Conservatives hate soccer because they're racist!

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**Tyras**

I read it on the internet so it must be true!

http://theweek.com/article/index/204034/world-cup-is-it-racist-to-hate-soccer

**Tyyr**

No, I'm racist because I hate brown people. I just also happen to be conservative.

**Albatross**

That article is some of the most facile crap I've ever read, and I use the internet most days.

The 'anti-colonial' part was both hilarious and poorly researched. Most former British colonies play some form of British game as their national sport, be it Cricket in the West Indies, or Rugby in New Zealand. Canada and the USA are the notable exceptions to this, but then hey, America is the world....

Seriously, some American pundits need to discover the difference between racism, jingoism, nationalism and plain old dickishness before they start commenting on things.

**Catyrpelius**

Well I guess this proves i, I must be racist. Maybe if I start kicking puppies I'll finally be as evil as everyone thinks I am. Hehehe

**Phryxis**

Seriously, some American pundits need to discover the difference between racism, jingoism, nationalism and plain old dickishness before they start commenting on things.

Allow me to assure you, American pundits can't tell the difference between racism and anything else.

I was under the impression that was universal to the first world, with Americans being the "leaders" in that field of "thought."

**dogma**

To be fair it seems that Glenn Beck started the commentary, or at least it appears that way to me.

In any case, the entire conversation is so puerile that only one of the commentators listed in the Week article was able to maintain any semblance of rationality.

**JEB_Stuart**

I thought it was because all conservatives were homophobes...

**sebster**

It is an odd thing, the need some people have to say they don’t like soccer. It isn’t a particularly American thing, lots of Australians complain about soccer, otherwise good natured and agreeable people will jump right into the middle of a World Cup conversation to tell everyone that they don’t like soccer. It’s weird. I don’t particularly like soccer myself, but my dislike of it is not such a big part of my identity that I need to express that to people all the time.

There is a similar one with cricket, the need to tell people that cricket is hard to understand. I don’t know why that bit of silliness keeps getting repeated, or why the speaker assumes we care.

But then there’s other ones as well – for a long time, up until the series restarted basically, any Dr Who conversation would be interrupted by a regular person saying either ‘When I was a kid I thought the Daleks were so scary’ or ‘the sets were so wobbly’. There weren’t unreasonable comments, but it’s odd that they seemed the only ones possible. As if thirty years of broadcasting and the only memorable elements were one monster and one element of production.

There isn’t some wide reaching political message underneath it all. I think it’s more likely that our thoughts and opinions aren’t really as unique as we like to assume. Other people say “I don’t like soccer a lot” so when soccer comes into the conversation we say it too. Same goes for “I don’t understand cricket” and “When I was a kid I thought the Daleks were so scary.”

People. Less interesting than you might have guessed.

**Kilkrazy**

The Cybermen were scary too!

**Albatross**

And they were racist too. Let's not forget that.

**Frazzled**

Yea but the Daleks kicked their keisters HARD.

**ShumaGorath**

I thought the right hate soccer because soccer and football are incompatible competing ball based sports that utilize feet.

**Kilkrazy**

Daleks are crap at football.

**Frazzled**

Kilkrazy wrote:Daleks are crap at football.

Yera but they've hired some new talent recently, and have learned how to get past the stairs into the stadium. They're the Bomb now.

**Albatross**

Kilkrazy wrote:Daleks are crap at football.

They've always been good on the ground, but now they have players who can compete in the air they'll be more of a threat from set-pieces and crosses.

Plus their manager has a great record at this level:

Am I doing it right?

**draftamike**

I am a conservative and very much like soccer. I even played it!

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

Albatross wrote:And they were racist too. Let's not forget that.

No That is totally incorrect.
Cybermen only discriminate bettween those that will assimilate and those that resist.
But they don't like Daleks.

Cybermen are rasicts!

**Zathras**

Hmmm, I don't hate soccer because I'm a racist. I hate soccer because it's bore fest and I like my sports to have a definitive winner and loser, not this tie BS.

**sebster**

See what I mean?

They just have to say it. It's very odd.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

I used to like footie a great deal but the silly wages and falling over really put me off.
That is my "have to say" line Sebster.

It has also made me a racist as I now have an irrational aversion to footie players, or those overpaid cheating

as I tend to call them.

**helgrenze**

I think its the weird rules system they have. Stoppage time, yellow/red cards, variable field sizes, stuff like that. Of course, other sports have their own weird rules, but most of them are fairly simple to explain, not like Offsides in soccer, which is probably the most complex rule in all sports.

**reds8n**

The Offside Rule and Offside Trap in Football(Soccer)
It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

A player is in an offside position if:

•he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent

A player is not in an offside position if:

•he is in his own half of the field of play
•he is level with the second last opponent
•he is level with the last two opponents

Commiting an Offside Offence
A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

•interfering with play
•interfering with an opponent
•gaining an advantage by being in that position This is the one that causes the issues

No Offence
There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from:

•a goal kick
•a throw-in
•a corner kick

It's been proven, by boffins in the UK, that women are biologically incapable of understanding the rule. I suspect this may be due to them not having people shout "Goal hanger!" at them when they are young.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

But I find gridiron and baseball rules rather odd Hegrenze.

It is a simple fact that growing up with a sport or not determines ones' ability to understand it imho.

What's hard to understand about the offside rule anyway?

If you are behind the last defender when the ball is played you are offside. Except these days you have to be active.

**helgrenze**

Offsides in Ameican football- when a player on the defense crosses the line of scrimmage, (a line drawn across the field through the spot where the ball is placed) prior to the ball being put into play by the center.

Offsides in Hockey- When a player crosses the opposing blueline prior to the puck crossing the same line.

Now explain offsides in soccer in a single simple sentance.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:But I find gridiron and baseball rules rather odd Hegrenze.

It is a simple fact that growing up with a sport or not determines ones' ability to understand it imho.

What's hard to understand about the offside rule anyway?
If you are behind the last defender when the ball is played you are offside. Except these days you have to be active.

True enough. and yeah I can understand about baseball rules.
And I thought the iobject of the game was to get the ball past the defenders and into the goal.

**reds8n**

helgrenze wrote:
Now explain offsides in soccer in a single simple sentance.

When the ball is played forward no attacker can be further forwards than a defender.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

When we were kids playing without offside rules there would always be some annoying git just waiting around in front of goal - a goalhanger as they were called. I assume this is why the rule was introduced.

It means strikers just have to time the run to get beyond the defender.

**helgrenze**

reds8n wrote:
helgrenze wrote:
Now explain offsides in soccer in a single simple sentance.

When the ball is played forward no attacker can be further forwards than a defender.

Ah, but the penalty isn't quite that simple, as there are other factors to be considered such as gaining an advantage. A breakaway play still has to keep the goaltender and another player infront of them so as to not gain an advantage, which limits the effectiveness of such a play.

But that really isn't the issue in the OP. Some conservatives don't like soccer because they don't understand it. To them it is as foreign as american football is to other countries. And as a rule, some extreme conservatives don't like things that are foreign to them.

**reds8n**

A breakaway play still has to keep the goaltender and another player infront of them so as to not gain an advantage, which limits the effectiveness of such a play.

err...I think I get ya here. No it doesn't, if you're either running with the ball or coming from your own half of the pitch.

The rule is there to prevent a team from just permanently sticking someone in the opposing penalty area and hoofing the ball to him regardless. I guess its a bit like you guys not just being able to have a receiver standing in/along the endzone for the entire game.

Goal keeper

**helgrenze**

Ok so it works kinda like offsides in hockey. In hockey though, once the puck is past the blueline, position is fair game.

Just watched a few youtubes on the subject. One said it was to prevent breakaway plays "because that is no fun for anyone".

**reds8n**

..

Ok so it works kinda like offsides in hockey. In hockey though, once the puck is past the blueline, position is fair game.

*shrugs* ..take your word for it here.

..I think I get what you mean by breakaway attack..err... the rule certainly isn't there to stop quick attacking football

this is really awful quality but you can just about make out what happens ..is this the sort of thing you mean ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlIohPOA4jc&feature=related