Right wingnuts and the world cup

whatstherush

Didn't realize the world cup was the new bête noire of the American right, till I saw an article in Irish times today mentioning it. Lead me to americanthinker.com, very enlightened people there, and Soccer The Perfect Socialist Sport.

Did a bit of googling and see mr beck is also in on the act. He actual makes billy boy seem quite reasonable in this clip.

Well it does involve redistributing the ball..

PopeUrbanII

whatstherush wrote: »

Didn't realize the world cup was the new bête noire of the American right, till I saw an article in Irish times today mentioning it. Lead me to americanthinker.com, very enlightened people there, and Soccer The Perfect Socialist Sport.

Did a bit of googling and see mr beck is also in on the act. He actual makes billy boy seem quite reasonable in this clip.

I'm watching Beck right now. He's a great crusader of true Americanism. As a Mormon, he'll never have my full trust, but I'm allied to him solidly, in the spiritual war against Obama.

amacachi

That has to be a sarcastic article. Every paragraph is wrong about something.

CiaranC

"American Thinker" an oxymoron if ever there was one.

Someone send me a message if any US sport ever ascends above the level of location-market-targeted-franchise A versus location-market-targeted-franchise B

Overheal

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

I'm watching Beck right now. He's a great crusader of true Americanism.

Yeah good luck with that.

jank

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

I'm watching Beck right now. He's a great crusader of true Americanism. .

Can you define true Americanism?

spank_inferno

Its very 'tongue in cheek'

Its just that the author isn't funny.

Denerick

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

I'm watching Beck right now. He's a great crusader of true Americanism. As a Mormon, he'll never have my full trust, but I'm allied to him solidly, in the spiritual war against Obama.

You're having waaaaay too much fun in this persona...

dlofnep

Cringe material right there. Can't we just lock all these people up and in them on Shutter Island with the rest of the wackos?

Amerika

jank wrote: »

Can you define true Americanism?

A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a lot of center right.

Denerick

dlofnep wrote: »

Cringe material right there. Can't we just lock all these people up and in them on Shutter Island with the rest of the wackos?

The US politics forum has become a lot like Shutter Island. I wandered in here a couple of months ago and feel an almost magnetic attraction to Amerika and his latest compadre. There is something inherently attractive about far right wing American conservatism, there's something in it that makes you want to shoot your gun in the air and scream 'NO MORE GHEYS!'

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a lot of center right.

Was FDR a true American? Or was he one of those fake ones?

Amerika

Denerick wrote: »

Was FDR a true American? Or was he one of those fake ones?

Sure he was... A little bit of that.

eightyfish

Soccer is biggest where the "national teams" are the main sports focus of a nation. Hey, you can't get much more socialist than that. And everyone on every street and in every town pulls for the same team. Wow. Isn't that exciting? Whom do you pull for? Oh yeah, the national team.

I feel sorry for anyone who's never had the pleasure of cheering their country on over a pint in a jam-packed pub, or in the crowd at a match. Real joy in that. It's a pity that America is not good at any sports that the rest of the world play together. They're missing out.

Oh no wait- They have the WORLD SERIES.
Why is it only the USA or Canada win that one?

dlofnep

eightyfish wrote: »

Why is it only the USA or Canada win that one?

toiletduck

eightyfish wrote: »

It's a pity that America is not good at any sports that the rest of the world play together.

Yeah, imagine them only getting to the last 16 in the WC since Ireland got to... umm :P


That's a proper funny article. I can't accept it's serious.

eightyfish

toiletduck wrote: »

Yeah, imagine them only getting to the last 16 in the WC since Ireland got to... umm :P

Well yes, but you get my point. Plus if we were in the world cup, our population would give a ****.

toiletduck

Yeah, but I find that a bit selective. I mean the general Irish population didn't care, or even know, about Ireland being in the cricket world cup. It's just a sport that hasn't reached widespread popularity here, whereas someone in India or Pakistan may find that as surprising as we do with the yanks and soccer.

Anyways, soccer being socialist... Lol.

eightyfish

toiletduck wrote: »

Yeah, but I find that a bit selective. I mean the general Irish population didn't care, or even know, about Ireland being in the cricket world cup.

True, but cricket is not a true world sport. There are only 10 test playing nations. (Ireland played a blinder in the cricket world cup against Pakistan, for anyone who saw it.)

Even the rugby world cup, which is brilliant to watch, only involves teams at a serious level from certain areas of the world - mostly ex-commonwealth.

Football, on the other hand, has genuine global appeal.

Amerika

I thought the article was funny and spot on. Personally, I’d rather watch my grass grow than watch soccer. They seem to move at about the same pace.

Amerika

Denerick wrote: »

There is something inherently attractive about far right wing American conservatism, there's something in it that makes you want to shoot your gun in the air and scream 'NO MORE GHEYS!'

Yeah I sorta know how you feel. Only with me, having to deal with Liberals is like watching a group of people holding hands, singing Kumbaya, walking in unison off a cliff to their ultimate demise.

eightyfish

Amerika wrote: »

I thought the article was funny and spot on.

Spot on? So do you agree with this ignorant crazyness:

Last time I checked, soccer was very popular where starvation, archery, and badminton were the alternative activities.

But it's the "yeah, but it's the worlds most popular sport" attitude that really gets to me.
No it isn't! See the perfect dirt and gold analogy in paragraph one, please. Where people have a choice, soccer is not the most popular sport.

Amerika

eightyfish wrote: »

Spot on? So do you agree with this ignorant crazyness:

For what it was meant to be… a humorous and satirizing view of soccer by many Americans, Yes.

dlofnep

Amerika wrote: »

I thought the article was funny and spot on. Personally, I’d rather watch my grass grow than watch soccer. They seem to move at about the same pace.

While I detest soccer, probably more than you do - there was nothing accurate about the article.

Check out the opening:

The world's most popular sport? Puh-leeze

Name one sport that's more popular in a global context than soccer.

Where soccer has to compete with the NFL, college football, and basketball -- not to mention WWE, the X Games, cheerleading contests, and cage-fighting -- not so much.

Strange the all of those sports barely exist outside the realms of the US, bar mixed martial arts (which the writer erronously refers to as 'cage fighting'). Perhaps the writer is geographically confused about that the "world" is.

The only thing more predictable than Barack Obama blaming George W. Bush and BP is that when you flip over to World Cup coverage, the score will be 0-0. I don't care who is playing or where you are in the game...er, match. It will be 0-0.

Except of course when it's 1-0, or 2-1, or 4-0.

Hey -- I know they call it a pitch, not a field. Told you I was not a redneck newbie.

I think those who created the English language, and the sport of soccer are in a stronger position to determine what the name of the area that the sport is played on, is called.

It is a self-esteem cornucopia, where a blistering rout of, say, 2-0 seems so close in the score book. No one's feelings get hurt at 2-0. And on and on the socialist feel goes.

One wonders if this pretenious arsehole knows actually what socialism is. My guess is, seriously doubtful.

Soccer is biggest where the "national teams" are the main sports focus of a nation. Hey, you can't get much more socialist than that. And everyone on every street and in every town pulls for the same team. Wow. Isn't that exciting? Whom do you pull for? Oh yeah, the national team.

The writer has obviously never heard of derby matches.

eightyfish

Amerika wrote: »

For what it was meant to be… a humorous and satirizing view of soccer by many Americans, Yes.

Fair enough. Unfortunately I think it backfires and just makes the author look totally ignorant. And arrogant.

whatstherush wrote: »

He actual makes billy boy seem quite reasonable in this clip.

That's about the only time I've ever agreed with Bill O'Riley. That clip is funnier if you click on the vuvuzela button.

Exile 1798

Salary caps, drafts, revenue sharing - these are all restraints of trade and artificial levelers designed to even the playing field. They are unheard of in major Football competitions, infact they would be against European Law. Yet they are all central tenets of every major American competition or sporting past time - The NFL, NBA, Baseball, Ice Hockey.

If we want to throw around the terms "Socialist" and "Capitalist" in the silly way the author does, then it's fair to say that Football is a bastion of unrestrained Capitalism while every major American sport is run on a Socialist basis and ethos.

The author of the article would seem to be one of those people who struggles to see what is in front of them and is incapable of properly processing facts and understanding the world around him. This is a common trait among those on the American Right.

"American Thinker" is a fittingly Orwellien title for a website clearly designed by and for those who eschew thought.

Overheal

eightyfish wrote: »

That's about the only time I've ever agreed with Bill O'Riley. That clip is funnier if you click on the vuvuzela button.

to be fair, this is the best video for the vuvuzalea ever.

The Mad Hatter

dlofnep wrote: »

The writer has obviously never heard of derby matches.

The writer probably thinks Manchester is a country, like Britain.

PopeUrbanII

The World, According to Western Europe:

"I'm old and tired. I quit. Whatever happens, happens. As long as I keep getting my welfare check from my Socialist government, I don't care about anything. In order to live a stress-free life, I've quit believing in anything, except my own personal pleasure. My modern creeds are nihilism and hedonism. I'm also foolish enough to believe I can get away with this irresponsible way of life forever, even though enemies rally at the gate, enemies I'm too weak to ward off. I am Western Europe, The Worthless and Doomed.";)

Denerick

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

The World, According to Western Europe:

"I'm old and tired. I quit. Whatever happens, happens. As long as I keep getting my welfare check from my Socialist government, I don't care about anything. In order to live a stress-free life, I've quit believing in anything, except my own personal pleasure. My modern creeds are nihilism and hedonism. I'm also foolish enough to believe I can get away with this irresponsible way of life forever, even though enemies rally at the gate, enemies I'm too weak to ward off. I am Western Europe, The Worthless and Doomed.";)

lol

Rowley Birkin QC

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

The World, According to Western Europe:

"I'm old and tired. I quit. Whatever happens, happens. As long as I keep getting my welfare check from my Socialist government, I don't care about anything. In order to live a stress-free life, I've quit believing in anything, except my own personal pleasure. My modern creeds are nihilism and hedonism. I'm also foolish enough to believe I can get away with this irresponsible way of life forever, even though enemies rally at the gate, enemies I'm too weak to ward off. I am Western Europe, The Worthless and Doomed.";)

The USA; a nation still in the throes of it's teenage years, immature, easily persuaded, irrational and liable to do absolutely anything on a whim with no eye to consequence or lessons learnt from past experiences.

rovert

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

The World, According to Western Europe:

"I'm old and tired. I quit. Whatever happens, happens. As long as I keep getting my welfare check from my Socialist government, I don't care about anything. In order to live a stress-free life, I've quit believing in anything, except my own personal pleasure. My modern creeds are nihilism and hedonism. I'm also foolish enough to believe I can get away with this irresponsible way of life forever, even though enemies rally at the gate, enemies I'm too weak to ward off. I am Western Europe, The Worthless and Doomed.";)

If there is anyone how would know about Foreign Affairs it is Republicans.

Amerika

I had a Foreign Affair once... no, twice. Does that count?

Denerick

Amerika wrote: »

I had a Foreign Affair once... no, twice. Does that count?

Wow man, I'm impressed. I never pictured you making love to a French man before.

Byron85

PopeUrbanII wrote: »

The World, According to Western Europe:

"I'm old and tired. I quit. Whatever happens, happens. As long as I keep getting my welfare check from my Socialist government, I don't care about anything. In order to live a stress-free life, I've quit believing in anything, except my own personal pleasure. My modern creeds are nihilism and hedonism. I'm also foolish enough to believe I can get away with this irresponsible way of life forever, even though enemies rally at the gate, enemies I'm too weak to ward off. I am Western Europe, The Worthless and Doomed.";)

America: Built on the foundations of slave labour, immigration, and Nazi war criminals.

sceptre

OK, you guys are mostly grounding the depths of Idiotica now - you know, the place where they can't figure out which side of the soccer ball is up and which is down. Kindly remember that mutual manners aren't optional, even where you're being "hilariously" ironic.

Locked for sanity, which I'd appreciate if some of you retained.

/mod