Football/Soccer

[sinkoman]

Why is Football/Soccer (calling it Football for the sake of stfu you Europeans), erhrm, why is Football like, THE most popular sport in the world?

I don't get it. It's not like it's the oldest sport in the world (wrestling/running), but yet, EVERYBODY plays it.

Even countries smaller than states (erhrm, those bastards from Gana) play the game.

People play it in the streets EVERYWHERE.

Why?

 

[Reaktor4]

Because its the best thing the universe has ever seen.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Take a ball. Take some kids (or adults). Go to a field/street/wasteground/carpark. Use any objects lying around (or clothing) to make some goalposts.
Play football.

 

[Ren.182]

Like Pi said. It's so easy to play.
Two teams. 1 ball. Kick.

 

[sinkoman]

Like Pi said. It's so easy to play.
Two teams. 1 ball. Kick.

Wrestling and Sprinting are even easier :/

I still don't get it. I suppose that makes sense, but I can't see that making it the most popular in the world.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Poor man's sport.

All you need is a ball like Pi said.

Look at American and Canadian sports. All of our equipment is superior and expensive. Pads, helmets, baskets, special pucks, etc. When the other nations catch up to our advanced level and the populaces can afford to play our more advanced games, North American sports will gain popularity around the world.

 

[Ren.182]

Look at American and Canadian sports. All of our equipment is superior and expensive. Pads, helmets, baskets, special pucks, etc. When the other nations catch up to our advanced level and the populaces can afford to play our more advanced games, North American sports will gain popularity around the world.

Not really, lots of places could easily afford all of that stuff. Europe could, and everyone here still plays football mostly. Though we do have rugby... we just dont use any protection like you guys

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Not really, lots of places could easily afford all of that stuff. Europe could, and everyone here still plays football mostly. Though we do have rugby... we just dont use any protection like you guys

Dude it's alright when you get to our level we will form leagues to play you guys.

 

[sinkoman]

Dude it's alright when you get to our level we will form leagues to play you guys.

OMFG shut up and keep it neutral dude.

I seriously want to know why it's more popular. Don't get anybody into a "US sports are superior" debate.

But really, when you consider it, you don't need ANYTHING extra to play ANY sport, you just sacrifice some quality and some safety.

And Rakurai, just to kinda put you back in the cage, allot of European nations already have American Football Legues that are VERY successful.

So yeah.

 

[destrukt]

protection ? pfft, real men don't wear any.

.. umm, and since when does expensive gear constitute an advanced game ? oh wait, it doesn't ? keke.


soccer is just plain awesome, anyone can play, it's fun, great work out, your body doesn't play a 'major' part in the game (like, if you didn't have much muscle power in the othe football, or if you were REALLY short in basketball and so on), and so on.

face it, it's awesome.

though, going by the way you insult others (europe, ghana and so on) i guess this thread is probably useless, it seems your mind is set.

edit: lol @ you saying keep it neutral, irony > you.

hang on, why does not needing much sacrifice quality or protection ? there are shin pads in soccer and that's really all you need, of course there are instances where you will be injured, but you still get injured in grid iron (or whatever it's called) even though you have all that protection.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

OMFG shut up and keep it neutral dude.

I seriously want to know why it's more popular. Don't get anybody into a "US sports are superior" debate.

But really, when you consider it, you don't need ANYTHING extra to play ANY sport, you just sacrifice some quality and some safety.

And Rakurai, just to kinda put you back in the cage, allot of European nations already have American Football Legues that are VERY successful.

So yeah.

Dude NFL Europe is played by American football players that go to Europe. Just to let you know. However yes some players (very few) play in the league representing their home towns.

All but one of the teams is German though. Germany is the only nation ready to move forward in time sports wise.

 

[sinkoman]

protection ? pfft, real men don't wear any.

.. umm, and since when does expensive gear constitute an advanced game ? oh wait, it doesn't ? keke.


soccer is just plain awesome, anyone can play, it's fun, great work out, your body doesn't play a 'major' part in the game (like, if you didn't have much muscle power in the othe football, or if you were REALLY short in basketball and so on), and so on.

face it, it's awesome.

though, going by the way you insult others (europe, ghana and so on) i guess this thread is probably useless, it seems your mind is set.

edit: lol @ you saying keep it neutral, irony > you.

Dude, wtf, don't try to form full arguments out of nothingness.

I didn't insult ANY nations. I just said that European nations have very succesful american footbal legues, and I was just saying "Ghanan bastards" because they beat the US, which is totally acceptable, considering the US sucks at soccer.

This thread isn't useless. I really want to know, it's not like my mind is set on "no it sucks", hell, I never SAID it sucks. I just said I don't know why it's so popular. The reasons you posted make total sense.

Dude, keep it on topic and don't be a twat.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

He's just jealous of the more advanced nations.

 

[sinkoman]

He's just jealous of the more advanced nations.

OMFG SHUT UP WITH IT ALREADY!

GAWD, you guys are like, BOTH drunk!

All my threads end up derailed on HL2.net. Esspecially in the politics section. Keep it on topic.

 

[destrukt]

everything i said was related to the original post (things said by you) or other posts (mainly said by you).


so, just how does needing less gear mean your quality, protection and level of 'advanced' gameplay are worse ?


your way too aggressive, settle

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Yeah sinkoman you're too aggressive you need to take a chill pill!

 

[sinkoman]

everything i said was related to the original post (things said by you) or other posts (mainly said by you).


so, just how does needing less gear mean your quality, protection and level of 'advanced' gameplay are worse ?

I didn't say ANYTHING about advanced gameplay. You're just interpreting now.

It does sacrifice game quality and protection. Without pads in American Footbal, you're going to get screwed out of a few ribs eventually, guarenteed, but you can still play.

With Baseball, without bats, you can still play with sticks and stuff, you just sacrifice some entertainment. Granted, stickball can still be allot of fun (like soccer with a rock or something, i've done that before), it's just not the same.

If you ask me though, there are no "advanced" games (physicall games that is). All games are games. A game is a game, they entertain, they're all equal

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Don't worry sinkoman they don't know what they're missing so they automatically make those arguements.

It's like someone who says they don't like a food they've never had before. Then they'd find out it's far superior technologically and in terms of fun.

 

[sinkoman]

Don't worry sinkoman they don't know what they're missing so they automatically make those arguements.

It's like someone who says they don't like a food they've never had before. Then they'd find out it's far superior technologically and in terms of fun.

This thread wasn't made to say "WTF WHY are you guys so hellbent on Soccer?"

It was made to say "Hmm, there are allot games out there, i'm curious, why do you guys think this one is the most popular?"

Cut it out with all this advanced game nonsense. You're sounding like Stern when he's so desperate he puts a fake leg on his arguments.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

This thread wasn't made to say "WTF WHY are you guys so hellbent on Soccer?"

It was made to say "Hmm, there are allot games out there, i'm curious, why do you guys think this one is the most popular?"

Cut it out with all this advanced game nonsense. You're sounding like Stern when he's so desperate he puts a fake leg on his arguments.

I understand WHY they're so hellbent on soccer is what I'm saying and it's alright, they just need to progress to our level.

Give them time and let them do it at their own pace man.

 

[bodhi]

Poor man's sport.

Look at American and Canadian sports. All of our equipment is superior and expensive. When the other nations catch up to our advanced level and the populaces can afford to play our more advanced games, North American sports will gain popularity around the world.

they just need to progress to our level.

Give them time and let them do it at their own pace man.

and americans wonder why they're disliked by the majority of the world. its "holier-than-thou" (sp?) attitudes like that

edit: what an asshole

 

[sinkoman]

I understand WHY they're so hellbent on soccer is what I'm saying and it's alright, they just need to progress to our level.

Give them time and let them do it at their own pace man.

Omg forget it.

So if you understand WHY it's so popular, please share your biased oppinions.

EDIT: Bodhi, ignore him. I tried to shut him up.

 

[15357]

If we had american football here, the Combat Police Division would have a lot of problems, seeing as the players and people might use the equipment against them.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Omg forget it.

So if you understand WHY it's so popular, please share your biased oppinions.

EDIT: Bodhi, ignore him. I tried to shut him up.

Like I said in the first post- poor man's sport.

Bodhi, why do you turn this into America hating? There is no holier than thou attititude. I look forward to the day when less advanced nations reach our level in sports and we can compete globally in some reaaaaallly fun sports!

 

[destrukt]

I didn't say ANYTHING about advanced gameplay. You're just interpreting now.

It does sacrifice game quality and protection. Without pads in American Footbal, you're going to get screwed out of a few ribs eventually, guarenteed, but you can still play.

With Baseball, without bats, you can still play with sticks and stuff, you just sacrifice some entertainment. Granted, stickball can still be allot of fun (like soccer with a rock or something, i've done that before), it's just not the same.

If you ask me though, there are no "advanced" games (physicall games that is). All games are games. A game is a game, they entertain, they're all equal

i pointed out you, and i also specifically said OTHERS.

as pointed out, expensive gear doesn't make or break a game, football (rugby/afl) is incredibly popular here in australia, yet you don't need a ton of extra/superior/advanced/expensive gear to play, it's much like soccer, grab a ball and play, i've been doing it for years, and on the 'professional' level, the only difference is an expensive field (nice grass and whatever) and video replays.

Don't worry sinkoman they don't know what they're missing so they automatically make those arguements.

It's like someone who says they don't like a food they've never had before. Then they'd find out it's far superior technologically and in terms of fun.

oh shutup, we have football (rugby, afl and so on) so how are we missing out on that ? we also have basketball and other popular us sports, but of course we don't have large support for things like ice hockey, do you know how hot it is down here ?

i guess you're the type of guy who thinks graphics make a game, yet you will never truly enjoy a game, with the same amount of 'genuine enthusiasm' as those who can sit back, and play some fun, 'immature' game like on a ds or whatever.. but as i'm presenting, each to his own, so you may love these apparent 'superior' games but i guess that's just your taste.

actually, all you're saying is that us/canadian spots are superior because of the extra [see: bloat ? ] needed to play the game, which is just a stupid reason to say for a game being superior.. monopoly is an awesome game, but so is uno, snap and any other card game, yet how 'complex' or 'advanced' they are is a useless thing to compare.. i don't think you have a place in this discussion, but i of course can't force you to stop so i'll just ask you nicely.

soccer is just plain awesome, anyone can play, it's fun, great work out, your body doesn't play a 'major' part in the game (like, if you didn't have much muscle power in the othe football, or if you were REALLY short in basketball and so on), and so on.

seriously, there isn't a whole lot more to it than that, it's just a good game, it's balanced and whatever, i bet if some kids from brazil or some other country asked you what's so good about ice hockey, they might not understand or just think it's plain silly or whatever.


i'm not really a fan of a ton of sports, like cricket, but i don't really try to understand why there are people who love it, that's just a useless thing to do.

well, not completely useless, if someone has something they like, it's natural to share that with others and often they might find out they like it too.

i love toast, does everyone ? nope, could i explain to someone why i love toast ? sure, i could try, but it would mostly be useless, it just comes down to whether you like it or not.. simple as that, that's why i think all this rubbish about having to extra/expensive gear is rubbish.

 

[sinkoman]

Like I said in the first post- poor man's sport.

Bodhi, why do you turn this into America hating? There is no holier than thou attititude. I look forward to the day when less advanced nations reach our level in sports and we can compete globally in some reaaaaallly fun sports!

Well, I guess you could consider American sports more "Advanced" in the technological sense.

But they really are no more fun or no less fun than sports played 'round the world.

No more superior.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Your post is too long and I'm tired of doing the gimick you guys are idiots for getting so worked up when I was obviously doing it to piss you off.

edit: MORE ADVANCED.

 

[sinkoman]

Your post is too long and I'm tired of doing the gimick you guys are idiots for getting so worked up when I was obviously doing it to piss you off.

I could kinda tell, but I wanted to keep the thread on topic

as pointed out, expensive gear doesn't make or break a game, football (rugby/afl) is incredibly popular here in australia, yet you don't need a ton of extra/superior/advanced/expensive gear to play, it's much like soccer, grab a ball and play, i've been doing it for years, and on the 'professional' level, the only difference is an expensive field (nice grass and whatever) and video replays.

And as I pointed out, even if it doesn't break the game, not having the equipment does take away from it in some senses.

It may not be any less fun (in the sense of rugby not needing ANYTHING but still being ace), but for the sports that are usually played with gear, you sort of sacrifice a bit of the sport when you play without the gear.

Basebal without wooden or metal bats is still fun, but playing with a lead pipe just isn't the same.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

RakuraiTenjin:

Stop trolling

 

[bodhi]

Like I said in the first post- poor man's sport.

Bodhi, why do you turn this into America hating? There is no holier than thou attititude. I look forward to the day when less advanced nations reach our level in sports and we can compete globally in some reaaaaallly fun sports!

I dont turn it into america hating. its people like YOU with comments like that which make others despise your country, its superficial ideals and self proclaimed "greatest country on earth" tag

and speaking of less advanced nations coming up to your level, ghanas lack of advanced technology didnt stop them whooping your ass all over the field the other day. and your advanced technology doesnt stop the hill-billies you sent to iraq getting their ass kicked my insurgents either.

go figure

 

[sinkoman]

I dont turn it into america hating. its people like YOU with comments like that which make others despise your country, its superficial ideals and self proclaimed "greatest country on earth" tag

and speaking of less advanced nations coming up to your level, ghanas lack of advanced technology didnt stop them whooping your ass all over the field the other day. and your advanced technology doesnt stop the hill-billies you sent to iraq getting their ass kicked my insurgents either.

go figure

Drop it already dude, he said he was just being a bugger.

 

[destrukt]

And as I pointed out, even if it doesn't break the game, not having the equipment does take away from it in some senses.

It may not be any less fun (in the sense of rugby not needing ANYTHING but still being ace), but for the sports that are usually played with gear, you sort of sacrifice a bit of the sport when you play without the gear.

Basebal without wooden or metal bats is still fun, but playing with a lead pipe just isn't the same.

now that the ugly troll is gone, we can totally drop the whole 'advanced' or 'extra gear' rubbish.

it can make a game, but it can't break it, i think we both agree on that.. and even if we don't, who cares, it's a useless part of the discussion as to why soccer is soo awesome.


i probably wouldn't do shooting (as a sport, like in the olympics or where ever) without some sort of ear protection, but that's expected because you're using guns, which can be loud.

like with grid iron, you NEED extra gear to protected yourself.

in soccer all you really need are shin pads and they aren't really needed if you just play a small game with friends, but when you start playing 'professionally' (i say that loosely, i include clubs, school teams and whatever) you'll want to protect yourself from injury.


what i'm trying to say is, gear is completely irrelevant, and i mean completely.. of course, it seems i'm being a bit hypocritical in saying all you need is a ball for soccer, but that's just further emphasing how well balanced, simple and fun it is to play.



now that gear is out of the way, there's not much more i can say, other than what i said (the thing where i quoted myself in a latter post).

go play soccer, see if you like it.. if you don't move along, i've done that with cricket and other sports.. no matter how much i try, i could never properly describe (and have you understand) what i love about soccer, like you with any of the things you may love (a type of food, a sport, a car, whatever..).

i have a friend who loves old cars and i really, really don't care for them and he's tried to tell me what he likes about them, but i just plain don't, so we just 'agree to disagree.'

 

[sinkoman]

well balanced, simple and fun it is to play.

Ok, the sans-gear part makes sense, but what how is it well balanced?

Aren't all games well balanced, so long as you keep the teams balanced?

Or are you considering conventional "Offensive" and "Defensive" positions found in most US games?

 

[bodhi]

Drop it already dude, he said he was just being a bugger.

joking or not, i dont suffer for assholes

anyway back to topic i guess

 

[destrukt]

Ok, the sans-gear part makes sense, but what how is it well balanced?

Aren't all games well balanced, so long as you keep the teams balanced?

Or are you considering conventional "Offensive" and "Defensive" positions found in most US games?

well, by balanced, i mean it in a few ways, a main one being that your physique isn't a massive deciding-factor in the game, like how strong/big you are in different forms of football.

of course, soccer has it's own 'skills' like ball control and other 'needs' like being fast, but in general, you don't have to to go to an extra means to be able to play soccer, like with having to vigorously work out and build your body, you just need to be a normal, average, fit person to play.

aside from that, it's always the same, you don't worry about offensive or defensive teams, it's just a plain and simple.. you choose a goalie, you pick a few people for being defenders, and the ones of us who think we're awesome, we jump on as forwards. .. but, alot of sports are like this, like volleyball, cricket and whatever.

another thing is gear found in many sports (didn't want to bring it up, but this is different, i swear ), in soccer there is a single ball, the only real 'gear' and it is a universal object, both teams play with the same ball, in other games/sports like golf, tennis and so on, your gear is an important factor, if you don't have the right pieces, or yours is substantially lower quality, it can be a major factor in who would win/have an advantage.

i don't think i'm accurately describing as to how i think it's balanced and alot of these points are universal with other sports, meh. :x


- lol, wish i typed slower and didn't have this inherent need to type eloquently, even though i don't alot of the time.

 

[sinkoman]

I disagree as to your argument on skills. For soccer, you need to have some insane cardio.

That's the reason that I, personally (from a player point of view), do not like soccer. It's insane to watch, but I don't have the endurance to do all the running required.

Not to mention for goalie, you need some air force grade Hand Eye Coordination. That ball flying at god knows how fast, and you trying to jump across what, a 50 foot goal to catch it?

All sports have a certain area of physical expertise. That's what makes sports different. Otherwise, every sport would be just another ball sport.

Soccer requires insane endurance, football requires a ton of fat and muscle, for golf you need a certain ammount of brains, for tennis Hand Eye Coordination, etc etc.

And don't most sports share one single ball (aside from golf, but that's a tad different from other sports)?

 

[destrukt]

well, when i said being fit, i was trying to cover the cardio area but i didn't really put as much emphasis on it as i should've becuase you need to be pretty freaking fit to run up and down a large field for 90mins, espeically if you're in the midfield, as being in defence or a forward you have a specific area, while in midfield you go everywhere. D:

i think you're getting into specifics too much.. in tennis you need good hand-eye coordination and so on; every sport has it's own areas where you need to be skilled (like you said), but i just feel soccer is rather 'general.'

i was at the beach (despite horrible weather :x) a few days ago and i saw some guys kicking around a soccer ball, so i got my friends and we asked them to play; we than played for a while and everyone had alot of fun even though we had a ton of different people playing.

we had the ones of us to love soccer and are really good at it, than we had those who are mildly interested and have some experience, and than we have the others (mostly girls, hehe) who look like they're using their legs to kick something for the first time.

it's all relative though, while i have alot more fun when i do some tricks and pass 3 people, than score, the others have a hell of a time when they kick the ball and it almost goes in the right direction (not picking on girls, but man.. lol).

when i was talking about the single, shared ball, i was trying to make the point that nothing else is taken into account which will give you an advantage (like, where i was talking about better quality/built gear) - oh yeh, skills are obviously excused when talking about gear alone, but there's also 1 or 2 people who buy the best things and still suck.


so, i guess that gear and physical skills are more or less out of the argument, as it's really hard to try and probably not worth it, to try and make a discussion out of the 2, other than to point out what is needed in said sport/game.

 

[AiM]

Whether you like it or not, RakuraiTenjin does make a good point with soccer being an extremely accessible sport. It's cheap, simple, and every kid can play it as long as they have legs. To me, that sounds like a reasonable explanation for the global popularity.

As for explaining specific examples, well that's all up to the individuals. It's the same reason why certain people like First Person Shooters while others prefer Real Time Strategies / Simulations / etc. There's no real 'right' explanation, it's just the individual's choice.

 

[ComradeBadger]

It's accessable to all - cheap, and fun.

Hence it's popularity. I've played full blown 11-a side games with a crushed FourX can.. it's fun at 3AM

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Soccer/football is fantastic to watch, beautiful skills, non-stop flow of play. Easy for kids to get into, fantastic peaks and troughs in during the game. Insane exhiliration when goals are scored due to intricate precision of play.

It's pretty easy to see why it's the most popular sport in the world and will remain so for a long time. Culturally embedded in all of Europe, South America, Africa, the middle east and much of Asia.

The points on equipment are irrelevant because American football is insanely boring to watch and play. Stop start, most players never actually touch the ball, too linear, moronic etc. You can see why this sport has almost zero appeal worldwide. Baseball is similar, insanely boring to watch and play. Why would kids want to play these games? Basketball is fun to play and has gained worldwide appeal, but it wasn't created by an American so that rules it out Look at the countries who play ice hockey, cold winters! Too cold to be outside in shorts and a t-shirt playing in the fields, so get inside and figure out a sport to play, ice hockey! Very small appeal worldwide simply for the aforementioned fact.

"Ice hockey is most popular as a sport in areas that are sufficiently cold for natural, reliable seasonal ice cover. "
wiki!

So why are these sports popular in America? Culture! Parents force/raise their kids to watch and play these sports. They won't grow outside of America so soccer/football will remain the global game. And of course, some people do actually like the sports...

It's the same in Australia. Rugby League and Australian football are culturally embedded and dominate in tv viewin, crowd attendance and junior participation. Soccer has had a hell of a time trying to gain popularity but now with Australia in the final 16 of the world cup it's reaching exploding point.