Well, i'd like to make some considerations:
1th -
There are two valid opposing points in this discussion: one, that the USA's sport isn't really football, because it isn't played with the feet. I agree with that. I would also add that the oval thing they play with is hardly a ball, so not only "foot", but also"ball" is not deserved. Perhaps "Kickegg"
would be a better name
.
Two, it's not practical to think that name will be changed. The countries adopted their own names for each sport and they will keep them as they are.
If i'm not mistaken, despite the fact that
Tyranossaurus Rex means "King of the Terrible Lizards", they are not lizards at all, at least to the most modern theories... But no one say that the name should be changed just because of that.
SOME DAY, if that gets important enough, people will create a standart. If not things will stay the same. I leave the matter for when it matters.
For the sake of Understanding, I'll call the games Soccer and Football.
2th -
Mr. Prez, RELAX already. We would call it (soccer) football over here too, but there is a much better sport already called that here.
On what grounds you clain that Football is superior to Soccer? I don't see why it's intrinsically better.
When i was a kid, i tought that Football was a ugly violent sport, that required no skill at all, because all you have to do is throw a ball and them carry it under your arm. It's unfair, and when i got ESPN at home, i saw that it's a very cerebral sport, that requires lots of skill and a defined tatics. It's indeed very cool, altough i think it lacks pace, because it's turn-based.
Soccer, on the other hand, is very fluid, continuous, vibrant. You can understand that concept, since basketball is preety much the same in that point. Also, it's all about skill. Unlike football, when you have players whose only contribution is the strenth, in Soccer EVERYONE must have skill, even if some does not have a commendable amount of it.
Both have it's own merits. Neither is superior by nature to the other. Only thing is, there is the undeniable reality that football appeals to the americans, while soccer IS the most beloved sport of the whole world.
I think the basic reason to that is that it's very cheap to play. All you need is a soft sphere, people and space. No real need to have armours (as football) or nets (as tennis) or bats (as baseball), When i was a kid, i used to play in a neighbour's garage using balls made of old socks. that's how cheap it is to play.
There's also a factor that i never understood. once, in an advertising about the Major League Soccer, i saw the image of one of the players with a swollen purple eye and a cut in his forehead, and the comentary "Who said it's not a man's game?"
That's how wrong you people understand Soccer. It's not about roughness, it's about grace, lightness. If Media try to sell to the americans that soccer is about having gladiators in the field, than i can understand why they dislike it. It will never be as rough as Football, and will feel like a "sissy game" as i saw some calling it.
Perhaps if you try to watch and pay attention - as I did with Football - you will see the merits of Soccer, and understand the reason why it's loved worldwide.
Oh, and believe me, the reason why there is no other world cups other than soccer is not because "all the world knows and fears that USA will win always". You may feel surprised with it, but there is talented people everywhere, not only within your borders.
Just to help you with memories, Brazil once won the pan-american tournament over USA, and, in last olimpics, the dream team did got the gold medal, but won the semi-final by ONE point, with the other team having (i don't remember wich, it was from eastern europe) the ball on their hands.
Other example is when the Spurs won the championship, they played the MacDonald's Tournament in Europe, and the Italian team really gave them a hard time, and they took the lead only in the last quarter.
With more and more foreigns playing the NBA, how can you think that only Americans can play it well?
Well, Flatlander, altough i have quoted and questioned you, this does not refer personally to you, it's a consideration that i think is valid for everyone in this discussion.
3th
Soccer, yes Soccer, is for the Europeans and South Americans and not too many after that.
Well, mister BeerCur, you happen to be very wrong at that. See, FIFA have more associates than the United Nations. It's a worldwide organization, able to create a single sport competition that draws almost - if not as much - attentions a the whole Olimpic Games.
Other sports fits in, but soccer is growing more and more apart from the olimpics, because it has enough strengh to survive on it's own. It actually drew too much attention itself in the olimpics, something that you couldn't see in your press, but is a plain fact.
Also, it's representation is so varied that there are 6 subdivisions of the FIFA (confederations), each one representing a populational area. Check the FIFA website (
www.fifa.com):
- AFC (Asia Football Confederation)
- CAF (Confédéracion Africaine de Football)
- Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Football Association)
- Conmebol (Confederaión Sudamericana de Fútbol)
- OFC (Oceania Football Confederation)
- UEFA (Unión des Associations Européennes de Football)
As you can see for yourself, there are representatives from all over the globe, a fact that can be seen in the world cup. Except for 3 games (Germany 8 X 0 Saudi Arabia, Brazil 4 X 0 China and Portugal 4 X 0 Polony), all the matches were even and anyone could win. This does not look like the kind of sport that is played in a limited space.
Now, i'm not saying that other sports are not loved anyway. I, for one, DO love basketball, i play it a lot (though i'm not very good), and i follow the NBA (I'd say GO Lakers GO but i see no point) and the Brazilian championship whenever i get a chance...
But there's no comparison between how much soccer is representative and how much basketball is. To say that is to simply ignore the pure facts of reality.
Well, i think that's all i had to say.
By the way, from end of december to end of february Soccer is out of season, both in Europe and in South America (and preety much in everywhere else, because almost all adopts the European Calendary). In the rest of the year, it'll demolish any one that you try to confront with it. I question myself if even in that period it won't.
regards
.
? Two different cultures mate, and BTW we, Americans, live in the better one... Now go drink a beer at the local pub, take the Apple to your Flat and crash and get over it... 
Football is not popular in Russia?
