Why Americans Love Football

Off Topic
81

This is just sad.

First off HH, americans are the ONLY damn country that loves football, the kind that uses your hands that is. So saying that is about as useful as someone posting “Why Australians love Aussie Rules Football.”

Secondly, rugby requires more intellect than football. I think that when EVERY PLAYER has the option to PASS, RUN, or KICK you have to be able to think bloody fast on your feet. What do american footballers do? block, and catch? pass if you are the qb? Because your O-line all has to be phd candidates.

Thirdly, this comment just pisses me the fuck off:

I think you are highly exaggerating the kids you coach, or else you don’t spend enough time with them off the field, cos I remember how “hard working” and “dedicated” the footballers in high school were when it came to everything but football…

Moving on, your second paragraph

[quote]
I believe that Americans love football because it brings out the best in us. It teaches us to love a challenge, to work harder and then even harder. It raises the human spirit to new heights.[/quote]

Because I am sure every young man in america played football, well, since the squads have dozens of players, maybe they can fit them all into frosh, JV, and varsity teams. I can tell you right now, at the high school level, sports in this country are the most EXCLUSIVE activity a kid can do. You are either good enough to make the team (and that doesn’t guarantee playing time) or you don’t play. Teaches you to love a challenge, raise the spirit to new heights? riiiiiiight

4th paragraph.

[quote]
This spirit is also a big reason why the rest of the world reproaches us. They interpret spirit as arrogance. They think that people who actually fight evil are in themselves evil. They secretly see the American dedication to creating a just and lawful world as a reproach upon themselves, upon their cowardice and lack of spirit. They hide in their decaying Old World, amidst their rot and lethargy and curse those who face challenges. They play soccer.[/quote]

The reason the rest of the world reproches you is because you act like a bunch of pricks. You tell countries they are either with you or against you, and that you don’t bloody well need them in the 1st place. Retoric like that is a great way to make friends. Believe me mate, this great “sprit” that football instills is the LAST reason everyone reproaches America.

[quote]
Football is uniquely American. It is a sport played by those who don’t back down from challenges. It is played by those who are unafraid. It is ours.[/quote]

No shit its uniquely American, you invented the game, and are the only country that gives a damn about it. There are greater challenges in life than walking onto a football field. Last I checked, being afraid of contact sports eliminates you from football, but if my high school days are anything to go by, football players are scared shitless of calculus, must be why alot of them stuck with Algebra 2.

I’m with Mick on this, you couldn’t stop at bashing soccer, so you posted some bullshit about football. I feel sorry for the kids you teach and coach.

p.s. Fuck the All Blacks. Go Boks!

82

I don’t agree with dumb football player cliche. Some of the smartest people I’ve ever met were also some of the best football players I ever played with. I know a Remington Award winner that is an engineer, I played with a 4 time all american that went on to play pro ball who was also academic all american, I played with a 3 time all american that is a chemist, I played with an all american that is now an accountant, I was a 2 time all american and I’m applying to med school. There are dumb football players out there, but the ones that are smart are always better than someone with the same ability that isn’t.

[quote]Ren wrote:

Secondly, rugby requires more intellect than football. I think that when EVERY PLAYER has the option to PASS, RUN, or KICK you have to be able to think bloody fast on your feet. What do american footballers do? block, and catch? pass if you are the qb? Because your O-line all has to be phd candidates.
[/quote]

83

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:

Show me one time in history where the French weren’t cowards. I will buy you all the history books printed, you will not find where the French were not cowards. Twat by the way, thanks for showing us all your intelligence level. I know now to watch my word choices so you are sure to comprehend.

[/quote]

How strange… The word twat over here really isn’t that big a deal, and certainly its usage is not indicative of someone’s intellect. But I digress…

Okay, I shall introduce you to a little thing us Europeans refer to history.

Whilst we could go all the way back into the mists of time and the Gallic resistance to the might of the Roman Empire we could start with 1066 and the Battle of Hastings and subsequent occupation and transformation of what was to become England.

Then the Crusades including the Sieges of Antioch and Jeruselem.

Let’s not the Hundred Years War. Agincourt and all that.

Oh and the Napoleonic Wars. You know the ones where the whole of Europe was at each other’s throats and a little Frenchy almost achieved a united European empire?

Ooh, and speaking of which here’s something that might be of interest:

‘After an American victory at Saratoga in 1777, France, Spain, and the Netherlands entered the war against Great Britain. French involvement proved decisive, with a naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a British army at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 recognized the independence of the United States.’

Ha, the French secured independence for you! ha ha ha ha

Then there was Crimea.

More recently - My Grandmother was French and fought in the resistance in WW2. You’d probably have her pegged for cowardly terrorist though.

Ooh, then there was Korea, at which point I think you’ll find they were on your side again.

Look up Op?ration Daguet, which was the codename for French operations during the 1991 Gulf War, in which France provided 18,000 troops. Nothng compared to you guys buts its all relative to the size of the country/army.

So off the top of my head, yeah I can think of a couple of times where they weren’t cowards.

I grew up in London forever having to brave IRA attacks in the 80s and early 90s. Which country do you think is/was their main benefactor, and back in the day welcomed Gery Adams with open arms? Funny how no-one ever talks about that.

No Muslim ever had an issue with me until someone else declared war on them and obliterated their countries on my behalf and without my approval.

Were I in their shoes, I’d probably want to kill someone too. Not an excuse but an explanation.

A specious argument to be sure. You have a different way of life to them. A different set of beliefs and values and a different cultural heritage. You have no right to impose your view of how they should live on them - especially not by force.

BTW who told you they had no education?

Absolutely untrue. Just because some politician made a quip about it in a soundbyte interview, it don’t make it so. I suggest you check that out as proof of the fallacy of this statement would take up way too much typing on my part.

Also, you don’t blow someone up and kill his family to give him freedom.

Feeling across the Middle-East is more anti-US than it has ever been. Surely by your reasoning, now you have ‘liberated’ them all would be sweetness and light now apart from mopping up a few insurgents.

So I wasn’t that far off! JOKE! :wink:

Funnily enough, my mom (see, I’m bilingual) works with the refugees fleeing Iraq and Afghanisthan so hearing their stories I get a good insight into the reality of life before and the horrors they had to flee. Trust me when I say it does not make for happy listening.

Wow… we got REALLY off-topic didn’t we.

84

[quote]1-packlondoner wrote:
TrainerinDC wrote:

If there was no oil in Iraq you would not have been there. End of story.

Hey, going after such an important resource is understandable - to some maybe even valid - but don’t dress it up and pretend that you’re doing it for OUR benefit or for the saftey of us weedy European’s personal liberties.
[/quote]

You are partially correct. The Iraqi War I, was the physical embodiment of the 1980 Carter Doctrine, which ‘justifies’ the use of FORCE to PROTECT resources vital to the American way of life and economy; oil and the resources to make weapons (or reactor) grade nuclear fissionable material are on this list (so watch your ass, South Africa). America, along with a coalition of over 50 countries, was involved in the early 90s to protect the obscenely valuable commodity of oil from the clutches of Sadaam. Its true, there is/was no other reason why THIS time the US and her allies made a move to stop a random 3rd world country from knocking off another random, 3rd world country.

Interestingly enough, "in The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, author Daniel Yergin notes that the Carter Doctrine “bore striking similarities” to a 1903 British declaration, in which British Foreign Secretary Lord Landsdowne warned Russia and Germany that the British would “regard the establishment of a naval base or of a fortified port in the Persian Gulf by any other power as a very grave menace to British interests, and we should certainly resist it with all the means at our disposal.”

The enforcement stick in the hands of the US today was passed on from Great Britain of the Nineteenth century, and can be traced back in the Western world all the way through antiquity (Rome, Macedonia, Greece, etc). Point: keeping the Western world ‘safe’ ( I use the term loosley) is a dirty job, but is nonetheless always followed through based on the hegemonic status of the countries that comprise the West itself. If the current relative hegemony was reversed, with the UK in the driver’s seat, I’m sure all the same role reversals would follow suit.

However Iraq War the 2nd (Dubya’s) was for more esoteric reasons which we still do not know, or if you want to swallow the ‘WMD’ pill and then just call them stupid…but irregardless, calling the current middle eastern affair about just OIL is massively shortsighted, especially considering the INCREASE in crude oil prices since Spring ‘03. Its not about the oil; democracy…maybe, but the world shall soon find out something far more sinister, akin to Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” in some warped fundamentalist Christian Right-winger conspiracy to keep the deserts ‘Muslim free’ and safe for ‘God fearin’ Christians and Sons of David’ (in my best southern voice) Needless to say, explaining that Allah=God=Yahweh will not make much headway, as will be explained below.

How this football thing got FUBARed so badly, I’ll never know, I guess we’ll have to thank the legacy (curse) of HH starting this thread.

I was originally tempted to write a thesis on the idiocy of argument in general, since no one who does not already agree with you will change their stance. Argument exists either as rhetorical masturbation when two or more parties talk with out speaking (ex. 1pack w/trainer dc), or as a ‘feel good,’ mental vindication for one’s own beliefs by conversing/arguing with a like-minded individual (example. trainer DC making pals w/HH)

Then let us take one more step beyond this and state that the primary information you are most likely basing your claims on are not PRIMARY sources, or secondary, but vastly bastardized third party information that has been bent, twisted, and viciously mutated away from the ‘truth’ by the media and its agendas. This goes for BOTH sides of the pond. What trainer DC sees as protecting liberties (fox newscorp) is what 1pack sees as a gross violation of int’l law with little semblance of care for multilateral action or the basic value of human life (in le monde, der Spiegel, the FT, bbc) over a situation such as Iraq, part deux. To make this point pithy, it just depends on your cup of tea…or coffee (or beer if you’re from Oz (and make it a pint))

So singular paragraphs on a forum will never have impact upon the decades of hardened personal beliefs, from football to rugby to God to the sands of Tikrit. So for the love of God, Allah, the Force (for the Brits), or what have you, cease and desist this otherwise silly contest of ‘who can be the best TSBer,’ for we all know Balbos has you all beat.

Alternatively, the American government will come IMMEDIATELY to “protect” you and your rights…

-k

85

Great post, and some food for thought.

I’m the first to admit to faults of my country/continent but I would say that the lessons of history are there for all to learn from, not just those that went through them. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Also agreed with your comments re the validity of forum arguments but other than asking what my bodyfat is, what ELSE are they for?

However, I feel that there is one other reason to get involved in these conversations - balance.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion but where I see somewhat xenophobic and ignorant views of Europe based on Mary Poppins, Pride and Prejudice and anything that has Hugh Grant in it, I feel duty-bound to respond and attempt to set the record somewhat straighter.

Headhunters’ naive stereotyping and analogies were also bordering on the absurd and had me screaming ‘It’s just a game’ and nothing to do with politics. But still…

As an aside, I work in TV and sometimes in the news. As such, I tend to have access to some pre-bastardised news feeds. This is not to say ‘So I am right and you know nothing’, but rather that I see the process and the end product and therefore am well versed extrapellating facts from the story. Very rarely are they one and the same.

Best. Threat. Ever. lol

86

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:
America has the force, uses it as a means for change helping the world, and then takes criticism from people on message boards who think they know better than the best and the brightest in the world.

Are you sure? Headhunter seemed pretty adamant that all the Jedi were over in England.

87

[quote]1-packlondoner wrote:
TrainerinDC wrote:
You were correct about one thing, the warrior ethos is real, and there are many who live by it. (Kind of like all those who claim to be Jedi Knights in England, except honor is a useful trait, jedi-ism is just plain stupid)

All those Jedis In England? I am So confused.

Anyway… Don’t be angry. Anger leads to fear. Fear leads to hate. And hate leads to the dark side…[/quote]

Isn’t Jedi an officially recognizer religion over there?

88

Jedis are the 4th largest religious group in Britain, as reported by Wikipedia

England and Wales
It was confirmed prior to the census that citizens were not liable for a fine in relation to question 10 (on religion). [6] In England and Wales 390,000 people (0.7%) stated their religion as Jedi on their 2001 Census forms, surpassing Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism, and making it the FOURTH largest reported religion in the country. The highest such responses were typically in cities with high student populations. The percentages of religious affiliations were:

Christian: 72.0%
No religion: 14.8%
Chose not to respond: 7.7%
Muslim: 3.1%
Jedi: 0.7%

and to the unbelievers, I find your lack of faith disturbing
-k

89

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:
Tell me what worth having has not been acquired through force?
[/quote]

A spouse, perhaps?

[quote]
…I don’t see too many of your countrymen dying for the freedoms that you enjoy… [/quote]

Of course you don’t. I wasn’t born yet when it happened and neither was you.

90

TrainerinDC is spot on with his evaluation of most Europeans, esp the French.

They had a treaty to attack Germany if Germany attacked Poland. They reneged. They stood by and watched Poland be raped, while they (the French) hid like mice behind the Maginot Line.

France couldv’e been in Berlin easily. WWII happened because of European thugs (Germans) and cowards.

Why the fuck we felt compelled to liberate these scum is beyond me.

HH

91

[quote]1-packlondoner wrote:

Headhunters’ naive stereotyping and analogies were also bordering on the absurd and had me screaming ‘It’s just a game’ and nothing to do with politics. But still…

[/quote]

Bollocks. What you do, when you’re NOT forced to do it, shows who you are. Putting on the helmet and pads, by your own choice, shows what and who you are.

BTW: over here, your user name means that you want someone to ‘pack’ you, in the olde arse.

HH

92

So…How about that powerful image…huh?

You know what sport I think is better?

BODYBUILDING!

93

Comparing Football to war is stupid. Football is a sport, War is one of the worst thing that can possible happen. To say people who play football make better warriors or soldiers is just a dumb thing to say. I bet alot of those suicide bombers never played football, yet look how many people they kill.

Also, Rugby and Football can’t be compared. I enjoy both but I think many people saying football is more intense or whatever because of the contact don’t realize in order to tackle in rugby you have to aim to “wrap” your opponet up. Not attempting to wrap your opponent is a penalty. If Football players had to do this most big hits wouldn’t happen.

94

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Bollocks. What you do, when you’re NOT forced to do it, shows who you are. Putting on the helmet and pads, by your own choice, shows what and who you are.

BTW: over here, your user name means that you want someone to ‘pack’ you, in the olde arse.

HH

[/quote]

Hmmm… Maybe you’re right about what you do when you’re not forced to makes you what you are.

You, seemingly, are a xenophobic c**t.

You choose to put on pads, run at people and try knock them over and them come on web forums and boast to people that it makes you a warrior.

So when you put on your pads and play at pretend ‘war’ do you feel like a big man? It must be terrifying for others to come up against you when you so obviously play with a such raging hard-on.

I’m not knocking your sport, just your opinion that it had made you both super-powerful and full of ‘spirit’.

Re your astonishingly witty 1-pack/gay joke. I bet you were up all night thinking of that one. Big pat on the back for you, ya little comedy genius ya.

Cretin.

95

[quote]FIVE OAKES wrote:
So…How about that powerful image…huh?

You know what sport I think is better?

BODYBUILDING!

[/quote]

Fair point lol…

But does it make you a warrior and fill you with ‘American spirit’?

For the record I always thought the best American Spirit was Jack Daniels but stil…

96

[quote]Brain Monster wrote:
Comparing Football to war is stupid. Football is a sport, War is one of the worst thing that can possible happen. To say people who play football make better warriors or soldiers is just a dumb thing to say. I bet alot of those suicide bombers never played football, yet look how many people they kill.

Also, Rugby and Football can’t be compared. I enjoy both but I think many people saying football is more intense or whatever because of the contact don’t realize in order to tackle in rugby you have to aim to “wrap” your opponet up. Not attempting to wrap your opponent is a penalty. If Football players had to do this most big hits wouldn’t happen. [/quote]

Tell that to a samoan.

;o)

i feel a new thread coming on…

97

[quote]supermick wrote:
Ok, i let Remo unarmed and dangerous have his rant earlier about being a warrior etc but this is more than a language barrier thing.
You are a tit means i dissaprove of your general dismeanor. Your are a fucking strange strange person.[/quote]

Hi Mick,

Had a similar scenario of having to explain why I called someone a muppet. Takes all the fun out of it, doesn’t it?

And don’t get me started on having to explain what I meant when I called someone a plum.

Kudos for bringing up Remo though. That bullet-dodging crazy fool - takes me back.

Anyway. I play hopscotch. It makes me a warrior. Grrr…

98

[quote]1-packlondoner wrote:
supermick wrote:
Ok, i let Remo unarmed and dangerous have his rant earlier about being a warrior etc but this is more than a language barrier thing.
You are a tit means i dissaprove of your general dismeanor. Your are a fucking strange strange person.

Hi Mick,

Had a similar scenario of having to explain why I called someone a muppet. Takes all the fun out of it, doesn’t it?

And don’t get me started on having to explain what I meant when I called someone a plum.

Kudos for bringing up Remo though. That bullet-dodging crazy fool - takes me back.

Anyway. I play hopscotch. It makes me a warrior. Grrr…[/quote]

Keep on packin’…

99

These 2 videos are of Rugby League.
I think they pretty much speak for themselves.
I think all you yank footy fans should enjoy them,

and

100

  1. Rugby is in no way a more “kind” sport compared to american football…

  2. Soccer is an amazing sport, I don’t like it too much, but the skill level needed to succeed is amazing…

  3. Super nationalistic americans never seize to suprise me… “we are the best, europe (as if europe is one homogenous mass…) are cowards”…