The Football Mentality

[lcm1]

Originally Posted by Selous

All of it!

But seriously, I don't believe there are any lady marines, o rhadn't heard of there being so. Local maidens may be procured from nearby towns, stolen from their bedrooms and what not and whisked away to RM barracks for defilement, so there may be a female population anyway.



Not quite lcm, I meant the RM (recent) habit of getting starkers for the hell of it. Also, milling in the buff: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4475034.stm
Since that video came out it's been necessary to make fun of green lids for their peculiar practices (but never to their faces ) . I wasn't at Lympstone, but an old friend of mine was, doing his officer training - before I knew him though. I was never at that level or that involved, or with that service, though I did go on an OTC day-out to Sandhurst when the intention was to go on to better things.

It amazes me the way the young blokes get their kicks nowadays, a few beers followed by a 'wall job' and our day was made!! lcm1

[Chukka]

Originally Posted by KRJ

Selous,

Perhaps I should have noted pugilism and horse racing are the proper spectator sports.

So yes, all field shooting is a sport, big game or otherwise. So is fly fishing and mountain climbing.

Pig sticking certainly qualifies, although it can be hard to find a way to participate these days.

But I still maintain this thread has been largely a discussion of games.

Well.........There is in fact a small but solid comminuty of pigstickers based in Spain, still carrying on their sport. The website is well worth checking out, the horsmanship and bravery of guys is impressive. (the bravery and skill of the pigs deserves a mention too I suppose.....)





If I ever grow a set of cast iron balls and improve my horsemanship by about a thousand percent I'd try this myself. (The Cast Iron Balls are for when I tell the missus I'm leaving her and the kids to go to Spain for a few months to go Hunting, Bye!)

[KRJ]

Now that's impressive!

NFL playoffs or World Cup soccer? Not so much.

One can always tell when games are being played instead of sports: a lot of beer is consumed when games are played. It's consumed before, during and after by the spectators and often by the players too.

And sports? Whiskey. Neat. A good shot at the conclusion; none during. Although a wea nip to fortify the spirit beforehand is sometimes in order.

[GunzRX]

Originally Posted by Lucky 6

I'm stating I think our different sports have influenced the way that our respective nations go about fighting wars and foreign policy in general. I think European, especially British, thinking is often more concerned with the "long game" so to speak, and that this has something to do with our cultural upbringing. American mentality is often concerned with how best to blow something up as quickly as possible with as many units on line as possible organized very neatly. I was just suggesting that there is something to be learned from the more fluid mentality that come associated with "Soccer" as opposed to our American "Football", that's all. Did I offend you somehow?

I don't think an 'American' nation exists. There don't seem to be substantial traditions, customs, irregularities, etc. that separate the two.

[KRJ]

Originally Posted by GunzRX

I don't think an 'American' nation exists. There don't seem to be substantial traditions, customs, irregularities, etc. that separate the two.

I think several "American" nations exist. There seems to be substantial traditions, customs, irregularities, etc., that separates the nation along regional lines.

[Carl Schwamberg]

I think the idea of trying to attach some sort of insight into national character though the sports industry is more than a bit silly. In the case of the US gridiron football is certainly popular, but barely so in comparison to other mainstream sports like baseball & basket ball. Footballs postion is as much hype generated by a sucessful business establishment that controls the professional & deeply influences the college itterations of football.

Leaving niggling about the nuances of popularity aside consider basketball. First it is played at a fast pace with longer playing rounds and far smaller pauses that gridiron football. Second events come on fast and frequent. On either the US football or the soccer field situational awareness is critical & the action can come on at high speed, but that is only for brief moments. On the US field the action stops after a few second, on the soccer field there are long loping interludes of subtle positioning. On the b ball court the paces is intense for extended periods & even 'time outs' are marked by hustling movement around the court as players reposition.

All that requires a constant razors edge situational awareness as players track the ball and position of everyone else on a small crowded court while often moving at a dead run and changing direct every few seconds.

Long endurance and hypervigilant tactical/stratigic awareness are essential here. A model I'd judge better than gridiron or even soccer FB for considering military operations.

[KICK]

Originally Posted by Carl Schwamberg

I think the idea of trying to attach some sort of insight into national character though the sports industry is more than a bit silly. In the case of the US gridiron football is certainly popular, but barely so in comparison to other mainstream sports like baseball & basket ball. Footballs postion is as much hype generated by a sucessful business establishment that controls the professional & deeply influences the college itterations of football.

.

Sports are entertainment .
no significance should be attached to them other than that.

for the most part Soccer just isn't very popular in the USA but its not because of any military preference..

the people who love Soccer in the USA have tried and tried to drum up interest but for the most part the better American athletes end up playing the money sports..

if you could manage to get an American to sit thru a Futbol game they would probably tell you that they see a game where two groups of men spend an hour and a half playing keep away with a ball to then decide the outcome by taking 5 kicks at the goal.....


I always thought Soccer should settle the outcome using the same method American Football uses to start the game.

by employing a coin toss.

[Nickuru]

Originally Posted by Lucky 6

I've been asking myself: can I learn anything from soccer?

July 6th 1950 the World Cup final in Rio do Janeiro in front of 200,000 spectators. Uruguay 2 - Brazil 1. A home defeat by people who arrogantly thought they had won the world, against another country they though of as garbage.