Start calling it American Rugby! REAL football is what you americans call SOCCER, and guess what you do? You kick a ball around with your FEET, that's why the whole world calls it football, except for the yanks. FOOTBALL is the sport that unites the world AND EVEN YOU WERE PART OF IT AT THE WORLDCUP HELD IN GERMANY THIS YEAR YEAR, BUT NONE OF YOU KNEW BECAUSE YOU ALL THINK "SOCCER" IS FOR GIRLS!
sharethis is a great FOOTBALL movie and why dont u shut up u *beep* euo jackass
shareSilly to argue over, it just comes down to taste. Just as a curiousity, Ive always wondered why North America (excluding Mexico) never really got into Football/Soccer for the most part. The CFL (Canada) and the NFL (America) are so much more popular than Football/Soccer in North America, that Ive also always wondered how many people might have been exceptional at the sport--if only there were more interest! Imagine, some of the guys in the CFL, NFL, or even in the NHL (Hockey) are not only gigantic & strong, but fast! Now imagine them flying down the field in Football/Soccer?!
Although, maybe thats another reason most people outside North America prefer soccer---you dont have to be Andre the Giant/Hulk Hogan to stand a chance! In CFL/NFL you just cant compete if youre not big enough...there are exceptions, but they are rare. NFL Europe is actually gaining popularity though, and I think that is part of the draw: Watching these super-human guys play something where their life and limbs are at risk. Well, thats enough rambling from me, lol.
"Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too. Do you imagine your suffering will be any less because you loved goodness and truth?" - Corporal Fife, in Malicks' philosophical masterpiece 'The Thin Red Line' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/)
There are lots of exceptions, like Doug Flutie, Jim McMan, and Wes Welker.
shareThere is more of a strategy to American Football than in Soccer. American Football's point system assures that: Two points, Three points, six points, one point; it all adds up to a more interesting game than one point, one point, one point, etc...
Congratulations on the Earth... Bill and I enjoy it on a daily basis.
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It's one thing to love your team, it's quite another to kill 44 people over a game.
share*beep* soccer
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God bless America.
shareVery well put, Trevor.
When I was a kid back in the '70s, we had to wear helmets in the youth hockey leagues, but face shields weren't required. (By the way, this was in New England, where hockey is likewise a big sport.) I have several scars on my face from playing (maybe 40 or 50 stiches' worth) and a few on my shins from playing "pond" hockey.
While I escaped any serious injury, many of the kids I played with lost teeth, and in one incident that I recall very well, one of my friends had both knees broken when he got hit from behind while standing in the slot. I was only a few feet away. He left on a stretcher, and we went right on playing. He wound-up in a single cast that covered both legs, right up to his waist. He was back on the ice the following season.
I wasn't really big enough to play football, but in general, the injuries sustained by kids playing that sport are substantially worse. Not that I'm saying getting hurt is a good thing, but to suggest that soccer is anything other than a sport for girls is laughable. They had a soccer team at my college - the team drew its roster from among the "boys" who had asthma and bad acne.
Every word Trevor wrote about hockey is true. In North America, most people regard soccer as being about as important as croquet, as manly as badminton, and less exciting than either.
Well... Football is also popular because of its simple rules : you don't have to be a specialist to be able to enjoy a game casually (in the public or as a player). You can also play in any weather, cold, warm, rain, and you don't need any organization: it's a spontaneous game, which explains its popularity too. Then, yes, there's the economic side that can't be denied. However, I wouldn't call it a game for "poor people", but a "popular game" in all the meanings of the word (economic, cultural, social).
Last thing... Europeans are "pussies"? I'll try to remember this next time I talk to my friends who played rugby or when I meet one of the players of the local team (3 times champions of Europe)... They weigh as much as an American Football player and run as fast and tackle as hard and... they wear far less equipment (fortunately, because with that much equipment, we wouldn't be able to enjoy chisteras and other unique gestures that only pertain to rugby).
And I wouldn't even try to call Os Du Randt, Shalk Burger, Victor Matfield (South African world champions 2007), Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio (English world champions 2003) or Fabien Pelous, Sébastien Chabal (France), Keith Wood (Ireland), Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) "pussies". And it's not something I'd advise.
Let's compare what can be compared, please.
I'm a 51-year-old American, and even when I was a kid we were encouraged to play soccer as a way to get into shape for real sports like basketball and American football. There's no doubt soccer helps your footwork and endurance, and I've played basketball in Europe and was quite impressed with the way the soccer footwork translated into quick feet in basketball. That said, the sport of soccer/futbol is still never ever going to become popular in the USA. It's been given a chance for decades, and it remains a sport best suited for 8-year-old girls. It isn't half bad to play, but it is so blindingly boring to watch compared to ice hockey, basketball, baseball, and especially American football, that it will never become more than a novelty here.
shareListen Tommy, in your neck of the woods, it's called football, over here it's soccor, same as bangers to you, are sassauge to us. thats just the way things go. I say the only thing that's the same on both sides of the pond, is thats you're jerk
shareFutbol players are better athletes. I'll give you that, but football is a better sport. Notice that there is a difference in spelling and the sport. Football's more entertaining with more drama. Granted, you occasionally get penalty kicks at the end of a game to determine the winner. In FOOTBALL however, the game isn't over till it's over. You have THE DRIVE, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, last second field goals, or Lindsey Scott every week. What makes a better sport? DRAMA! EXCITEMENT! What provides more, a sport that goes down to the last second or a sport that goes down to the last ten minutes or so? I rest my case.
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OK im replying to OPS origional post meaning i cant be bothered reading the 101 posts.
ok Soccer in America is officially Soccer, Here in NZ soccer is officialy been called football. How cool is it to say "LETS PLAY SOME AMERICAN RUGBY!" its just not as cool and short as "LETS SOME PLAY FOOTBALL!"
Pommys call Soccer Football not americans
My Orange Got Stuck in a door-hingeshare
You see guys, the important thing here is not which sport is the best or not. It's the American arrogance that gets to me. Either you like it or not, either you find it boring or not IT'S BY FAR THE MOST POPULAR SPORT IN THE WORLD. The key word is "WORLD" and NOT American. You simply repeat yourselves with the arrogance that resembles the majority of Americans about the rest of the world. Yes no-one can tell you not to call "Football" your sport, it's your choice. As it is to call all of your leagues "World Series" and stuff...Like the NBA that is supposed to field the best basketball players in the World and the NBA champion is the "World Champion" despite having the USA Dream Teams losing for the past 10 years on World Championships (-: to the likes of Greece, Spain, Argentina etc.
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