soccer vs. (american) football

Great Debates
1

No contest.

soccer.

a) You have to have athletic abilities to play. (You’re running for about 90 minutes!) In football, you’re on the field for 30 seconds.

b) In football, the goal is to try and injure the other player. When a quarterback is sacked and injured so they’re carried off the field, you can see the opposing team members giving each other “high fives” because they made such a good play. How does that teach sportsmanship?

c) Soccer is much more affectionate. After a goal, you can see the soccer players jumping all over each other and giving each other hugs and kisses. In football, the player that gets a touchdown dances around like a chicken ?!?!?

I don’t see how there can be any reasonable debate about this, but any messages agreeing with me are welcome below.

Jacques Kilchoer
Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.

2

This has been done before. But you have to love those 0-0 ties.

3

On the whole I agree with you, but I’d have to say that dancing around like a chicken can be great exercise.

My soccer coach in junior high could do all the soccer moves except run. He walked very stiffly. I asked him why. “Well, when I was in the ninth grade I went out for football. Some of the older guys didn’t like me much, so they tackled me pretty hard a couple of times. My knees just never got better.” Which is not to say that soccer injuries are always pretty, but no one around me ever got injured like that.

4

Oh what the hell, I’ll bite.

a) You need althetic ability to run around in circles for 90 minutes too. Doesn’t make it interesting to watch.

b) The goal of soccer is for fans to injure each other.

c) No one dances around after a soccer goal? They run to mid-field, drop to their knees and raise their arms skyward. Yeah, nice impression of the Platoon movie poster, Sergei. About time someone scored.
More nails in the soccer coffin:

d) Drama queens faking injuries.
e) When was the last real casualty-ridden riot at a football game?
f) Soccer players “giving each other hugs and kisses.”
g) Ricky Martin songs.
h) Ronaldo and his soccer talent which was “given to him by God” choking in the world cup.
i) Fans shooting players.
j) Maradona.
k) Implied socio-political implications of international matches.
l) Middle aged men standing shoulder-to-shoulder clutching their testicles.
m) Off-sides.
n) Shoot-outs.
o) Coaches smoking on the field.
p) Oh yeah, that ninety minutes and still 0-0 thing.

“The world ends when I die. And as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the universe might as well call it a day too.” – Matt Groening

5

I used to hate playing golf until I played it and got an appreciation of the game. I completely understand the common feeling here in the states that ‘soccer’ is boring too watch. If I hadn’t played it from 1st grade through college, I too might find it boring to watch. But having played the game, I have a better appreciation for various things that happen. Great passes, athletic shots, and incredible saves are just a few of the things I enjoy watching in the game which can make up for the lack of scoring. And the lack of scoring makes it even more exciting when they do score.

The lack of involvement in the sport is IMHO one of the biggest factors in the difference in popularity between the U.S. and other countries. Most kids in soccer-loving countries play at an early age, with the hopes of someday making the world cup team, or of playing for the elite team in their country’s pro league, not because some of their friends in their 3rd grade class were doing it. I won’t even get into the lack of qualified, generally interested adults to take on the role of coaches here in the U.S., which can lead to apathy towards the game when young.

On a lighter note, I always thought it was funny that the word ‘football’ is used here in the U.S. to describe a sport in which the ‘football’ isn’t really a ball, and almost all of the people who actually use their feet to kick the ball are ex-‘soccer’ players. :slight_smile:

6

how about a real game like lacrosse. it takes all the running physical energy of soccer, but you have to do it wearing 15 lbs of padding. why padding, because you get to knock the crap out of anybody that has the ball, which by the way is harder than a baseball and can reach speeds of 120mph. In college, i saw a guy get his cup shattered!

7

Alphagene raises some interesting points, which I will try to answer.

a) “Running around” for 90 minutes is not what makes it interesting to watch, but it’s what makes it a real sport. A sport implies physical activity (which is what people always tell me when I try to defend chess as a sport.)

b) Soccer fans get out of line, but that shows they really care about the game!

“Drama queens faking injuries.” and post-goal “Platoon”-style pose.

That shows that soccer actually requires a variety of skills, including acting, and is therefore a more well-rounded activity.

Soccer players “giving each other hugs and kisses.”

I think soccer needs more of that, not less! Maybe players should rub noses after each good play.

Ricky Martin songs.

I don’t think those are required by the rules of soccer.

Ronaldo and his soccer talent which was “given to him by God” choking in the world cup.

Hey, at least he didn’t puke in the world cup.

Fans shooting players.

Most of the time they miss.

Maradona.

The entire Dallas Cowboys team.

Implied socio-political implications of international matches.

At least there’s more than one place in the word that’s interested in competing in the sport.

Middle aged men standing shoulder-to-shoulder clutching their testicles.

Men so covered with padding you can’t tell their back from their front.

Off-sides.

Every sport needs some incomprehensible rule, to give the fans something to argue about post-game.

There were a few other quibbles, but I believe I’ve covered most of the objections.

Jacques Kilchoer
Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.

8

The day that an overtime Superbowl is decided by a field goal kicking contest is the day I decide to give a rat’s ass about soccer.

Yer pal,
Satan

9

I think it was Johnny Carson who said, “Do you know why 50,000 American kids play soccer? So they don’t have to watch it.”

10

Soccer is not ‘better’ than gridiron football anymore than hockey is ‘better’ than basketball, or swimming is ‘better’ than tennis. Comparing apples to oranges is a waste of time, though possibly fun. :wink:

Soccer demands a different set of physical skills than does American ‘football’. That doesn’t make football players non-athletes. After all, I wouldn’t want one of those 6’ 6" interior linemen running after ME!

Soccer IS fun to watch, but it becomes more fun when you have an appreciation of the sport. Playing it helps, watching it also helps, learning the rules (only 17 of them!) definitely helps.

International soccer between top teams is more ‘boring’ because the teams are so good. Yet I don’t hear anyone thinking a 1-0 baseball game is boring. If you want to watch soccer that is less boring, watch some Argentine soccer.

Soccer is a lot of fun to watch, if you know what you are watching. :slight_smile:

11

Putting all jokes aside, my main argument with (american) football is that it’s allowed and part of the game to try and injure your opponent. It’s almost as barbaric as boxing.

As far as arguing which is “better”, of course that is a subjective view.

Jacques Kilchoer
Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.