Seven of the eight first topics in this forum is about football (or soccer if you're in the USA), and I would just like to know, is everyone football obsessed? I mean, are you all real fans.
Personally I think football is overrated, sure it's a good sport, but most players are just divas (say Ronaldinho).
What's your thoughts?
Football is a game that anyone can like, I mean the rules are simple. There is a clear objective of the game, to score more goals than the other team.
Then it's very short, just around 2 hours. And it is entertaining, since you can t really say who is going to win the match. Its an unpredictable game.
And I dont know abt real fans or not, but I'm sure almost everyone likes football. And with so many leagues and competitions, everyone just seems to follow their favourite team. That is why everyone is so obsessed with football.
i wouldnt say im obsessed with football.. but i like watching the game.. very simple and very elegant and entertaining.. and played all over the world!!
I was very frustrated coz our government promote basketball other than football. Basketball i think is a game we are far to excel with other countries, coz filipinos were small. Our government should support football where we have a chance to win. I saw how Japan plays as well as the Korean. They are small yet they have showed to the world that they can compete internationally.
Well, as it's been said here, it's a sport with a clear goal and few rules, most of them really straightforward.
I think the reason why so many people like it, is it doesn't rely on rules to limit what can be done, but rather the players skill is the only limitation.
For example, in handball or basketball, most of people can easily carry a ball in their hand and run along avoiding anyone who wants to steal it. So rules have to be made up to give a chance to the ones who wants to steal the ball (obligation to bounce the ball, can't advance once you have used both hands to hold it, etc). All these rules quite limit your own instinct, because you know that if you want to take the ball somewhere, you could do it in a better way if it wasn't for the rules you have to follow.
But the beauty of football is that there are only two main important rules use anything but your hands and don't hit/force your opponent physically to achieve your goal.
The rest of what can and can't be done is all left to the skill of the players, nothing is forbidden and you get to see really spectacular things.
And, as driving objects with your feet is not a "natural" skill like grabbing things with your hands or whatever, lots of room is left to improvement, learning, etc. which results in the players doing things that result sometimes unbelievable for most of us mortals 
And I think it's that feeling of seeing the likes of Zidane, Ronaldinho, etc. which makes it so exciting to watch, because what they do with the ball on their feet sometimes looks like magic for the people who watch them.
Also, as sketteksalfa said, the fact that physical attributes to play football are not as obvious as in other sports (being tall has advantajes as well as inconveniences, being slow can be compensated if your technically excellent), has a lot of importance for people to like it and for it being accessible to almost anyone.
The last reason I see for its success is, obviously, the way it makes it possible for a theoretically worse team to outplay a big team with just some good tactics and teamwork. We see this everyday and it reflects that even if you spend millions and millions on the best players in the world, if you're not able to play well like a team should play, you can lose to a lower division club easily. That's essential as well in my opinion.
Sorry for the long post, hehe, I like to talk about football 
See you Well, I like to watch spotrs generally.
Now I'm enjoying football here in UK as I can enjoy with others most!
But I like Baseball, rugby, tennis, etc...
| Manwho wrote: |
Football is a game that anyone can like, I mean the rules are simple. There is a clear objective of the game, to score more goals than the other team.
Then it's very short, just around 2 hours. And it is entertaining, since you can t really say who is going to win the match. Its an unpredictable game.
And I dont know abt real fans or not, but I'm sure almost everyone likes football. And with so many leagues and competitions, everyone just seems to follow their favourite team. That is why everyone is so obsessed with football. |
On the contrary the rules are not so straight forward, try explaining the off side rule to a non footy follower. Maybe the principle of the game is simple but then the same could be said for rugby, NFL, aussie rules and the list goes on, score more points than the opposition.
Not everyone likes football. I used to before moving to the UK but since arriving here all i hear about is football. I see it in the newspapers, the tele, at work, I cannot escape it. Most of the adverts on tele have a reference to football. And don't get me started on the football hooligans that make me stay at home when the local team has a match.
My opinion is that European football can be described as 22 overpayed pansies chasing after a ball who over-act when tackled and have no decorum off the field making them bad examples for the millions of impressionable kids that follow their every move.
Football sucks.its a bunch of pansies running around a huge field for an hour and the score is always so low
its such a lame game
yip i love soccer/football (whatever you wana call it )..... united to take out the premiership in 2006/2007 season 
It depends on what do you mean to be "obsessed".
I personally like to watch Football, I go to forum to see football news for an hour or so everyday. But it's not like I just watch football and forget everything else. So it really depends on the how you define the word "obsessed".
p.s. It's always nice to see so many football/ soccer fans around in a forum
It is not obssesion, it is a religion-just like hockey-this is the meening of being a true fan, it is just like you love something that much that you would go to the extreems
| jostor wrote: |
| but most players are just divas (say Ronaldinho). |
WOW hang on a sec.
You could call any sport pointless, sports only exist to provide entertainment and competition to people. Football is one of the most intense and physically demanding sports out there.
Good football players aren't 'just divas', they're ****ing geniuses at what they do. Ronaldinho is a superstar, not a diva, because he is the most talented player in the world with a football.
I am football obsessed because we all need to be obsessed about something, and football seems a better thing than anythign else to be obsessed about. Better than cricket at any rate.I'm more obsessed with rugby than I am football
I have a real distaste for football/soccer. Maybe its because I am an American and I prefer the flash of basketball, the sheer physicality of the American football, and the history and mystique of baseball, but I find myself incredibly bored with football/soccer.
| Manwho wrote: |
Football is a game that anyone can like, I mean the rules are simple. There is a clear objective of the game, to score more goals than the other team.
Then it's very short, just around 2 hours. And it is entertaining, since you can t really say who is going to win the match. Its an unpredictable game.
And I dont know abt real fans or not, but I'm sure almost everyone likes football. And with so many leagues and competitions, everyone just seems to follow their favourite team. That is why everyone is so obsessed with football. |
Change football/soccer, with basketball, American football, or baseball and you have the same thing. Most rules are straight forward, most games are relatively short, most of the time about 3 hours tops. You can't say who is going to win the match and everyone is just as dedicated to their favorite team as football/soccer fans are. And no, football/soccer rules aren't all straight forward, like springbok said, try explaining offsides to someone who doesn't follow football/soccer and we will be incredibly confused. I have tried to figure offsides out but I can't get it.
| _VMX_ wrote: |
| For example, in handball or basketball, most of people can easily carry a ball in their hand and run along avoiding anyone who wants to steal it. So rules have to be made up to give a chance to the ones who wants to steal the ball (obligation to bounce the ball, can't advance once you have used both hands to hold it, etc). All these rules quite limit your own instinct, because you know that if you want to take the ball somewhere, you could do it in a better way if it wasn't for the rules you have to follow. |
That is ridiculous, its the same with football/soccer. Having to dribble the ball in basketball is the exact same as having to kick the ball in football/soccer. There is just as much room for improvement in basketball and American football as their is in football/soccer. For every Pele there was a Michael Jordan or a Walter Payton, for every Ronaldinho there is a Kobe Bryant or Tom Brady, and for every other superstar in football/soccer there is one in basketball or American football. Those athletes are just as spectacular if not more than some of the football/soccer athletes.
But if you want to talk physically demanding I would say American football and Rugby are more demanding that football/soccer is. | sketteksalfa wrote: |
| ...I saw how Japan plays as well as the Korean. They are small yet they have showed to the world that they can compete internationally. |
What do you mean by small, small population or generally small people? Japan and the Phillipines have very large populations and South Korea's is very similar to that of England. I suppose you mean the size of the actual people then, which would make sense if you think you shouldn't play Basketball.I guess you have to expect a bit of enthusiasm around the place for soccer when the world cup is so close. I'm sure there'll be a lot more threads before it is done.
Anyway Australia has made it to the world cup for the first time in 30 years, so there's quite a bit of interest here. We're in a tough division which will make things difficult right from the start.
Most people here in the Philippines aren't really fans of football. Filipinos are generally in love with basketball, boxing and billiards. I haven't even watched any football game in my life, even though I used to be an athlete.
In America we don't get too many soccer leagues that are professional pretty much jus the MLS and a handful of indoor leagues. However there are billions of leagues for normal people to play. That tells me that we don't have a very big player talent pool over here. We like it but other sports usually get all our athletes with basketball and baseball and even hockey making a huge push. We enjoy the sport we just don't have many kids who want to go into Pro-Soccer when theres a Baseball or Basketball franchise nearby.
