Post by Rastanfarian on Jan 2, 2016 21:09:50 GMT
I'll start with a small history lesson before I reply to the posts found in the Box Art Overview Thread. Note that any and all points I make may be incorrect. I do not claim to be an export in history, football or soccer.
Centuries ago most sports games took place on horseback. The term football or foot ball was first used to describe any/all sports which took place on foot.
Soccer is a word of British origin, and believed to have been introduced some 200 years ago!
- The original game allowed for the use of hands., and had "no real rules" for centuries.
- As time passed the game evolved, into the two games we now know as Rugby and Football (Soccer).
- Rules where introduced to disallow the use of hands which led to the term or name of "Association Football".
- The former game which allowed the use of hands became "Rugby Football".
- The game of Rugby football was shortened to "Rugger" a term recognized in British English today (if I am correct?), and the game of Association Football was shortened to "Soccer". (Apparently, the use of "er" was common back then.)
- As the word "soccer" gained popularity in the U.S. - in an effort to distinguish itself from "American Football", Brits began to part from the term (in the 1980's).
"Gridiron" was the original American slang for the game we (Americans) now call "Football".
- The term was originally used to differentiate between Rugby Football and Association Football.
- Lines that were drawn on the field to help in refereeing of the game, gave a "gridiron" appearance.
- Before 1906, Gridiron did not allow forward passing, and the game was much more similar to Rugby Football.
- Teams were allowed to recover their own forward punt (like Rugby) and was a common used tactic to gain yardage/ground, just as it is today in Rugby.
- Drop kicks were more common and worth the same amount of points as a "touchdown". Also easier to score then, as the ball had rounded ends similar to the Rugby ball of today.
I am sure all of this info can be found somewhere on the internet today, most of this comes from "knowledge" I retained from a high school debate on which game should appropriately be named "football", some 20 years ago.
Now for the juicy/opinionated type rantings!
When I first read rupert's post I was agitated. I am a "football" coach (the American kind
). After seven years serving as a youth/midget head coach I made my first appearance on the sidelines as a Junior High/Middle School assistant coach last season. I am currently expecting to make my way to the high school sidelines as an assistant coach next season, and hopefully/eventually a head coach. So yes, I am very close to subject matter, and don't like the idea of someone "insulting" my beloved sport. But like most football fans/coaches/players I can overreact, or react too quickly. I know that Rupert had no intentions of insulting me and his edit (I believe) is the more appropriate point. -The game is looked at by many Europeans as a joke. (I hate to make generalizations, but will use the term Europeans here for lack of a better one). My belief is most non-Americans do no understand the sport, therefor can not view it in the proper light. What they see is a bunch of guys in body armor running around for a few seconds then they stop and stand around for a minute before continuing to play.
The game is the ultimate combination of chess and warfare! The coaches and players study for hours to prepare for their next foe. "What does "team x" do in this situation and what can/will we do to counterstrike or overcome this situation?" Like war, it's all about gaining ground (or yardage in this case). The game is as much mental as physical in my opinion, and this is what I love about it. Soccer "flows" with no stoppage of time. The ball goes out of bounds and BAM, it comes back in - game on. "Football" stops after a few seconds of brutality and the team has 45 seconds to make a play call, line up in the appropriate formation, call an audible (if needed, this is dictated by what the defensive alignment is) and execute the play. Again many hours of preparation are needed for all of this to happen as designed. Just as many hours are needed to fine tune soldiers into "war machines".
Then we have the excessive rules or penalties which may cause another time stoppage. I can completely understand how it seems we need the sideline distractions of cheerleaders and mascots to keep us focused. Think about it for a minute though, how many guys would not enjoy some scantily clad women on the sidelines of a "soccer" match? Maybe you guys are missing out on something here.
Before going further I must inform you that I am I big fan of team sports in general. I coached youth "soccer" for four seasons, three years with the boys and one year with the girls, before moving on to coaching "football". I have served as a head coach or manager in softball for 8 seasons and an assistant coach in baseball for at least 7 years. Team sports are a great tool for our youth to learn valuable lessons that will apply all through their lives. Teamwork, commitment, discipline, hard work towards a common goal, overcoming adversity... all things we need to be successful in our adult lives. If not for sports many of todays youth would not bother continuing with their studies and high school. Maybe this is more a point of the epidemic of the American education system at this time. I myself only kept my grades up to ensure I could participate in the team sports offered at my high school. A minimum GPA is required or students are place on "academic probation" and are suspended from said sport until their grades are improved.
Another value to our youth today (here in America anyways) is the male role model. Far too many young men grow up without a father figure in the home toady. Again, this may not apply to the rest of the world, but I believe it is a very serious problem here. I take great pride and responsibility in serving as a "surrogate father" to the young men I coach. If not through us (the coaches) where else will they learn "what it means to be a man"? Unfortunately most will emulate the dope slingers and thugs that see as "successful" on their city streets. Again, a societal problem here in America and the unfortunate result of a society that emphasizes $$$$$$!
Point being, regardless of the which sport you love; there is value in them all. Football, soccer, basketball, baseball, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby, it really doesn't matter. Its the life lessons that we learn from them that count.
Although I am not a country music fan I would encourage any one that is interested in learning more about what makes Americans so passionate about "football" to watch the music video of Kenny Chesney's " The Boys of Fall", to gain some insight on the brotherhood experienced through the game. Even better would be to watch the documentary or short film of the same title produced by Kenny Chesney. It can do in a few minutes what I will never be able to accomplish in a few paragraphs!
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+boys+of+fall+movie&view=detail&mid=9AC83361C371FAC12BC69AC83361C371FAC12BC6&FORM=VIRE1
Now that I've gone way off topic I'll try to return to the original discussion...
I like ShadowAngel's name of "American Handegg". Both amusing and accurately described!
rupert make the point of "over the top body armor" and growing up watching Rugby which has minimal body protection.
At which point Centrale makes the counter point of the speed at which the game takes place.
I have no desire to debate which players are tougher or which sport is superior.
But it lead me to wonder which sport has a greater instance of "serious injury". I don't think with out many hours of research I could find that answer. From the little bit of searching I did I am led to believe that "football" has more "serious injuries." While the rate of paralysis is much higher in rugby, the newer research into traumatic brain injuries seems to show that football has a higher rate of life long chronic traumatic encephalopathy or ECT. I like Centrale, attribute this to speed of the game. I am certainly not as familiar with rugby as I am with American football, but living in Asia for 8 years I likely have more exposure to the game then most Americans. Rugby scrums are not nearly as brutal nor the are open field tackles as in American football. I am willing to bet that most rugby players "take a little off" when going into these situations, compared to football. The protection or padding leads to a false sense of security, therefor players attempt full speed collisions and tackles with little regard for the possible outcome. Again only my opinion or speculation.
Centuries ago most sports games took place on horseback. The term football or foot ball was first used to describe any/all sports which took place on foot.
Soccer is a word of British origin, and believed to have been introduced some 200 years ago!
- The original game allowed for the use of hands., and had "no real rules" for centuries.
- As time passed the game evolved, into the two games we now know as Rugby and Football (Soccer).
- Rules where introduced to disallow the use of hands which led to the term or name of "Association Football".
- The former game which allowed the use of hands became "Rugby Football".
- The game of Rugby football was shortened to "Rugger" a term recognized in British English today (if I am correct?), and the game of Association Football was shortened to "Soccer". (Apparently, the use of "er" was common back then.)
- As the word "soccer" gained popularity in the U.S. - in an effort to distinguish itself from "American Football", Brits began to part from the term (in the 1980's).
"Gridiron" was the original American slang for the game we (Americans) now call "Football".
- The term was originally used to differentiate between Rugby Football and Association Football.
- Lines that were drawn on the field to help in refereeing of the game, gave a "gridiron" appearance.
- Before 1906, Gridiron did not allow forward passing, and the game was much more similar to Rugby Football.
- Teams were allowed to recover their own forward punt (like Rugby) and was a common used tactic to gain yardage/ground, just as it is today in Rugby.
- Drop kicks were more common and worth the same amount of points as a "touchdown". Also easier to score then, as the ball had rounded ends similar to the Rugby ball of today.
I am sure all of this info can be found somewhere on the internet today, most of this comes from "knowledge" I retained from a high school debate on which game should appropriately be named "football", some 20 years ago.
Now for the juicy/opinionated type rantings!
When I first read rupert's post I was agitated. I am a "football" coach (the American kind
). After seven years serving as a youth/midget head coach I made my first appearance on the sidelines as a Junior High/Middle School assistant coach last season. I am currently expecting to make my way to the high school sidelines as an assistant coach next season, and hopefully/eventually a head coach. So yes, I am very close to subject matter, and don't like the idea of someone "insulting" my beloved sport. But like most football fans/coaches/players I can overreact, or react too quickly. I know that Rupert had no intentions of insulting me and his edit (I believe) is the more appropriate point. -The game is looked at by many Europeans as a joke. (I hate to make generalizations, but will use the term Europeans here for lack of a better one). My belief is most non-Americans do no understand the sport, therefor can not view it in the proper light. What they see is a bunch of guys in body armor running around for a few seconds then they stop and stand around for a minute before continuing to play. The game is the ultimate combination of chess and warfare! The coaches and players study for hours to prepare for their next foe. "What does "team x" do in this situation and what can/will we do to counterstrike or overcome this situation?" Like war, it's all about gaining ground (or yardage in this case). The game is as much mental as physical in my opinion, and this is what I love about it. Soccer "flows" with no stoppage of time. The ball goes out of bounds and BAM, it comes back in - game on. "Football" stops after a few seconds of brutality and the team has 45 seconds to make a play call, line up in the appropriate formation, call an audible (if needed, this is dictated by what the defensive alignment is) and execute the play. Again many hours of preparation are needed for all of this to happen as designed. Just as many hours are needed to fine tune soldiers into "war machines".
Then we have the excessive rules or penalties which may cause another time stoppage. I can completely understand how it seems we need the sideline distractions of cheerleaders and mascots to keep us focused. Think about it for a minute though, how many guys would not enjoy some scantily clad women on the sidelines of a "soccer" match? Maybe you guys are missing out on something here.
Before going further I must inform you that I am I big fan of team sports in general. I coached youth "soccer" for four seasons, three years with the boys and one year with the girls, before moving on to coaching "football". I have served as a head coach or manager in softball for 8 seasons and an assistant coach in baseball for at least 7 years. Team sports are a great tool for our youth to learn valuable lessons that will apply all through their lives. Teamwork, commitment, discipline, hard work towards a common goal, overcoming adversity... all things we need to be successful in our adult lives. If not for sports many of todays youth would not bother continuing with their studies and high school. Maybe this is more a point of the epidemic of the American education system at this time. I myself only kept my grades up to ensure I could participate in the team sports offered at my high school. A minimum GPA is required or students are place on "academic probation" and are suspended from said sport until their grades are improved.
Another value to our youth today (here in America anyways) is the male role model. Far too many young men grow up without a father figure in the home toady. Again, this may not apply to the rest of the world, but I believe it is a very serious problem here. I take great pride and responsibility in serving as a "surrogate father" to the young men I coach. If not through us (the coaches) where else will they learn "what it means to be a man"? Unfortunately most will emulate the dope slingers and thugs that see as "successful" on their city streets. Again, a societal problem here in America and the unfortunate result of a society that emphasizes $$$$$$!
Point being, regardless of the which sport you love; there is value in them all. Football, soccer, basketball, baseball, field hockey, lacrosse, rugby, it really doesn't matter. Its the life lessons that we learn from them that count.
Although I am not a country music fan I would encourage any one that is interested in learning more about what makes Americans so passionate about "football" to watch the music video of Kenny Chesney's " The Boys of Fall", to gain some insight on the brotherhood experienced through the game. Even better would be to watch the documentary or short film of the same title produced by Kenny Chesney. It can do in a few minutes what I will never be able to accomplish in a few paragraphs!
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+boys+of+fall+movie&view=detail&mid=9AC83361C371FAC12BC69AC83361C371FAC12BC6&FORM=VIRE1
Now that I've gone way off topic I'll try to return to the original discussion...
I like ShadowAngel's name of "American Handegg". Both amusing and accurately described!
rupert make the point of "over the top body armor" and growing up watching Rugby which has minimal body protection.
At which point Centrale makes the counter point of the speed at which the game takes place.
I have no desire to debate which players are tougher or which sport is superior.
But it lead me to wonder which sport has a greater instance of "serious injury". I don't think with out many hours of research I could find that answer. From the little bit of searching I did I am led to believe that "football" has more "serious injuries." While the rate of paralysis is much higher in rugby, the newer research into traumatic brain injuries seems to show that football has a higher rate of life long chronic traumatic encephalopathy or ECT. I like Centrale, attribute this to speed of the game. I am certainly not as familiar with rugby as I am with American football, but living in Asia for 8 years I likely have more exposure to the game then most Americans. Rugby scrums are not nearly as brutal nor the are open field tackles as in American football. I am willing to bet that most rugby players "take a little off" when going into these situations, compared to football. The protection or padding leads to a false sense of security, therefor players attempt full speed collisions and tackles with little regard for the possible outcome. Again only my opinion or speculation.
Hoping this topic may generate some more discussion, just as the Box Art Competition has generated some renewed interest/traffic here at the forum.
I really hope no one takes offence to anything I have said here. Normally I would spend hours to articulate the proper words writing and rewriting my communication. But since this is "just a forum" and not a communique between my players or their parents, (that I coach) I just typed it up and fired it out there. Thanks for reading!
