Soc-cer?

[Jupiter]

I'm an American idiot who knows basically nothing about soccer, or football as I guess some people call it. My impression of it is that it's 2 45-minute periods during which a bunch of stuff almost happens, and players are always flopping over trying to draw fouls, which makes me kind of despise them. (Generally speaking, I'm content with my ignorance about the sport; I only have the capacity to care about a limited number of things, so please don't feel like you have to educate me about it.)

But I stumbled over this video on wimp.com called Lionel Messi never dives, and it almost made me think soccer could be interesting to watch!

[Beazs]

Soccer is known by the majority of the world outside the US as Football and I believe was played in various countries/contenents hundreds of years ago. It is from Football that the game Rugby was developed in the UK and a forward passable version of Rugby is played in the US as Football.

[Jupiter]

So you're gonna insist on educating me about it after all? I just want to show you a cool video.

[Thorby Bislam]

Messi never dives? Then explain this ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysfW9TGm94E

[uriah1]

Isn't sort of like hockey on grass. You got 2 cages, and you try to get the thingy in there.

[Red Square]

Watch a Manchester United vs. Arsenal game sometime.
You'll quickly get drawn in and blown away.

[Markdett]

Nice video. Footie has some similarities in tactics to basketball and hockey.
In the first 4 minutes of the video, I saw no out and out "dives", but I did see some great ball handling and one lovely shot on goal.
Yes, I am a fan of "the beautiful game", despite being American born.
Living 3 years in Germany and 2 years in England can do that to you, I guess.

[J-man]

I've never been a big fan of team sports in general and I'm certainly not suggesting Football (Soccer) is without its faults (it has many, though few are an inherent part of the game), but if you're someone who likes to appreciate skill, team work and physical ability then there is as much, if not more, to appreciate in football than any other team sport.

[Bongocaster]

Does anyone really know what goes on in a cricket thingamagig? I've heard some people claim that they do but the only thing that really makes sense is the "tea interval."

[slauson slim]

A ga-jillion British, South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders, West Indians, Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis might know something about cricket.

[Leep Dog]

Soccer (football) is my 2nd favorite sport, right on the heels of American football. It's a great, great, great, sport. I love it. In my opinions, many Americans would really enjoy soccer if they followed one of the great European professional leagues, instead of just tuning in to the World Cup every 4 years. I love the English Premier League and the Champions League. That is some exciting stuff and those guys are AMAZING athletes.

As an analogy for Americans to understand, I equate World Cup soccer to the "dream teams" we put together for Olympic and World championship basketball; all-star teams we throw together. The teams don't gel together and play as a team and I think it's similar in the World Cup. However, in the professional leagues, these guys play and train together like an NBA team, so they have defined roles and learn how to play cohesively and you get a much more exciting, fluid game. It's also much more of an attacking, offensive game than you see in the World Cup.

One of the absolute greatest sporting events in the world, in my opinion, is the EUEFA Champions League. This is a competition to determine Europe's best soccer team. Imagine if other countries had NFL's, and each of these NFL's were as competitive as our NFL, and then you have a tournament to determine who is the best professional football team out there; this is what the EUEFA Champions League is.

SOCCER RULES!!!

[kelnet]

Originally Posted by Jupiter

I'm an American idiot who knows basically nothing about soccer, or football as I guess some people call it. My impression of it is that it's 2 45-minute periods during which a bunch of stuff almost happens, and players are always flopping over trying to draw fouls, which makes me kind of despise them. (Generally speaking, I'm content with my ignorance about the sport; I only have the capacity to care about a limited number of things, so please don't feel like you have to educate me about it.)

But I stumbled over this video on wimp.com called Lionel Messi never dives, and it almost made me think soccer could be interesting to watch!

Originally Posted by Jupiter

So you're gonna insist on educating me about it after all? I just want to show you a cool video.

If all you wanted to do was show a cool video, why did you bother with the inflammatory criticism of the sport in your opening post? That's almost demanding that people try to educate you or, at least, defend the sport.

[krueger]

Here's a great clip from 1982. The best team ever to NOT win the world cup. I actually cried when Brazil was eliminated (11 yrs old...)

[Bongocaster]

Originally Posted by slauson slim

A ga-jillion British, South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders, West Indians, Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis might know something about cricket.

...so they claim

[notdave]

Originally Posted by Jupiter

My impression of it is that it's 2 45-minute periods during which a bunch of stuff almost happens,

Like American football, only faster then?

Yeah right

American sports - British sports equivalents

Baseball - rounders (played by girls)
Basketball - netball (played by girls)
American football (played by gay men in armour) - rugby (played by real men in shirt and shorts)

Keep pickin'

[dburns]

Though not much of a fan, I'm not anti-soccer at all, and I certainly appreciate Messi's talents displayed in that clip, as well as the game in general.

Always admired the ball handling and the way they can use both feet to control and kick with seemingly equal strength. My only thing is I need more scoring opportunities to really get into it. A 1-0, 2-1 game is fine, just give me shots on net and some close calls. Granted I don't watch a lot, but too many times when I do it seems the only scoring opportunities are on the actual goals. Even in that video, great athleticism was displayed but I saw very few shots and only recall one going into the net.

[Red Square]

American football (played by gay men in armour) - rugby (played by real men in shirt and shorts)

Gay men aren't "real" men?

[notdave]

Originally Posted by Red Square

Gay men aren't "real" men?

Hey, he started it.

[GigsbyBoyUK]

BTW soccer is not, as many people think, an American word for football.

'Soccer' as a word has been around for a long time and derives from 'association football', which is the proper full name for the round-ball game.

The word 'soccer' was used to differentiate football (with a round ball) from rugby (with an oval ball). Rugby was/is often known as 'rugby football' and in some places is still called 'football' by some people. However nowadays most people use 'football' and 'rugby' as names for two different games.

So in fact, 'soccer' was a handy word to differentiate the two games, especially among the upper classes who tended to talk about 'soccer' and 'rugger' instead of 'football' and 'rugby'.

I very much doubt that I can get more geeky, unless I start explaining the (surpisingly simple) rules of cricket.

[fuzzbender]

how it should be played, go on friar!



Phew. Just glad no one mentioned USA v England, 1950