British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?)

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 6:53 am

In my reading tonight I delved into my favorite sport, soccer (which people always say "the entire rest of the world" (I guess that excludes places like Canada, Italy and New Zealand) refers to as "football")) and got into researching why so many British people not only insist on the word "football" for it but get positively venomous about the fact that we in the U.S. call it soccer. For some, it seems to be an inordinately emotional topic ...

First of all, the entire world does not call it "football." Discounting the 300 million people in the United States who apparently don't count, not even the entire English-speaking world calls it "football," and Italians have called the sport "calcio" without getting crucified for it for a long, long time. And in the Spanish-speaking world it's "futbol," which is not actually a translation of "football" but more of an approximation of the pronunciation -- the Spanish word for "foot" being "pie."

But I came across an interesting Reddit post by a Briton which said that the real reason the British hate the word "soccer" is because it was used, derisively, to refer to Association Football by the British upper class well into the 1970s. Thus, it's a reminder of a more classist era of Britain and seen as a slight from rich snobs on a working-class game (never mind the fact it was codified by universities). Now that I could understand.

Is that the reason? Or is "soccer," as I've always suspected, seen as a distinctly American word (despite being coined in the UK) and thus subject to what Obama called the "reflexive anti-Americanism" that pervades Europe?

Hey, there are words I hate. I will never, ever be friends with someone who uses the word "chillax" non-derisively. But honestly, the vitriol I've seen from some British toward the fact that Americans call it "soccer" is without parallel and honestly seems quite petty.

by eddie Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:49 am

Seriously Ben, you need to chillax mate.

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:00 am

Maybe take off my pointy boots for a while, they hurt my toes ...

But seriously, I brought this up here because we have so many British members, I thought maybe some of y'all (even all o' y'all) could offer a perspective Smile

Is it a reminder of the class system? Is it anti-American shit? Or is it just having a big ol' British stick up your arse? Cool

by Frazzled Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:17 am

It doesn't bother me that much Ben, they should just give them a ball each imo. However,when you kick a ball with your foot, then football seems the obvious word if you are an English speaking nation.

Why is American football not called 'tucked-under-your-arm ball? Wink

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:22 am

Frazzled wrote:It doesn't bother me that much Ben, they should just give them a ball each imo. However,when you kick a ball with your foot, then football seems the obvious word if you are an English speaking nation.

Why is American football not called 'tucked-under-your-arm ball?

I actually did a post on this a while back, had to do with "football" being a really wide term when both association football and American "gridiron" football were invented -- different rule codes and no coordination between countries. But another new thing I learned is that the only reason anybody ever called a sport resembling association football, gridiron football, Aussie rules, rugby, etc. "football" in the first place is because it was played on your feet -- rather than on horseback, which was how the wealthier folks preferred their sport at the time Smile

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:24 am

Also, I've said before and still firmly believe that American football (gridiron) is going to die out. There are just far too many concussions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussions_in_American_football

by Frazzled Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:29 am

That makes sense. I'm a rugby fan myself - still called rugby football ironically. Do you play that in the US Ben?

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:36 am

Former American football players have also been shown to have micro-fractures over almost their entire bodies after retiring (usually before they're 40 years old). I remember one time our local newspaper decided to have an offensive lineman write about his experience in the NFL, and it was pretty sad -- he said that the day after a game, he pretty much could not move because of the pain. NFL teams give players the day after a game off. The next day he could move, and after a few days he could return to practice, to get ready to put himself through the same abuse the following Sunday.

Now, they have some teams that play a game Monday night and have to play again the following Thursday night. Even when I was a kid, decades ago, my father wouldn't let me or my brother play football. We've had teenagers in Texas die from spinal injuries and even simple heat exhaustion, because they start practicing when it's still around 40 C outside while wearing all that gear.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/high-school-football-player-dies-sixth-athlete-death/story?id=14442856

I just don't think people are going to put up with it for much longer!

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:38 am

We have rugby, it's not a really popular sport but it's growing. We have a youth rugby league in my area that gets more and more players every year. Have to admit I've really only watched one game in my life, but it was a lot of fun to watch!

Always liked the expression about rugby vs. soccer -- "Rugby is gentlemen playing a hooligans' game; soccer is hooligans playing a gentlmens' game" Smile

by eddie Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:44 am

Ben_Reilly wrote:Maybe take off my pointy boots for a while, they hurt my toes ...

But seriously, I brought this up here because we have so many British members, I thought maybe some of y'all (even all o' y'all) could offer a perspective

Is it a reminder of the class system? Is it anti-American shit? Or is it just having a big ol' British stick up your arse?

You do realise you just said in your OP that you hated the word chillax and I've said it twice to you this morning?? Wink

I may just causally drop it into a few threads just to annoy you British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) 2300614393

by nicko Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:32 am

if your kicking a ball about, it's called FOOTBALL, if you pick the ball up and run with it it's called RUGBY. At a game football at a School called Rugby a boy picked up a Football and ran with it, hence RUGBY.

by Raggamuffin Wed Oct 08, 2014 1:58 pm

It's football - get over it.

by Raggamuffin Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:00 pm

nicko wrote:if your kicking a ball about, it's called FOOTBALL, if you pick the ball up and run with it it's called RUGBY. At a game football at a School called Rugby a boy picked up a Football and ran with it, hence RUGBY.

Aye, William Webb Ellis.

by nicko Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:41 pm

Thanks rags, I racked my brain[what's left of it] just couldn't remember it.

by Guest Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:51 pm

nicko wrote:Thanks rags, I racked my brain[what's left of it] just couldn't remember it.

Rugby, a game played by men with odd shaped balls

by Cass Wed Oct 08, 2014 6:45 pm

I can speak both languages Cool

I don't care either way.....soccer or footie

the thing that really grips my cookies is when the Americans say PK or penalty kick.........NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.......its just a penalty......yes kicking is involved but its just a penalty......

by Original Quill Wed Oct 08, 2014 7:35 pm

nicko wrote:if your kicking a ball about, it's called FOOTBALL, if you pick the ball up and run with it it's called RUGBY. At a game football at a School called Rugby a boy picked up a Football and ran with it, hence RUGBY.

Actually, it's called "English Rules Football" and soccer only elsewhere. Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football The size of the British Empire is the reason for the worldwide spread of the sport.

Other places have adopted the term 'football' to mean any game with a ball that is kicked or maneuvered by the foot. The game goes back to the bronze age.

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:10 pm

nicko wrote:if your kicking a ball about, it's called FOOTBALL, if you pick the ball up and run with it it's called RUGBY. At a game football at a School called Rugby a boy picked up a Football and ran with it, hence RUGBY.

As I explained before, the reason any sport played while running was called "football" was to contrast it from games played on horseback:

Just as intriguing, for those who like to lambaste American Football being called such when the ball interacts primarily with hands, most of the earliest forms of Football were named thus, not because you kicked a ball with your foot, but because they were played on foot. Peasants played most of their sports on foot; aristocrats played most of theirs on horseback. Thus, games played on foot were called “football”, whether they had anything to do with kicking a ball or not. Indeed, many of the earliest forms of football involved carrying balls in an attempt to get across goal lines passed some opposing team or individual players.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-origin-of-the-word-soccer/

Also:

FIFA acknowledges a game developed about 2,500 years ago in China -- “cuju,” played with a feather-filled leather ball -- as the earliest prototype. “Football was an essentially popular game,” writes Murray, “and the name originally referred to any ball game played on foot rather than on horseback.”

http://www.spiegel.de/international/naming-the-beautiful-game-it-s-called-soccer-a-420024.html

So no, it's not called football because the ball is kicked -- it's called football because it's played while on foot.

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:17 pm

Raggamuffin wrote:It's football - get over it.

It's "football" in many places, "soccer" in many others, and other names like "calcio" in Italy, "sokker" in South Africa, "sakkā" in Japan, "sacar" in Irish ... I'm over it, you should get over it too!

It's not like Americans are trying to make people call it "soccer," and we didn't invent the word, either.

by Original Quill Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:26 pm

May be splitting hairs there, Benny. Whether played on foot, or with the foot may be a distinction not made originally.

Did they even ride horses in the Han Dynasty? Wiki speaks of Chinese cavaliers, but I don't find anything to explain.

by Original Quill Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:30 pm

David Hiskey wrote:The origin of the word “soccer”. For all you out there who love to complain when Americans, and certain others, call “Football”, “Soccer”, you should know that it was the British that invented the word and it was also one of the first names of what we now primarily know of as “Football”.

In fact, in the early days of the sport among the upper echelons of British society, the proper term for the sport was “Soccer”. Not only that, but the sport being referred to as “Soccer” preceded the first recorded instance of it being called by the singular word “Football” by about 18 years, with the latter happening when it became more popular with the middle and lower class. When that happened, the term “Football” gradually began dominating over “Soccer” and the then official name “Association Football”.

In the 1860s, as in most of history- with records as far back as 1004 B.C.- there were quite a lot of “football” sports in existence being played popularly throughout the world and of course, England. Many of these sports had similar rules and eventually, on October 26th, 1863, a group of teams in England decided to get together and create a standard set of rules which would be used at all their matches. They formed the rules for “Association Football”, with the “Association” distinguishing it from the many other types of football sports in existence in England, such as “Rugby Football”.

Now British school boys of the day liked to nickname everything, which is still somewhat common. They also liked to add the ending “er” to these nicknames. Thus Rugby was, at that time, popularly called “Rugger”. Association Football was then much better known as “Assoccer”, which quickly just became “Soccer” and sometimes “Soccer Football”.

The inventor of the nickname is said to be Charles Wredford Brown, who was an Oxford student around the time of Association Football’s inception. Legend has it, in 1863 shortly after the creation of Association Football, Wredford-Brown had some friends who asked him if he’d come play a game of “Rugger”, to which he replied he preferred “Soccer”. Whether that story’s true or not, the name caught on from around that point on.

In the beginning, the newly standardized Rugby and Soccer were football sports for “gentlemen”, primarily being played by the upper echelons of society. However, these two forms of football gradually spread to the masses, particularly Soccer as Rugby didn’t really catch on too well with the lower classes. This resulted in the name switching from “Soccer” and “Association Football”, to just “Football”; with the first documented case of the sport being called by the singular term “Football” coming in 1881, 18 years after it was first called “Soccer” or, officially, “Association Football”.

The game gradually spread throughout the world under the lower class name of “Football”, rather than “Soccer” as the “gentlemen” called it. The problem was, though, that a lot of other countries of the world already had popular sports of their own they called “Football”, such as the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, to name a few. In these countries, the name “Soccer” was and, in some, still is preferred for this reason.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-origin-of-the-word-soccer/

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:30 pm

Original Quill wrote:May be splitting hairs there, Benny. Whether played on foot, or with the foot may be a distinction not made originally.

Did they even ride horses in the Han Dynasty? Wiki speaks of Chinese cavaliers, but I don't find anything to explain.

I think they meant that the word "football" was used in Europe to distinguish it from horseback games, rather than it being used that way in China. Cuju means "kick-ball."

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:33 pm

I think the point I really want to make here is, what does it matter if people from another country have a different name for something? Like I mentioned before, the tendency of some Brits to act like they're the police of the English language makes them seem petty. It's not like they haven't changed English as well Smile

by Original Quill Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:13 pm

Meh...America can overwhelm sometimes. Brits often see their words co-opted over here and it can be disconcerting. What is the population of Britain? 65-million? And America is 316-million.

Here they have this nice exciting game of football, and America starts a new game and immediately it's bigger and gets more attention...or so it seems. They're entitled to get a little protective of their own things.

by Raggamuffin Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:23 pm

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Raggamuffin wrote:It's football - get over it.

It's "football" in many places, "soccer" in many others, and other names like "calcio" in Italy, "sokker" in South Africa, "sakkā" in Japan, "sacar" in Irish ... I'm over it, you should get over it too!

It's not like Americans are trying to make people call it "soccer," and we didn't invent the word, either.

It's football in England, and that's what counts. British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) 2984306523

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:48 pm

Raggamuffin wrote:
Ben_Reilly wrote:
Raggamuffin wrote:It's football - get over it.

It's "football" in many places, "soccer" in many others, and other names like "calcio" in Italy, "sokker" in South Africa, "sakkā" in Japan, "sacar" in Irish ... I'm over it, you should get over it too!

It's not like Americans are trying to make people call it "soccer," and we didn't invent the word, either.

It's football in England, and that's what counts.

British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) 2981866455

by eddie Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:14 pm

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Raggamuffin wrote:
Ben_Reilly wrote:
Raggamuffin wrote:It's football - get over it.

It's "football" in many places, "soccer" in many others, and other names like "calcio" in Italy, "sokker" in South Africa, "sakkā" in Japan, "sacar" in Irish ... I'm over it, you should get over it too!

It's not like Americans are trying to make people call it "soccer," and we didn't invent the word, either.

It's football in England, and that's what counts.

Yeah so shut it Ben you knob-cheese

British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) 3201073460

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:19 pm

"Football" means different things to different people, it's a beautiful thing:

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:20 pm

eddie wrote:
Ben_Reilly wrote:
Raggamuffin wrote:
Ben_Reilly wrote:
Raggamuffin wrote:It's football - get over it.

It's "football" in many places, "soccer" in many others, and other names like "calcio" in Italy, "sokker" in South Africa, "sakkā" in Japan, "sacar" in Irish ... I'm over it, you should get over it too!

It's not like Americans are trying to make people call it "soccer," and we didn't invent the word, either.

It's football in England, and that's what counts.

Yeah so shut it Ben you knob-cheese

Sounds like somebody needs to chillax Smile

by eddie Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:26 pm

Hahaha I really do!
I've had a right shit of a day

That is such a stoopid word though "chillax"
Fuck off!!

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:33 pm

eddie wrote:Hahaha I really do!
I've had a right shit of a day

That is such a stoopid word though "chillax"
Fuck off!!

You can play it in Scrabble now -- along with "hashtag" Smile

#LanguageIsDumb

by eddie Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:41 pm

Ben_Reilly wrote:
eddie wrote:Hahaha I really do!
I've had a right shit of a day

That is such a stoopid word though "chillax"
Fuck off!!

You can play it in Scrabble now -- along with "hashtag"

#LanguageIsDumb

Oh God I hate that hashtag thing people do now!!!!!! On Facebook people write:

"Had a lovely day at my sisters"
#sisterlylove #lotsofwine #imatwatwholoveshashtags

?????? Just write all of the above in a fucking paragraph you hashtag slag!! Evil or Very Mad

by Ben Reilly Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:45 pm

by eddie Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:56 pm

Oh. Now she means business! Mean, moody hashtag slag

by Cass Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:20 pm

moody hashtag slag...........love it

by veya_victaous Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:47 pm

If i was on Twitter i would so start #imatwatwholoveshashtags if it doesn't already exist
Razz

And PS it is Soccer we'll have a vote each English speaking nation gets one. looks like only the UK say it is football everyone else is correct and calls it Soccer... Although it does often get call by the alternative of 'fagball' here, I mean come on the game is designed for little girls surely why else would it be so soft and lame.
Rolling Eyes

by Cass Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:53 pm

veya_victaous wrote:If i was on Twitter i would so start #imatwatwholoveshashtags if it doesn't already exist

And PS it is Soccer we'll have a vote each English speaking nation gets one. looks like only the UK say it is football everyone else is correct and calls it Soccer... Although it does often get call by the alternative of 'fagball' here, I mean come on the game is designed for little girls surely why else would it be so soft and lame.

bite me veya ......stop being such a moody hashtag slag

MWAH x

by Guest Thu Oct 09, 2014 12:00 am

Add something more into the mix here, Gaelic Football, along with Hurley, makes Aussie sports look like child's play.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0308_020315_gaelicsports.html

Night all

by veya_victaous Thu Oct 09, 2014 12:30 am

Aussie Rules until recently (they have started to make rule around about head contact etc) was Gaelic football but will 4 upright posts instead of soccer goals, 4 points if you get it through the middle and 1 point if you get it either side.. so the only real difference is if you get it close you get a point.. and the ball shape

And it is sort of at a different level here I mean Gaelic football doesn't get Tom Jones and Ed Sheeran as half time entertainment.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/tom-jones-afl-grand-final-rugby-blunder/story-fndv7pj3-1227072419065

And AFL is not a rough sport it is just not soft...

Personally I prefer any of the 'stick fighting' sports from boring Ken-do to more interesting bongtongi, Nguni, Canne d'Arme, Kali and Xhosa

by Lone Wolf Wed Oct 15, 2014 5:26 pm

MY NEPHEW is an up-and-coming Soccer referee in the local division competition down here...

AT THE rate he's been progressing the last couple of years he could well have state and national level credentials eventually, as long as he sticks at it.. British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) 2300614393

^^^^^
P.S. Considering that heading the ball has now been proven to produce brain damage in those who do it too often, I wonder how long it will be before that action is banned ?

by Original Quill Wed Oct 15, 2014 5:39 pm

Lone Wolf wrote:

MY NEPHEW is an up-and-coming Soccer referee in the local division competition down here...

AT THE rate he's been progressing the last couple of years he could well have state and national level credentials eventually, as long as he sticks at it..

^^^^^
P.S. Considering that heading the ball has now been proven to produce brain damage in those who do it too often, I wonder how long it will be before that action is banned ?

More likely, they will start wearing helmets.

British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) Soccer_helmets

British hatred of the word "soccer" (is this why?) Soccerconcussionsheadgear%20copy

by veya_victaous Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:12 am

by Lurker Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:28 am

Call soccer whatever you want to call it. I for one won't watch it. The rules remind me of croquet or cricket - all made up as you go along. Id rather watch paint dry.

by veya_victaous Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:47 am

soccer actually has fairly easy rules probably the easiest beside Gaelic Football/Aussie Rules. Ironically the WORST by far is NFL so many rules they need to stop play to read the rule book like every couple of minutes Laughing

Soccer is standard onside/offside stuff and don't touch it with your hands.

You shouldn't be watching it because it Sucks and is very very boring.... but it is easy enough to understand.

Cricket, golf basically any ball sport played by men = BORING!!!!!

by Ben Reilly Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:13 am

veya_victaous wrote:soccer actually has fairly easy rules probably the easiest beside Gaelic Football/Aussie Rules. Ironically the WORST by far is NFL so many rules they need to stop play to read the rule book like every couple of minutes
Soccer is standard onside/offside stuff and don't touch it with your hands.

You shouldn't be watching it because it Sucks and is very very boring.... but it is easy enough to understand.

Cricket, golf basically any ball sport played by men = BORING!!!!!

The NFL is imploding under the weight of the fact they can't make rules and stick by them, actually. Have you heard about the new Pro Bowl rules?

Just a quick rundown, the Pro Bowl used to be an all-star game made up of the best players from the NFL's two conferences, the AFC and the NFC. The two "honor teams" would play each other (usually in Hawaii) and the game sucked because nobody would hit anybody, because everyone was afraid of star players getting injured in a game that mattered absolutely 100 percent fuck-all.

So the NFL's genius response is now that the Pro Bowl will be made up of two team regardless of conference -- as drafted by two apparently "gifted" Internet fantasy football players.

Seriously. The Onion couldn't have imagined this.

The NFL is doomed by its own arrogance ... that said, the rules of soccer are easily understood, yet bring a complex of implications -- the perfect game. And please assert to me that no Aussie-rules player has ever put on an award-winning acting performance (or at least no REAL Aussie-rules player); I'll review the film and if I find no evidence that they have, I'll just tell you to wait Smile

by eddie Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:04 am

It's "football"

It's a game which involves a ball that you kick with your foot.

Simple.

by Original Quill Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:55 pm

The NFL is a load of deceitful gangsters outta NYC.

Ask Al Davis.

by veya_victaous Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:51 pm

Ben_Reilly wrote:
veya_victaous wrote:soccer actually has fairly easy rules probably the easiest beside Gaelic Football/Aussie Rules. Ironically the WORST by far is NFL so many rules they need to stop play to read the rule book like every couple of minutes
Soccer is standard onside/offside stuff and don't touch it with your hands.

You shouldn't be watching it because it Sucks and is very very boring.... but it is easy enough to understand.

Cricket, golf basically any ball sport played by men = BORING!!!!!

The NFL is imploding under the weight of the fact they can't make rules and stick by them, actually. Have you heard about the new Pro Bowl rules?

Just a quick rundown, the Pro Bowl used to be an all-star game made up of the best players from the NFL's two conferences, the AFC and the NFC. The two "honor teams" would play each other (usually in Hawaii) and the game sucked because nobody would hit anybody, because everyone was afraid of star players getting injured in a game that mattered absolutely 100 percent fuck-all.

So the NFL's genius response is now that the Pro Bowl will be made up of two team regardless of conference -- as drafted by two apparently "gifted" Internet fantasy football players.

Seriously. The Onion couldn't have imagined this.

The NFL is doomed by its own arrogance ... that said, the rules of soccer are easily understood, yet bring a complex of implications -- the perfect game. And please assert to me that no Aussie-rules player has ever put on an award-winning acting performance (or at least no REAL Aussie-rules player); I'll review the film and if I find no evidence that they have, I'll just tell you to wait

How/Why?

they just stop the game so you can leave the field (by stretcher normally), each team a starts with 4 guys to replace injuries.
they are trying to wuss it up now but even 5 years ago (last time I had work colleagues that followed it religiously) it was pretty hard to get sent off pretty much have to straight up punch people in the face to get a 15min 'sin' bin. AFL is very different in the 'balance' of the rules strategically sometime it is worth getting the 15 min sin bin to take a player off the field, thus things like 'Shirt-fronting' (what Abbott said he woudl do to Putin) which is basically trying to Superman dive through the other player in attempt to hurt them enough to take them off the field

it is not like soccer where there is so much penalty crap(they are starting to bring some penalties in and are getting hammer by fans for it)
I mean there is a specific Rule that says If the Umpire says your bleeding too much you have to leave the field, Very different game than they tripped me and I'm crying now. Razz

22.3.2 Player to Follow Directions of Field Umpire
Where a Player is directed by a field Umpire to leave the Playing Surface because they are Actively Bleeding, the Player must leave the Playing Surface immediately through the Interchange Area. The Player must not re-enter the Playing Surface or take any further part in any Match until and unless:
(a) the cause of such bleeding has been abated;
(b) the injury is securely bound to ensure that all blood is contained;
(c) any blood-stained article of uniform has been removed and replaced; and
(d) any blood on any part of the Player’s body has been thoroughly cleansed and removed.

http://www.aflrules.com.au/afl-game-rules/contents/

by veya_victaous Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:57 am

Ben_Reilly wrote:
veya_victaous wrote:soccer actually has fairly easy rules probably the easiest beside Gaelic Football/Aussie Rules. Ironically the WORST by far is NFL so many rules they need to stop play to read the rule book like every couple of minutes
Soccer is standard onside/offside stuff and don't touch it with your hands.

You shouldn't be watching it because it Sucks and is very very boring.... but it is easy enough to understand.

Cricket, golf basically any ball sport played by men = BORING!!!!!

The NFL is imploding under the weight of the fact they can't make rules and stick by them, actually. Have you heard about the new Pro Bowl rules?

Just a quick rundown, the Pro Bowl used to be an all-star game made up of the best players from the NFL's two conferences, the AFC and the NFC. The two "honor teams" would play each other (usually in Hawaii) and the game sucked because nobody would hit anybody, because everyone was afraid of star players getting injured in a game that mattered absolutely 100 percent fuck-all.

So the NFL's genius response is now that the Pro Bowl will be made up of two team regardless of conference -- as drafted by two apparently "gifted" Internet fantasy football players.

Seriously. The Onion couldn't have imagined this.

The NFL is doomed by its own arrogance ... that said, the rules of soccer are easily understood, yet bring a complex of implications -- the perfect game. And please assert to me that no Aussie-rules player has ever put on an award-winning acting performance (or at least no REAL Aussie-rules player); I'll review the film and if I find no evidence that they have, I'll just tell you to wait

"Hospital pass" is a term that can be used in a few sports, though I believe it's most common in rugby and Aussie rules football. It describes a pass in which the receiver is going to be unavoidably and completely smoked upon receiving the ball. If you're more conversant with American football, the same concept -- without the cool term -- shows up all the time when receivers run crossing routes, make a catch, and get obliterated microseconds later by a very heavy dude running the other way. "Hospital pass" is a surprisingly subtle term to describe something so decidedly unsubtle (catastrophic maiming).

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-brilliant-bits-accidental-poetry-hiding-in-sports-lingo/#ixzz3KzZgywfF

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-brilliant-bits-accidental-poetry-hiding-in-sports-lingo/#ixzz3KzZFHipt

by Ben Reilly Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:28 am

Oh yeah, it's always the tough bastards who get the inside "possession" receiving routes in American football. Generally somebody with a bit more bulk, who hangs onto the damn ball regardless of a bone-rattling hit, gets that job.

Check out this 2008 would-be catch by Anquan Boldin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9RfJwSkMU8

ESPN noted:

Boldin, then a member of the Arizona Cardinals, went up for a pass in the end zone and was hit by a pair of New York Jets in Kerry Rhodes and Eric Smith. Rhodes got Boldin from behind while Smith caught him just under the facemask on a helmet-to-helmet blow.

Boldin suffered a sinus fracture as well as having wires inserted in his lower jaw to correct his bite and had a concussion. He only missed two games as a result.

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