"The Delicacy"

[IvanIV]

From time to time I find myself in a redundant argument with an old friend of mine. He still can't understand how I can like futbol over good old American football. He doesn't understand how I can sit and watch grown men run around seemingly doing nothing but flailing at a kickball. He can't understand how I can watch a sport that doesn't have any action and rarely even any scoring. Then I tell him that is exactly what I like about the game, The Beautiful Game, the rarity, "The Delicacy" of it all.
The goal. There is only one way way to score in The Beautiful Game. Put the ball in the net. And it is worth only one point. You can use your foot, your head, your chest, your belly, your butt, your opponents foot, butt, head, chest, whatever. A player can score a goal from a free kick, an indirect free kick, a corner kick, and even from a series of well directed passes and several decent moves and then a fine finish...you get the point. Goals don't come easy, they aren't cheap. Usually when a goal is scored several things had to go right. And that 's not to say that in any other sport that scoring comes easy. But it does seem to come more frequently, doesn't it? Except for hockey, which I like to consider as futbol on ice, that is,until the lockout and the changes they made to that fine game over the last two years.
Let's face it, in basketball you have the 3 point shot*, 2 point shot*, technical foul shots. *Yes, you can even extend those by adding a free throw!
Football you have the touchdown(6 points!), the field goal(3), the safety(2), and then don' forget an extra point after a touchdown! Seems a little pathetic to me they actually have to give you points so you won't feel cheated or worthless. They even have "instant replay" so the ref can make sure if you deserve to score or not! And a score of 42-35 is considered a good game! I say it is a game full of people who don't know how to tackle.
In baseball you have to work a little harder and each score is only worth one point...unless you hit a grand slam or a three run homer or a..well....again the list goes on.
The problem is, in America, people want it all and they want it all now and in mass quantities. Witness all the various fast food chains. It really is a shame. They can't seem to grasp the beauty of a rare thing. At least not in sport anyway. We are spoiled and selfish. Give us a home run we want seven. Give us a touchdown and we not only want the six points awarded for that but an extra point and four more touchdowns! Pure gluttoney!
And somebody has to win! A draw is unheard of. We really are Romans in that sense. Death to the vanquished! I can recall one NFL game I saw about ten years ago, Redskins 6-Jets 3, that I trully felt like not only did no one deserve to win but both teams deserved to lose! And it wasn't a defensive struggle. They couldn't pass! When they did pass they couldn't catch. When they ran neither team could block! It was the Inept F. L.
Anyway, I'm sure all this is not lost on any of you. And I'm going to continue cherishing each and every goal like a fine glass of wine or work of art. And being able to remember, for the most part, how it was scored and how devestating it was for one side or the other. And how happy I was to have been a witness...to have enjoyed "the Delicacy".

[Corintiano]

From time to time I find myself in a redundant argument with an old friend of mine. He still can't understand how I can like futbol over good old American football. He doesn't understand how I can sit and watch grown men run around seemingly doing nothing but flailing at a kickball. He can't understand how I can watch a sport that doesn't have any action and rarely even any scoring. Then I tell him that is exactly what I like about the game, The Beautiful Game, the rarity, "The Delicacy" of it all.
The goal. There is only one way way to score in The Beautiful Game. Put the ball in the net. And it is worth only one point. You can use your foot, your head, your chest, your belly, your butt, your opponents foot, butt, head, chest, whatever. A player can score a goal from a free kick, an indirect free kick, a corner kick, and even from a series of well directed passes and several decent moves and then a fine finish...you get the point. Goals don't come easy, they aren't cheap. Usually when a goal is scored several things had to go right. And that 's not to say that in any other sport that scoring comes easy. But it does seem to come more frequently, doesn't it? Except for hockey, which I like to consider as futbol on ice, that is,until the lockout and the changes they made to that fine game over the last two years.
Let's face it, in basketball you have the 3 point shot*, 2 point shot*, technical foul shots. *Yes, you can even extend those by adding a free throw!
Football you have the touchdown(6 points!), the field goal(3), the safety(2), and then don' forget an extra point after a touchdown! Seems a little pathetic to me they actually have to give you points so you won't feel cheated or worthless. They even have "instant replay" so the ref can make sure if you deserve to score or not! And a score of 42-35 is considered a good game! I say it is a game full of people who don't know how to tackle.
In baseball you have to work a little harder and each score is only worth one point...unless you hit a grand slam or a three run homer or a..well....again the list goes on.
The problem is, in America, people want it all and they want it all now and in mass quantities. Witness all the various fast food chains. It really is a shame. They can't seem to grasp the beauty of a rare thing. At least not in sport anyway. We are spoiled and selfish. Give us a home run we want seven. Give us a touchdown and we not only want the six points awarded for that but an extra point and four more touchdowns! Pure gluttoney!
And somebody has to win! A draw is unheard of. We really are Romans in that sense. Death to the vanquished! I can recall one NFL game I saw about ten years ago, Redskins 6-Jets 3, that I trully felt like not only did no one deserve to win but both teams deserved to lose! And it wasn't a defensive struggle. They couldn't pass! When they did pass they couldn't catch. When they ran neither team could block! It was the Inept F. L.
Anyway, I'm sure all this is not lost on any of you. And I'm going to continue cherishing each and every goal like a fine glass of wine or work of art. And being able to remember, for the most part, how it was scored and how devestating it was for one side or the other. And how happy I was to have been a witness...to have enjoyed "the Delicacy".

nice post indeed

[fútbolfan2003]

for time reasons I didn't read the whole post, but I think that the great thing about soccer is the value of a goal. If games were consistently ending 11-12 or 19-18 I feel like it would devalue the worth of a goal. As things stand, each goal can be critical to a game. Can you really say that about basketball? No. Just look at today's Champions league, with 20 minutes to go Arsenal looked like they might take it, but all it took was one Etoo goal and the dynamic of the whole game completely changed.

[IvanIV]

...No. Just look at today's Champions league, with 20 minutes to go Arsenal looked like they might take it, but all it took was one Etoo goal and the dynamic of the whole game completely changed.


Exactly...and then the winner.... I think that match made my whole point for me!:D ;)

[spoonman]

A fine exponent of "The Delicacy" ended his career officially yesterday, are there any equivelants of Dennis Bergkamp to big USA sports?

[IvanIV]

Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and more recently Cal Ripken. Note that all mentioned played for only one team their entire career! There used to be in America, and I'm sure elsewhere, a certain bit of pride tied to the fact that a player might accomplish that feat. ;)

[nicephoras]

The problem is, in America, people want it all and they want it all now and in mass quantities.
We really are Romans in that sense. Death to the vanquished!

Are you trying to break a record for "silly analogies" in a post?

I can recall one NFL game I saw about ten years ago, Redskins 6-Jets 3, that I trully felt like not only did no one deserve to win but both teams deserved to lose! And it wasn't a defensive struggle. They couldn't pass! When they did pass they couldn't catch. When they ran neither team could block! It was the Inept F. L.


I've never seen a game like that in football. Oh wait. :rolleyes:

[nicephoras]

Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and more recently Cal Ripken. Note that all mentioned played for only one team their entire career! There used to be in America, and I'm sure elsewhere, a certain bit of pride tied to the fact that a player might accomplish that feat. ;)

Yes, if only Bergkamp hadn't played for three. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[IvanIV]

Yes, if only Bergkamp hadn't played for three. :rolleyes:

HA! That's not what I'm saying at all. I was asked if I could present a case/example of an American sports figure who could be considered a class act. I gave several, including the most recent athlete I could think of, Cal Ripken. Today's climate doesn't permit most athlete's to play an entire career for only one team. And I assumed that my point was self evident. :rolleyes:

Now that I know you, nicephoras, are reading my post's I'll use smaller words. And fewer "analogies".
;)

[King-James]

for time reasons I didn't read the whole post, but I think that the great thing about soccer is the value of a goal. If games were consistently ending 11-12 or 19-18 I feel like it would devalue the worth of a goal. As things stand, each goal can be critical to a game. Can you really say that about basketball? No. Just look at today's Champions league, with 20 minutes to go Arsenal looked like they might take it, but all it took was one Etoo goal and the dynamic of the whole game completely changed.

Yeah... the value of a goal. I'm not out of my seat when an NBA player may score a basket. But when Henry was in that first time, it shook me, out of my seat like "OMFG" sort of thing :D
The best thing about football to me compared to most American sports is it hasn't been chopped to ruins by timeouts and commercials. I don't feel like wasting over an hour of my life watching commercials to see a single basketball or football match - I'd rather go watch my high school play locally.

[nicephoras]

Now that I know you, nicephoras, are reading my post's I'll use smaller words. And fewer "analogies".
;)

Using larger words is fine. Just make sure you know what they mean and make sure you actually know what you're talking about.
To the death, like real Romans? Good one.

[IvanIV]

It's called "creative writing". Most everyone else seemed to enjoy the post. I'm sorry you didn't.
Here's a tip, when you see a new thread has been created and the author of said thread is me...don't read that thtread.

[nicephoras]

It's called "talking out of my ass".

Fixed.

Most everyone else seemed to enjoy the post. I'm sorry you didn't.
Here's a tip, when you see a new thread has been created and the author of said thread is me...don't read that thtread.

Not to worry.

[DaPrince84]

I can recall one NFL game I saw about ten years ago, Redskins 6-Jets 3, that I trully felt like not only did no one deserve to win but both teams deserved to lose! And it wasn't a defensive struggle. They couldn't pass! When they did pass they couldn't catch. When they ran neither team could block! It was the Inept F. L.

I watched that game... it was on NBC on a Saturday afternoon... the score was actually 3-0 that day :(

[IvanIV]

I watched that game... it was on NBC on a Saturday afternoon... the score was actually 3-0 that day :(

;) he he he...So I actually gave them more credit than they were due...:rolleyes:

[metabelian]

I have to agree with Nice on this post; a bit too long-winded and absurd for my tastes.

Couple of points:

I find it quite funny that non-soccer fans bash soccer for being low scoring while soccer fans bash US sports (mostly basketball and the NFL) for scoring too much. A 1-0 soccer match can be exciting or boring, and the same can be said for a 120-110 basketball game.

I have to admit that this is the first time I've seen the different scoring options in the NBA and NFL as a negative. I don't see how having a single scoring option makes a sport better or worse, though. As long as the number of points scored are more or less proportional to the difficulty of the method in which they are scored, I don't see a problem here.

If a 42-35 NFL game is a sign of bad tackling, what does that make a 5-4 soccer match? And yet, amazingly, many fans would call it a good game!

"They can't seem to grasp the beauty of a rare thing. At least not in sport anyway."

Are you joking? There are many entire books dedicated to rare events in sports. Ask any baseball fan how many no-hitters Nolan Ryan has.

"And I'm going to continue cherishing each and every goal like a fine glass of wine or work of art. And being able to remember, for the most part, how it was scored and how devestating it was for one side or the other."

So you're going to remember every stoppage time goal to make a 3-0 game a little more respectable in a relatively unimportant league game? The own goal five minutes before that added the third goal for the winning side? Of course not. Not every goal is meaningful, nor a work of art. The same is true of touchdowns, baskets, and runs. The ones that will be remembered are those that are meaningful and/or beautifully created, and there are plenty of each in each sport.

Americans don't like draws, and neither does anyone else. Why do you think draws are only worth 1/3 of a win? The reason draws exist in non-single elimination soccer matches is because there isn't another way to decide a game without either sacrificing consistency to the game's character (a shootout, for example) or unreasonably fatiguing players. The same is true of hockey, and up until this season draws existed in the sport.

[IvanIV]

Again, I stand by my post. More people than not have agreed or at the very least been complimentary. I was simply pointing out that most Americans can't seem to get the feel for futbol. Judging by the reaction from you and "nicephorass" I am right.

If a 42-35 NFL game is a sign of bad tackling, what does that make a 5-4 soccer match? And yet, amazingly, many fans would call it a good game!

Not me! And I'd say that the keeper's would agree too! Someone, somewhere didn't mark a man! Those scores are signs that someone can't play defense in either sport. Back and forth, exciting...maybe, but shouldn't someone make a stop?

That we disagree about the actual scoring from one sport to the other is pointless and not the issue. And, maybe, I've offended two fans of these certain American sports. My bad. Not the Intention. I like most American sport. I was simply celebrating Footy with, what I assumed, were other footy fans.

As for Nolan Ryan and the no hitters...I like baseball, used to love it. But I couldn't tell you how many no hitters he has and I would almost guarantee that a lot of the people at anyone of those "no hitters" would had loved to seen a home run fest instead! Again...I was simply celebrating Footy with, what I assumed, were other footy fans.

I never said those sports were fun and entertaining. Merely pointing out that my buddy and I differed in opinion.


Oh, and that most Americans are gluttons. That much is true.

"Vive la differance"*






*spelling*

[fútbolfan2003]

I like baseball, used to love it.

I hear ya. Basketball was my first love when it comes to sports. I was a big Laker fan. But since I got more into soccer it just blew the other sports out of the water to the point where now I can barely watch the 4th quarter of a basketball game, no less the whole game.

Oh, and that most Americans are gluttons. That much is true.

Probably.

[IvanIV]

Originally Posted by IvanIV
It's called "talking out of my ass".

Fixed.


not to worry.

It is better to speak from one with somewhat muffled tones than to be made entirely of one.- IvanIV

[Excape Goat]

I hear ya. Basketball was my first love when it comes to sports. I was a big Laker fan. But since I got more into soccer it just blew the other sports out of the water to the point where now I can barely watch the 4th quarter of a basketball game, no less the whole game.

I am a basketball fan too. When a big games came out, I made sure I start watching the game 10 minutes before the end of the game. If then the score is a blowout, I turn it off and do something else. :) In soccer, I watch all 90 minutes because you do not know when they will score and it might be the only goal of the game.