# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 71
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1402 "2022-05-28T03:54:41Z")
I know. The strip itself brought up the memory for me. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1403 "2022-05-28T04:02:14Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > It always amuses me when people insist “soccer” is the American term. AFAIK, it’s a British term for that style of football. Both you and they are partially right. The word _soccer_ certainly originated in the U.K. as slang derived from asSOCiation football - the governing body is the Football Association. And this originally distinguished it from Rugby football - but that eventually got shortened to just rugby. In fact It’s much more common in the U.K. to call the game _football_ rather than _soccer_. Therefore (speaking as a Brit who lives in the U.S.), I do tend to associate (sorry) use of the word _soccer_ more with Americans, for whom it’s the only word for the game, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1404 "2022-05-28T04:15:53Z")
Don’t Australians and Canadians also call it soccer? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1405 "2022-05-28T06:05:32Z")
[explainxkcd](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2625:_Field_Topology) notes that gridiron proper would be the flat plane, but also mentions that junior schools use the old-style H-goals, is that true? They also bring up the possibility that “football” here _could_ mean Gaelic or Rugby football, which would have two holes (Oz rules would be a plane) Personally, the ones I disagree with are soccer, badminton and volleyball - a net is not a plane, it’s a set of holes, so those pitches would be even more at the extreme right than swimming or croquet - _hundreds_ of holes. Not sure if the net is a requirement in basketball, or just a hoop. If the former, same deal there. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1406 "2022-05-28T11:22:06Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > They also bring up the possibility that “football” here _could_ mean Gaelic or Rugby football, which would have two holes That might be the case if Munroe were Irish or from some country where Rugby is the main form of football, such as New Zealand. But he’s American, so I think it’s safe to assume he means American football. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1407 "2022-05-28T11:22:43Z")
A few low-budget high schools or middle schools might still have H-style goal posts, usually with a soccer goal built into the bottom so they can use the same equipment for both sports. But even there, the Y style is still more common, and very, very few people would consider the H style the default. Munroe, as I’m sure we all already knew, isn’t the most in tune with athletics, but I’m still surprised he would have categorized the field this way. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Personally, the ones I disagree with are soccer, badminton and volleyball - a net is not a plane, it’s a set of holes, so those pitches would be even more at the extreme right than swimming or croquet - _hundreds_ of holes. Not sure if the net is a requirement in basketball, or just a hoop. If the former, same deal there. But the holes in the nets have no relevance. In all cases, you could replace the net with a sheet of transparent nonporous plastic, with no change to the game, since the ball and players can’t pass through it. The one I disagree with is croquet: A croquet field has no holes at all, just depressions (which have no topological significance). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1408 "2022-05-28T11:25:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The one I disagree with is croquet: A croquet field has no holes at all, just depressions (which have no topological significance). You play croquet without hoops? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1409 "2022-05-28T11:25:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A croquet field has no holes at all, just depressions The hoops? > [@Chronos](#): > > In all cases, you could replace the net with a sheet of transparent nonporous plastic You _could_, but that’s not how they actually are. Either that, or they have no net (like a lot of school fields - my high school, for example), in which case they’re two-hole or 6-hole or 8-hole, depending on their construction (just uprights+crossbar, or buttresses as well) And I’ve since checked, and it seems the basket/net is _mandatory_ in basketball rules. > [@dtilque](#): > > That might be the case if Munroe were Irish or from some country where Rugby is the main form of football, such as New Zealand. But he’s American, so I think it’s safe to assume he means American football. Unless he was trolling, which he sometimes does. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1410 "2022-05-28T15:20:01Z")
…Why was I remembering croquet as involving holes in the ground, instead of hoops? And even if the official basketball rules require the net, in practice, there’s a lot more basketball played with netless hoops than football played with H goalposts. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1411 "2022-05-28T15:58:21Z")
I think he got soccer wrong, but I don’t think he got soccer wrong the way **MrDibble** does. I think soccer should have been in the same category as basketball, because the woodwork is part of the field - if the ball hits the post or the bar, it’s still in play (unless, of course, it then goes out of bounds during the normal run of play). The net, on the other hand, is out of play, as once the ball goes over the goal line, it’s a goal and the presence or absence of a net is an implementation detail. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1412 "2022-05-30T07:59:52Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > I think soccer should have been in the same category as basketball, because the woodwork is part of the field See the second part of my last post, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1413 "2022-05-30T22:59:17Z")
> **[d65536](https://xkcd.com/2626/)** > > They're robust against quantum attacks because it's hard to make a quantum system that large. The second hardest part is determining exactly which face is showing straight up. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1414 "2022-05-30T23:08:07Z")
I think we’re all agreeing that soccer and football should be swapped. Could add golf to the one on the right. Some golf courses do not have 18 holes. If you want to play that many, you play the nine again. But I do question Olympic swimming in that one. As I understand it, there are actually ten lanes in an Olympic swimming pool, but the two outside ones are not used. So it should be either an eight or ten hole field. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1415 "2022-05-30T23:11:48Z")
Golf courses have zero holes. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1416 "2022-05-30T23:44:43Z")
Except for mini-golf when the last hole eats your ball. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1417 "2022-05-30T23:54:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But the holes in the nets have no relevance. In all cases, you could replace the net with a sheet of transparent nonporous plastic, with no change to the game, since the ball and players can’t pass through it. > [@Chronos](#): > > Golf courses have zero holes. You argued (I think correctly) that the holes in a net have no significance to the game, and should therefore be treated as if they do not exist. I believe the rule in golf is that the ball is in the hole when it is below the lip? So perhaps you could turn your net argument around, and argue that there _are_ 18 holes that are critical to the game of golf, and that the cup underneath is there just for convenience to retrieve the ball after it has passed through the hole, and should be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1418 "2022-05-31T00:03:56Z")
Come to think of it, the whole concept of topological fields is flawed, because topologically, it’s not well-defined when you pass through a hole. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1419 "2022-05-31T00:09:58Z")
Good point. Topologically speaking, my dinner is in the same place when I’m cooking it, after I eat it, and… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1420 "2022-05-31T00:15:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A few low-budget high schools or middle schools might still have H-style goal posts, usually with a soccer goal built into the bottom so they can use the same equipment for both sports. But even there, the Y style is still more common, and very, very few people would consider the H style the default. Munroe, as I’m sure we all already knew, isn’t the most in tune with athletics, but I’m still surprised he would have categorized the field this way. Additionally, the few fields that still have H-goals (I ref on them occasionally) will have them on the end line, which is out of play. The ball can hit and go through for points, or hit and not go through, for a dead ball and a turnover. H-goals aren’t on the goal line in the field of play for obvious safety reasons (though they aren’t terribly safe on the end line). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1421 "2022-05-31T05:01:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The second hardest part is determining exactly which face is showing straight up. Having seen d100s that look like a big golf ball, I’d say the tough part is making them stop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=70) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=72)