Discussion » 10:25 07 June 2002

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Posted by cal, 15:25, 7th June 2002:
 
Football is stupid, discuss.
Posted by cal, 15:26, 7th June 2002:
 
for you americans, football in england is what you call soccer

there's currently a "world cup" going on. unlike the "world series", the world cup actually involves the world.
Posted by Sul, 15:33, 7th June 2002:
 
Football is not stupid, thats like me saying all theatre is stupid, or like saying that all movies are stupid. It's all entertainment, some people like it, some people dont, thats the way it is. To put it down is just plain wrong... now go to your room and think about what you just said!
Posted by Gary, 15:34, 7th June 2002:
 
England 1 Argentina 0 - Woo!
Posted by Sul, 15:35, 7th June 2002:
 
Cal: USA are in the world cup, I think they may have had their win over Portugal on Wednesday rammed down their throats as they are usually very shit at footy, like us and cricket.
Posted by cal, 15:36, 7th June 2002:
 
i know the US are in it, but i don't think many of the general US population do!
Posted by mattjacob, 17:35, 7th June 2002:
 
cal: but i don't think many of the general US population do!
Of course I do!

However, like Sul said, the close victory over Portugal was a bit of surprise to us, seeing as how we're terrible in international action. I think we're screwed in our game against Korea on 10 Jun., though. I mean, who can honestly compete against a team who has 80,000 people cheering for them? Also, it's no Premier League, but we do have a professional organized soccer league here -- it's called the MLS (Major League Soccer).
Posted by Leo, 17:45, 8th June 2002:
 
I bet all the teams are called things like "Miami tigers" and "detroit Hotshots" and stuff like that. and they probably have cheerleaders.
thays not PROPER football.
I read somewhere once that the only reason football isnt that popular in the States is because there aren't enough opertunities for advert breaks, so the TV stations dont show them.
Posted by ell, 21:40, 8th June 2002:
 
American "Football" fits the bill just fine for that... when I dared to watch a live game, it was some of the most boring three hours of my life; watching them get 10 yards, then stop for 10 mins, then another 5 yards, then another 10 mins... ugh. >_< Apart from the England-Argentina game, I don't usually watch Football, but at least it's continuous.
Posted by mattjacob, 23:19, 8th June 2002:
 
Leo: I bet all the teams are called things like "Miami tigers" and "detroit Hotshots" and stuff like that. and they probably have cheerleaders.
Not quite. I don't see how those names are any better or worse than "Arsenal" or "Newcastle United" -- those are also just city names.
Posted by Leo, 14:52, 9th June 2002:
 
pah! colorado rapids? kansas city wizards? and im sure you have cheerleaders. give me west bromwich albion anyday!
(actually maybe not)
Posted by Gary, 17:11, 9th June 2002:
 
I'm British but I have to say that American soccer is excellent! The MLS is a cracking league - it's a shame soccer doesn't get more promoting over there. The main sports like ice hockey, baseball, basketball and football totally overshadow soccer - I doubt this will ever change.
Posted by mattjacob, 20:59, 9th June 2002:
 
Leo: and im sure you have cheerleaders.
Nope, not a single one. In fact, there's not even any commercials in between the halves, which surprised me (I thought for sure that they'd break up the action to show commercials). Also, MLS is governed by USSF, which is recognized by FIFA, which is the governing body of all soccer worldwide, so our stuff is just as "legit" as yours. :)

Soccer has seen a big growth in recent years over here, but I don't think it can ever surpass baseball or football. Even I don't see the point to such stupid sports, but to each his own, I guess.
Posted by Joe, 00:39, 10th June 2002:
 
1. For you Brits, in some parts of the world "football" is a generic term that can ally to many different games involving a ball. Pity the poor australian, who has to differentiate between 4 or 5 different "footballs". In New Zealand only old people call any game "football".

2. There need not be any "point" to a game. If it's fun, then do it. A game is not stupid itself, only the player or spectators can make it so.
Posted by sal, 11:27, 10th June 2002:
 
world cup football = good
premiership football = bad
and that's that :p

American football on the other hand is just a wuss version of rugby, not to mention extremly boring. what is it with them and padding up every single part of their body?
Posted by Leo, 13:45, 10th June 2002:
 
ok, it seems i was wrong about american football, sorry, american 'soccer' , but american football is really stupid there seems to be no point to it other than running into people wearing exsessive amounts of padding then stopping every 10 minutes. im not a big rugby fan, but that is a much tougher game.
Posted by mattjacob, 19:07, 10th June 2002:
 
I agree that our football (what you call American football) sucks. The only time I watch is during the Super Bowl, but even then it's only out of curiosity.

Hey -- anyone see the USA vs. KOR game? I watched it at 11:30 PM my time, so it was live. :) A great game, but disappointing that we couldn't hang on to the lead. That 80th minute goal killed us.
Posted by fraser, 21:41, 10th June 2002:
 
I didn't really mean to sign up just to be a pedant, but The World Series in Baseball was originally called so simply because it was sponsored by a newspaper called "The World". Football (soccer) is great, so is baseball. Ice hockey, unfortunately, is crap.
Posted by Joe, 23:48, 10th June 2002:
 
//The World Series in Baseball was originally called so simply because it was sponsored by a newspaper called
//"The World".

Ahhh, like the Cricket World Series. One Day Cricket was originally called "World Series Cricket" and the competition is named after that. That makes it OK for it to always be in Australia, have only two other international teams and sometimes two Australian teams.
Posted by Joe, 23:52, 10th June 2002:
 
While I don't enjoy all sports, I don't think there is any sport that is crap.

All sports have some element that you can latch on to and enjoy. Amazing ball skills in Soccer. Athletic agility in basketball. The rolling maul in Rugby Union. A sucessful hail mary in American Football. Short skirts in netball. Brandy in lawn bowls. Sport rules. I'm going to order Sky Digital when I get home.
Posted by cal, 08:25, 11th June 2002:
 
> All sports have some element that you can latch on to and enjoy
>
> Short skirts in netball

ahh, i see what you mean :)
Posted by Gary, 17:09, 11th June 2002:
 
Did someone say short skirts? Woo! :P
Posted by reitsma, 23:52, 11th June 2002:
 
ahhh yes...
netball...
my most wonderful woman is the goal shooter in a representative team in sydney...
her legs just look that much longer in a short short skirt.
:o)
Posted by cal, 08:32, 12th June 2002:
 
so why doesn't netball have a world cup? that would be worth watching
Posted by Leo, 14:03, 12th June 2002:
 
Im sure they do, its probably just never on tv
I think they have it on the olympics sometimes though
Posted by cal, 15:39, 12th June 2002:
 
it deserves a prime-time slot
Posted by Gary, 17:31, 12th June 2002:
 
Good call, Cal. :)
Posted by November Eclectica, 18:16, 12th June 2002:
 
The hell with football .... bring on the boxing. :P
Posted by Joe, 23:50, 12th June 2002:
 
The last netball world cup was in 1999. NZ lost to Australia in the last seconds. Every bloke in NZ, suddenly expert in that girls game, had a theory as to why NZ lost.
Posted by reitsma, 00:04, 13th June 2002:
 
heh - our government owned station here in australia, the abc, was playing a netball game - i think it was the grand final, or something.
the game went into overtime, and as it was approaching its final minutes - they switched to their regularly scheduled programming.

morons.
Posted by cal, 08:11, 13th June 2002:
 
we should start a campaign site: www.netball-is-ace.com
Posted by sanchez, 11:27, 13th June 2002:
 
I don't see how those names are any better or worse than "Arsenal" or "Newcastle United" -- those are also just city names.

Nice example. Arsenal isn't a city.
Posted by cal, 11:31, 13th June 2002:
 
and the point itself is mute. is teams were called "new york united" or "san francisco city" then it would be fine.

imagine if we had "newcastle marmots", "manchester manhole cover" or "leicester plant pots". flipping mad.
Posted by GOOBER BOB, 14:19, 14th June 2002:
 
Wait a minute! Are you all MAD? Americans are into soccer! Of course we have to go watch it on the SPanish Channel bu tthere's nothing like a good GGGGggggoooooooooooooooooolllll!! GOL! GOL! Frankly, there just isn't enough scoring in soccer and I get really tired of the flopping! Oh my someone came and touched me and now I shall fall down and flop like a fish on a hook. I yell and cry that my leg is broken and then hop right back up and keep on playing.... BBBaaaah! I wish folks would play to their abilities and leave the whining out. But it all comes down to win at all costs and see h ow much you can get away with. But we americans (we me anyways) watch soccer. For instance I have a good part of 5 whole minutes of it once - right between the periods of the Stanley Cup....!!!!

Goober Bob USA!
Posted by sal, 19:48, 16th June 2002:
 
NO!
you people don't understand!
netball is simply the worst sport on the planet! it's mentally scared me for life!!
Posted by GOOBER BOB, 16:14, 17th June 2002:
 
Oh I am sorry,,,, But WHO is going on to the QUarter FInals?????

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

Goob
Posted by cal, 08:14, 18th June 2002:
 
so are ingerland, aren't they?
Posted by Leo, 11:03, 19th June 2002:
 
oh yeah, England are going all the way to the final!!
(probably)
Posted by cal, 11:49, 19th June 2002:
 
or something
Posted by Leo, 21:07, 23rd June 2002:
 
hey, you know they actually had netball on TV today, they had short skirts and everything. but they were all ugly and all the teams had names like "birmingham blaze", so I have decided that i dont like netball because it is like american football. so there
Posted by cal, 14:31, 24th June 2002:
 
gah - netball when i was at school was all full of cute girls. or perhaps i'm making that memory up to make school sound less crap. chris/warren help me out here...
Posted by gooberbob, 19:02, 24th June 2002:
 
Well thank the REfs --- SPain got ROBBED! What kind of crap is that? 2 goals no less. It should not have coe down to the shoot out (which is a wimpy way of deciding the match) and the weak little kick Juaquin gave. Y'all need instant replay! But the Korean dude did look like the Lone Ranger out there - so maybe he had some influence... HA!