Wrong football????? My dear fellow, there [i:5qizxusf]is[/i:5qizxusf] only one football....a game which is played world wide and in which touching the ball with your hands is outlawed (except for the goalkeeper, of course). How on earth can anyone describe a game where the ball is controlled by the hands for the majority of the time as [i:5qizxusf]football[/i:5qizxusf].....beats me!!
Oh, yes...and welcome Lancastrian...go the mighty Wigan!!!!
cheers....JIM
Hey Zig - Profound, as usual mate. So, if it is called a [i:2yr65bvw][b:2yr65bvw]foot[/b:2yr65bvw][/i:2yr65bvw]ball then it should be safe to assume that it spends most of its time being controlled by the feet (which is plural for foot). Surely, if the ball were being 'handled' (by the hands) for most of the game then it would be called a [i:2yr65bvw][b:2yr65bvw]hand[/b:2yr65bvw][/i:2yr65bvw]ball......makes sense to me!
A long time ago in Oxford, England some energetic, robust young men were enjoying a game of football (you know, where the ball is controlled by the feet) when they were interrupted by a second group of equally robust young men. The leader of the second group picked up the ball and asked why they did not run with it in the hands....he was promptly told where he could shove it. He did, and when the ball re-appeared it had changed from its original round shape to a decidedly strange, oval look. That shape was then maintained for all codes which allow players to pick the ball up and run with it....the exception, of course, is football which, to this day, is the only one that retains the original round shaped ball.
cheers mate..oh, and happy Thanksgiving one and all,
JIM
Welcome aboard!
Those who know the history of American "foot" ball probably know that the "ball" (which isn't really a ball, but a 3-dimensional ellipsoid) was originally called a "pigskin" since that's what it used to be made of. The playing field is called the "gridiron," which is what the Romans used to roast the Christians on. The object of the game can literally be described as "kill the guy with the ball." So, we have, literally, "roast-the-guy-with-the pigskin-on-the-gridiron-until-he's- dead" as the only valid title for our game. Of course, that's too hard to say and 'way too long, so we Americans, looking for the easy way to do something, simply stole the name from the Europeans. After all, in our game, the ball [i:1yyqvbd5]does[/i:1yyqvbd5] get kicked, sometimes even for a score.
I know, I know, I ramble. And I'm not sane, no not really--forgive me.
[quote="thegeek":366kl9go] So, we have, literally, "roast-the-guy-with-the pigskin-on-the-gridiron-until-he's- dead" as the only valid title for our game. [/quote:366kl9go]
we Americans love acronyms, so we'd have to call it RTGWTPOTGUHD
Yes, that make it so much better.
Jim Hillier
Richard Pedersen
David Hartsock
Carol Bratt
dandl
Jason Shuffield
Jim Canfield
Terry Hollett
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