In a recent NYT article on kids and sports, they talked about futsal that is played in Brazil on a tiny patch of grass or concrete. Apparently it's a miniaturized form of soccer. Have you heard of futsal? Do kids play it in England?
Speaking of soccer, I am particularly interested in the World Cup this year because our youngest daughter will be there. I read that the most pessimistic country about winning the World Cup is England. Kinda typical, right?
I've never seen it, but futsal is quite often played in Europe, and, I understand, is sometimes played here as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futsal
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Of course that's widely known. On the other hand I've never yet seen a convincing explanation of why you use "football" to describe a game where kicking the ball happens at most twice per score (kick off and field goal/ extra point) and is against the rules the rest of the time.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
It's not widely known on this side of the pond, Bob. See my post above for a bit of an explanation of American "football." It seems to have evolved from Rugby. I had long wondered the same as you have; now I have some basic understanding of how it all came about.
I found it quite amusing to learn that until 1863 it was permitted to kick one's opponent!
Originally posted by BobHale: Still can't figure why it's called FOOTball though.
Wikipedia Wikipedia offers a possible explanation.
quote:
Although the accepted etymology of the word football, or "foot ball", originated in reference to the action of a foot kicking a ball, this may be a false etymology. An alternative explanation has it that the word originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.[6] These sports were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports more often enjoyed by aristocrats. In some cases, the word has been applied to games which involved carrying a ball and specifically banned kicking. For example, the English writer William Hone, writing in 1825 or 1826, quotes the social commentator Sir Frederick Morton Eden, regarding a game — which Hone refers to as "Foot-Ball" — played in the parish of Scone, Perthshire:
The game was this: he who at any time got the ball into his hands, run [sic] with it till overtaken by one of the opposite part; and then, if he could shake himself loose from those on the opposite side who seized him, he run on; if not, he threw the ball from him, unless it was wrested from him by the other party, but no person was allowed to kick it.[7] [Emphasis added.]
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sport of rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, under rules resembling rugby and soccer. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established the snap, eleven-player teams and the concept of downs, and later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone and specified the size and shape of the football.
Etymology and names
In the United States, American football is referred to as "football".[2] The term "football" was officially established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season, when the sport first shifted from soccer-style rules to rugby-style rules; although it could easily have been called "rugby" at this point, Harvard, one of the primary proponents of the rugby-style game, compromised and did not request the name of the sport be changed to "rugby".[3] In countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the terms "gridiron" or "American football" are favored.[4][5]
I loved this Tribune editorial about Americans and soccer. If you can't access it, I'll copy and paste it. It explains why we were frustrated with a big game ending in a tie: we just don't get soccer.
quote:
There was no hooliganism after it ended. Maybe that's because many fans were slow to realize the game was over.
Here is our concept of soccer:
quote:
No, we don't take our soccer all that seriously here in the U.S. Halfway through Sunday's matchup against Portugal, in fact, we might have joked that it was time for someone's mom to trot out with the juice boxes and Rice Krispie treats.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
There doesn't seem to be the ability built in to move an individual post between forums, only between threads in the same forum. I've therefore made a post on your behalf in the intended place.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I was amused to read a short article in my local paper saying that our American cousins, against their better judgment, seem to be enjoying the World Cup. Apparently nearly 25 million watched USA v Portugal, more than watched the final NBA game also shown that week.
quote:
Cue Yanks on blogs in denial: we really don't like it! This is a one-off! Soccer will never catch on! Etc, etc etc. Relax, guys, it's only a game. It doesn't make you any less macho and awesome to watch it.
Now that Germany has beaten USA 1-0 I wonder what future viewing figures will be?
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Germany beat us, yes. But we're still in it. And that's another example of how the World Cup confuses us. Besides being able to tie in these really important games, you also can lose, but still move on. Were you able to access that Tribune editorial above? It was entitled, "Americans love soccer; they just don't get it." It was a hoot.
In all fairness, the NBA final games were lopsided this year (4-1), and that may be why there were more watching the World Cup. Still, I think your article is right. I was at our company outing last Friday, which was a Cubs baseball game on one of Wrigley Field's historic rooftops. When we went inside to get out of the sun there were big screen TVs that we thought would have the Cubs game. Nope. They all had the World Cup, with people watching that instead of the Cubs game.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
What exactly is it about league tables that you find so confusing? In regular season football (using the word in it's American sense) you don't need to win every game to be top of your Division. The first round of the World Cup is just played on a league basis rather than a straight knockout which would, of course, reduce the number of games played.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Well, that's true. There are specific series in other sports. It's just that to move on to the final 16 (or whatever they call it) with only one win seems a bit odd. But that's partly because they allow ties.
To bring this topic around to words... I read in the papers that a Brazilian player, Neymar, got a knee in his back and suffered a fractured vertebrae (my italics). Surely that should be vertebra (singular)? I understand only one bone in his spine was broken.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Amaracunz don't know that, arnie. They don't know that "data" and "agenda" are plural either. We'uns don't do Latin here, y'see. Lots of other English speakers pick up our bad habits.
