# Culture Shock: Men play football better than women...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [August 11, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143 "2012-08-11T01:50:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/21 "2012-08-11T14:16:23Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#):
>
> If somebody in a sports thread posts something utterly stupid
I understand **RedFury** thought it was stupid and you obviously agree, but that’s not some kind of objective determination. And no, it does not give you the freedom to insult everybody else.
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/22 "2012-08-11T17:29:55Z")
I for one never knew that the men could beat the women in football until RedFury graciously pointed it out. I’m sure I speak for the vast majority of posters here when I say that.
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### Author:  [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/23 "2012-08-11T17:48:08Z")
> [@RedFury](#):
>
> …and right after that a certain **Knorf** butts in to write one of the most [ignorant posts](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15367726&postcount=11) I’ve read here yet – and after a decade, that’s saying something.
That’s just, like, your opinion, man.
What’s hilarious is your assumption that because someone enjoys women’s soccer, it must necessarily mean that person doesn’t watch men’s soccer or understand anything about it. If you put in the least effort, you’d find you were entirely wrong in your assumption about my understanding of the sport.
I stand by my post. I never said that the women would be athletically competitive with men in a one-to-one scenario. You’re the one who came in with this:
> [@](#):
>
> Just confirms what I’ve always suspected – the US woman’s team is successful; therefore they are “awesome football players.” No actual football knowledge needed.
Yep, that’s thread-shitting. Incidentally, you weren’t even quoting anyone. I did say Carli Lloyd’s second goal was “sensational,” which _it was_. I also said the women are “good footballers,” which they are.
You didn’t even watch the game. The top women’s teams are _good_. Are they as good as Barcelona FC, or the hated enemies of football, Real Madrid, or any of the top teams in the major leagues in Europe or the best international men’s sides? Well, no. So what? They’re still _good_, and the match was exciting football, which you’d know if you had actually watched the match and didn’t feel the need to protect your sainted manhood with “herp derp men are better lolz” when someone praises the athletic success of women. Nope, that’s not a quote, but I think it’s a fair paraphrase of the intellectual quality of your contribution to the thread.
Disagreements of opinion are par for the course. But you leap from disagreeing with an opinion to assuming the person who holds it necessarily knows nothing about the sport, with nothing else to base this on. That’s just kind of pathetic, but not as pathetic as your testosterone-driven need to bash women’s soccer and insult the fans who enjoy it.
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### Author:  [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/24 "2012-08-11T18:02:04Z")
My 2 cents:
**RedFury** you seemed to go into that thread with an axe to grind.
> [@](#):
>
> Just confirms what I’ve always suspected – the US woman’s team is successful; therefore they are “awesome football players.” No actual football knowledge needed.
Here are a couple questions for you and I do hope you answer them:
1. When a team (any team, from any country in any sport) wins the gold, don’t you think it’s reasonable to say they are “awesome” at their sport (in this case soccer)?
2. If the answer to #1 is “no”, does this mean that it is unlikely (not impossible but unlikely) that there are any “awesome” soccer players that are women in the entire world?
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### Author:  [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/25 "2012-08-11T20:31:42Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#):
>
> My 2 cents:
> **RedFury** you seemed to go into that thread with an axe to grind.
>
> \*quote added by yours truly as it doesn’t show in the reply box:
>
> > [@RedFury](#):
> >
> > Just confirms what I’ve always suspected – the US woman’s team is successful; therefore they are “awesome football players.” No actual football knowledge needed.
I have no problem responding to you as I feel your questions are both fair & respectful. I think It’s important to note that that was my _second_ response in that thread. In my [first post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15367543&postcount=9) I merely asked what was so great about the save – while congratulating the US team on the Gold.
I then get two responses, [one from Lamar](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15367712&postcount=10) stating it was an expected save and [one from Knorf](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15367726&postcount=11), championing the women’s game over the men’s.
The ensuing exchange can be followed either in the thread itself or by simply following the links in the OP. Thus no need to repeat it here.
> [@RaftPeople](#):
>
> Here are a couple questions for you and I do hope you answer them:
No, not at all.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. When a team (any team, from any country in any sport) wins the gold, don’t you think it’s reasonable to say they are “awesome” at their sport (in this case soccer)?
In most circumstances – and I have no reason to doubt this was one of them – sure, I’d say that is a fair claim.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. If the answer to #1 is “no”, does this mean that it is unlikely (not impossible but unlikely) that there are any “awesome” soccer players that are women in the entire world?
Well, since my response was in the affirmative, the answer to this query would be the same: sure, there are.
Where it gets beyond “stupid” to my way of thinking, is when some posters start ragging on men’s football – a “sport” unto itself in the SDMB for as long as I’ve been here – and come up with posts such as this one:
[The USA, Canada, Japan, and to a lesser extent France and Brazil all showed great skill in the Olympic tournament, and as others have mentioned they play a more manly game than the dancers, divers, and preeners of the men’s game. If today’s game were played exactly the same way but the teams were Barca and Real instead, they’d have run out of stretchers in the first half.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=661533)
Which, as you’ll note, I didn’t even respond to the next morning as I had already been given a warning. Point being, I don’t deny that there are fine female athletes in many a sport – it’d be ridiculous to do so – but to suggest that pro teams in European Football Leagues would be put out in stretchers in the match the US & Japan played in the Olympic final, is, quite honestly, beyond moronic. Most professional men’s club teams in the world could spot any woman’s NT 10 goals and still beat them handily. Or do you honestly think professional managers/team owners are going to shell out $90 million dollars, when they could buy a gal just as talented for say, $500,000? Where are they, pray tell? 'cause I’d become their agent faster that you could say “this one.”
Trust that answers your query.
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### Author:  [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/26 "2012-08-11T20:53:47Z")
The formal warning was certainly going overboard. I was taken aback when I saw it.
A non-formal warning to take that discussion to another thread would have been fine. It is a legitimate discussion, involving several people, not entirely off topic, even if I disagree with **RedFury**.
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### Author:  [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/27 "2012-08-11T21:49:26Z")
Thanks for answering, I appreciate it.
So, it sounds like the point you were making was that, just because a save was made by the US women’s soccer team to win, that doesn’t automatically make it a great save. It’s certainly possible to have a great save in women’s soccer, but we shouldn’t jump to that conclusion just because “our” team won and a save happened at about the same time.
Was this kind of your point?
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### Author:  [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/28 "2012-08-12T01:39:26Z")
I read the part you underlined differently than you, I think. I understood that to be a comment on the faked injuries being common in the men’s game, rather than saying that the women’s game was so tough that the men would end up being injured.
If I’ve read you wrong, I apologize. But I do think this is just a misunderstanding.
ETA: This is in response to **RedFury** ’s post #25
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/29 "2012-08-12T02:57:00Z")
> [@Suse](#):
>
> I read the part you underlined differently than you, I think. I understood that to be a comment on the faked injuries being common in the men’s game, rather than saying that the women’s game was so tough that the men would end up being injured.
You are correct.
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### Author:  [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/30 "2012-08-12T04:15:11Z")
> [@RedFury](#):
>
> I then get two responses, [one from Lamar](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15367712&postcount=10) stating it was an expected save and [one from Knorf](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15367726&postcount=11), championing the women’s game over the men’s.
Nope. Didn’t do that.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/31 "2012-08-12T07:36:49Z")
I too thought the original warning was a bit overboard, but the longer this thread goes on, the less and less sympathetic I’m feeling.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/32 "2012-08-12T07:42:30Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#):
>
> Dude. It’s a message board thread, not the Last Stand of the 300.
“Madness? THIS! IS! ATMB!”
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### Author:  [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-shock-men-play-football-better-than-women/631143/33 "2012-08-12T22:29:51Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#):
>
> Thanks for answering, I appreciate it.
>
> So, it sounds like the point you were making was that, just because a save was made by the US women’s soccer team to win, that doesn’t automatically make it a great save. It’s certainly possible to have a great save in women’s soccer, but we shouldn’t jump to that conclusion just because “our” team won and a save happened at about the same time.
>
> Was this kind of your point?
My pleasure & spot on – that’s exactly the point. And the very reason I asked for details about said save. The whole “best save I’ve seen…” certainly piqued my interest as a footie fan & former goalie.
> [@Autolycus](#):
>
> I too thought the original warning was a bit overboard, but the longer this thread goes on, the less and less sympathetic I’m feeling.
Out of curiosity, why do you feel that way?
> [@Suse](#):
>
> I read the part you underlined differently than you, I think. I understood that to be a comment on the faked injuries being common in the men’s game, rather than saying that the women’s game was so tough that the men would end up being injured.
>
> If I’ve read you wrong, I apologize. But I do think this is just a misunderstanding…
I suppose if I did a handstand and read the post backwards, I might come to the same parsing that you did. But since I didn’t do that…
That said, I do appreciate your input. Apologies certainly not needed.
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