Think about it. Soccer is the only sport in the world where you cannot use the one tool that distinguishes man from beast: opposable thumbs. “No hands” is a rule only a European statist could love. (In fact, with the web of high taxes and regulations that tie the hands of European entrepreneurs, “no hands” kind of describes their economic theories as well.)
Soccer is also the only sport in the world that has “hooligans”—proletarian mobs that trash private property whenever their team loses.
Soccer is collectivist. At this year’s World Cup, the French national team actually went on strike in the middle of the tournament on the eve of an elimination match. (Yes, capitalist sports have experienced labor disputes, but can you imagine a Major League Baseball team going on strike in the middle of the World Series?)
I love how these neocon Republicans pretend they’re for free-market capitalism when most of them voted for TARP and the expansion of literally state-run healthcare (Medicare).
Well, a friend of mine who has studied the history of the sport said that the first forms of soccer were developed so that people of varying ages and sizes could play something together without getting seriously hurt. In a “frindly” match between two small french villages you would need every man on the field and it might get ugly when a giant stonecutter named Henri elbows the skinny 14-year old shepherd named Pierre in a rugby-type game but in a game of soccer Pierre might even run circles around Henri.
So yes, it could be seen a socialist game but the earliest instances of “no hands, no tackles”-football predates Karl Marx.
On a different note, opposable thumbs are not the on tool that separate us from beasts. Firstly, I would like to think that there are other subtle differences between me and chicken. Secondly, thumbs are not tools unlike Marc Thiessen.
What exactly would a socialist sport be? If he’s referring to the ties, then he might have something but beyond that…
#19
You can play a pickup game of (American) football with nothing but a ball. Presuming you have a court, the same is true with basketball.
#21:
“the first forms of soccer were developed so that people of varying ages and sizes could play something together”
Interesting, because every pro soccer player appears to have the exact same body.
Contrast that with gridiron, where you *need* fast little guys, big fat dudes, and everyone in between.
# 18 Buzz said, on July 1st, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Where are all the armless athletes?
In Irish Pubs! Haven’t you seen “Riverdance”?
“Soccer fans are excited by an egalitarian 0-0 tie.” What an absolute joke of a game! I’d rather watch Australian Rules Football any day its a lot more exiting than this load of Crap. From what I’ve seen of this “SPORT” there seems to be more actors (Fall-Guys) than Hollywood and Bollywood combined.
Football, its proper name, is about as far from being socialist in the English Premier League as is possible. The wealth is concentrated almost entirely in the hands of a few clubs, who pass rules that further entrench their positions of privilege. The middle ranked clubs struggle to keep going, in the sure and certain knowledge that they will never be able to acheive the wealth that the few have, while the bottom 30% of clubs face a constant struggle for survival, occasionaly borrowing absurd sums of money in an attempt to better themselves and make it into the middle classes. It never works, and they always end up in more trouble than they were in to start with.
Socialist? My arse, this is capitalism pure and simple.
#14, a neoconservative typically support the maintenance of welfare programs, traditional values and a hawkish foreign policy. A conservative is supposed to want to slash the welfare state down.
Yep, it’s socialist alright.
It’s one of the few games where all you need is a few people, a ball and a field. Anyone and everyone can afford to play it. The poor and the rich can all participate.
Compared to almost every other sport, soccer is utterly socialist. No special equipment required. No gloves, expensive sticks of various types, helmets, horses, huge tracts of land. Heck, you can even make a ball out of rags and plastic bags.
What a socialist egalitarian mess.
Oh brother…. does he even know what the Socialist principles are, or this is just a buzzword to describe something he hates? Fine he hates FOOTBALL, maybe even find it boring and incomprehensible… but to call it socialist because you cannot use your hands…
I find it is so utterly stupid I simply cannot get work up about it.
#11, FTW. If this guy had suggested eating babies, would you have taken him just as seriously?
(yes, this is a test)
We used to have intellectual conservatives like William F. Buckley. Now we have the crew of Faux News and talk radio as the standard bearers of conservatism. Quite sad really.
I consider myself a Conservative, but certainly not a NeoCon. It seems to me the NeoCons were once Conservatives who were exposed to nuclear radiation and changed into hideous mutants, or better yet, Conservatives lobotomized, continuously high on meth, and wearing all the Insane Clown Possie gear.
Every time a neocon opens their mouth they amply demonstrate their chauvanism and ignorance.
Well,i am some what agree with this article. As I don’t like soccer game and not much played also. I had read this and find it really very impressive. Reading this blog became informative too.
So, conservatives have no problem label liberals everything under the sun (Socialist, treehuggers, femni-nazis, regular Nazis, America Haters, etc.) but God help us if we call one of them Neoconservative.
Had George Bush’s Presidency been a success, then Repubs would would lining up to call themselves Neoconversatives. I think it’s an apt name and not necessarily derogatory. Neoconservatives are socially conservative, not necessarily fiscal conservatives and believe in using the military. Don’t blame us for Dick Cheney and his crew making it a bad word.
No, soccer is just excruciatingly boring.
Socialist or not, at least football is correctly named, unlike that other sport that should have been called “hand egg” instead…
#34–Hyphen==no self awareness at all is there?
Spot the critical error: “Neoconservatives are socially conservative, not necessarily fiscal conservatives and believe in using the military.” /// Yes, how can bankrupting our country by illegally and unilaterally invading countries 7000 miles away possibly be bad for our country? I wonder what it is you think Cheney and the Meat Puppet did? Not cut taxes enough I presume.
They say: soccer is rouge.
They should like chess. The opposable thumb is used on every move. It’s an individual game: every man for him- (or her-) self. And a player (such as Viktor Kortchnoi) who is long past the mandated expiration date, can still play competitively at a high level. Or is that scary for pundits? That in chess, brain power beats strutting? But, in fact, among the G-whatever nations, only one has more pitiful support for chess than the USA: Canada.
I say: listen, that’s not the roar of vuvuzela, it is the drone of those who like to spent other people’s money, speaking through their nether orifi.
ROTFLMAO
Wingnuts, GOTTA love the crazy! The Earth is 6,000 years old, evolution isn’t true, science isn’t valid but magic is real. I LOVE these guys!
@Hyphen
You just described a fascist. That doesn’t sound as good as neoconservative though. To much baggage from WWII.