I'm thinking that comment you've quoted was made in jest. Anyway, I'm not a political person but I found something interesting about soccer and the upcoming elections in an opinion piece at Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77985.html At least the comments weren't all that hostile about soccer so far, which was my greatest fear. Still, very interesting stuff.
Puerto Rico is, in fact, a part of the US. And Puerto Ricans are, in fact, Americans. I have no idea why you would think otherwise.
It's a territory of the usa, but not part of the usa. They cannot vote for president. NT-speaking, it's a different entity.
No it isn't a territory of the US. Puerto Rico is an "unincorporated state" of the US, which means that despite being under the sovereignty of the US, they remain being as a Free state. If ever the Puerto Ricans vote for full independence from the US, they would get it right away and nothing that the US say about it, can avoid it from happening. Puerto Ricans, are "special condition US citizens", as they can`t vote for US presidents and if they take a trip to the US, and apply for a job there, they should have their passport with them at all times, which as a diference it is not required from normal US citizens.
Puerto Rico can't unilaterally declare independence, any more than any other American territory or state. Puerto Ricans can vote as they see fit, but any change in Puerto Rico's status is wholly up to Congress.
i mean most people i know like soccer to an extent. Some people i know are turned off by it because of the flopping and the drama (aka the long amount of time taken to bitch at the refs, or roll around acting like you are hurt). Though i will give those guys credit as at least they are now bitching about the increasing amount of flopping going on in the nba, at least there is some consistency. honestly the world cup is pretty big around where i live, but that's honestly about it. I know some guys who watch the USMNT year round, and some that watch the EPL, champions league, euro cup, etc. The interesting thing is, i don't actually know anyone who really follows the MLS. I know a few who have been to a game before (DC United), but nobody i know follows the league.
Interesting also the fact that the first ball used for the very first basketball game was actually, a soccer ball.
Nope. Naismith was Canadian. But he invented the game when the YMCA needed a game for the members to play during the winter. The YMCA he was part of was in Maryland, which is part of the USA.
Not really true. Soccer developed around the same time as a number of American sports, but it's not their ancestor.
Yeah this didn't come from Soccernomics sorry to say. I just reread that book two days ago and it specifically says that America, Iraq and Turkey are set to become the next superpowers in international soccer. It says nothing about America killing soccer, it says that America needs to become more involved
They may have adopted it, but they stand no chance against the USA. They picked the wrong US sport to embrace. Should've picked baseball if they wanted to beat us.
well 1) up until 1992 we never used professional athletes (we only used amateur teams, though that may have only been in the olympics, but i doubt we used full strength squads or we would've had dream teams prior to the 1992 squad), and 2) a lot of our rosters for these championships were complete jokes... hell look at our 1998 fiba world championship roster http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/f.../_/1998_World_Championship_for_Men/index.html one dude from the NBA... and none of those guys are what i would call awesome players or anywhere near our best players from the time it's like saying japan is as good at american football as america because they won two international competitions recently... but if you look at our roster most of those guys were division 2 or low division 1 players who were never even that good in college. If we actually used NFL players it would probably be a blowout every time so
Exactly. FIBA's World Cup is a joke that no one takes seriously. The serious world cup of basketball is the Olympics, where the USA has flattened 99% of its competition, apart from Spain, Argentina, and Brazil.
The term "touchdown" comes from soccer, after all. People just have to realise that the game in 1863 was nothing at all like the game now. Handling was allowed. You were only allowed to pass the ball backwards, but passing as we know it didn't exist. Catching the ball allowed you to "take a mark" which gave you a free kick. Touching the ball down past the goal line also gave you a free kick at goal, which is where the touchdown in American football came from (and the try in rugby). You could score with a kick at any height between the posts. Soccer also wasn't invented in 1863. That was just when they put together a common set of rules for all the similar games. These are the 1860 rules drafted for Australian Rules Football 1. The distance between the goals and the goal posts shall be decided upon by the captains of the sides playing. 2. The captains on each side toss for choice of goal; the side losing the toss has the kick-off from the centre point between the goals. 3. A goal must be kicked fairly between the posts without touching either of them or any portion of the person of one of the opposite side. In case of the ball being forced between the goal posts in a scrimmage, a goal shall be awarded. 4. The game shall be played within a space of not more than 200 yds [182.9 metres] wide, the same to be measured equally on either side of a line drawn through the centre of the two goals; and the two posts, to be called kick-off posts, shall be erected at a distance of twenty yards [18.3 metres] on each side of the goal posts at both ends, and in a straight line with them. 5. In case the ball is kicked behind the goal, any one of the side behind whose goal it is kicked, may bring it twenty yards in front of any portion of the space between the "kick-off" posts, and shall kick it nearly as possible in line with the opposite goal. 6. Any player catching the ball directly from the foot may call "mark". He then has a free kick; no player from the opposite side being allowed to come inside the spot marked. 7. Tripping, holding and hacking are strictly prohibited. Pushing with the hands or body is allowed when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of the ball, except in the case provided for in Rule 6. 8. The ball may not be lifted from the ground in any circumstances, or taken in hand, except as provided for in Rule 6 (catch from the foot) or when on the pick-up. It shall not be run with in any case. 9. When a ball goes out of bounds (same being indicated by a row of posts) it shall be brought back to the point where it crossed the boundary line, and thrown in at right angles with that line. 10. The ball, while still in play, must under no circumstances, be thrown. 11. In case of a deliberate infringement of any of the above rules, by either side, the captain of the opposite side may claim that any one of his party may have a free kick from the place where the breach of the rules was made; the two captains in all cases, save where umpires are appointed, to be the sole judges of "infringements". ...and these are the rules for Association Football three years later The maximum length of the ground shall be 200 yards (183 m), the maximum breadth shall be 100 yards (91 m), the length and breadth shall be marked off with flags; and the goal shall be defined by two upright posts, eight yards (7.3 m) apart, without any tape or bar across them. A toss for goals shall take place, and the game shall be commenced by a place kick from the centre of the ground by the side losing the toss for goals; the other side shall not approach within 10 yards (9.1 m) of the ball until it is kicked off. After a goal is won, the losing side shall be entitled to kick off, and the two sides shall change goals after each goal is won. A goal shall be won when the ball passes between the goal-posts or over the space between the goal-posts (at whatever height), not being thrown, knocked on, or carried. When the ball is in touch, the first player who touches it shall throw it from the point on the boundary line where it left the ground in a direction at right angles with the boundary line, and the ball shall not be in play until it has touched the ground. When a player has kicked the ball, any one of the same side who is nearer to the opponent's goal line is out of play, and may not touch the ball himself, nor in any way whatever prevent any other player from doing so, until he is in play; but no player is out of play when the ball is kicked off from behind the goal line. In case the ball goes behind the goal line, if a player on the side to whom the goal belongs first touches the ball, one of his side shall be entitled to a free kick from the goal line at the point opposite the place where the ball shall be touched. If a player of the opposite side first touches the ball, one of his side shall be entitled to a free kick at the goal only from a point 15 yards (14 m) outside the goal line, opposite the place where the ball is touched, the opposing side standing within their goal line until he has had his kick. If a player makes a fair catch, he shall be entitled to a free kick, providing he claims it by making a mark with his heel at once; and in order to take such kick he may go back as far as he pleases, and no player on the opposite side shall advance beyond his mark until he has kicked. No player shall run with the ball. Neither tripping nor hacking shall be allowed, and no player shall use his hands to hold or push his adversary. A player shall not be allowed to throw the ball or pass it to another with his hands. No player shall be allowed to take the ball from the ground with his hands under any pretence whatever while it is in play. No player shall be allowed to wear projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta-percha[2] on the soles or heels of his boots. The early games were very similar.
No. FIFA treats it as a glorified youth tournament, which handicaps the US even more than most countries, since it cannot use its best players. I doubt that Porter and anyone on that team thought that the tournament was a joke.
WTF? I will go and assume you mean to say Concacaf and Concacaf qualifications, other wise I can not make sense of what you just said. BTW in concacaf U-20 and U-17 quals are also not FIFA dates.
Not really. It's basically under 23 + 3 wild card tournament. Level below the World Cup for national side. If we have full strength national football teams in Olympic, it'll take over the whole Olympic.
This morning going through security checkout here at work, one worker (from Romania) and I small talk about the game and he asked me about the US X Mexico friendly last night. I mentioned yeah, we won with a goal in the 80th minute. His meathead chump across was like how many hours ago? I repeated 80th minute. I then segue into the game being only a couple hours unlike other sports like say, baseball (in terms of amount of time spent watching sports). Meathead chump then says "oh yeah, that's boring too". Sensing that he was a NFL type, I replied while dumming it down since that's the level this guy seemed to be at and mentioned about the amount of time spent in the NFL in terms of total action on the field. It makes no sense debating with some people on the game. We already know the sport is the global game. Never debate with a fool who dislikes wisdom.