The FC in America

[leopard88]

Just to be clear on something, it's not called football because you play the ball with your foot. It's called football because you play with a ball, while on foot. Thus, almost any sport so arranged could call itself football: baseball, basketball, korfball, jiggly ball.

umm.

no. just no. that's a ridiculous etymology idea.

What are you talking about? His logic makes perfect sense to me.

In fact, since I was a young child, my friends and I have called all games that we play while standing and using a ball "football", just with many variations (which we eventually numbered so as to avoid confusion). One of those variations involves trying to strike a thrown ball with a club, then running to four safety points arranged in a diamond pattern before being tagged with the ball previously struck by the wielder of the club. Another involves trying to throw a ball through a metal hoop mounted on a board 10 feet above the ground, with the thrower having to move into close range of the hoop by bouncing the ball repeatedly upon the ground. Yet another involves using a stick to strike a small ball sitting on a table, with the goal of driving the first ball into another ball, thus knocking the second into one of six holes placed around the perimeter of the table.

All of these variations are still called "football" since they involve playing with a ball while on foot. Admittedly, however, there was some debate regarding the third variation described above, because the player with the stick will occasionally lean on the table, leaving only one foot on the ground as required by our rules. However, the fact that one foot must remain on the ground led us to agree that that variation also deserved to be called "football."

I believe you owe Your Name Here an apology for having the audacity to call his explanation "ridiculous."

POST NO. 2600

[gordie_delini]

Edit: Nevermind, Brucie's got my back

[kc51design]

maybe I'M wrong, but my version of why American version is called football is because the ball was foot long. Could that be the story behind American football?

[Gothamite]

Never heard that.

[yh]

In fact, since I was a young child, my friends and I have called all games that we play while standing and using a ball "football", just with many variations (which we eventually numbered so as to avoid confusion). One of those variations involves trying to strike a thrown ball with a club, then running to four safety points arranged in a diamond pattern before being tagged with the ball previously struck by the wielder of the club. Another involves trying to throw a ball through a metal hoop mounted on a board 10 feet above the ground, with the thrower having to move into close range of the hoop by bouncing the ball repeatedly upon the ground. Yet another involves using a stick to strike a small ball sitting on a table, with the goal of driving the first ball into another ball, thus knocking the second into one of six holes placed around the perimeter of the table.

Seriously? Are you not aware that those activities already have commonly accepted names, the first one being "baseball", the second one "basketball" and the third one "darts"?

Where the hell did you grow up?

[winghaz]

Soccer is NOT football in the United States and Canada. Soccer fans need to get over that hump if they want their sport to grow beyond something that kids play to run off some energy.

Likewise, the Europeanization of American soccer will do soccer no good here. Soccer needs to take on its own American look. Leave Europe to the Europeans.

Soccer in the U.S. will always be a minor sport unless it has its own American feel to it.

[leopard88]

In fact, since I was a young child, my friends and I have called all games that we play while standing and using a ball "football", just with many variations (which we eventually numbered so as to avoid confusion). One of those variations involves trying to strike a thrown ball with a club, then running to four safety points arranged in a diamond pattern before being tagged with the ball previously struck by the wielder of the club. Another involves trying to throw a ball through a metal hoop mounted on a board 10 feet above the ground, with the thrower having to move into close range of the hoop by bouncing the ball repeatedly upon the ground. Yet another involves using a stick to strike a small ball sitting on a table, with the goal of driving the first ball into another ball, thus knocking the second into one of six holes placed around the perimeter of the table.

Seriously? Are you not aware that those activities already have commonly accepted names, the first one being "baseball", the second one "basketball" and the third one "darts"?

Where the hell did you grow up?

I've heard that from time to time, except the people talking about the third variation usually try to call it "pool" or "billiards" or "eight ball" or something like that.

As for where I grew up, it was a sharecropper's farm just outside Tupelo, Mississippi. Why do you ask?

[Saturn]

maybe I'M wrong, but my version of why American version is called football is because the ball was foot long. Could that be the story behind American football?

Football (soccer)

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Football (Rugby, Aussie Rules, whatever)

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Football (American Football)

To simply put it.

Just to be clear on something, it's not called football because you play the ball with your foot. It's called football because you play with a ball, while on foot. Thus, almost any sport so arranged could call itself football: baseball, basketball, korfball, jiggly ball.

Just.....um.....no.

[Fred T. Jane]

As for where I grew up, it was a sharecropper's farm just outside Tupelo, Mississippi. Why do you ask?

You have a dog named Lifesaver?

[Panthers]

C'mon you guys. Like the NFL didn't have clubs started by companies? The Green Bay Packers? The Acme Packing Company.

Also, in response to the lame names of MSL teams today, (and I would rank only a handful of NASL teams in this category - the Oakland Stompers, Caribous of Colordao and California Surf to be exact) let me point out that most American teams had shared names in baseball and football and were built around a community, not a club therefore a teamlike the Steelers grew around the Steel industry. The New York Generals (NPSL), who played at Yankee Stadium were named in a nod to the the Giants.

As for the Seattle Sounders - its a classic name and their logo was great. Ditto for the Vancouver Whitecaps (they had a great rivalry). Let me also remind folks that the original Dyanmo was in Denver (the Denver Dynamos) and Houston would have been better off as the Comets or some such thing. As for the ASL, the Rhode Island Oceaneers was a great name. Anything is better than the New York Red Bull or Chivas USA (I think of Chivas Regal every time I hear that name). Oh and Chicago? The Fire was named for the Chicago Fire started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow. And the Chicago Sting? Taken from the movie the Sting that opened around the team the team was born.

[Fred T. Jane]

Let me also remind folks that the original Dyanmo was in Denver (the Denver Dynamos) and Houston would have been better off as the Comets or some such thing.

(1) There have been Houston Dynamo club teams since the mid-1960s. My uncle played for one when he was a teenager.

(2) They already have a Houston Comets team, in case you haven't heard...

[illwauk]

In fact, since I was a young child, my friends and I have called all games that we play while standing and using a ball "football", just with many variations (which we eventually numbered so as to avoid confusion). One of those variations involves trying to strike a thrown ball with a club, then running to four safety points arranged in a diamond pattern before being tagged with the ball previously struck by the wielder of the club. Another involves trying to throw a ball through a metal hoop mounted on a board 10 feet above the ground, with the thrower having to move into close range of the hoop by bouncing the ball repeatedly upon the ground. Yet another involves using a stick to strike a small ball sitting on a table, with the goal of driving the first ball into another ball, thus knocking the second into one of six holes placed around the perimeter of the table.

You have NO IDEA how funny this was to read when I was high.

Thank you.

[Lee.]

In fact, since I was a young child, my friends and I have called all games that we play while standing and using a ball "football", just with many variations (which we eventually numbered so as to avoid confusion). One of those variations involves trying to strike a thrown ball with a club, then running to four safety points arranged in a diamond pattern before being tagged with the ball previously struck by the wielder of the club. Another involves trying to throw a ball through a metal hoop mounted on a board 10 feet above the ground, with the thrower having to move into close range of the hoop by bouncing the ball repeatedly upon the ground. Yet another involves using a stick to strike a small ball sitting on a table, with the goal of driving the first ball into another ball, thus knocking the second into one of six holes placed around the perimeter of the table.

Seriously? Are you not aware that those activities already have commonly accepted names, the first one being "baseball", the second one "basketball" and the third one "darts"?

Where the hell did you grow up?

I'll have you know that each of the games he described in the above paragraph are components of the world-wide sporting sensation, "Cricket."

Oh, I forget, you Americans have another word for what the world uses. You may know it as "Calvinball."

[-Helix-]

I think you'll see that as college football takes hold and captures the public's imagination, the term "soccer" becomes more pervasive to distinguish it from the other sport. In late 19th century, college football hasn't really caught fire yet, but by the 20's and 30's it has.

Agreed. Soccer obviously was just a way to distinguish itself from the more popular and dominant American Football. Before American Football became dominant though, it's easy to understand why there would have been no problem referring to the game as Football back then.

This is why it makes much more sense to refer to the sport as "soccer". American Football is still the dominant and more popular sport and it's too confusing to refer to them both by the same name. Calling it football may be fine in South America, Europe, Asia, wherever. But here, it's another story. Other countries have similar problems. I believe Australia is one, due to Australian Rules Football, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand maybe all as well.

Not sure why soccer fans insist on calling it "football". Not that I have anything against calling it football, I do it myself all the time. Global soccer fans just annoy me when they bash American soccer fans for not being real fans because we "don't even know the name of the sport". It shouldn't matter. They act like it's the end of the world when someone refers to the sport as "soccer".

American Football is known as Football simply because it is... football. As is soccer, Rugby Football, Australian Rules Football, Canadian Football, Gaelic Football, etc. They all fall under the umbrella of "football". They all derive from eachother. They are all football. The proper name for soccer by the way is "Association Football". Soccer is alot shorter than Association Football though so I'll stick with that.

[leopard88]

In fact, since I was a young child, my friends and I have called all games that we play while standing and using a ball "football", just with many variations (which we eventually numbered so as to avoid confusion). One of those variations involves trying to strike a thrown ball with a club, then running to four safety points arranged in a diamond pattern before being tagged with the ball previously struck by the wielder of the club. Another involves trying to throw a ball through a metal hoop mounted on a board 10 feet above the ground, with the thrower having to move into close range of the hoop by bouncing the ball repeatedly upon the ground. Yet another involves using a stick to strike a small ball sitting on a table, with the goal of driving the first ball into another ball, thus knocking the second into one of six holes placed around the perimeter of the table.

You have NO IDEA how funny this was to read when I was high.

Thank you.

I'm glad to see that I was able to reach my target audience.

[Saturn]

Also, in response to the lame names of MSL teams today

Is it really that hard to know that the league is called MLS? I mean, really.

[jr79]

Likewise, the Europeanization of American soccer will do soccer no good here. Soccer needs to take on its own American look. Leave Europe to the Europeans.

Soccer in the U.S. will always be a minor sport unless it has its own American feel to it.

Well they tried that and failed how many times before? Even MLS was headed down the road to destruction before it realised it needed to target its niche audience rather than the whole country.

[Gothamite]

Likewise, the Europeanization of American soccer will do soccer no good here. Soccer needs to take on its own American look. Leave Europe to the Europeans.

Soccer in the U.S. will always be a minor sport unless it has its own American feel to it.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

They tried your way, it was an abject failure.

Since abandoning their attempts to "Americanize" the sport, MLS has never been stronger.

[Pandaguy87]

Likewise, the Europeanization of American soccer will do soccer no good here. Soccer needs to take on its own American look. Leave Europe to the Europeans.

Soccer in the U.S. will always be a minor sport unless it has its own American feel to it.

Well they tried that and failed how many times before? Even MLS was headed down the road to destruction before it realised it needed to target its niche audience rather than the whole country.

Likewise, the Europeanization of American soccer will do soccer no good here. Soccer needs to take on its own American look. Leave Europe to the Europeans.

Soccer in the U.S. will always be a minor sport unless it has its own American feel to it.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

They tried your way, it was an abject failure.

Since abandoning their attempts to "Americanize" the sport, MLS has never been stronger.

Why does everyone go on about how they tried and failed? Okay, so they had different timing rules at one point, and had that funny tie breaker thing going on, but other than rules changes they haven't done much to "Americanize" the sport. If I recall correctly the FA is looking into adding tie breakers into league games to reach to a broader audience. The fact that they're considering it should be shocking.

You should also remember that soccer has to compete against 4 other major league sports in America. In Japan the J.League isn't much older than MLS and yet has a huge following because the only sports it ever had to compete with was baseball and sumo wrestling. They also had tie breakers for a while, and all the teams have interesting and colorful names that only make sense when it's explained to you. In fact the only really "European" thing they do is promotion and relegation. Not to mention in the Australian A-League, the majority of the teams use some kind of nickname for their team name, like the Melbourne Victory and the Newcastle Jets.

It should also be known that out of the 16 teams that have existed in MLS, only 4 ever changed their name. Out of them one had to change their name due to copyright infringement (Kansas City Wiz becoming the Wizards), and the other team is the MetroStars who got bought out by Red Bull. The only two left are Dallas Burn and San Jose Clash, who became FC Dallas and the Earthquakes respectively, and yeah all four team names sucked, but I'm fine with the current team names and I doubt any of them are planning on changing their name anytime soon.

[-kj]

Actually, it was the Football League that was talking about going to tiebreakers, and that talk lasted less than a week. The outrage was... well, outrageous.