OT: why football is better than American football

[Erax]

Football is The Game because it's universal. It's played all over the world. There are more nations filiated with FIFA than with the UN. Football has been used to unite peoples and prevent wars. It is played wherever there is open ground and a ball. No need for $100 worth of baseball equipment, football armor or hockey gear. It has become a universal language with no words, like chess or mathematics.

Needless to say, it is the world's most popular, most widely played sport by far. So I'm sorry to be the one to break the news, but you hockey, American football and baseball lovers are the weird ones.

[oleg]

Moreover, football is an integral part of Humanity Heritage. Here is a test:
When I say 1982, France-Germany, surely there are dozens of old geezers ready to supply me with the details !

Now, name ANY US sport action 20 years old and see if anybody have any clue

[Thermodyne]

Well, money talks and bull doody walks. Show me a soccer team with an 80 million dollar payroll. Show me a soccer team that Forbes values at .98 Billion dollars. That $980,000,000.00 for you Brits. Show me any team other than Football that has sold out 85,000 seats through 2038.

[Thermodyne]

Originally posted by oleg:
Moreover, football is an integral part of Humanity Heritage. Here is a test:
When I say 1982, France-Germany, surely there are dozens of old geezers ready to supply me with the details !

Now, name ANY US sport action 20 years old and see if anybody have any clue

Football doesn't even need to mention the year, just say Jet vs. Colts and super bowl.

Or show the picture of Riggins running over the Miami safety and ask what game it was.

[TerranC]

Originally posted by Erax:
Football is The Game because it's universal. It's played all over the world. There are more nations filiated with FIFA than with the UN. Football has been used to unite peoples and prevent wars. It is played wherever there is open ground and a ball. No need for $100 worth of baseball equipment, football armor or hockey gear. It has become a universal language with no words, like chess or mathematics.

Needless to say, it is the world's most popular, most widely played sport by far. So I'm sorry to be the one to break the news, but you hockey, American football and baseball lovers are the weird ones.

Amen. Although I'm assuming you meant Ice hockey when you say hockey. Field hockey is quite popular around the world.

Edit: IMHO, I think Americans would get into soccer only if they were to ever win the World Cup.

[ October 09, 2003, 23:28: Message edited by: TerranC ]

[oleg]

Originally posted by Thermodyne:
Well, money talks and bull doody walks. Show me a soccer team with an 80 million dollar payroll. Show me a soccer team that Forbes values at .98 Billion dollars. That $980,000,000.00 for you Brits. Show me any team other than Football that has sold out 85,000 seats through 2038.

So what ? You have one league with about 50 teams(sorry, don't remember exact number ) in 150M people market. In Europe, there are 30+ leagues with THOUSANDS of teams competing for about the same money. No wonder there is no such monopoly .

In fact, in 2-3 years superleague may emerge if top football clubs get their way with UEFA . I hope it will never happen. Football is a people game still.

If American-style sport businees prevail, we will see Barselona moving to Turin, because of the LOW tax break for a new stadium
Can you imagine this ? Just read Thermo' post again and get to grip that it is all about money folks, not about national pride or any such nonsense. Just pay, you suckers Or we will move Dodgers back to NY

[ October 10, 2003, 00:24: Message edited by: oleg ]

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by oleg:
So what ? You have one league with about 50 teams(sorry, don't remember exact number ) in 150M people market. In Europe, there are 30+ leagues with THOUSANDS of teams competing for about the same money. No wonder there is no such monopoly .

...

Just pay, you suckers Or we will move Dodgers back to NY

First of all the Dodgers are a baseball team.

Your point about the number of teams isn't really valid. The 30 Team NFL is just the top level of professional Football players. There is Arena Football and several smaller semi-pro leagues, many of which likely outdraw some Pro Soccer teams. Then there are several levels of College football. Some of the bigger schools there out draw NFL teams in attendance. And literally thousands of highschool and youth Football teams. That's even bigtime sport in some towns.