37 replies to this topic

[Strider]

When you are into sports, you are frequently asked by women...and by a few men, too...why you bother to watch a bunch of overpaid spoiled men playing a kid's game.

Yesterday's incredible Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers game is all the evidence you need to refute the "sports are a waste of time" naysayers.

Forget for a moment all that was on the line with this game...the EPL title for either Man City or Man U; relegation for QPR if they lost. In fact, Relegation Sunday is one of the great days in all of sports, and it is something I sometimes wish American baseball would consider.



How can you not be moved by that outpouring of joy and emotion?

Even without all the drama of the final day of the season attached to the game, it was the aesthetics and sheer improbable lunacy of the game itself that reinforced my devotion and appreciation for the thrill that is athletic competition.

First, there is the wonder and glory of watching the human body in motion. Forget computers...to my mind, the inner workings of a computer can't compare to what goes on with the human brain when it comes to firing up the body's muscles and tissues and setting it in motion. There are few sights as exhilarating to me as seeing the human form in athletic endeavor...the grace and the power. One recalls the great Shakespeare monologue from "Hamlet": "What a piece of work is man!"

Then, there is the unpredictable and unscripted nature of sport itself. In a world of increasing mediocrity and bland predictabilty and faux-drama masquerading as "reality", sports are one of the few things left that are unpredictable and the fickle finger of fate and chance are always in play.

No matter how great something is, every time you read a book or watch a play or a movie, the narrative remains the same. Romeo and Juliet die. The Titanic sinks. Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry get hit by the train. Thelma and Louise drive off the cliff.

In sports, the outcome is not predetermined. There exists still in sport the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat...that heightened sense of electricity surging within you when the outcome is in doubt. You feel "alive".

Sports is a joy and it is also a release...a pressure valve, especially in this modern world...and I make no apologies for my love of sports.

Edited by Strider, 14 May 2012 - 01:12 PM.

[LedZeppfan77]

Strider, there is zero interest in the USA for English soccer. Face it. Major Major does not know who the /Dallas Cowboys are? Do you expect me to believe that? Well, I do not know a thing about Queens whatever and Manchester United I only know because of some old War movies. There is no real coverage of soccer here. And most that I talk to said they would rather watch paint dry. they need to change the offsides rules first. Or its the same ole same ole 1-0 or 0-0 crap. How can you compare that to our sports? No contest. The NHL is so much better than soccer its a joke.

[Anjin-san]

You missed Strider's point,...

[Strider]

Rick, you missed the point of my thread. I wasn't comparing one sport to another, I was espousing my love for sports in general, whether that be football, tennis, basketball, surfing or whatever sport you enjoy.

I could have just as easily used the example of the St. Louis Cardinals comeback win against the Texas Rangers in last year's World Series...or the New York Giants upset over the undefeated New England Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl or North Carolina State's last-second victory over Houston in the 1983 NCAA Championships or Kerri Strug's unbelievable vault while injured to seal the Gold Medal for the U.S. in the Summer Olympics.

It just so happened that I was moved to write this thread today with Manchester City's win fresh on my mind, but it's actually a case for all athletic endeavors. No matter how many hipsters or women sneer or roll their eyes at my love of sports, I'm not going to give it up. I'm certainly not going to let someone who watches "reality tv" affect my desire to enjoy athletic competition.

As for Major Major not knowing who the Dallas Cowboys are, maybe he does maybe he doesn't. Given his British impish nature, I suspect he may be taking the piss knowing how easy it is to wind you up. Besides, the world of sports has been cross-pollinated for so long now, that it is possible to know more about foreign sports than ever before.

The Glazer family of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are also involved with Manchester United and a Russian Billionaire owns the New Jersey Nets(soon to be Brooklyn's Nets). And for your information, ALL of yesterday's Regulation Sunday games in the English Premier League were available to watch on American TV...although for some reason, Fox chose to call it Survival Sunday.

Besides, it doesn't matter how popular soccer is in the U.S. This is a site for Led Zeppelin, a British band, and I wager there's a pretty good number of Brits on this board. And I'm sure a fair number of them had an interest in Relegation Sunday.

Edited by Strider, 14 May 2012 - 03:10 PM.

[Strider]

P.S. Before I get flamed, I am aware there are quite a few women...and hipsters...who enjoy sports as well as "reality" tv.

Edited by Strider, 14 May 2012 - 03:01 PM.

[Major Major]

Manchester United I only know because of some old War movies.

What the FUCK are you talking about???

Oh, and yes I've heard of the Dallas Cowboys. But I have no idea which sport they play.

EDIT: I suspect this whole thread is a troll at my expense. Man City can take a long hard suck on my arse.

Edited by Major Major, 14 May 2012 - 03:09 PM.

[Anjin-san]

EDIT: I suspect this whole thread is a troll at my expense.

Negative.

[LedZeppfan77]

What the FUCK are you talking about???

Oh, and yes I've heard of the Dallas Cowboys. But I have no idea which sport they play.

EDIT: I suspect this whole thread is a troll at my expense. Man City can take a long hard suck on my arse.

Now that is how you draw out an Englishman!!!! Ha. You told me you never heard of the Dallas Cowboys. Its football. Not soccer.

[Walter]

[Major Major]

Its football. Not soccer.

Why the hell do you lot call it football? Are they even allowed to kick the goddamn ball??

The only thing I've ever seen them kick is each other.

[Anjin-san]

Its football. Not soccer.

[ledzepfvr]

This thread brings to mind the Miracle on Ice, men's hockey at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980. Lot's of pride, joy and tears over that victory.

[joe (Liverpool)]

Wasn't that when the young Russian team who had no chance beat the invincible USA??????

[chillumpuffer]

The Glazer family own Manchester United - a thoroughly un liked position on the red side of Manchester I can assure you. In fact a breakaway element of season ticket holders formed thier own team - FC United of Manchester, who are doing very well for themselves, unlike the reds who are saddled in debt, thanks to the Glazers

Personally I am a red but as Strider points out it is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat and that whats make the game what it is.

If you want drama check out the 1999 Champions League final at Camp Nou in Barcelona. Bayern Munich were 1 - 0 up for the majority of the game and with a minute left Teddy Sheringham equalised for United. Our house was in heaven - extra time we thought. But no, with almost the last kick of the ball Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leaps to head in the winner - " And Solksjaer has won it" was the commentators cry. It was perhaps the greatest ever comeback and i will never forget it. That was one of the best United teams ever - treble winners, The League,FA Cup and Euopean Champions

I am not bitter about the council house dwellers winning the Premier League. Fair play to them but would they have done this without a billion pound injection from the Middle East owners? I doubt it. Will they continue to dominate the Premier League? No. Only money will win. Gone of the days when you were proud to play for your team. As long as a half a million notes is dropped in your bank a week then they'll put on a shirt. Unless your Carlos Tevez of course who will play for anyone for the money.

In short United will be back next season and believe you me it will be great.

[Knebby]

Strider, there is zero interest in the USA for English soccer. Face it. Major Major does not know who the /Dallas Cowboys are? Do you expect me to believe that? Well, I do not know a thing about Queens whatever and Manchester United I only know because of some old War movies. There is no real coverage of soccer here. And most that I talk to said they would rather watch paint dry. they need to change the offsides rules first. Or its the same ole same ole 1-0 or 0-0 crap. How can you compare that to our sports? No contest. The NHL is so much better than soccer its a joke.

Ridiculous.

[ally]

Strider, there is zero interest in the USA for English soccer. .

http://www.sportsbus...attendance.aspx

These figures tell a different story. Believe me, there are leagues in the UK and Europe who would love to have these attendances on a regular basis

[jabe]

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but do the U.K. players make bucketloads of money like the elite pro athletes in the U.S.?

Do fans wear their favorite teams/players jersey as part of their casual attire like hardcore fans do in the U.S.?

Do you have sports radio talkshows where folks call in and bash opposing teams and their fans?

[JTM]

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but do the U.K. players make bucketloads of money like the elite pro athletes in the U.S.?

Do fans wear their favorite teams/players jersey as part of their casual attire like hardcore fans do in the U.S.?

Do you have sports radio talkshows where folks call in and bash opposing teams and their fans?

Yes, yes and yes.

[Bingo]

Strider, there is zero interest in the USA for English soccer. Face it. Major Major does not know who the /Dallas Cowboys are? Do you expect me to believe that? Well, I do not know a thing about Queens whatever and Manchester United I only know because of some old War movies. There is no real coverage of soccer here. And most that I talk to said they would rather watch paint dry. they need to change the offsides rules first. Or its the same ole same ole 1-0 or 0-0 crap. How can you compare that to our sports? No contest. The NHL is so much better than soccer its a joke.

We are in the year 2012, not 1975. ...and for my Premiership friends across the pond.... COYS

[Strider]

Wasn't that when the young Russian team who had no chance beat the invincible USA??????

Do you have dyslexia? Not trying to be cruel, but your posts come off a bit barmy. Since you're old enough to have seen Zeppelin in 1971, you're old enough to know that it was the young kids of the U.S. who beat the invincible Russian hockey team in the 1980 Winter Olympics.