Americans and football (soccer).

a reply to: AblyEnergy

i find low scoring sports to be much more fun. What is fun about someone scoring all the time...its not a big deal then. But in soccer even a shot on goal that misses is exciting, and when a goal is scored you feel filled with something.

Here some scoring for the Americans, and for the English, Robben is in it but no diving.

As the great Bill Shankly said;
"Some people think football is a matter of life or death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that".

I've been to Manchester derbies, I've been to Newcastle - Sunderland games, amazing experiences.
Even the derbies between my local team and our cod head, chimp chocking, monkey hanging rivals are fearsome encounters.

But nothing compares to Old Firm clashes.
The passion and emotion it generates is truly beyond description.



It's think it's impossible to convey the intensity of these games unless being there in person.

I remember my very first Old Firm game - genuinely one of the greatest days of my life.



I'm not one of those who knocks other sports, (I'm a massive cricket fan as well), - I enjoy watching Baseball and the occasional game of American Football - but they just don't generate the all consuming feelings that football does.

P.S.
Thought I'd provide a bit of balance.
Rangers and the Penny Arcade.

a reply to: Freeborn

Celtic generate an amazing atmosphere, when they beat Barcelona two nil that was incredible. The way you summed it up was perfect, it's all consuming, and for that moment nothing in the world matters apart from your team.

Haha made me chuckle aswell, the good 'old monkey hanging reference. Those Hartlepudlians will never shake that stigma.

a reply to: KnightLight

Thank you for the replies & videos people, maybe you Americans do value the sport the way we do too.

However it still doesn't look the same to me, although those are unbelievable celebrations & thousands of people, it looks more like a riot or an excuse to act crazy. Football celebrations are more singing, thousands of people in the street singing, and it's like a giant family party. Those celebrations in the video actually look a bit dangerous & problematic.

a reply to: AblyEnergy

Sports in America are elitist. Poor schools without resources cannot afford football (american) equipment or practice fields and rural schools have all of their strongest students working on farms early in the morning and after school so they don't have time to participate. Only generally rich urban schools are able to afford and maintain a quality football program which reinforces the social stratification that supposedly doesn't exist in America. Football for us is like parliament for England. It lets us separate the alphas from the betas and establish a "meritocratic" social hierarchy from a very early age.

Soccer, being relatively affordable can be played by poor people, minorities and females and strips away the fundamental advantage that wealthy white alpha males currently enjoy under the American football teams.

Basketball is kind of our soccer. The facilities are relatively cheap so poorer schools can at least afford a half-court, and poor minorities and females are much more prevalent in that sport.

One unspoken truism: even though black people have been embraced and brought into football, you will almost never see a black quarterback, because the quarterback is seen as the intelligent, brave, protagonist on the field and Americans would not currently tolerate allowing a black person to fill that role. I think when 80% of quarterbacks are black, that will be a bigger sign that racism is waning in America than the fact that we've elected a black president.

Sorry, I'm sure I offended almost everyone reading this post, but this is my unfiltered opinion on the matter.

originally posted by: AblyEnergy
a reply to: KnightLight

Thank you for the replies & videos people, maybe you Americans do value the sport the way we do too.

However it still doesn't look the same to me, although those are unbelievable celebrations & thousands of people, it looks more like a riot or an excuse to act crazy. Football celebrations are more singing, thousands of people in the street singing, and it's like a giant family party. Those celebrations in the video actually look a bit dangerous & problematic.

To each their own. It's not really a riot though. Just kids having fun. The main thing is where I'm from Basketball is the number 1 thing. Where you are from it's football. But there is no shortage of passion. We're just different.

as far as being dangerous its not so much.. I mean that's 2/3 of the population, so... It's old people there too.

Similar thing from 2005.
45,000 Tar Heels fans flock to Franklin Street in peace
"Police estimated the crowd reached 45,000 at its height, but only a handful of arrests and minor injuries were reported."

And if you can't tell I still represent my team even though I havn't been there in, well, since that first video I posted. Almost 5 years.

Go Heels!

I always thought that soccer was as boring as golf. I don't know why. No offense, though. But then again, I don't watch sports. I used to like baseball until they went on strike back in the late 80's early 90's? That done it for me.

originally posted by: Nechash
a reply to: AblyEnergy

Sports in America are elitist. Poor schools without resources cannot afford football (american) equipment or practice fields and rural schools have all of their strongest students working on farms early in the morning and after school so they don't have time to participate. Only generally rich urban schools are able to afford and maintain a quality football program which reinforces the social stratification that supposedly doesn't exist in America. Football for us is like parliament for England. It lets us separate the alphas from the betas and establish a "meritocratic" social hierarchy from a very early age.

Soccer, being relatively affordable can be played by poor people, minorities and females and strips away the fundamental advantage that wealthy white alpha males currently enjoy under the American football teams.

Basketball is kind of our soccer. The facilities are relatively cheap so poorer schools can at least afford a half-court, and poor minorities and females are much more prevalent in that sport.

One unspoken truism: even though black people have been embraced and brought into football, you will almost never see a black quarterback, because the quarterback is seen as the intelligent, brave, protagonist on the field and Americans would not currently tolerate allowing a black person to fill that role. I think when 80% of quarterbacks are black, that will be a bigger sign that racism is waning in America than the fact that we've elected a black president.

Sorry, I'm sure I offended almost everyone reading this post, but this is my unfiltered opinion on the matter.

Very interesting read, thank you for that. I had no idea it was like that. Maybe this could participate to the growing popularity of soccer in the US? There's no doubt it's already growing.

Me & my friends were discussing this recently, and I predicted within our lifetime you Americans will produce a world class footballer, like a Gareth Bale or Messi kind of world class. You guys usually have success with most sports you focus on (consistent Olympic power house says a lot for your nation).

a reply to: AblyEnergy

I saw this on the news this morning and it reminded me of this thread. Of course it is about American football.

www.cbsnews.com...

The Packers are the only NFL team owned by their fans -- 36,000 of them from all around the world own 5 million shares.

The money allows the Packers to remain competitive with large-market teams, and most important, to remain in Green Bay.

"We're committed to the Green Bay Packers and they're committed to the city of Green Bay," Schmitt said. "And there's not a better marriage out there."

He said the franchise is there to stay.

Keep in mind this is a city of 104,000 people, with a waiting list for Packers' season tickets of 112,000.

I've even seen quite a few houses painted Green and Yellow (Ugly damn things...LOL), but I do admire their loyalty.

TDawgRex - Green Bay Packers shareholder and loyal Packers backer.

There was also a story last night that participation in sports across the US has fallen among kids because the parents are so worried about concussions. Soccer was among the ones that was hardest hit with a decline of 7%.

a reply to: TDawgRex

Awesome, didn`t know that about the Packers.

As an American, I suppose it is just what you are born into. My father could have chosen any sport to indoctrinate me into, yet he decided on footy. Ergo, my bias is towards soccer when evaluating the entertainment factor of sports. If he preached American football, it is very likely a different scenario. Either way, I appreciate talent when I see it irrespective of sport.