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Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:10 pm
by Edward_Archive
Linus Van Pelt wrote:Our sporting violence is not antagonistic so much as celebratory. I've lived near Michigan State University most of my life, and I've witnessed a lot of this - in fact, just a week or two ago, our men's basketball team reached the semifinals of the national tournament, and there were riots in the streets of East Lansing. But they weren't rioting against anything or anyone, just celebrating by setting fires and stuff. That's most of our sporting violence. I've heard other college campuses have the same type of thing happen.
Yeah, people love to set cars and couches and other objects and fire and loot stores and the like after a big victory, but violence against others is pretty rare at sporting events over here. We save that for school or the workplace.
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:22 pm
by Brett Eugene Ralph_Archive
For a riveting gonzo-journalistic account of soccer hooliganism, check out Bil Bufords Among the Thugs. I guarantee you've never read anything like it.
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:20 am
by Bradley R Weissenberger_Archive
stackmatic wrote:has something like this ever happened during a soccer match:
(yes, that is the San Diego Chicken disguised as a landshark)
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:42 am
by ironyengine_Archive
Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:stackmatic wrote:has something like this ever happened during a soccer match:
(yes, that is the San Diego Chicken disguised as a landshark)
That's a small dolphin, at best.
Ha ha!
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:55 am
by Superking_Archive
You know, this is something I've wondered about from time to time. The U.S. seems to have violence and homocide-by-shotgun aplenty, yet we don't have and have never had the weird futbol kind of violence at our sporting events. The basketball shenanigans in Detroit a while back was big news, and there was a lot of 'outrage', but it wasn't that big of a deal, in comparison. Nobody died or got seriously injured.
I think if 36 people died at, say, an NFL game, football would be completely shut down pending a congressional investigation. Everything would change. And from that point on, security and public sentiment would be such that any whiff of 'hooliganism' would be snuffed out. Armed guards would toss out the rowdies at the first sign of potential trouble.
I'd like to hear more of our friends' 'across the drink' explanations of this phenomenon. I really don't know much about it. Partly because soccer really is a dud around here, and does not inflame such passion. At least not yet. Perhaps it will once we get on the metric system (any day now!).
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:29 am
by fraser_Archive
waltermalling wrote:soccer is not a sport. at least in this country it is not.
more orange slices please!
it's huge in plenty of other countries (most of europe, africa, japan).
If you take the time to get into football, it's nothing short of awesome. Watching it and playing it are two of the most fun things i can think of doing (ok, top 10 anyway). Having said that, if my national football team was USA, i'd claim it wasn't a sport as well.
(for the sake of argument, please ignore my being Scottish).
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:53 am
by Superking_Archive
Watching it and playing it are two of the most fun things i can think of doing
You know, for quite some time in this country (the U.S. of A.), we've pushed soccer on our youth as a great sport. When I was a young man there was a big soccer frenzy among the 12-year-olds, and the word was that when we came of age, the sport would finally take hold here.
Well, I'm pretty long in the tooth and the sport these days is right up there with La Crosse and Rugby, as far as popularity goes (in the U.S.). Yet there is the stereotype of the suburban 'soccer mom', and 'shitloads' of American kids play soccer until they're blue in the face, but it hasn't really taken hold as a 'real sport' here.
Around the same time they were pushing soccer on me, a teacher of mine said that I was part of the smoke-free generation. I believed it. I've smoked for 13 years...
Anyway, I can think of few things I'd rather not do than play soccer. This probably has a lot to do with me being a fat, smoking American, but still... This is why I enjoy a little wiffleball during the summer months -- I can give it my all and still drink a beer while I'm doing it.
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:29 am
by diego_Archive
Oops...
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:30 am
by diego_Archive
waltermalling wrote:tell the story about the soccer dude that celebrated his goal by running up and jumping on the fence surrounding the playing field. only to have his wedding ring catch on to the fence and then rip his finger completely off.
http://www.tdg.ch/tghome/toute_l_info_t ... 6_12_.html
Sporting hooliganism
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:28 am
by Linus Van Pelt_Archive
Other than the Big Four, what sports are more popular than soccer in the US? I think soccer is probably number 5 (unless you consider auto racing a sport) - a good distance below number 4, for sure, but hey, number 5.
To say that it's not a sport is ridiculous. Fencing is a sport. Curling is a sport. Popularity does not determine whether something is a sport. If it did, our top sports would be "Desperate Housewives", "American Idol", and "CSI".
