Football is better than Rugby - FACT

[RoosTah]

Do you also have the Socadas as I call them? This type of Canadian Soccer fan, like the "Cicada" insect emerges after years of hibernation to infest the local sporting scene at times of World Cups (and smaller spawnings around Euro and other International competitions).

Like their Hemiptera equivalent they emerge as loud chirpy and bright coloured spectacles that go forth and multiply, waving flags as opposed to wings in an ornate spectacle of bizarro nationalistic and quasi ethno-centric ritual, made all the more bizarre by the fact that 75% or more of them are born and bred Canadians.

Several sub species are particularly annoying, the Italo-Socada is known to honk car horns and clog up traffic when their team is victorious, and is totally oblivious to the fact that his team can only win by playing pedantic mind numbingly boring even by soccer standards strategies, along with a few "lucky" calls from the officials.

The Portu-Socada and Brasocada's undergo a metamorphisis, shedding their original colours and transmutating into the other species upon the elimination of whatever breed they were orignally apart of. These are three of the most annoying types but others are known to cause problems, like the Croat-Socada for example.

Very many have absolutely no interest in the game and won't watch again till the next time the tournament rolls around, nor would they support Canada if we were to make it again, as we don't have a high enough chance of winning and to the Socada success is more important that honourable victory or defeat. Did your team win through controvesy..."who cares!!!" Did your team cheat and dive to win...."that's all part of the game!!"

The only way to control this infestation is through the "poison of defeat" which eliminates a particular sub species for four years, than it's usually a matter of hoping a type that is less prevalent or obnoxious in Canada is the one of 32 that survive the cycle, thankfully in 2010 the final two teams were not too worrying for normal Canadian sports fans. Some other methods of control/avoidance include.... 1) avoiding large urban metro areas that seem to have large congregations, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are especially to be avoided, 2) broadcasting your love of other sports as much as possible during this time, the Socada has a particular dislike of Gridiron and Baseball and these two can ward off casual attacks.

I could mention more if others are interested and would also like to hear about the prevalence of this lifeform within your own countries so I may avoid them during the spawning phase of the four year cycle.

Cheers: Little Guy

Hahaha classic piece of nomenclature - will be sure to adopt it. Yes, we absolutely have a version of Socodas here - particularly of the Italo-Socada variety. I can remember as far back as 2002 a group of these charming young men coming out of hibernation after Italy was knocked out of the World Cup by a group of heathen Asians from Korea (didn't anyone tell them they're not allowed to beat European teams?) and running amok in Sydney. Their behaviour was summed up by one particular wordsmith among them, who - when I camera was shoved in his face after kicking over a bin and attempting to break a shop window - said "any one whos [sic] says that the world cup isn't rigged... (at which point he paused to find the precise words) it's rigged!".

 

[irelandfan123]

But these are the best stories....

No playing football doesn't make someone a wuss , but over here and in the nations I've played in there's a massive difference between the carry on of both rugby players and supporters and that of football players and supporters.

And come on mate , nobody's too small to play rugby , certainly people will be too small to play pro or to play at a good standard , but the genetic lottery won't stop 99.99999% from having the capacity to play and enjoy the game at a basic enough standard.

Observe how all sizes play rugby professionally and one is often classed as small...

(see also Paul Marshall and Peter Stringer)

 

[lucky number 7]

View attachment 2559
Observe how all sizes play rugby professionally and one is often classed as small...

(see also Paul Marshall and Peter Stringer)

Aye But I even mean blokes around the 5 foot limit, one of the nippyest toughest wingers I've played against is around 5'1 or 5'2 , You'll likely never see guys playing top level at that size , but it certainly doesn't mean they can't play and damn well at that.

 

[LittleGuy]

Aye But I even mean blokes around the 5 foot limit, one of the nippyest toughest wingers I've played against is around 5'1 or 5'2 , You'll likely never see guys playing top level at that size , but it certainly doesn't mean they can't play and damn well at that.

Are you playing down at the Jockey club? Holy smokes, I was almost always the smallest guy on any field and that guy would have to look up to me by a decent margin!!!

 

[Draggs]

Are you playing down at the Jockey club? Holy smokes, I was almost always the smallest guy on any field and that guy would have to look up to me by a decent margin!!!

Leorechaun then.

 

[moneymark]

They're truly a vile group of people. I never really liked the game to begin with, but the fans just seal the deal in terms of destroying any prospect of me wanting anything to do with the game.

I think this might be a reflection of Australian society, i have heard of rioting at the tennis and maybe its an issue with Australia and something that the nation needs to look at.

Why do Australians say racist things, hate is bad.

 

[RoosTah]

They're truly a vile group of people. I never really liked the game to begin with, but the fans just seal the deal in terms of destroying any prospect of me wanting anything to do with the game.

I think this might be a reflection of Australian society, i have heard of rioting at the tennis and maybe its an issue with Australia and something that the nation needs to look at.

Why do Australians say racist things, hate is bad.

Wait, what? There have been riots at the tennis on occasion here, but it has generally been between Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian immigrants (groups who were also traditionally responsible for fan violence in the old Soccer League we had before the A-League). So it's not so much "Aussie racism", as volatile Eastern European nationalism spilling into the adopted countries of its former citizens.

As for violence in sport more generally, it's pretty rare here in terms of the fans of various football codes. If it does rear it's ugly head, it is generally at soccer though. I've often wondered if that's because of soccers frustratingly negative rule set, low scoring nature, low contact and referee milking through dives. It's like the game doesn't allow enough of a vicarious outlet on the field, so it explodes off it.

Lastly, what racist things are said by Australians? Racist things are said everywhere...

 

[moneymark]

Wait, what? There was riots at Tennis on occasion here, but it has generally been between Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian immigrants (groups who were also traditionally responsible for fan violence in the old Soccer League we had before the A-League). So it's not so much "Aussie racism", as volatile Eastern European nationalism spilling into the adopted countries of its former citizens.

As for violence in sport more generally, it's pretty rare here in terms of the fans of various football codes. If it does rear it's ugly head, it is generally at soccer though. I've often wondered if that's because of soccers frustratingly negative rule set, low scoring nature, low contact and referee milking through dives. It's like the game doesn't allow enough of a vicarious outlet on the field, so it explodes off it.

Lastly, what racist things are said by Australians? Racist things are said everywhere...

This discussion doesn't seem to be about debating the merits of both sports and how they can learn from each other, it seems to be about stereotyping supporters ofthe 2 sports, I think though that the quote below reflects how Australia is viewed, it doesn't really help the way you treat minority populations historically. I do think that its a real shame that we can't move beyond stereotypes.

An unknown Australian girl decides to host an "African"-themed 21st birthday party. One guest is dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member; numerous Caucasians have shoe polish on their faces. She then posts the pictures on Facebook for all to see. When confronted about their racist nature, she posts an apology for the unintended offence she had caused, rather than addressing the problem with hosting such a party. Coverage on American websites Buzzfeed and Jezebel is met with disgust and outrage.

It didn't take long for commenters on both sites to claim that Australia has a problem with racism â€" hotly denied by the Australians who posted. Comments such as “Jesus, Mississippi thinks these guys should tone it down†were countered by “Some idiotic bogan having a racist party is not a question of national character.†In the world's reaction to a bad-taste theme party, we can see the disconnect that exists between Australian and international perceptions of racism here in the lucky country.

The University of Western Sydney’s Challenging Racism report found that 87% of Australians believe that we benefit from cultural and racial diversity. Although the report is more nuanced than this statistic suggests â€" Australians don't deny that racism exists here â€" it hardly paints a portrait of an Australia “chockers with racistsâ€, as one Jezebel commentator thought was the case.

On an institutional level, racism still exists in Australia. But the repeal of the White Australia legislation, and the enactment of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and its state counterparts demonstrate how far we've come. This progress also provides a framework for how we see ourselves â€" according to the most recent Mapping Social Cohesion report, Australians see themselves as “kind, caring and friendlyâ€. The plethora of specific organisations dedicated to eradicating racial vilification â€" Racism No Way, It Stops With Me and Human Rights Watch all indicate that while there is a problem, we are taking steps to address it.

To us, web posts saying “When I hear Aussies talking about non-white Asians, it sounds like white in the US talking about people from Latin America†seem unwarranted, given the United States’ well documented history of treating non-Caucasians poorly. The idea that Australia is a bigoted place of institutionalised bias and discrimination by individuals flies directly in the face of our insistence of a fair shake of the sauce bottle â€" the narrative we like to tell ourselves.

Yet despite this self-perception, “racist as f*ck†was one of the kinder descriptions of Australia by one Jezebel commentator, and the thread was dominated by anecdotal evidence of racism by Australians.

Some observations in Jezebel’s comments are patently ridiculous. “Native American themed weddings seem to be a thing over there too†and “When I went to Australia I was shocked by how many people wore blackface to the supermarket†require no national soul searching. Quite simply, Native American weddings are not a "thingâ€, and nor is wearing shoe polish on your face at Coles.

But other, more thoughtful commentary could prompt some Australian introspection. Hundreds of comments show how we are seen on the world stage â€" “Listen to white people there talk about Abo’s on welfare, and you’ll quickly realise America doesn’t really have a race problem,†suggests one Jezebel commentator. Over on Buzzfeed things aren’t much better, where the comment “Australians are well-known for their racism†was widely lauded.

This isn’t the first incident of Australian racism being spotlighted in America, either â€" John Oliver recently called Australia “the most comfortably racist place†he’d ever been. To his mind, “They’ve really settled into their intolerance like an old resentful slipper.â€

No studies have been completed on international perceptions of Australian racism, but this avalanche of anecdotes demonstrates that there is a definite disconnect between our perceptions of ourselves, and how we appear to others. In the age of increasing globalization, this old-world White Australia approach is less and less appealing; more than one Jezebel commentator states they won’t be visiting Australia due to our atrocious treatment of our Indigenous population.

On Jezebel, many Australian commentors are quick to point out that other countries don’t exactly have a clean slate when it comes to oppressing racial minorities. But viewing our treatment of racial minorities through the lens of Europe’s treatment of the Roma doesn’t render our home-grown brand any less entrenched or problematic. Nor does it change the global perception that Australia is a racist paradise, a haven for discrimination and bigotry.

As seen in the Challenging Racism report, we see ourselves as believers in multiculturalism and diversity. But this is obviously in direct contrast with how we are seen on a world stage. Type “Why are Australians†into Google, and wait for the autofill to ask you “Why are Australians so racist?†The disconnect between the perspective espoused by the Challenging Racism Report and the observations made by our foreign friends must surely undermine any confidence we have that Australia is a multicultural place where a fair go is offered to all.

 

[moneymark]

This guy makes some really good points. Seems a well rounded individual.

 

[lucky number 7]

Multiculturalism doesn't work. Divisions in society will always remain no matter how hard you try and make a muddled alloy of it.

As for the rest of the post. Tl,dr

 

[RoosTah]

@Moneymark,

Did you just cut and paste that straight from the Guardian for my benefit?

Look, I'm aware that racism exists in Australia, but having lived in Japan and travelled through Britain and the US I'm not convinced it's worse here than other countries.

Sure, we had a deplorable policy seeking to ensure white people immigrated here until the 1970s, but as I pointed out to one shocked Japanese classmate who had just found out, Japan still has their own version of such a policy enshrined in their legal system. Just asked the zainichi-kankokujin - 在日韓国人 (ethnic Korean residents of Japan who trace their roots from the period of Japanese rule of Korea) - a group of people who have been born in Japan and are barely distinguishable from the Japanese themselves, but are denied full citizenship and the rights of the Japanese. The Japanese are much less openly racist, but on an institutional level they are abhorrently racist and sexist.

And yes, there are a lot of dumb people here who are racist, but please... we have nothing on the US, where a major ****ing political party (the Republicans) is actively trying to enact voting legislation aimed directly at ensuring it will be harder for blacks and other minorities to vote in the future. And I won't even get into their crazy ass religious intolerance of anyone who refuses to believe in their ridiculous christian fairytale... you simply cannot succeed in politics if you're not a Christian - atheists are more feared and loathed than pretty well any other group by the masses.

I'd start on Britain, but I'm sure you all know where that will go (being an English dominated forum) - suffice to say it's not a racially harmonious paradise. Ultimately I could go on all day though, and that's the point..

I generally don't like to be too defensive of Australia, as I'm not much of a fan of patriotic sentiments and have a pretty mixed ethnic background myself, but the nonsense about Australia being this horribly racist place is usually put forward by people with a very shallow knowledge of the racially discriminatory nature of many other places.

 

[RoosTah]

Multiculturalism doesn't work. Divisions in society will always remain no matter how hard you try and make a muddled alloy of it.

As for the rest of the post. Tl,dr

It depends what exactly you mean by "multiculturalism". If you mean you can jam a bunch of people from different and sometimes conflict riven ethnic and national origins together and expect them all to get along, then no, it doesn't. But if the state has a targeted immigration policy that takes prioritises skilled people for the most part and provides the necessary language, cultural and vocational support (like Sweden - for instance) for those less so (i.e. refugees), then you can have a reasonably functioning melting pot.

 

[Howzy]

The only good thing about football is the fact that if ur a good player ull get the chances despite what school u went to whereas rugby u can be a rubbish player and aslong as ur dad has loads of money and u went to a private school paying £40 grands worth of fees ull get in.

I also don't understand his logic, coming on to a rugby forum and saying rugby sucks isn't the best of ideas

 

[moneymark]

The only good thing about football is the fact that if ur a good player ull get the chances despite what school u went to whereas rugby u can be a rubbish player and aslong as ur dad has loads of money and u went to a private school paying £40 grands worth of fees ull get in.

I also don't understand his logic, coming on to a rugby forum and saying rugby sucks isn't the best of ideas

Who said rugby sucked anyway, i just think both games and cultures can learn from each other. As i said I think that its very wrong to stereotype both Football and rugby, both supporters and players. At the end of the day wanting to kill opposition supporters is a stereotype in the same way as Rugby supporters all having attended public school and being keen to fronk a fellow players urine whilst out drinking, both don't sit well.

The point is that you should avoid social stereotyping.

 

[lucky number 7]

It depends what exactly you mean by "multiculturalism". If you mean you can jam a bunch of people from different and sometimes conflict riven ethnic and national origins together and expect them all to get along, then no, it doesn't. But if the state has a targeted immigration policy that takes prioritises skilled people for the most part and provides the necessary language, cultural and vocational support (like Sweden - for instance) for those less so (i.e. refugees), then you can have a reasonably functioning melting pot.

Aye I see where you're coming from but having talked to a good few Swedes on this topic in fact they would be inclined to saying it's not working. Indeed there's a massive growth in discontent with the situation in recent years.

A large group of people outside of what's normally perceived to be "the west" (where culture save for a few differences is almost homogeneous in recent decades) will never assimilate into the way things are in their newly adopted nation. Which when some of these cultures are by all accounts very backwards it will always cause tension.

I stress that I'm not a racist , but lax immigration policies have caused large areas of Europe to fester.

Just my two cents and I'm not terribly keen to debate this topic on this forum as my political sentiments in the modern era would be viewed as rather extreme despite being in my opinion fair and logical.

 

[RoosTah]

Aye I see where you're coming from but having talked to a good few Swedes on this topic in fact they would be inclined to saying it's not working. Indeed there's a massive growth in discontent with the situation in recent years.

A large group of people outside of what's normally perceived to be "the west" (where culture save for a few differences is almost homogeneous in recent decades) will never assimilate into the way things are in their newly adopted nation. Which when some of these cultures are by all accounts very backwards it will always cause tension.

I stress that I'm not a racist , but lax immigration policies have caused large areas of Europe to fester.

Just my two cents and I'm not terribly keen to debate this topic on this forum as my political sentiments in the modern era would be viewed as rather extreme despite being in my opinion fair and logical.

I understand where you're coming from, and I actually agree to a degree; people of certain ethnic backgrounds definitely have a serious difficulty in accepting their host country's cultural norms. You do see this in Sydney a bit with a lot of people from the tribal regions of Turkey and Lebanon, where particularly political and fundamentalist forms of Islam are prevalent. They just try to build bubbles to inoculate themselves from "Western influence" and are often extremely intolerant of all other ethnic groups around them.

I think the fundamental point is that immigration policies need to be better thought through and more careful.

 

[anotherperson]

Hello, I've come on here to debate with those silly enough to think that Rugby, a sport played by about 10 nations is better than the worlds game, Football. I will put forth my list of reasons and you can put forward yours (although I already know what they'll be) and we can have a good debate.

1) - Rugby games are devoid of any atmosphere, the fans consist of the most boring people ever content to make absolutely no noise at all.
2) - Rugby has barely any match attending fans for club games. Leicester Tigers get a crowd on average of 21,244, thats the best there is in the whole of the Rugby Premier League. So far after one round of Premier League Football action EVERY team went past that apart from Swansea, who sold out but their stadium isn't as big as Leicesters.
3) - The 'world' cup in Rugby is handful of nations from the Commenwealth with a few teams there to make up the numbers, when the football world cup is on the whole world stops and watches.
4) - The fans aren't passionate, and by passionate I don't mean dressing up like a daffodil and looking a bell. Anyone who's been to a football match will realise the result at the game means a lot whole lot more to the fans than it does to the Rugby equivalent. As a fan of FC United of Manchester I experience the greatest atmosphere in Britain every week, and we're in the 7th tier of English football. SEVENTH. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Th9oRtmIE <-- If you can find any rugby fans more passionate than us, the 7th tier of football then I will give you £50.
5) - Rugby is played by people who couldn't play football, you know that fat kid who couldn't shoot, pass or run? He's probably playing rugby.
6) - Rugby is just a line of fat potatoes devoid of skill running into the other line of fat potatoes.
7) - Rugby came from some kid who was obviously diabolical at football and so he had to cheat being the fat useless mess he was and picked up the ball, hopefully he was battered.
8) - Rugby is for gays only, I'm straight so why on earth would I want to play a game based upon pulling men to the ground before diving on them and grabbing their ass. No thanks.
9) - Rugby players have to pass it backwards to go forwards, what the hell is the point? The Americans realised this and made their own game, American Football.
10) - Scores in Rugby have no significance, the fans barely celebrate them because they know they'll be another 57474 penalties anyway, goals in football are rarer and mean a lot more.
11) - Economics. Rugby fans call footballers overpaid (true) however this can be easily compared to cars. Why would you pay the price of an Aston Martin for a Ford Kia? There's a reason footballers are paid more, it's because there's actually interest in them because they are talented.
12) - [STOLEN] The 2006 World Cup Final drew an average live audience of 322 million people, with an eventual reach of 638 million people. Cumulatively speaking, over a billion people watched Italy beat France on penalties to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy. That’s one sixth of the planet. In terms the tournament as a whole, a cumulative audience of 30 billion viewers watched the finals in Germany. By comparison, the 2007 Rugby World Cup tournament had a cumulative world television audience of 4.2 billion. That’s 14%. Rugby is BETAMAX, Football is VHS. The bottom line is, Rugby sits behind Football, the Olympics, the Tour De France and the Superbowl in terms of a global fan base. That’s right, more people watch men cycling up a hill in spandex than watch Rugby.

And to counter your arguments -

1. "Footballers are babies, they fake injuries and dive!!!" This loses all creditbility when you remember rugby players chewing blood capsules to leave the field.
2. "Footballers are thugs, Rugby is the sport for gents!!!" Just how many eye gouges and stamps do the players get penalised for again?
3. "Rugby players can respect the ref!!!" True, I respect rugby players ability to show the referee the respect he deserves, however you must realise that when a game means as much as it does to the fans the players will do everything they can to win, if football was as unpopular as rugby I'm sure the refs would be given the appropriate respect.

This finishes my post, I look forward to debating with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HeJe8GC024 <-- Real fans for a real sport.

-RugbyIsAwful.

I'm probably bringing up something that hasn't been mentioned in a while, but I saw it and wanted to respond. I play and watch football, but I think the above post is pretty stupid


1,4. The Millennium Stadium when Wales are playing makes a good amount of noise, and how you can say a pointless football club like FC United of Manchester create atmosphere is ********. 500 drunk fat people pretending to be part of a "revolution" is not an atmosphere

2. 82,000 people turn up to watch England play

3. According to wikipedia 117 countries play Rugby

5. As an outsider looking in, it can look like this a bit at times, but Rugby players are a lot less fat than they used to be

7. Football came from country folk kicking each other and pig's bladders around the English countryside, usually resulting in physical injury and sometimes death

8. I'm gay and I play football, for a better team than FC United of Manchester

9. Football players can not wear under shorts that are a different colour to their shorts

10. The last Rugby World Cup final finished 8-7, which is the equivalent of 1-1 (ish)

11. What a strange argument. The only reason footballers earn more than Rugby players is because richer people generally get involved in football and pay players more.

12. Please learn facts before you post on the internet claiming to be a football fan. The Jules Rimet Trophy was replaced after the 1970 World Cup, because Brazil won their 3rd ***le.

That is all for now

 

[HornetsCoach]

I can only hope that some of the posts are trying to be ironic if not... . Besides, I give a flying beep about some extremist views expressed here, I know that football and rugby are completely different ballparks (hey-someone could bring up baseball, too), yet I can enjoy them both, appreciating different qualities of the athletes involved and also when it comes to distinct fan cultures. So, ruck it and cut it!

 

[Ospreylian]

 

[FlukeArtist]

About to sign off for the night you'll be glad to know.

Invictus seems to be the only person capable of posting a decent response, I thought Rugby fans were clued up?

Giving me -rep doesn't bother me in the slightest, keep it up I don't care at all, if I was a troll wouldn't that be my badge of honour? ******* people off to the point where they neg rep me? Haha.

To sum it up - Football played by the most, attended by the most and watched by the most in the world. No argument for which is better.

More people buy Nickleback albums than Tool albums too.
I know which is one better though.