or so). When the coach of the Highschool saw him playing football with the girls, he knew he had a new kicker for the school´s handmelon team. He was chosen Most Valuable Player of the Season, because he was really good kicking. But he didn´t even know the damm rules. He didn´t know how to play handmelon AT ALL. He just was wearing this silly helmet around and kicking the ball when he was asked to.

I mean, can you imagine a serious sport where a guy that doesn´t know how to play can still be chosen MVP of the year?

They just made him an MVP so he would keep kicking. There's an old story about a coach who asks if the kicker will kick for the upcoming game. The Doctor says "He's too sick to play." The coach says "I don't need him to play. I need him to kick." Nuff said.

Well that sport MUST be kinda silly, huh?

Sure is.

BullBear · Post by **BullBear** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 4:01 am

I've spent time in Europe (8 yrs) and have played both 'soccer' and football in high school. Also, I'm about as pro-american as they come.

HOWEVER, on an international level the sport soccer must be called 'football' for it is the true name, and ours should be 'American Football'. This is neither offensive, nor degrating to either. To think so means, you've watched too much Hank Williams JR on Monday nights.

I enjoy both sports, but will say that NOTHING matches the intensity of the World Cup. Until the NFL (the best American run sport organization) hits the international level (NFL Europe is a joke), and the other countries are ranked, it cannot compare to the relevence of the World Cup.

Being the proud American that I am, I enjoy our 'colonial' (grrrr) sport and support it. The only thing I don't like is FG attempts if the team doesn't make a TD. IMO, they should be removed, you either have the grit to score or don't. Don't give hand-outs. On the other hand I find FIFA's rankings to be skewered (France #2? What a joke! This last WC showed that Europe isn't the powerhouse it once was, FIFA needs to stop pandering)

To all the Euros, after we win the World Cup, can we call it whatever we want

?