Why doesn't the rest of the world just embrace football?

Question

Watching football today I'm reminded again that American football is a million times better than those silly foreign foot-related sports. So why doesn't everyone else in the world just deflate their silly soccer balls and rugby variations and just bow to American football already? Is it because they're communists? Is there a shoulder pad shortage?

Answer 1

Mind you, I am a huge football fan, but you obviously haven't seen a rugby game! As a third year rugby player (Yeah hooker!), it is simply the best, brutalist, bloodiest sport on the face of the earth and amazing to see. It makes football players look like pansies.

Football definitely has it's perks. The gameplay is simpler to watch and enjoy but rugby is nonstop action. Once you understand the rules of rugby (which are complex), you will begin to fully enjoy the game more than you ever will with football.

Answer 2

Soccer is relatively a new sport in this country. Although it has been around since the turn of the century Americans have never embraced it. I attribute this to the US being a immigrant country. In the early 1900's they were looking for their own identity. They developed their own sports and have followed for decades. Soccer in the US is still the most popular sport played by young teens. During the past decade, back to early 1990's Americans have started to accept soccer as a legitimate sport. Attendance has risen throughout the years and TV coverage has increased. Like me, most Americans have become fed up with most other sports and what they represent. Football is just as popular in the police blotter now a days. Baseball has lost some of its luster with the steroid era and the blind eye approach. Basketball is regularly associated with thugs. Also it is a turn off for most of those sports due to the look at me approach to the game. People are starting to get sick of reading about a player who is arrested or questioned 10 times in a year and still is playing. Any average Joe would be out on the street. Soccer provides exactly what a sport should be, competitive. It is about the team, not the lone player. I was raised with soccer and have always been a fan. I am also a fan of the other sports but have distanced myself from them because of the players. 10 years ago I would have paid to go see a baseball, football and basketball game. Now I will not give one dime to them. I eagerly await the arrival of the philadelphia team so I can take in some games. It will grow in the US, it just is taking baby steps.

Answer 3

Hey bro , to each his own , I love football I played for 12 years including NCAA DIV 1 for 2 years yeah you have to be tough and a good conditioned athlete , but let me tell you Rugby and Australian Rules Football is hard and you have to be one tough S.O.B to play I have great respect for those guys I even had two team mate from the U.K that got Scholarships to play football and they use to play in semi pro rugby leagues they found American Football easier on the body than Rugby because of all the pads we wore , they were some tough guys , I even tried playing in some Rugby Leagues here in Southern California and man when you have played football all your life it really takes alot of getting use to and you get hurt and cut and bruised up more often , I was hurt more playing Rugby than regular football , oh well that's my two cents I know some people might not like it but you shouldn't knock Rugby or Australian Rules Football its a tough sport just like American Football , And I would say this any guy who has ever played Football see if you can find a Rugby league where you live and give it a shot I promise you will walk away with a new found respect , don't be like most people who slam something they really have not tried or know nothing about .

Answer 4

Soccer and Hockey are the most boring games to watch.....soccer goes 90 minutes, and you're lucky to see 4 or 5 scores in that time. Most of it is kick it one way, turnover, kick it the other, turnover.....same goes for hockey :)

Football isnt the bloodiest sport like Rugby, true, but its a lot more strategic. You get the brutal physicalism of contact sports combined with all the strategy and psychology of chess and poker between the coaches and coordinators.

I like football more than basketball and baseball because every game counts...in sports that play 80, 90, over 100 games in a season, every loss might not matter. In football, that Week 2 game where you lost by a field goal might be the difference between making the wildcard or going home at the end of the year.

To paraphrase Wikipedia, "Football is the sport that may most closely resemble warfare" - the perfect combination of mind and muscle, team play and individual excellence.

No other sport can boast the moments of heroism and glory that you can achieve on the gridiron.

Answer 5

I love football (american). But I dont like the idea of the name it has (Football where almost 99% no foot is involved apart from punts, field goals and kickoffs). If you play soccer, you will know its not an easy sport. 90 mins of hard running and it needs concentration. Moreover, most countries dont have enough infrastructure to play football. You need a few players to play with, money to buy equipment like pads, and you cannot play in concrete roads. Soccer is more common man sport like Basketball and it can be played wherever by kids. Soccer is the true international sport.

Answer 6

The European league is trying to spread game to other countries. There is discussion of an NFL team based in another country soon. It will grow in world acceptance, it is a complex game and the rest of the world is learning. Hey look at how many people world wide watch the Superbowl.

Answer 7

in some impoverished communities in south america, the play soccer in the streets using a tin can for a ball and sandals to mark the goals. it's easier to play because one can improve at the game even if he practices alone. it's more challenging with Am. football if there's no one to pass to, or if the equipment isn't readily available (whether its the supply or cost).
notice kids when they play, they have a natural tendency to kick balls vs. throw balls in a circular pattern or tackle.
IMHO, Am football is more fun to watch than play. Soccer is more fun to play than watch.

Answer 8

LOL - British ball sports are the ones for men - no padding and use skill to avoid being squadged.

American football just wraps people up in duvets so they can waddle off around the field for a bit.

Sure the UK guys can get badly hurt once in a while - but that is no reason to just "lag everyone" - if you used that logic, then we ought to encase boxers and wrestlers in styrofoam too - in case they get a nasty bump.

American football is fine for those that like over-hyped, padded / cocooned showmen ambling around a field for a while.

UK sports - Frootball and especially Rugby are for men who are prepared to play to win - and not go crying to their lawyers if some nasty man gets in a bit of a ruck with them.

The fact that there is some accuracy required (FOOT based ball aiming requires a damn site more skill than "hand lobbing") also tends to appeal to the more "sport" based ideals of the UK than the "entertainment" ideals of the US. It might come as a ghastly surprise to think that most people reckon **FOOT**ball might need to have something to do with FEET.

Wrestling (UK - v - US) is another perfect example of differing values and ideas. UK = real, US = entertainment with choreographed staged "fights". I guess each contry gets the sport the majoirty of the punters want.

How on earth "communism" comes into the equation is beyond me completely.

Mark

Answer 9

Because it's a boring, slow paced game for people with the same qualities. Soccer is the world sport, so live with it.

Answer 10

I don't know.
You might as well also ask why the rest of the world does not embrace pre-emptive military invasions of nations that are no threat to the US.