'Soccer Fever - A Year with the San Jose Earthquakes'

I've read a little bit of "Offside". Good stuff.

I learned (not from the book) that basketball was developed by a former Ivy League soccer coach as winter training for his players. That startled me. It seemed to make sense with the way the floor is designed and the game was played. At some point there was a offside rule in basketball.

 

Not to quibble, but Dr. James Naismith--the Canadian who invented basketball--was seeking an indoor alternative to rugby, not soccer. The original version of the game involved a lot of lateralling, and little dribbling.

If you think of it, it wouldn't have been hard to just come up with futsal if he was looking for a winter alternative for soccer.

I have a Gary St. Clair soccer card, by the way.

 

Let me guess... from Arby's, circa 1975-76-77 or thereabouts?

I had a pretty fair collection of those Earthquakes cards when I was growing up, myself. Wish I had kept them... and yes, I am officially older than Goodsie, if I can remember those.

I also wish I had my copy of the book with me, but it's back home in my old bedroom. Momma, if you're lurking and reading this, please send me the book. It is a wonderful read, and brings back some fantastic memories.

Cheers,
William

 

Naismith invented basketball only after having tried and failed to invent indoor soccer.

 

Herfty's...close enough. Probably from the 1975 set, because he was with San Diego in 1976.

You got a source for this? I mean, I read about my version in a rugby book, and I concede it may not be the least biased source of information. But I've never heard the soccer story.

Besides, how hard is it to "invent" indoor soccer. Geez, when I was 8 and still in Cub Scouts we "invented" indoor soccer by kicking a blackboard eraser around on a dance floor. It doesn't take much to create an indoor version of the association game. (Although I will concede that futsal had not been invented yet).

On the other hand, since tackling on a hard, wooden surface is no one's idea of fun, it makes sense that "basket-ball" was originally conceived as an indoor alternative to rugby, especially when one remembers it was originally a lateral based game with offsides, etc.

Speaking of lateralling, I caught an old John Wayne movie the other night, where he played a football coach at a Catholic college. The game scenes were fascinating; they were playing the single-wing offense, and it was notihng but lateralling. It looked more like a rugby match than pointyball.

I seem to have veered a bit off topic. It's so tough to remain focused in close season.

 

Re: Re: 'Soccer Fever - A Year with the San Jose Earthquakes'

HERFY'S!!!! We used to go the one in Milpitas.

I have a couple of the cards around somewhere (Laurie Calloway, Art Welch, Boris Bandov and Archie Roboostoff for sure, and I think a couple more). Still have a Tito Fuentes (former Giants' second baseman) flying disc up at my parents' house, too.

 

To take it further off topic, remember that the forward pass was not used in gridiron football until 1914 when Notre Dame used it against Army in their game that year. It was permitted in the rule books but no one until that time had picked up on it.

 

Herfy's, yes! I stand corrected.

Even still, now I'm having a craving for a good ol' roast beef sandwich, and I've barely finished breakfast over here on my side of the world.

Nonetheless, I wonder what those cards would be worth on today's market...

Cheers,
William

 

Not much, apparently; the sets pop us pretty frequently on eBay, and rarely go for more than $25.00

They'll always have a soft spot in my heart, though. I remember seeing them in a sports card catalog and saying, "oh my God--they have soccer cards!" Having collected every other sport card, I was thrilled to see that my favorite sport finally was included in the mix, even if only by way of a local, paper, odd-size black & white issue of only one team.

 

And some days, I feel it more than others.

Cheers,
William

 

I am getting ready to read Anson Dorrance' "Vision Of A Champion"....to be continued...

 

Goodsport, could you confirm this? We could go to historical texts, but I figure a eye witness would be better to confirm this.

Forward passes used to be illegal in soccer.

To me, it seems much more logical that soccer is closer to basketball than rugby is to basketball. The movement of play and the design of the floor and game make much more sense. Fouling a offensive player in a scoring position earns a penalty. Terminology such as "dribble" is found in these two sports. Defensive rules are designed for defenders to go for the ball, rather than going for the man. You score within a frame, a horizontal goal with a net, rather than scoring in a zone.

 

Goodsie had tickets on the 50-yard line for that game. He'll also be able to tell you that Dwight D. Eisenhower was waterboy for Army.
I agree with Defender's contention here, basketball seems to me, too, to be a derivative of soccer, I fail to see any logical connection with Rugby.

 

Rugby must be a derivative of NASCAR....there both made up of a bunch of toothless, corn-fed dirt-farmers.

 

Don't forget cow-tipping, the lumberjack competitions and the WWE.

 

Blasphemy. The Quakes have never been advertised.