Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Cooney — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:08:00 GMT

> Post-game riot

The riot is optional in the states. Airfare from England is too high for most soccer hooligans to make the flight for just one game, so they instituted the rule as a nod to economic realities.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Miles Archer — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:13:00 GMT

Since I only have two data points on English Football (two trips to Old Trafford ten years apart) I may not be recalling correctly. But, It seems to me that you can buy a pint there, but you just can't drink it in sight of the pitch.

I also love the idea of relegation. I wish they had it in baseball. The whole nonsense with the Expos would be gone and they would be just another AAA team.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Ross — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:15:00 GMT

I bet the singing was ever so slightly different from the singing you tend to get at UK football matches.

My favourite quote ..

"Football is a gentleman's game, played by hooligans; Rugby is a game of hooligans, played by gentlemen".

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Sam — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:16:00 GMT

An early draft and the coach is usually fired, thats usually enough incentive for the coach...

I really hate the idea of drafts. I mean its good for the sport, but it hasn't stopped the NY Yankees from dominating.

I think Salary caps are more useful.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Duncan — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:32:00 GMT

As a Grimsby Town fan the whole area of relegation is too fresh in my memory to be anything but blindingly painful.

However, I can say that the Irish league version (where the top team of the lower division and the bottom team of the upper division play a once off match to decide whether or not they swap divisions) is a good deal more heartbreaking.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Robert Moir — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:34:00 GMT

I don't think we have the riots any more, at least not like we used to, nor do we really have neutral cheering sections at "league" matches, just varying degrees of fan lunacy.

Besides that, seems about right to me.

Relegation is harsh but is a fact of life for us (well not me personally, I support the current English Champions). Often a club's manager will be sacked for this regardless of whether or not its their fault, and to take a more positive spin on things, and I guess this gives people something to play for in all parts of a league table, a fight to survive at the bottom of the league can be every bit as intense as a championship decider at the top of the league.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Mal Ross — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:14:00 GMT

Does British football *really* still have the image of rioting and hooliganism in the States or was that bullet just a flippant/playful jab in the Brits' direction? Such things have been pretty much eliminated in the domestic game for years now. It's sad that we should still be tarred by it.

As for international games, that's another matter. Some idiots (whose interest in football is incidental) view international games as a chance to go on holiday and give Johnny Foreigner a good kicking at the same time. It's not just the Brits either - every country has its lunatic minority.

Also, on the alcohol thing, I can confirm that beer is available at most matches, but can't be taken into the stands. One exception is European games (by that, I mean club games against European opposition, not international games or games on the continent), where UEFA apply stricter controls and all alcohol's banned within the ground.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the game. :)

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Aarrgghh — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:15:00 GMT

I saw a UK soccer^Wfootball^Wwhatever game on TV once here in the States.

There was one camera, mounted on the roof of a neighboring building. A number of tiny, distant men ran around on a field for a long time, in deep, meditative silence. There was a little white thing that they often seemed to be chasing.

It lasted for what seemed like several hours. At the end, a sepulchral BBC-announcer voice intoned, "Londonnnn... nilll. Biihhhming'm... nilllll."

Riveting. Absolutely riveting.

I suspect the booze and the riots are a necessity; presented that way, even bass fishing might be fun. Or (*shudder*) golf.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Aarrgghh — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:17:00 GMT

...of course, baseball is still the most boring activity known to modern science.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Daniel Jin — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:19:00 GMT

> In fact, in U.S. sports leagues, the team that has the worst record is rewarded with an early draft pick! How's that for reverse incentive.

yeah, we run our sports leagues like a bunch of commies, creating an artificial competition through draft and salary cap rules. bad teams are rewarded and good teams punished.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Mike Dunn — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:21:00 GMT

Mal Ross> Since soccer isn't a popular sport here, about the only time soccer gets any mainstream news exposure is when there _is_ a riot. As a result, some people get the impression that many matches end up in riots.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

ATZ Man — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:27:00 GMT

I love it when American assoc. football fans complain that NASCAR is boring: "All they do is draft each other and crash."

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Anonymous Coward — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:30:00 GMT

You are also unlikely to get the full English chants. Football players are well written about in the gossip section of the media. The chants frequently call into question the sexuality of the players, their wives and girlfriends as well as other characteristics I won't mention.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Ed 'word' Price — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:38:00 GMT

"Post-game riot"

The American riots are actually pre-game.

They've noticed that in scheduling the riots after the game, the outcome has already... come out... and thus the riots become more of a temper tantrum in wishing the results of the match were different.

However, in scheduling the riots pre-game, the riots have the following potential effects on the actual game's conclusion:

(1) With more fans from either side injured and/or dead, that specific side would have a disadvantage in the ability to cheer for their given team.

(2) Sometimes in riots, the rioters are given luck when actual football players will join the riot. Injuring or killing one of these players would dramatically change the course of the game. However, the rioters must take caution when dealing with one of these super-humans, or else their attempt to give that team a disadvantage might result in the player kicking their face off.

(3) 95% of surveyed doctors (population sample of 2 amateur doctors) agree that getting the aggression out before the match will lessen the potential risk of heart failure during the match (provided that they survive the initial riot).

Ed 'word' Price
http://www.wwwdotcomedy.com

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

RatArsed — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 19:25:00 GMT

> It lasted for what seemed like several hours. At the end, a sepulchral BBC-announcer voice intoned, "Londonnnn... nilll. Biihhhming'm... nilllll."

Now of course, neither of those two cities has just one team...

Why would you have a neutral section? It's much more fun to cheer for your team in the wrong end ;)

Similarly, not sure how manditory the streaker is...

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

A pedantic irritating Brit — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 20:04:00 GMT

> It lasted for what seemed like several hours. At the end, a sepulchral BBC-announcer voice intoned, "Londonnnn... nilll. Biihhhming'm... nilllll."

Now of course, neither of those two cities has just one team...

Well, they both have lots of teams. However there is just one Birmingham team that goes by the name Birmingham. That team is Birmingham City - the blues. Another well known team from Brum is Aston Villa.

There are no teams in the English leagues (prem, D1,2,3, conference etc.) whose name begins with London.

By the way, I'm a great fan of the American Basketball team the Washington Redskins and a huge fan of the Baseball team the Miami Dolphins.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Eric Brown — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 20:21:00 GMT

Actually, the reverse draft is intentional - the goal is to create a football league where at any given time, any given team has a reasonably good chance to defeat any other given team.

Makes for better emotional tie-ins if your home team actually has a shot at winning.

Of course, in Seattle's case, the draft picks get traded away for mediocrities....

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Gareth Lewin — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 20:48:00 GMT

You forgot one issue on your checklist, in England there are no people standing outside with signs that say "YOU HAVE SIN" and "JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS".

For example, this was taken when we were at the game: http://www.garethlewin.com/fun/2004.07.24-Chelsea.vs.Celtics.SIN.jpg

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Guido D. — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 21:27:00 GMT

The relegation system is used here, in Argentina, as well. In fact, if I am not mistaken, it's used in most of European and Latin American soccer leagues.

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Aarrgghh — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 22:22:00 GMT

A pedantic irritating Brit: Uck! It's been 15-20 years; so much for my long-term memory.

Gareth Lewin: That's because Jesus died for OUR sins, not yours. Dunno if that's because our sins require heavier artillery, or what...

Eric Brown: "Better emotional tie-ins if your home team actually has a shot at winning"? Huh huh, he said "Boston", huh huh huh...

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Ben Hutchings — Tue, 27 Jul 2004 13:25:00 GMT

Gareth: Never seen the "3:16" signs? (Referring to a well-known verse in the gospel of John if I remember correctly.)

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Ross — Tue, 27 Jul 2004 14:25:00 GMT

Gareth,

If you could make the image a little bigger next time? That one was at risk of fitting on my screen :)

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Gareth Lewin — Tue, 27 Jul 2004 17:31:00 GMT

Nope, never seen the 3:16 signs, isn't that Stone Cold Steve Austin's number? :)

I'm Jewish anyway, so I'm sure he didn't die for MY sins, be hey, the guy with the sign said he did!

And that's the quality you get from a Nikon D70....

re: Slightly closer to a proper football (i.e., soccer) match

Ale — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 22:17:00 GMT

3:16 signs were made popular by the rainbow hair man. Somme crazy hippy who dedicated his life to living in his car, and going to sporting events and getting on camera with his john 3:16 signs. Trying to convert people..

Hes in jail serving 3 life sentences now. Woops.

Real Madrid (i.e., proper football) comes to Seattle

The Old New Thing — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 17:55:17 GMT

Real Madrid takes a trip across the pond.