I have yet to see a sport that is truly boring once you understand the rules. I also yet have to find a game that is as simple to pick up as football. All you need is 2 guys and a ball and you're already having fun.
America's favourite national pastime: Hating soccer
- Thread starter LARulz
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
American films and books frequently refer to grown men playing 'checkers', which I think is some sort of draughts.
Girl's games, kid's games, it's just the way they are.
Girl's games, kid's games, it's just the way they are.
I have a slightly different take. I've yet to see a sport where I haven't been thoroughly impressed with the top athletes of those sports. Amazing what the human body can do with training. Even when I dislike a sport like American football I can see past it and be in awe of a player's abilities.
Same game.
I swear it's getting harder by the day.
I'm trying to think of other top sports played in the UK and elsewhere that could be classed as athletic on Zii's athletic scale. Football, Rugby... Anything else?
Checkers in books and film? Those must be some old bookend movies. Now video games on the other hand...
Field Hockey?
I've got a copy of Matt Busby's book "Soccer at the Top." If the name's good enough for him...
It is. They don't play with their gymslips tucked into their navy blue knickers. I often used to wonder, as a young boy, why old men enjoyed watching the girls playing netball in the playground and not the lads playing footer.
Just reread this post. Are you saying the US renamed draughts as well?
Draughts and checkers are different. For one, you can't "eat" backwards in checkers.
I think eating backwards is just vomiting.
I've always thought "checkers" was just the US name for it. There are different kinds of draughts, though - or different kinds of checkers, if you will.
Another thing is that the yanks didn't come up with the term "soccer" as far as I know. It's short for "association football", that is, the sort of football played under FA rules - as opposed to the kind they played at Rugby. It goes back to the mid 19th century and the debate over whether you should be able to handle the ball or not. There was a schism - and two different set of rules came out of it, which evolved into the two sports we know as football and rugby today. Just sayin'.
Wahey!
I personally don't know how, if someone claims to like sport of any kind, can claim to not like football.
It's like the wankers you get over here who watch Rugby and act like they are some kind of sporting elite and take what ever chance they can to slag football off.
You never get people saying that about rugby or rugby players they say at the latest football scandal.
No you are right, because nobody fecking cares about rugby.
It's like the wankers you get over here who watch Rugby and act like they are some kind of sporting elite and take what ever chance they can to slag football off.
You never get people saying that about rugby or rugby players they say at the latest football scandal.
No you are right, because nobody fecking cares about rugby.
If the US is going to be challenging in 20 years there needs to be 4-8 year olds right now in America who will need to be as good as their Brazilian, Germany, Italian and Spanish counterparts, do you think that is going to be the case? The reason America is good at sports is that you are a first world country with over 300 million people, your talent pool is many times bigger than most countries. The US is improving but I don't see them seriously challenging for a WC in as little as 20 years time.
Seems they put all their energy into winter sports like hockey but point made.
Guys still play it in the parks. It's a gambling thing.
Yes. What I am seeing now with young kids is completely different than what I have seen over my previous 46 years. A lot of flair, a lot of skill.
Good ole Indy
Not that I trust wiki 100% but they have English draughts the same as American checkers. Many other variations with slightly different rules like eating back.
Next could we have an article on cricket 
Redcafe's favorite pastime: Hating America
Second to rooting for United.
Very sensitive, Americans, I always think. And defensive. Very defensive.
The most artificial concept in US sports. It's a joke of a system.
I'm watching the ESPN after-game show and the yank bloke is summing up the highlights with RVN and Roberto Martinez but he keeps breaking into excited commentary like it's all happening live. It's really weird.
18 "quoted", it's a shame I won't be reading them, NFL is 95% ad breaks and its awful.
Update, now 22.
Update, now 22.
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Football is the most watched,supported sport in the world.. Baseball,american football will never be popular outside US as football.. Who cares what the yanks think about it..
Are you sure you have lived in the US? The NFL averages over 60k per game per team. MLS is around the 20k figure. Perhaps you meant NHL. Which makes sense considering most NBA/NHL arenas do not exceed 20k in capacity.
MLS is gaining ground but it's the European leagues and clubs that are making the sport popular.
Well, the nfl may have a team in London sooner than you think so that may change.
It's a shame because you could use some education by people who actually know what they are talking about.
And? Still mate a long way for american football to be popular as real football.. One team in London doesn't change that..
Which is an incredibly stupid idea.
The ignorance is strong in this one.
You're fun.
Maybe you should present real football with a cake or some sort of medal for being more popular.
Heavens forbid a discussion on a discussion forum