OT - Can we speak American now?
Now that we are on the verge of becomming a respectable soccer power, can we now please talk about the sport in our own language?
Can we stop assuming that we have to pretend we are British when we talk about football soccer?
I believe that we have now earned the right to not have to call the field the "pitch", the teams the "sides", a zero-zero score "Nil-Nil", speed as "pace", the uniform the "kit", and how the USA are is improving.
I'm pretty sure that they are not required to use these British terms in Germany or Italy or Argentina, but rather they are free to use the German or Italian or Spanish terms for them.
....are intrinsic to the sport. Would you want someone calling a baseball pitch a "bowl?" No, you wouldn't. Just like a football helmet is a "helmet" and not headgear.
Get over it.
Have you heard that there might be a little oil in the gulf?
A spill the Brits caused. One more reason to call it Soccer.
P.S. Said with a laugh.
I doubt the Germans, Italians, Argentinians feel compelled to use the British terms. They have their own vernacular for those terms, just like we do.
Am I the only one who finds it silly when someone who would otherwise say "The US team is well conditioned and has excellent speed" when speaking about any other sport, feels they have to pretend they are British and say something like "The US side are fit and have brilliant pace" when talking about footie, er, soccer.
I have to admit, it does sound lovely when the British World Cup broadcasters say it. Were it to come out of the mouth of someone like Kirk Herbstreit? Uh, not so much.
they also have their own languages, Einstein.
Lorry <> Truck, even though both are English language terms.
But I would support a movement to ban American soccer fans from calling the sport "futbol".
Perhaps I should expand on this if peeps really find it objectionable... "soccer" is a perfectly legitimate name for the sport. It's used around the world, from Ireland to South Africa to Australia. It bothers me that American soccer fans feel the term is so inferior that they borrow a Spanish word (which is pronounced exactly the same as "football") and refer to the game that way. It's just silly. I'd rather people just call it football.
If footballl and futbol are pronounced the same way, how do you know if someone is saying futbol instead of football?
Are you mentally handicapped or was it just not obvious I was talking about writing "futbol"?
So I'm gonna go with the latter
Fries
Its "Freedom Bol"!
Blimey! I believe this bloke may be on to something!
I actually do not have a problem at all calling by what it is already known in english... I would not like it if the brits started calling football (american/tough/etc) fussyball or something. Some things you have to respect if you want others to respect you in return.
I do enjoy the world cup a ton (though this one has kinda sucked IMO), even if not as much fun to watch as football or hockey or rugby or college basketball (sorry, I do not like baseball), but you have to appreciate the passion at the games, the skill of the players (drawn from the best around the world), the competitiveness, etc.
I do enjoy the world cup a ton (though this one has kinda sucked IMO)
Wait, what?
Sorry, confusing... I have watched the world cups since Mexico '86... this one so far has been a bit of a disappointment because of the missed calls (goals made not called, and goals missed called goals), phantom red cards, no real underdogs (maybe Ghana?) advancing, and the damn vuvuzuelas.
Nevermind, when you rephrase it that way, I understand. Even if I like the vuvuzelas.
So, France imploding, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina playing out of their minds, 2 USA comebacks, S Korea playing well, and some of the most amazing goals I've ever seen don't hold your interest?
You must be a better soccer fan than I am.
I've found this WC to be 100x better than this year's NCAA Basketball tournament, the entire NCAA basketball season, the NBA playoffs, the NHL Stanley Cup finals (the whole playoff outweighs it), anything resembling Michigan's football season (damn you CiLs!), any rugby game I've ever seen, and the Super Bowl.
The only sporting events that have remotely come close over the last year or so was the Olympic hockey games, and Michigan's resurgence to end the hockey year, and on a personal note, the last few weeks of college baseball I've traveled to see, including TCU's last few games and their series in Austin. The last one only because I was there in person for two of the best games of the year.
This has been an exciting WC with several good games spread out, a little bit of controversy to drive interest, and quite a bit of drama around the team I root for. I can't complain.
100x better? Eh, I'm all for getting on super-soccer-highs once every four years.
While we're being all "worldly aware" here, in Europe, a "WC" is a "water closet" (i.e. "toilet"). Reading your post in those terms gives it an entirely separate meaning.
In that case, make it 100000000x better. Carrribean jerk chicken last night. The WC has been very, very good to me.
/sarcasm-maybe
just made me cackle so loud I almost woke up my daughter. My wife, in a rage, ran quietly into the computer room and hissed "What the fuck are you doing!? She's sleeping!"
She was very unimpressed and confused when I whispered "Sorry, I'm bored and it's still something like 67 days to fussyball season."
Well I would like to be able to speak "American" during a world cup soccer game but no one will be able to hear me over the constant BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
we must make up our own terms:
the field: double-wide (too large for most American stadiums)
the sides: the bus-stops (they look like people waiting for a bus under the plastic sheild)
any time. I would most certainly introduce the american terminology, 'instant replay'.
I guess, but you have to admit that it's pretty annoying when some Brit insists that the "actual" name of American football is not "football," but rather, "Gridiron."
I'd really love to know who these mythical Brits are, because I've never once heard a British person say STUPID AMAERICAN YOUR SPORT IS CALLED GRIDIRON LOLOLOL.
I've only heard maybe 1 British person even say "Gridiron". Most just call it American Football.
Well, you must be the authority on the British, so I'll have to rescind my comment.
dude, Brodie is like the biggest Anglophile on the earth. He whacks it to the Union Jack. I'm not even joking a little. He used to live in London, then moved to Canada because he still gets to sing to the Queen before sporting events.
is wank, i.e. Brodie wanks to the Union Jack. Which would make him a tosser, as well.
Yeah, but would the Brits accept him, what with him being a Seppo and all?
I think he's just being a poofter.
"wank"? "tosser"? Oh god, here comes more of that Gay soccer verbiage.
whenever I see that babby, I start wanking on the spot
The Brits I know refer to it as "handegg" which... makes some sense iyam.
When I was in Australia, people called it gridiron, but they have several kinds of 'football' over there to keep straight.
fucking hate soccer.
The World Cup blowed dudes for junk money, and your sister's a whore.
Classy...
joking. Just trying to capture the American spirit.
...beyond your wildest dreams.
for the ever-predictable reply.
i love british commentators. they say wonderfully descriptive things like "he has a left foot that can open a can of sliced tomatoes..." and unlike most american commentators they don't try to dumb down the sport to people that don't understand soccer. that doesn't make me some wanna-be brit.
also, field or pitch, speed or pace, i don't give a damn what people call it. you get used to it when you listen to european soccer commentary and it actually sounds right to call it the british way.
im sorry you feel your american pride wounded by it - i don't.
p.s real salt lake, however, should change their stupid name. utah and spanish don't go together!
you may want to locate the <shift> key on your keyboard.
I THINK I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!11111!!ONEONE!!
I think you may have actually located the <caps_lock>. I may be wrong, though.
P.S. For allezbleu, I like your signature line. Another good choice, considering your screen name, would be "Le Voyage" by Charles Baudelaire: "And without knowing why, they always say, 'Let's go (blue)!'"
Truer words have never been spoken...the MLS team names are just awful. There's got to be a middle ground between ridiculous American-style team names (Seattle Sounders, Columbus Crew) and the sadly pathetic attempts at copying the big European clubs (Real Salt Lake, DC United) but most of the teams have not found it. LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire aren't bad, but the others....yeesh. All the good players in the world aren't going to make anyone respect the MLS with team names like that. At least the Tampa Bay Mutiny aren't around anymore, that one was probably the worst.
No, but now's our chance to change the name of American Football to something more fitting. To be fair to the Brits, we don't even use our feet that much. I think deathball or pound-me-in-the-ass-ball would be more appropriate.
Souldongpunchball? Or is that too bulky?