[Arpe]

In the US (and Canada and Australia) however, due to the popularity of what is called "American football"

Very very difficult to believe. American Football basically has zero following worldwide it seems to me, other than country of origin?

b/c "football" means soccer everywhere that uses the metric system and something else in America where the imperial system is still used.

Not here. Most would still call it soccer here, though there's a push to call it football, and this country is clever enough to have switched to metric.

I didn't mention rugby because there is no confusion between rugby and football.

Wrong. Coming from the world's best rugby playing nation (!) I can attest that it is often called "footie" here.

The problem with calling ANY sport football is that there are about 6 different footballs worldwide:
Association football (soccer)
Gaelic football
American football
Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules)
Rugby union football (Rugby)
Rugby League football (League)

All called "footie" by their fans.

[Blue]

Very very difficult to believe. American Football basically has zero following worldwide it seems to me, other than country of origin?

Not here. Most would still call it soccer here, though there's a push to call it football, and this country is clever enough to have switched to metric.


Wrong. Coming from the world's best rugby playing nation (!) I can attest that it is often called "footie" here.

The problem with calling ANY sport football is that there are about 6 different footballs worldwide:
Association football (soccer)
Gaelic football
American football
Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules)
Rugby union football (Rugby)
Rugby League football (League)

All called "footie" by their fans.

Actually, as it turns out, I wasn't wrong. We wouldn't confuse a sport called 'footie" with football. That's a game played in a totally different venue. We could solve some of the problem by calling soccer, kickball or feint ball.

[nosnoop]

Recently, I understood the math behind game result probabilities. And now I know that it is exactly the low average number of scores which make it likely the weaker team beats the stronger one (Poisson probability if you like to read about it). So, you never know who wins until the game is over. I think that this really adds to the attraction of the sport.

OTOH, it also makes it likely for the weaker team to draw out a 0-0 boring match against a stronger team.

[nosnoop]

Is the general enthusiasm for American football (e.g., during superbowl) comparable to the popular enthusiasm for football in the rest of the world? Like shown in this arbitrary image:
?

They really cannot be compared. World Cup or European Championship is about national pride; in your case, Germans vs someone else. While for Superbowl, it is a domestic championship Americans vs Americans. So while the popular interest is there, you won't see the same type of patriotic celebration or support. In another words, Superbowl is more like a Bayern Munich vs Werder Bremen final in DFB-Pokal.

Similarly, you don't see much patriotic celebration after the NHL Stanley Cup, but when Canada (where ice hockey is huge) won the gold medal in Winter Olympics, the outpouring and enthusiasm was comparable, because national pride was at stake.

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Last edited by nosnoop; 07-15-2010 at 02:00 AM.

[falconeye]

OTOH, it also makes it likely for the weaker team to draw out a 0-0 boring match against a stronger team.

Yes and no.

A 0:0 isn't necessarily boring. There can be plenty of "almost goal" situations and as long as it's 0:0, every second can literally bring the decision. That's dramatic, not boring. And sometimes, a 0:0 is all a team needs to survive (e.g., look at the very popular UEFA Champions League). People easily die because of heart attack even in a 0:0 game ...

On the other hand, if both teams only defend then the game is easily boring, whatever be the result, with 0:0 being the most likely one then.

when Canada (where ice hockey is huge) won the gold medal in Winter Olympics, the outpouring and enthusiasm was comparable, because national pride was at stake.

Yeah, that's the kind of images I meant.

If you're right (and I guess you are), then America misses a great opportunity to celebrate national pride. And that in a very patriotic country...

[Nimrad]

I don't think any country where football is top 1 sport in the country call it 'soccer'. I always thought the Americans just did it because they have another sport that's more popular that they themselves call football. Hence "american football". I refuse to call it soccer just because America think they're so big they own the world and therefore they can use "feet", "inches", "miles", "soccer" etc.

But I say, keep going! Diversity is awesome!

[Blue]

I refuse to call it soccer just because America think they're so big they own the world and therefore they can use "feet", "inches", "miles", "soccer" etc.

Actually, most Americans don't really give a damn what the rest of the world calls it. Baseball, Football, Basketball and to some extent Ice Hockey is the biggest draws spectator wise. Golf is bigger than soccer.

[Gooshin]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-gUXl7usc[/yt]

[mingdie]

The historical explanation is that the word football have nothing to do with kicking the ball. It comes from playing on your feet as opposed to playing from a horse.

The peasants could not afford horses so they had to play on their feet. So with that explanation, football could be played with either hands, feet or both.

[falconeye]

So with that explanation, football could be played with either hands, feet or both.

I see. So I guess that soccer must be played with the mouth, right?

[mingdie]

I see. So I guess that soccer must be played with the mouth, right?

Yep. Over the years the soccer evolved from the word zucker. Sweet game.

[Ira]

As to what soccer should do to become more attractive to American audiences: it shouldn't do anything. It's already the world's most popular sport for good reason. Whether Americans dig it or not is irrelevant.

If it's so popular, how come you only have this World Cup every 4 years?

Actually, it's like the Olympics in this regards, in that it only gets major attention when you bring the nationalism into it. And when that's the primary interest, in a way that's kind of ugly--and the sport itself become kind of irrelevant. (Hey, I hear the comments made about the opposing countries. It's a pretty xenophobic fan base!)

I mean, you have guys running down the field for 90 minutes accomplishing nothing, and guys obviously faking injury just to run down the clock.

It's ridiculous.

[Ira]

The problem with calling ANY sport football is that there are about 6 different footballs worldwide:

Association football (soccer)
Gaelic football
American football
Australian Rules football (Aussie Rules)
Rugby union football (Rugby)
Rugby League football (League)

All called "footie" by their fans.

I can assure you that there isn't a single heterosexual person in the United States who calls our football "footie."

[falconeye]

If it's so popular, how come you only have this World Cup every 4 years?

It's anticyclic with the Olympic games.

The other years are crowded with other international events (Euro Cup, Champions League etc.) the US never qualified to participate in

[Ira]

It's anticyclic with the Olympic games.

The other years are crowded with other international events (Euro Cup, Champions League etc.) the US never qualified to participate in

The Euro Club and Champions League? What are THOSE!?

I can see us Americans green with envy!!!