Liberals are to soccer as conservatives are to (American) football

[RagingInMiami]

At least according to stereotypes.

Soccer, as Tahiti Nut pointed out, is a very democratic game. A very inclusive game. Almost anyone can play. Almost every culture does. It is a game that crosses language and cultural barriers.

Football, on the other hand, is much more warlike. It requires helmets where every player looks basically the same. It is much more selective as to who gets to play. It's much more neandrathal. In football, you have the trenches, the blitz, the shotgun and the long bomb. You have sudden-death overtime, linebackers built like tanks, quarterbacks that march the team down the field.

Soccer is Cafe Latte, Vino Tinto, Guinness Stout, tequila, paninis and croissants.

Football is Budweiser, Jack Daniels and BBQ.

Soccer is played straight through with commercial breaks only at halftime. The game takes priority over corporate advertising.

In football, corporate advertising rules. You have corporate commercial breaks after every set of downs and the game stops frequently just for a commercial break (ever wonder why they're just standing when you attend a live game?). You have the Nokia two-minute warning and the Federal Express Orange Bowl as well as the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Soccer is a game of finesse that requires mental and physical stamina. It requires one to use their head (literally) and to think fast on their feet.

Football is an aggressive game that requires the two teams to pound each other merciless throughout the game.

Soccer is governed by FIFA, an international organization based out of Switzerland.

Football is governed by the NFL, a national organization that has approached Jeb Bush to be its next commissioner.

[enigmatic]

1. absolutely

And I'm somebody who loves NFL and CFL football much more than Soccer, though after watching The World Cup w/ my Football (she refuses to call it Soccer)loving Mrs. E, I really got into it much more than I thought I would.

[RagingInMiami]

2. Me too

That's the American in me. I'm a huge football fan, more so than soccer.

[jpgray]

3. This is just nonsense

Soccer is a recreational sport, which one should be able to safely either enjoy or not enjoy without being forever branded with some person's fatuous stereotype.

[GirlinContempt]

5. Agreed.

As usual.

[RagingInMiami]

10. "as usual"?

What do you mean by that?

[GirlinContempt]

15. That I usually agree with jpgray?

[RagingInMiami]

43. I thought you were saying

"As usual, RaginginMiami is talking nonsense."

Being in GD most of the time really puts me on the defensive.:shrug:

[GirlinContempt]

44. hah, no, no I wasn't saying that at all

:)

[RagingInMiami]

45. Not that I'm paranoid or anything

:tinfoilhat:

[RagingInMiami]

7. I think you're taking it just a little too serious

I did mention on this thread that I prefer football over soccer, but if you knew me, you would never confuse me for a conservative.

[jpgray]

11. I was referring to the phenomenon you describe, not you personally

Sorry if that wasn't clear. :hi: It reminds me of the "liberals like cats, conservatives like dogs" threads that pop up every once in a while.

[RagingInMiami]

12. I did say "at least based on stereotypes"

[jpgray]

17. That's why I hoped it was clear I was attacking the idea of stereotyping

Not you personally.

[RagingInMiami]

18. It's meant to be taken lightly

It was an attempt at humor.

[jpgray]

19. There are people who take this exact stereotyping very seriously

I'm not sure why you think my comments are directed at you, or that you need to explain yourself.

[RagingInMiami]

22. I probably spend too much time in GD

Always on the defensive.

Maybe my next thread should be, "Liberals are to the lounge as conservatives are to GD"

[jpgray]

27. Yeah I assumed you were just posting the stereotypes, not supporting them

So my post was directed at those who actually assign them to people based solely on their enjoyment/dislike of a sport.

[HuckleB]

4. Fun comparison.

A bit too true. And while I rue what the NFL has done to American football with its ad nauseum advertising, I'm no fan of FIFA.

[Ravenseye]

6. Can i like them both?

I like Soccer and Football. I like Guiness Stout and Budweiser. I like Croissants and BBQ. I like games of finesse and games where you pound each other mericlessly.

Am I alone here? Why do we have to choose? Why can't we like them both?

[RagingInMiami]

8. A football fan will say, "you're either with us or against us"

A soccer fan would say, "sure, but what's up with the padding?"

[Ravenseye]

14. But I'm both

I wouldn't say either of those. The padding is great. You can run at a wall and bounce off it without barely feeling it. (I know this from experience). Football pads are awesome.

I felt far more pain playing soccer than I ever did playing football.

Just sayin... ;)

[RagingInMiami]

20. I wore myelf out more playing soccer than football

But I cheer louder for football than I do soccer. Especially when it comes to the Miami Hurricanes or Oakland Raiders.

[Ravenseye]

26. Tell me about it

Soccer was so much harder to play, mentally, physically, etc.

I really enjoyed playing Football and i wouldn't call any of the practices 'easy', but the games themselves were pretty much more fun than anything else.

Soccer games though often were harder than practices. Sort of the inverse.

[Kajsa]

31. Ravenseye, I'm with you. I like them both.

I love the Seahawks and watch more NFL games
than ever before.

I love soccer, was raised with it and consider it to
be the world's 'fotbol'. Go Galaxy!

This agreeing with you is becoming a regular thing,now.;)

:D :hi:

btw: I like croissants and BBQ,too.

[Ravenseye]

34. Just not together

Croissants are better at breakfast. A good continental breakfast. Soft cheese. Croissants. Thick Coffee. Yogurt...

BBQ later on with cornbread and pulled pork and baby back ribs...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Personally I prefer the EPL. I'm an Arsenal fan, even though my family has always supported Charlton Athletic. When I got into soccer, Charlton was in the second division, so I picked QPR (Queens Park Rangers) but then they sucked ass and got relegated so I hopped on the Arsenal bandwagon because I figured that the chances of THEM getting demoted would be pretty low and rooting for Man U seemed so gauche.

Oh and if you want to disagree...I'm a Steelers fan and I think, even though the refs sucked, that they still won the Super Bowl deservedly. ;)

[Kajsa]

37. Ackkk! Noooo! I hit the mother lode of disagreements.

I knew it was too good to last!

I will never agree that;

Al Gore lost in 2000

John Kerry lost in 2004

The Seahawks lost SuperBowl 2006.

Never, never,never.

That's it, I'm changing my avatar.

However- I still agree with you on many,many things!

;)

[Kellanved]

9. I wouldn't say that

Fifa is a terrible, corrupt organization, following the money. They care very little about the sport.

All major team sports have obviously the potential to entertain their watchers and that's all they're supposed to do. I don't think that there's a fundamental difference beside cultual background and personal preference.

[Karenina]

46. Did you see John Cleese's

Art of Football A-Z??? If not you simply MUST. Brother John TELLS ALL and it's some SERIOUSLY FUNNY SHIT!!! From Desmond Tutu to Henry Kissinger with some detours through Mia Hamm, Thierry Henry, Franz (of course) and even Dave Stewart!

[Mutley]

13. A conservative told me a few weeks ago that soccer is a commie sport.

:rofl:

[Ravenseye]

16. My wife's uncle says that to this day

Growing up where she did in central PA there were apparently no (or few) soccer leagues for kids because "it's a commie sport".

If that doesn't make me love Soccer more, I don't know what would.

[Mutley]

21. I asked him for his rationalization of that statement and his reply was

"Because it was invented by the commie lovin' Europeans."

:shrug: Sigh.

Makes me love soccer more, too. ;)

[RagingInMiami]

24. That's insane

Sadly, he is not alone in his thinking.

[Bill McBlueState]

40. ha, ha

And as we all know, the rules of American football were handed to Teddy Roosevelt on a golden tablet by God himself. They didn't, you know, evolve from a game invented in Europe or anything...

[enigmatic]

29. My High School Football coach said that

He tried to stop the school from starting a soccer program by essentially saying that; of course, he forgot that NE Ohio is a hotbed of amateur soccer, the dumbass...

[Gatchaman]

23. But I like Budweiser, Jack Daniels and BBQ

and I don't like football or soccer. What does that make me, apart from an overweight free thinker?

[RagingInMiami]

25. A man who has bad taste in beer

Good taste in food. And who probably has never tried Irish Whiskey.

[Juffo Wup]

28. The NFL has profit sharing

In other words, a socialist structure. FIFA does not.

[XemaSab]

30. Soccer players are all fags while football players are REAL men

/perhaps a little over the line sarcasm :P

[Kajsa]

32. Rofl! Just a little--

But it's still damn funny!

:rofl:

[many a good man]

33. Like the People against the Military-Industrial Complex

Soccer is the true game "of the people" if you think about. It is totally democratic in that the only required piece of equipment is a ball, making it equally accessible to both rich and poor. It is loved by millions around the globe, uniting them in common purpose.

The NFL is like the military-industrial complex. The uniforms are expensive and gladiatorial. The teams are owned by moguls and supported by the largest corporations. The strategy and the words used to describe them are metaphors for war.

Ironically, the United States is the last major power NOT to give up militaristic foreign policy and its the also the last to adopt "soccer" as its favorite sport. Perhaps one follows the other?

[JVS]

35. Soccer sucks

[MrSlayer]

36. Well color me conservative then.

This is really stupid. I'll take crushing the other team and guys who choose to amputate their fingers to continue playing over diving and acting like a punk ass to draw a card every single time. Also BBQ and JD is far superior to Croissants and Cafe Latte, two things I would never consider consuming. I do like Guinness and tequila though.

[flvegan]

38. Soccer is hockey combined with football.

Never stops, except there are no line changes.

Keep up with that. Just not enough violence for Americans. No pig-piling nor sacking, and no quarter line fisticuffs.

[Ava]

39. i'm a HUGE college football fan

and huge liberal :shrug:

[RagingInMiami]

41. Well in Alabama, if you're not a college football fan

You just don't exist.

It's like that in Florida too and I'm no different.

[Ava]

42. haha.... well i live close to auburn

so it's tough for me around here ;)

[Juffo Wup]

49. All liberals are soccer fans

Ergo, if you are not a soccer fan, you are not a liberal.

Don't worry, I'm not a liberal either. I drink Miller Lite AND watch football!

[alarimer]

47. I think you are on to something here

the NFL has always struck me as conservative.

[Syrinx]

48. this reminds me of the old George Carlin routine about football & baseball

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.

Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park!

Football is played on a GRIDIRON, in a STADIUM, sometimes called SOLDIER FIELD or WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.

Football begins in the fall, when everything is dying.

In football you wear a helmet

In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs. "What down is it?

Baseball is concerned with ups. "Who's up? Are you up? I'm not up! He's up!"

In football you receive a penalty.

In baseball you make an error.

In football the specialist comes in to kick.

In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting, and unnecessary roughness.

Baseball has the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: Rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog...can't see the game, don't know if there is a game going on; mud on the field...can't read the uniforms, can't read the yard markers, the struggle will continue!

In baseball if it rains, we don't go out to play. "I can't go out! It's raining out!"

Baseball has the seventh-inning stretch.

Football has the two-minute warning

Baseball has no time limit: "We don't know when it's gonna end!"

Football is rigidly timed, and it will end "even if we have to go to sudden death."

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling. Emotions may run high or low, but there's not that much unpleasantness.

In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you were perfectly capable of taking the life of a fellow human being

And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:

In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! "I hope I'll be safe at home!"

[billyskank]

50. Don't look at soccer through rose-tinted specs

You see everything as good because it's relatively unfamiliar. But there is much that is ugly about soccer. Corruption is rampant, right up to the highest level: there is too much money in it, and too little regulation. Top-flight players are paid too much and behave very badly. Also racism is rife amongst supporters, and violence accompanies football matches wherever they go.