Guest eight Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 I was used to play football quite a bit when younger though never much above ale house level. I am always a bit bemused by the odd highly opinionated fan I meet who never seems to have kicked a ball on anger. That's how I feel when Jonathan Pearce says something like "he put it wide when it would have been easier to score." Lets see how you get on in the same situation then, lardy boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I was used to play football quite a bit when younger though never much above ale house level. music critics who can't play a note. That one always has me laughing. I too, am a crap footballer, but at least I tried it, and you can then appreciate the skill of somebody more talented than yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Hearts won 4-3 today. Good game for the neutral. Quite exciting. Ah Midlothian. My one and only anthropological trip to Glasgae, ended up in a pub where Hearts were playing Rangers. It was quite a friendly atmosphere, but I don't remember who won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidg Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It is a bit like buying a motorbike, dressing up in leather gear and meeting your mates at the Hog's Back pub.... Football is a harmless outlet for closet homosexuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eight Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It is a bit like buying a motorbike, dressing up in leather gear and meeting your mates at the Hog's Back pub.... Football is a harmless outlet for closet homosexuals. I think all all-male sports are a bit gay - it's your blokey time, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It is a bit like buying a motorbike, dressing up in leather gear and meeting your mates at the Hog's Back pub.... Football is a harmless outlet for closet homosexuals. Spot on. I stick to ballet, dressmaking and singing along to musicals whilst dressed as the lead character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormymonday_2011 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 That's how I feel when Jonathan Pearce says something like "he put it wide when it would have been easier to score." Lets see how you get on in the same situation then, lardy boy. Yes what looks simple from the stands is not so easy at pitch level particularly if your lungs are bursting, your legs ache, you have sweat and rain dripping into your eyes, you have half the pitch attached as mud to your boots and some homicidal maniac is trying to kick you over the top of the linesman My brother was quite a good schoolboy footballer playing upto District and County level. I once saw him play in a game where he picked up the ball on the half way line dribbled past 3 defenders and then chipped the keeper with what seemed to a perfectly executed lob from the edge of the box into the back of the net. When I congratulated on this piece of skill he told me that he had actually tried to kick the ball as hard as he could but that he was so knackered at the end of the run that the gentle looping shot over the keeper was all he could manage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R K Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Because it's enjoyable even when it isn't. It's like asking why people enjoy art. If you don't get it you don't get it. Most clubs are/were started by a small group of like-minded local working class mates hence the notion it was created to pacify the masses & prevent them lynching bankers/politicians/landowners is complete f*ckwittery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Because it's enjoyable even when it isn't. It's like asking why people enjoy art. If you don't get it you don't get it. Most clubs are/were started by a small group of like-minded local working class mates hence the notion it was created to pacify the masses & prevent them lynching bankers/politicians/landowners is complete f*ckwittery. Well, yes, but there is a difference between what it was invented for and what it might be used for afterwards. After all, the guy who invented the TV probably wasn't sponsered on the basis of making a mass propaganda instrument, he probably just thought it would be a neat idea. Something has to be fun and people enjoy it before it can be harnessed as a mass control method. I doubt whether the illuminati proactively use football/tv/nightclubs as a method of mass population control, but they do probably recognise that the population needs its entertainment to remain content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig_ Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Hearts won 4-3 today. Good game for the neutral. Quite exciting. Indeed. Was a wonderful game, and a bargain at £20 for a ticket. Much more enjoyable than the vastly over-rated Premier League! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Allegro Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Because it's enjoyable even when it isn't. It's like asking why people enjoy art. If you don't get it you don't get it. Most clubs are/were started by a small group of like-minded local working class mates hence the notion it was created to pacify the masses & prevent them lynching bankers/politicians/landowners is complete f*ckwittery. A lot of football teams started out as church teams. They were promoted by 'slum parsons' - clergymen who wanted to promote 'muscular Christianity', ie, keep the men away from less savoury activities. In rural areas prior to the mid nineteenth century, football was basically a free for all punch up and the powers that be were keen to have it regulated and controlled, hence organisations like the Football Association starting up. According to this article, 12 out of 38 Premier League teams were started by churches. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/forgotten-fathers-long-journey-from-altar-to-eastlands-395271.html So I'm pretty sure there was an element of pacification involved in its promotion. The church connection may explain why football seems to be more like a religion for some of its adherents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Indeed. Was a wonderful game, and a bargain at £20 for a ticket. Much more enjoyable than the vastly over-rated Premier League! A bit like seeing a good band in a pub. Much better than "rock stars" in huge stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porca misèria Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Most clubs are/were started by a small group of like-minded local working class mates Back then they really were clubs (as opposed to some of our most cynical and ruthless corporations). And football today can still be a healthy game, in your local school, village, or workplace teams and matches. A couple of sure signs that it's not a healthy game and has become something altogether more sinister are: When you get charged money for admission. When it gets sold as entertainment to people who are complete strangers to any of the players. When there's so much money around that players don't have to do (normal) work for a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've signed up to do every Crystal Palace away game this year with my mate in his minibus. Four days till we're off to Norwich and I can't wait! I'm going to miss the Chelsea game 'cos our friends are getting married, but that's no great loss. I'll probably not do any home games however. The thing is that I didn't grow up interested in football and was never a Palace fan until I got chatting to my mate at work (though my father-in-law is a long term fan and took me to a couple of games years ago). But away games are generally a brilliant day out, you drive round the country seeing new places, and then sing/shout your lungs out for 90 minutes; the atmosphere in the away end is usually cracking (especially where Palace are concerned). The experience of singing, cheering and swearing at the ref with a bunch of like minded people is quite exhilarating. I would quite happily trade crude (and often not-so-crude, but highly amusing) insults with the home fans and then go for a pint with them afterwards. I'm developing an appreciation for the game now, but I knew sod all about it when I started, couldn't even name half the players in the Palace squad for the first couple of away games I went to. As for all the money ruining the game- it is what it is. Sky turned up and started broadcasting the matches live into pubs and people's homes, which made the game more popular. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I daresay that that bald £11m a game figure includes the worldwide rights? The Premier League is hugely popular around the world and especially the far east. As for players earning a ludicrous amount, well we have Jean-Marc Bosman to thank for that. Again, as far as I'm concerned, players should be free to offer their services to whoever is going to pay them the most, and thus to maximise their earning potential over what is a very short career compared to most professions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Crystal Palace used to be my local team. Very local. I could hear the cheering on the TV, and a couple of seconds later the real cheer from Selhurst Park, due to the speed of sound. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 The cost is ridiculous, for one of our local sides who are in the Championship a Cat A* game adult prices range from £45-£52!!! For a small family you ain't going to get much change out of £150 for 90 minutes entertainment which isn't even guaranteed. Fulham or QPR? Can't think of any other Championship clubs with that sort of pricing power. For example: Pretty much have as a matter of fact though I have got a chance for some cheap tickets to see Brighton and Hove Albion so I might go and see a live game this year for the first time in decades. I doubt stormy's going to be coughing up 50 quid a time to get into the Tampax, and rightly so given the quality of football he's going to witness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eight Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Crystal Palace used to be my local team. Very local. I could hear the cheering on the TV, and a couple of seconds later the real cheer from Selhurst Park, due to the speed of sound. . I think I've been there about twenty times, since my team Sunderland often seemed to yo-yo in sync with Palace, plus of course Wimbledon were also there for a while. How odd to think I might have parked outside your house before now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I think I've been there about twenty times, since my team Sunderland often seemed to yo-yo in sync with Palace, plus of course Wimbledon were also there for a while. How odd to think I might have parked outside your house before now! It was you then was it. It was a nightmare parking on match nights. I rented a flat on the Selhurst Road for a while, while I was working in London. Oddly, I was working with Steve Kember's brother. (some time ago) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Allegro Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've often thought the purpose of football, for non-players, is mainly to provide a focus for phatic communication, similar to the weather. When you say 'lovely day' to a stranger you're not really remarking on the weather, you're trying to establish a connection of some sort. Similarly with football. Listen to two men talking about it and they don't really say anything or impart any information, they just establish connections; mainly, are you in the same tribe as me? If not, is your tribe a threat to mine, or an irrelevance? As A.A.Gill put it, It's the equivalent of dogs sniffing each other's bottoms. For someone like myself who isn't interested, I find the best thing do to is just say something like 'how's your team doing?' or 'What do you reckon to their chances then?' and then just let them do the talking. Most of the time it doesn't occur to them that you're not really interested in the game - a blunt statement that tends to alienate them considerably, I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It's a bit of fun, people have gone and watched competition for centuries and kicking a ball around for that is preferable to an arena with guys sticking swords and spears into each other. The sterlie, impersonal, corporate feeling at the top though is something I find pretty unappealing though (but I think that about just about everything anyway). That said my days of freezing January Saturday afternoons being spent slumped against a barrier in the stands with a hangover headache seem to be over, I've not been to a game for a couple of years now and hardly any in the couple of years before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've often thought the purpose of football, for non-players, is mainly to provide a focus for phatic communication, similar to the weather. When you say 'lovely day' to a stranger you're not really remarking on the weather, you're trying to establish a connection of some sort. Similarly with football. Listen to two men talking about it and they don't really say anything or impart any information, they just establish connections; mainly, are you in the same tribe as me? If not, is your tribe a threat to mine, or an irrelevance? As A.A.Gill put it, It's the equivalent of dogs sniffing each other's bottoms. For someone like myself who isn't interested, I find the best thing do to is just say something like 'how's your team doing?' or 'What do you reckon to their chances then?' and then just let them do the talking. Most of the time it doesn't occur to them that you're not really interested in the game - a blunt statement that tends to alienate them considerably, I find. Yes, it does provide common grounds for communication, as does any sport, the weather or cars. It's not unique in that aspect. For threat assessment, no I don't think so for the vast majority of people. Even for the hooligan, I'm sure if someone started chatting to them on their own about a rival team it might lead to a bit of bravado or aggressive conversation, but nothing that serious. The thing to really watch out for is groups, because a lot of people are in groups for a purpose, and all people within the group have things they want to prove to the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Sutton Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It does indeed create a focal point - something for middle-class suburban bores to complain about and make patronising remarks about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Allegro Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It does indeed create a focal point - something for middle-class suburban bores to complain about and make patronising remarks about. Although nowadays middle class suburban bores are quite likely to be into football...or at least they pretend to be. Messrs Cameron and Blair being good examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Although nowadays middle class suburban bores are quite likely to be into football...or at least they pretend to be. Messrs Cameron and Blair being good examples. It's good blokey fun. I don't really follow it, but if I am round somebody's house, and people are watching it, I tend to join in. Having said that, is football shown on normal TV channels anymore, or is it all on subscription? I certainly remember the Crystal Palace game I mentioned earlier, and we only had normal TV. What happened to "Grandstand", BBCs whole afternoon of all sorts of sport. My dad would watch the lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Although nowadays middle class suburban bores are quite likely to be into football...or at least they pretend to be. Messrs Cameron and Blair being good examples. Only the middle class can afford to watch it. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-men-who-hate-football-1615946.html If 50% of the male population show some interest in football, then politicians have little to lose by showing some interest in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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