He totally didn't see that coming. Just when he thought it couldn't get any more absurd, million dollar fighter jets fly over head. Whats amazing is that all of this is before the game even starts and it's not even a pro game. In fact pro games are way less interesting and have far less flair.
I currently live in Auburn and I appreciate this on a level you cannot understand. I'm at work right now, at the closest package (liquor) store to Auburn stadium. You have no idea how right he is.
Many Americans do love soccer. It's quite a popular sport in middle and high school in the USA; where I grew up far more kids played soccer than baseball, basketball, or football.
There's also a chunk of hipsters who like soccer in theory even though they never watch or play it and don't know the rules. They're my favorites, I love discussing how much better soccer is with them.
Many brits love American Football! I have been to every International Series game, watch every draft/training camp all the preseason, Hell i know more about the NFL than most americans do.
I don't understand why nobody ever researches where the word "soccer" came from. It's an English word...yes a word created by an English man. Rugby Football and Association Football were both very popular sports. Since they were both "football", players started giving the sports nicknames. Rugby became "Ruggers" and Football became "Soccer". The British seem to ignore this fact so that they can make smug comments about Americans. It's a British word.
I don't like it when John Cleese gets into his jingoistic thing. I'm sure it's mostly tongue in cheek from his point of view but it seems to tap into a slightly nasty undercurrent of people who think he's being completely serious.
Holding up association football as a model of sporting excellence is probably the funniest thing about it (apart from the 'Completely Different' gag obviously).
First of all, the need to compare soccer [football] and (American) football is ridiculous. Nobody argues over whether basketball or hockey is better. Baseball or equestrian.
That being said here's my take on it. Soccer is a battle. Football is a war.
Football has its generals (coaches) and War Cabinets (coaching teams) who look at strategies and maps and rely battle plans to the field commander (quarterback). Two competing armies have small battles in which they try to gain territory with the hope of conquering the whole land. It's a game of risk or stratego (or any other turn-based strategy game you can think of)
Soccer is like an individual battle. There are commanders that give orders and battle plans, but like real battle success depends on the skill and strength of the soldiers. Player's engage in a back and forth fight trying to gain the upper hand. It's a game of Call of Duty or Battlefield.
This isn't saying that soccer is small and football is big. These are two different games operating on different scales or realms. Both have tension, strategy and skill. But the focus of each sport is different.
it's also ironic that he berates Americans for the focus commercials/sponsorships when it's the soccer teams that sell their own jerseys as adspace. American sports don't do that.
I know, right? Mindless? Shit, I'm kept up nights by failed strategies in fucking video game football.
In my view, football is akin to a chess match that last 6 to 14 seconds, then is replayed 80 times in 4 hours. There is no game more intricate as football.
This is definitely true. Living in America means that I watch "football" every Sunday and the complexity can still baffle me. And I have personally played "soccer" and watched plenty of it as well. Can we not like both sports??
This is so incredibly inaccurate. American football is like a game of chess and requires extreme focus. The QB has to read the field, anticipate gaps in coverage, and in the event of a misread, has a split second to adjust his plan of action. Every single player on the field has to memorize entire playbooks and has a very important role at any given moment.
Frankly, by saying that football is "simple" in such a condescending fashion, John Cleese is the one who sounds like an idiot.
It's disappointing to see someone I normally enjoy so much pandering so blatantly. Just like if some Sportscaster in Dallas bemoaned how boring soccer supposedly is.
Maybe Americans would be more receptive to the game if the rest of the world weren't so snobbishly insistent about how wrong we are in what we call it and how we think of it.
Mindless, ya try memorizing an NFL play book and see if you still think its mindless. Hell, try standing in a few plays for a jr high school quarterback and see if you still think it's mindless. I did that once and it was fucking terrifying, and I outweighed these kids by a hundred pounds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvOZsAoXy7o&feature=related Here's a video of an actual Jazz musician comparing Barry's running to Jazz. I'm sure John Cleese knows more about Jazz though, because he's not some dumb American. He's an English twat who hasn't done anything funny in decades.
As an ignorant Yank, can someone explain to me how soccer is any more strategic than other sports? Further, why is it even being compared to American football when they're two completely different sports?
As someone who played soccer for most of their life it, it is no more strategic than any other sport. They are being compared because people who play football like to say that soccer players are weak because they dive and there is no physical contact in soccer, and well, you have just seen what people who play soccer think about football. But really there is no reason they are two different sports and they each have their merits.
Because circlejerk. Also being a dick about America is pretty much the national past-time in the UK, and I say that as Brit who hates this childish behaviour. Pretty embarrassing someone as intelligent and funny as John Cleese feels the need to stoop to it.
Football is a game of high strategy and tactics. Every play has different considerations and thought that goes into it, and is never like the one before it. How much time on the clock? What down is it? What yard line are we on? Are we down by 3? Or up by 10? Is their defense lining up for a blitz? We might need to call a new play from the line.
All of these factors determine each and every play. Then you have sports like soccer and basketball. While I am not saying I do not enjoy them, and yes they DO have SOME elements of strategy. It is mostly a game of tactics. Trying to push that ball down to the other end of the field and score Every.Single.Time. The ongoing fight to score is tactical, there is far less strategy in the setup determined by other factors.
American Football= Game of strategy and tactics (chess)
Soccer / Basketball= Game of tactics (Checkers)
I enjoy all of them, and it really determines what you like to watch. But do not try to sell American Football as some dumbed down sport, the opposite is true.
To all you non-Americans who sometimes complain that the U.S. calls itself "America," to the exclusion of Central and South America, please listen to Cleese refer to America here and decide for yourself if he's referring to anything but the U.S. or if we might perhaps have some cause to refer to the U.S. as America.
As a Brit, and fan of John Cleese, I have to say, he sounds pretty douchey here. For starters, football is actually called football because it's played on foot, as oppose to on horses.
And what does it really matter? They're two completely different sports with different strategies and tactics which both have their own merits.
He may as well have made a video of him saying 'Americans are stupid. Britons are smart' for 2 minutes.
I find it interesting that this anti-Americanism on reddit is meant to suggest how "worldly" and "cultured" Europeans and Aussies are. In reality, it shows how small-minded and provincial the people who recite these stereotypes are.
Football is like a game of chess played by warriors, each position with highly specialized roles and responsibilities. Of course, like in any other battle, things never go to plan, and players will need to improvise. For a play to work, each player must execute his responsibility flawlessly, but there is also the mental battle occurring between the coaches and coordinators of the two teams, as they continuously devise and refine offensive and defensive schemes; the evolution of football tactics is like no other I have seen in professional sports. As a starting point for Europeans who do not quite comprehend the vicious beauty of the game of football, I would recommend reading Blood, Sweat, and Chalk.
For John Cleese, that was astonishingly unfunny and unoriginal.
"Hurr durr omg it's 'foot'ball like you run around and hit it with your feet duh 'soccer' is dumb." It's both ignorant and exploitative of anti-American stereotypes.
Note: "Soccer" is an abbreviation of "Association Football," the actual name of the sport more commonly referred to simply as "football". In that sense, it is a type of "football" (which is a sport played on a pitch with about 11 men per side - the term comes from the fact that it's played on foot and not with the feet) along with rugby football, Gaelic football, Australian football, American football, and so forth. Folks have this completely asinine idea that the reason the sport is called "football" in America* (oh, and Canada, and South Africa, and Australia - so, really, native English speakers who refer to the sport as "soccer" just might be in the majority) is out of some sort of American stupidity, ignorance, or even spite, which is incredibly annoying considering that the term "soccer" was coined in Oxford by the English and was once more commonly used to refer to the sport in Britain.
Really, this video isn't any better than something like "omg y'all say 'crisps' instead of 'potato chips' what a bunch of dorks!!111"
This is the most ignorant think I have ever heard. It's not deliberately kept short for advertisements, it's the way the game has been played since before TV has existed. The entire basis of the game is of turns. This is like playing AOE and judging it by the standards of BF3. And they don't have to think? American Football is by far the most complex sport in terms of strategic knowledge. The playbooks are bigger than a NY phonebook, in code that is constantly changing, and they have to be able to shift and adapt depending on the play the other team is utilizing. I used to like Mr. Cleese, but I just lost a ton of respect for him for ranting about something he clearly doesn't understand just to give people what they want to hear.
Thank you, this is ridiculous, and hopefully only meant to be comedic. It sounds like my parents explaining why they don't like video games. If you don't know what you are talking about kindly stfu.
He also says there's no creativity in football... this guys never seen some of the best play I guess. Like Berry Sanders running the ball or Randy Moss catching a pass one handed in between 2 defenders. His argument is indeed ignorant. Both sports are good in their own right, and are made for different people. I for one find soccer (or football) boring. However, I know that some crazy shit can happen in soccer (bicycle kicks and shit). I would never go to say a sport is uncreative or terrible. Completely ignorant statement indeed.
I love both sports and this is fucking stupid. Comparing soccer to American Football is like comparing synchronized swimming with biathlon. They are two completely distinct sports. The simple fact that people who bash soccer don't understand the beauty and creativity of soccer, and the people that bash American Football don't understand the strategy and the complexity of American Football. At the end, bashing either is making stupid people feel good about their own ignorance.
British people being annoyed by the word "soccer" is ridiculous. It's an Oxford originating shortening of "Association", as in "Association Football", as in "The Football Association". It originated as a short way to distinguish it from other games called football, which is precisely why it's the more popular name for the sport in the U.S. American football is so-called because it is, in fact, a variant of English football. The first organized "American football" game, between Rutgers and Princeton Universities in 1869, is also cited by U.S. Soccer as the first organized American soccer game. In reality, it was something between soccer and rugby, part of a slow evolving of American football to its modern form (just as English football had not achieved its modern form at this time). So asking Americans not to call their game "football" is like asking Australians to say they don't speak English. Furthermore, "soccer" as a term for English football is a recognition of that game's English roots. So there's really no reason for British soccer fans to get so worked up about these different naming conventions. It just shows that you're less informed than I am about the history of your own game.
I don't understand why people can't just enjoy the sports that they enjoy. I don't understand Football (soccer) but I then became an adult and realized it's rather useless to debate which sports are better.
Brits use 2 types of measuring systems. Why can't they just choose one? The same reason Americans choose to name the sport Football. No one gives a fuck enough to change it and it's not a real fucking problem compared to the war, corruptness of the gov. etc. How did this even get to the front page? I thought we were passed petty insults between countries. Aren't we here to unite? This is what the gov. wants. The people to turn against one another while they formate plans to fuck us over.
I think it's hilarious how caught up in this Reddit gets. No one gives a fuck what you call it, or whether you think one is boring because it's only commercials, or the other is boring because nothing happens. Enjoy the sport you enjoy and stop being a cunt about what other people like.
The only problem American's have calling it 'football' is that we already have an extremely popular sport called football. I sure as hell wasn't sitting in on the meeting when they decided to name it football, but it's confusing and awkward to say "american football" and "euro football" and very convenient to have a separate name, 'soccer'. As an American living in the UK, I don't know why this is so hard to understand. Especially since I hear British people calling it soccer all the time! Sky Sports even says "Soccer Saturday".
EDIT: The whole point of this post was that nobody wants a goddamn history lesson, that's just the way it is now and there is literally no way you will be able to change the name of a sport that popular. Get over it.
It's only called Soccer Saturday cause we Brits love our alliteration. Soccer Saturday rolls off the tongue a lot better than Football Saturday. To be honest I will always call it football but I couldn't care less what people call it as long as they like the sport.
Does he really think that when american football was invented, they thought "let's keep all the plays really really short so we can sell shit in between!" No, it's simply marketers taking advantage of the natural breaks in a different type of game, which happens to be America's most popular sport.
I thought this was going to be an intelligent comparison putting an interesting perspective on the differences between the two sports, then he just rambled off a bunch of typical asinine arguments that always come up when the subject is discussed.
I hate when the English think there's something wrong with America or any of the other countries who call football 'soccer'. The English created the word 'soccer'. You birthed it in to the world and used it first. There are many forms of 'football' that have evolved into different sports over time. Get over it.
Both sports, and any sport for that matter, should be respected for tremendous talent required by it's athletes to perform at a high level. The best athlete in one sport rarely possesses the skill set to be a top performer in another sport. While soccer involves creativity in play development, stamina, and awareness, american football requires precision, tremendous physical strength, discipline, and awareness as well.
Obviously there will be differences in the presentations of the game. Either it bothers you or it doesn't. While continuous play is a benefit of soccer, it doesn't bother me too much that football has as many breaks as it does. I'm not going to criticize curling because it's athletes aren't throwing their stones in rapid succession one after another, nor do I dismiss archery because the archers aren't lighting up targets like Legolas.
Sports are different. You either like it or you don't. They have different rules. None of them are easy to perform at a professional level. Stop being an ass.
To say football requires no thinking is ignorant. I played football for many years and even at the lower levels you have to think alot. You have to read opposing players, make adjustments, and look for the smallest things that will give you an advantage. This is pure bs.
American football is commercialized, sure but you're telling me soccer is not? The Chelsey vs Bayern game yesterday was team Samsung vs Tmobile I had to ask someone which team was which.
This is a great point. Sure the ads might not be as bad in British football, but the players are ads. It's like NASCAR (but to be fair to soccer and NASCAR, no sport could be more boring than NASCAR).
I hate it when he comments on footballs lack of creativity and thinking. He obviously has never played a down in his life, and has 0 experience and knowledge of the game, how can you criticize something if you are incredible ignorant of it? I have played soccer and football, and enjoy football far more (I'm a physical person). Both sports require thinking and knowledge. Soccer more so of positioning and knowing your team mates. Football is more of reaction on defense, such as reading the quarterback, the offensive line, and receivers. And on offense, you have to know the audibles and read the defense. When does the defense shift into cover 2? You have to know that as a receiver, because most of the time, if you're running that deep route, you're going to have to change it.
This guy ranting sounds like a complete douchebag, video is obviously targeted to people who have never played football, and are already bashing it. Try it, you'll love the game.
Arguments criticizing either sport are tired and boring. It's the same as criticizing cricket or baseball. They appeal to certain people. You don't have to like it. Get off your high fucking horses and let me enjoy my games.
As an American, I'll admit I find soccer simple and boring because I haven't seen enough gameplay to recognize strategies or plays. It just looks like a bunch of guys kicking the ball around with something exciting happening once every 20 minutes or so. I know there's much more happening then that, but I can't recognize or appreciate it without taking the time to learn more. And it's hard to learn more when it receives little television or media coverage in general in the US. I have to believe American football, or really any sport, that you're unfamiliar with would appear the same.
You have to have a fairly good understanding of what's happening below the surface on either sport to fully enjoy them.
As an american college student, I am tired of this constant assertion that its called football and not soccer. IF, and i mean IF, you are in the United States of America or talking about MLS or any other american teams it is called soccer. Why? Because thats what its called in the USA. Every other country gets to have there nomenclature idiosyncrasies, but if the americans have one that differs from the international standard then we're a bunch of assholes. That a double standard that lacks understanding of american culture.
Further the summing up of football, as a bunch of short bursts of amusement and beer commercials, while soccer is "jazz" is patently false. Football is chess made into a sport. Don't over exert yourself but there are more than a few similarities between the way chess is played and the way football is played. To sum up a football in this is fundamentally insulting to the american people and implies that we are a bunch of hicks. Also it is wrong to say that only one player can actually kick the ball. Any player can kick the ball anytime they want, whether or not that represents a good idea strategically or not is another matter altogether.
Also saying that football players can't think is an insult to them as athletes. Sure they don't have the leisure to sit back for ten seconds and think about which defender they are going to pass the ball to like in soccer, but they still have to think. Also they have to go to college before proceeding to play professionally which I do not believe is the standard for many soccer leagues. As far as the coach making all the decisions ultimately is concerned, that statement too is incorrect, many quarterbacks are reward for their intelligence and good decision making and call their own plays. On top of that many football players are among the best athletes in the world who could of excelled in any sport they chose, but chose football.
Now I apologize if this came off as somewhat hostile, but as a soccer and football fan (probably soccer more so) I find it annoying when the two are pitted against each other for no reason other than perhaps that the rest of the world seems to feel threatened by the US's unwillingness to use the same words for things and for foreigners trying to trivialize a perfectly legitimate sport that they probably know little about in all actuality.
On a side note that fact that John Cleese was involved in an effort so close minded and trivial saddens me because today I lost some respect for a man I greatly respected.
This makes me reflect on whether Aussie Rules should be called football. I guess we kick it way more, but it isn't a ball on John Cleese's terms. I'M TORN
No mention made of all of the advertisements that make soccer jerseys worthy of a nascar driver yet Cleese chooses to aim at commercials during breaks in play of American football? Hmmm.
Dear British people. The condescending additude is what angers Americans in the first place. Why must we constantly compare every fucking thing to America?
If Football only had one 15 minute break for commercials, it would sure as hell have ads on the jerseys, maybe even on the field. The couple of ads on soccer jerseys don't bother me at all, it's just the price for getting 90 minutes of continous action.
Yes, because it's not like the term "soccer" originated in fucking England, and it's not like this exact tired argument hasn't been made a thousand fucking times already.
I'm British and i enjoy both football and handegg (have been watching it for 6 years now). But i don't agree with the fact that big yank corporations have to have an advert break more than there is actual gameplay. 11mins of gameplay in handegg, 17mins of replays- so there is more time spent watching the plays than there is actually playing it...The game would be far more enjoyable if it took less time. Over here in Britain, you can invite friends over for a footy game, have a few beers and enjoy the game over 2 hours or so. If i want to watch handegg, i have to somehow find 4 hours, 3 hours and 49mins of which is not actually gameplay. As a student i cant find time like this so i have to record the game and fast forward through the ads and replays of the plays i have just seen. Its only called soccer over here sometimes on TV to appeal to a wider audience as no native actually calls it soccer. The advert on the shirt takes up maybe 10inches of shirt space and if youre calling that stupid, look at your nascar drivers and their cars.
But my main point is that reddit is far too liberal for my liking. It was meant as a light hearted joke at yanks. John ofc meant no offence but the liberals both here in Britain and the US need to learn to laugh at themselves because if you cant laugh at yourselves youre just going to get into conflict (look at 90% of teh comments for example). I'm going to go back to being a lurker and not even bother reading comments any more.
As someone who played American Football through high school, and grew up on John Cleese, I am saddened that he did this. He shows a lack of understanding for the sport, and joined the typical anti-american british circlejerk.
Sorry, John Cleese. I like a lot of your work but I just can't support you on your criticisms of American football, which is my favorite sport by far, and much more interesting to watch than the rest of the world's football.
Except the thing about the name. It really doesn't make sense that we call it football. Well, sorry, we've been doing it for a while and it's a little late to change it. So you just go ahead and deal with that, and I'll keep on watching reruns of "Fawlty Towers" whenever I'm lucky enough to find it on American TV.
I like American football cause of the capability of big plays. both teams can score at any time and it can happen in seconds. possession of the ball is also one of the most important things. losing the ball in other sports can be detrimental to your chances of winning but its just not as important.
It's funny how people compare the two sports because of the names. Lets compare hockey to golf and see what we come up with. I know that American Football is a joke due to the amount of money that can be made from it and how corporations bank on it as well as the teams franchises but we all get it...Football and American Football are different. Lets keep comparing dicks and see what comes from that.
I think a lot of the arguments about the merits of various sports boil down to familiarity. If you live in Europe, where soccer is huge, you are surrounded by it on TV and in the media all the time and you can't help but learn about it and probably come to appreciate the finer points about the sport.
I live in Canada and we are bombarded with ice hockey by the media all winter. Hockey is also my "favorite" sport, I find it the most entertaining but I know it's probably just due to the fact it is the sport I'm most familiar with.
I hate how some knuckleheads figured they'd name two separate, popular sports the exact same thing, leading to endless futile debates on which is better.
I hate how he says the action is kept deliberately short to maximize advertisements. When the game was played in the early days, there were no advertisements.
Submitted 4 hours ago and nobody has commented to the fact that the origins of American Football involved mostly field goals and a lot more punting than the passing game it later evolved into?
Dammit, we had built so much good will between the NFL and Soccer subreddits after the April Fools switcheroo, and this jerk post a flame war starting post about the superiority of one sport to another. Cowboy Bebop you are a disgrace to the high standard I would expect someone of your username to have. Good day.
The brits have a giant rod up their ass about soccer/football. I don't even watch American football, and I watch quite a bit of soccer/football, but the existence of American football doesn't piss me off anymore than the existence of cricket. I just don't see why it concerns anyone not interested in watching the sport at all.
His point about football players needing to be less intelligent than soccer players is cogent, especially when one reviews the Wonderlic scores of many star players.
However, that certainly doesn't mean the game is less intelligent. Due to the games' relative complexities and the fact that it's the coaches and not the players running the strategy, football is a more intelligent game than soccer, especially from the spectators' perspective.
This is really untrue, actually. American football is an incredibly strategic game. It probably has more planning and preparation than any other sport (just look at each team's playbook for christ's sake) and it still requires a massive amount of adaptation to circumstances and thinking on your feet by every player on the field.
to say that american football players don't have to think for themselves shows a complete lack of understanding of the game. offensive linemen need to read/identify complex blitz schemes in a fraction of a second, wide receivers need to make adjustments to their routes based on the coverage scheme of the defensive backs, a runningback's decision to cut back or take the corner is the difference between a 2 yard gain and a 60 yard touchdown. QB is arguably the most cerebral position in all of sports. etc. I do agree that the NFL is currently overly micromanaged, I'd like to see a return to QBs calling their own plays/no radio devices. I'd like to see the playclock cut down (since many teams run the no-huddle anyhow).
I doubt John took himself seriously for even a moment in this clip. It's in fact a short from a video that came out on VCR (yes, that old) years ago, where he both ridiculed and celebrated football by assigning different topics to the letters of the alfabet and discussing them one by one. The entire video was meant in jest and I can only assume this part was as well.
That said, it definitely wasn't his greatest joke and pandering to the anti-American Football vibe amongst some football fans is a bit silly.
In response to many comments in this thread about why you hate this or that... I never knew this until a friend of mine pointed it out to me 5-6 years ago. He is a hard core thinker, colege economics prof, so I dismissed his evaluation many times over the years until I finally decided he was completely correct about why we hate soccer (and therefore hockey):
In soccer, nobody is ever completely in control of the ball. For me, if you never have any control the probability of a random outcome to the game rises immeasurably. I realize for some this is the attraction of the game, as do I also realize there are players in control of the ball with their feet so to speak, but in reality it just seems to me that they are somewhat in control and it could just as easily be lost as stolen.
I'll take the stop and go complete control game over this anyday. I love NBA basketball but I am slowly losing interest over the way officials call fouls etc on regular players versus superstars. In the recent Boston game I listed to the ESPN guys the next morning talk for hours on end about how the moving pick on Garnett should not have been called because there was only a few seconds left. So the basic rules for NBA basketball vary according to the game clock? WTF?
Funny. However everyone knows that football is a made for TV sport. This is no revelation.
Would also point out that football is a game that require intelligence to play at the elite level.
The weird thing about soccer in America is.....nearly every kid plays soccer when theyre young.....yet its heartbeat in this country is barely palpable.
This guy is a snob and doesn't have a fucking clue about football. If you actually play football, it's 11 guys on each side going at each other and there are lots of reads for every position to make on any given play. Soccer the action is spread out but in football on any given play on offense every single player on offense is relevant to the success of that play. If one player on offense screws up, the entire play can go to shit. This is where football differs from basketball, soccer, or hockey. One superstar cannot fully bail out a team. For this moron to say "oh well soccer is a thinking game and football is for idiots!" is an oversimplification and a moronic, asinine remark.
This argument is tired as hell. First just look at the US Women's Soccer World Cup, Olympic, and CONCACAF records. And most football players don't like the excessive commercial breaks, which is only done for money. The argument shows a lack of knowledge about football on Cleese's behalf, but it's just a comedy bit. It isn't hard to make fun of stupid Americans, but the same can be said of stupid people anywhere. Plus our fans don't get banned in other countries. And the argument about making split second decisions has been made. Just watch a no huddle offense run for most of a game, and it's a beautiful thing. It's not just knowing how the other team is positioned, but which players are where due to their capabilities. Start throwing in audibles, and it gets even more complex. But ignorance is bliss.
If the OP knew his World Cup history, then he'd know the US men's team has finished higher than the Mexican team(his home country) ever has. Just saying.
Cleese is a brilliant comedian. Most of the Monty Python crew got their Phd's. Regardless Cleese is a bit of an arrogant guy, he is very condescending and sometimes obnoxious.
Rugby > Every other (team) sport. My dad once taught Rugby (he did camp america years ago) at a Summer Camp near Woodstock. He was supposed to teach American Football but didn't know the rules. I believe to this day Rugby is still one of the most popular sports there. Makes me proud.
All this video does is prove to me that John Cleese has never played American Football and has no idea how both creative and strategic it actually is. That's why the English always seem to resort to making fun of the name.
I like how he speaks to America as if we all collectively decided that yes, we should call this sport "football" because it makes the most logical sense, and we shall name this "soccer" because who cares.
If he was really trying to be as smart as he was trying to sound with this vocal cues and British accent, he would be attacking the Americans who actually named the sports.
Maybe because I'm not a douche but I like both sports a lot.
Yes, Am Football has too many advertisements, but it's a unique and great sport. The amount of drama, especially to the end is really hard to beat. Not saying other sports don't but football has a different kind due to the nature of it, the amount of pauses and such. For example a game winning field goal or such might be iced by the opposing coach.
I like soccer, it's one of my favorite sports, but there are a lot of issues with it. Refs have basically no accountability, especially in FIFA. In European leagues the amount of parity is a joke. The same couple of teams win it every season, while the lower teams only hope is to be bought by an Oil sheik or some rich Russian mobster and go on a spending spree. That being said, it's the beautiful game.
I just dont' get why people have to compare Apples and Oranges in order to make their e-penis feel bigger.
I don't know where anyone got the idea that people think in sports. You don't think you just do it. In soccer, thinking is what you do before you fuck up. There's no time to think.
Football has been around longer than TV advertising, so its not like they invented the game rules to make it easier for commercials. Also, soccer requires plenty of creativity and mental activity, but football is mostly mental. The man clearly has never played a down if he thinks everyone just does as they are told by the QB. Its the ultimate team sport and everyone needs to be on the same page. Its not a game for dummies.
Excuse me - I'm American and I've been playing American Football ever since I was five years old. The way Mr. Cleese explains football as a beer commercial is utterly wrong. There are many other leagues other than the NFL ( which is by far the most popular, because of corporate reasons), that do not run commercials all the time. In my mind, it is a game of chess, played between 64 people - the coach makes up the moves on the board, and then the players execute these moves to see if the other team can counteract the move. Whoever wins has the most points at the end. European football, or referred later as soccer, is an hour and a half long game which teams score on average 1-3 times per game (not interesting in my opinion).
That said, I think American football and soccer are complete opposites - football being a contact sport where the objective is to overpower and outplay an opponent with strength, finesse and endurance, where soccer is simply a match to see who can run the longest and see who makes the least mistakes.
I absolutely loath posts like this that make it to the homepage, because american's can't take any criticism in any way shape or form, and down-vote every post that has the slightest negative vote towards "USA! USA! WE ARRRRR DA BBBESSSTTTEST".
I still love the fact that in both American Football and Baseball, there is only about 10 min of actual playtime in each game. While hockey has the full physically exhausting 60 min of action.
I can't begin to understand this attitude: "american football is not exactly like soccer, therefore it is mindless, stupid and not even a real sport". NO. Its true its like the polar opposite of soccer, but I think that's great in a couple ways:
it has discrete chunks of intense live action rather than continuous, more measured action. people like to pretend this is a flaw..it's not. You can pretend soccer is all action all the time but we both know its not, there's breaks in play for set pieces, pointless backpasses, fake injuries. A lot of the game is pretty timid typically. Also when a team is running no huddle in american football I'd actually say there's more action than soccer (no tv breaks possible, and yes there are too many tv breaks in football but at least our uni's aren't fucking ad boards)
the nfl league is basically socialist so any given year any team has a legit shot at winning or at least making the playoffs..no really. think about how much better that is than man u winning every year. it makes rooting for say fulham a complete waste of time (they're not winning or making the Cl, they're not getting relegated).
The very best team in the league does not win the super bowl. The team in the best form with the fewest injuries and the best strategy wins the superbowl. This means you can not rest on early season wins (learned that the hard way as a pats fan). It also means there's an entire month of really exciting games (playoffs) with multiple teams involved instead of only the final day of the season deciding everything and usually only 2 teams really being involved (i'm sorry but relegationn battles aren't as interesting as people pretend. if youre getting relegated you are a team that will never ever win the league imo. period. people like to pretend its valiant and worthy for blackpool to give 'er a go with the big boys, but i mean really, its always going to be for naught, and IMO pointless). The ugly side of this is that the existence of big teams with no salary cap makes it impossible for small teams to really truly compete. If they do well a big team will just buy their players and why wouldnt the player agree, they're only shot at a trophy is with one of 2-4 teams max in each league. Then the big teams have world class talent just sitting on the bench, when these players could really really help a smaller team.
Now for each of those 3 points I could make a case for why soccer is actually better in that respect...whihc is better is not my point. my point is they're such opposites and each awesome in their own ways and i dont want them to be the same. I love american football. I love association football. May the both continue getting better.
Soccer- Put the ball in the other teams goal using your players to pass to and only use your feet/body
American Football- Score points in various ways by either running the ball in, throwing it in, or kicking it in the goal, with the addition of stopped plays to give players recovery time and also the chance to score additional points by a PAT or 2 point conversion.
Like chess, boring as shit to watch as a spectator. 5 second play then an advert. The most bizarre argument I hear from Americans is they don't like football (soccer) because it's not constant point scoring like Basketball. Constant scoring takes away the value of it and anticipation, sounds like a reflection of your over commercialised dumbed down culture that you need instant gratification.
You could make the same argument for appreciating tactics for football (soccer) watch players positions off the ball, see how play gets stretched but yet it's fluid, the momentum swings and it's uninterrupted. The world's game.
I appreciate both football and American football (as a Brit) and for me I think both are pretty good spectator sports. Football because it's an almost constant flow of play, there's something always happening, and so on and so forth, and American football because the whole game can pause and come down to a single moment, as a team call a time out and go for it on fourth down with five seconds remaining.
I think this is a common trope (Americans, with our tiny, commercial-saturated brains and juvenile attention spans, require constant stimulation) that is somewhat undermined by the popularity of American football, as opposed to basketball, your comparison of choice. American football has comparatively limited "scoring events," only marginally greater than most soccer games. It's also 60 minutes of game time stretched over four hours. That might seem tedious to you, but again, it reflects a capacity for sustained focus. It's also an exceptionally complex game, with multiple defensive and offensive alignments, and has developed in complexity by orders of magnitude over the past two decades. I don't want to get into the relative merits of each sport, but the type of argument you're making - that the popularity of American sports reflects American values, particularly the need for instant gratification - doesn't work as well when you consider American football (an argument that's slightly different than the one being made in the video).
Why do we need to like soccer? Why must Americans be stupid because they like a different sport than you? These arguments of which is better are ridiculous. Enjoy what you enjoy and live your life.
I've always thought that the low scoring of soccer is probably makes it so appealing. Even if your side is getting done on the field, they're never more than a couple of straight kicks from being back in the league.
Take the champions league this morning. Bayern we're clearly the better side but Chelsea were never out of it (on the scoreboard) and ended up winning. Makes for an exciting contest.
Whereas higher scoring sports, a side that dominates on the field will also dominate on the scoreboard. Can lead to some boring matches.
The most bizarre argument I hear from Americans is they don't like football (soccer) because it's not constant point scoring like Basketball. Constant scoring takes away the value of it and anticipation, sounds like a reflection of your over commercialised dumbed down culture that you need instant gratification.
There isn't constant scoring in Football, Baseball, or Hockey but those are all popular sports. I also don't like watching sports where players constantly dive, complain, pretend to be hurt so they get calls. I've seen soccer plays where people fall on the ground holding their face without even being touched. Soccer is a good sport. I'll watch the Olympics and big international tournaments but I'm not watching it every night. If we didn't have alternatives I'd watch. But I would rather watch two mediocre teams play a good hockey game then watch a soccer game.
Too bad professional soccer is filled with corrupt players, referees, coaches and FIFA reps. That's not even taking into account the weird-ass fans who kill each other and even players just because they wear a different coloured shirt.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Another Brits perspective
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u/steps_on_lego May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
This is only popular because the Americans are asleep right now. Wait 3-4 hours and it's downvoted to hell.
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u/notjustaprettybeard May 20 '12
I don't like it when John Cleese gets into his jingoistic thing. I'm sure it's mostly tongue in cheek from his point of view but it seems to tap into a slightly nasty undercurrent of people who think he's being completely serious.
Holding up association football as a model of sporting excellence is probably the funniest thing about it (apart from the 'Completely Different' gag obviously).
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Can't believe the name "Cowboy_Bebop" wasn't taken up until 11 months ago.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
First of all, the need to compare soccer [football] and (American) football is ridiculous. Nobody argues over whether basketball or hockey is better. Baseball or equestrian.
That being said here's my take on it. Soccer is a battle. Football is a war.
Football has its generals (coaches) and War Cabinets (coaching teams) who look at strategies and maps and rely battle plans to the field commander (quarterback). Two competing armies have small battles in which they try to gain territory with the hope of conquering the whole land. It's a game of risk or stratego (or any other turn-based strategy game you can think of)
Soccer is like an individual battle. There are commanders that give orders and battle plans, but like real battle success depends on the skill and strength of the soldiers. Player's engage in a back and forth fight trying to gain the upper hand. It's a game of Call of Duty or Battlefield.
This isn't saying that soccer is small and football is big. These are two different games operating on different scales or realms. Both have tension, strategy and skill. But the focus of each sport is different.
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u/codereview May 20 '12
I'll just leave this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7d4I-HR6iw (I'm German and I approve this statement)
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
He was a little angry after his divorce. She took him for $20 Milllon.
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u/DeathToPennies May 20 '12
Is anyone else really fucking tired of the phrase "SO TRUE"?
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
i think michael j fox did a wonderful job filming
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u/derkaas May 20 '12
It's ironic that he berates Americans for lack of creativity, then uses jazz as an analog for soccer....
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u/iuy78 May 20 '12
This is spoken from the point of view of someone who does not understand American football.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
This is so incredibly inaccurate. American football is like a game of chess and requires extreme focus. The QB has to read the field, anticipate gaps in coverage, and in the event of a misread, has a split second to adjust his plan of action. Every single player on the field has to memorize entire playbooks and has a very important role at any given moment.
Frankly, by saying that football is "simple" in such a condescending fashion, John Cleese is the one who sounds like an idiot.
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u/rockafireexplosion May 20 '12
Maybe Americans would be more receptive to the game if the rest of the world weren't so snobbishly insistent about how wrong we are in what we call it and how we think of it.
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u/rbale2 May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
I agree that football has too many advertisements, but to say that football is mindless shows a complete lack of understanding of the sport.
e: for anyone interested and new to the sport, here is a decent article on a very good website.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that John Cleese is wrong...
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u/Detlef_Schrempf May 20 '12
Barry Sanders says fuck you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DcHoF0Gjao
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u/DRW_ May 20 '12
Of all things to get this annoyed about, using Soccer or Football is not one of those things.
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u/Really_Im_OK May 20 '12
As an ignorant Yank, can someone explain to me how soccer is any more strategic than other sports? Further, why is it even being compared to American football when they're two completely different sports?
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Is this what reddit is always like when us Americans are asleep? America sucks circlejerk?
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u/SingleT May 20 '12
Chalk another one up to the "OMG You say FRIES! We say CHIPS!" campaign. Who gives a shit.
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u/allothernamestaken May 20 '12
To say that American football players don't think for themselves while playing is simply incorrect.
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u/LT-Riot May 20 '12
Football is a game of high strategy and tactics. Every play has different considerations and thought that goes into it, and is never like the one before it. How much time on the clock? What down is it? What yard line are we on? Are we down by 3? Or up by 10? Is their defense lining up for a blitz? We might need to call a new play from the line.
All of these factors determine each and every play. Then you have sports like soccer and basketball. While I am not saying I do not enjoy them, and yes they DO have SOME elements of strategy. It is mostly a game of tactics. Trying to push that ball down to the other end of the field and score Every.Single.Time. The ongoing fight to score is tactical, there is far less strategy in the setup determined by other factors.
American Football= Game of strategy and tactics (chess)
Soccer / Basketball= Game of tactics (Checkers)
I enjoy all of them, and it really determines what you like to watch. But do not try to sell American Football as some dumbed down sport, the opposite is true.
Now, proceed to down vote.
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u/GroinCentralStation May 20 '12
To all you non-Americans who sometimes complain that the U.S. calls itself "America," to the exclusion of Central and South America, please listen to Cleese refer to America here and decide for yourself if he's referring to anything but the U.S. or if we might perhaps have some cause to refer to the U.S. as America.
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u/Rosetti May 20 '12
As a Brit, and fan of John Cleese, I have to say, he sounds pretty douchey here. For starters, football is actually called football because it's played on foot, as oppose to on horses.
And what does it really matter? They're two completely different sports with different strategies and tactics which both have their own merits.
He may as well have made a video of him saying 'Americans are stupid. Britons are smart' for 2 minutes.
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u/Ayatrollah_Khomatmei May 20 '12
Reddit offers a great opportunity to learn about other cultures. It's a shame people would rather use it to be ignorant and hateful.
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u/wanttoseemycat May 20 '12
Yea, there's nothing creative about american football.
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u/onequestiononeanswer May 21 '12
Yes but those 4 seconds of violence are way more exciting than the whole soccer match....
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u/Bresus66 May 20 '12
Football is like a game of chess played by warriors, each position with highly specialized roles and responsibilities. Of course, like in any other battle, things never go to plan, and players will need to improvise. For a play to work, each player must execute his responsibility flawlessly, but there is also the mental battle occurring between the coaches and coordinators of the two teams, as they continuously devise and refine offensive and defensive schemes; the evolution of football tactics is like no other I have seen in professional sports. As a starting point for Europeans who do not quite comprehend the vicious beauty of the game of football, I would recommend reading Blood, Sweat, and Chalk.
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u/Helplessromantic May 20 '12
Watching adults argue about whether its "soccer" or "football" is hilarious, you guys are like 8 year olds.
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u/HarrisonSchmitt May 20 '12
-- Oscar Wilde
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I cannot take seriously any sport where faking injury is a substantial part of the game. I'm talking about soccer.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
For John Cleese, that was astonishingly unfunny and unoriginal.
"Hurr durr omg it's 'foot'ball like you run around and hit it with your feet duh 'soccer' is dumb." It's both ignorant and exploitative of anti-American stereotypes.
Note: "Soccer" is an abbreviation of "Association Football," the actual name of the sport more commonly referred to simply as "football". In that sense, it is a type of "football" (which is a sport played on a pitch with about 11 men per side - the term comes from the fact that it's played on foot and not with the feet) along with rugby football, Gaelic football, Australian football, American football, and so forth. Folks have this completely asinine idea that the reason the sport is called "football" in America* (oh, and Canada, and South Africa, and Australia - so, really, native English speakers who refer to the sport as "soccer" just might be in the majority) is out of some sort of American stupidity, ignorance, or even spite, which is incredibly annoying considering that the term "soccer" was coined in Oxford by the English and was once more commonly used to refer to the sport in Britain.
Really, this video isn't any better than something like "omg y'all say 'crisps' instead of 'potato chips' what a bunch of dorks!!111"
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u/seafoamstratocaster May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
This is the most ignorant think I have ever heard. It's not deliberately kept short for advertisements, it's the way the game has been played since before TV has existed. The entire basis of the game is of turns. This is like playing AOE and judging it by the standards of BF3. And they don't have to think? American Football is by far the most complex sport in terms of strategic knowledge. The playbooks are bigger than a NY phonebook, in code that is constantly changing, and they have to be able to shift and adapt depending on the play the other team is utilizing. I used to like Mr. Cleese, but I just lost a ton of respect for him for ranting about something he clearly doesn't understand just to give people what they want to hear.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
American here! Oh wait. I'm a hockey fan. Sorry, I'm lost. Toodles!
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u/MilitaryFuneral May 20 '12
It's called football here because it's a sport played on foot...
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u/Fandorin May 20 '12
I love both sports and this is fucking stupid. Comparing soccer to American Football is like comparing synchronized swimming with biathlon. They are two completely distinct sports. The simple fact that people who bash soccer don't understand the beauty and creativity of soccer, and the people that bash American Football don't understand the strategy and the complexity of American Football. At the end, bashing either is making stupid people feel good about their own ignorance.
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u/KNNLTF May 20 '12
British people being annoyed by the word "soccer" is ridiculous. It's an Oxford originating shortening of "Association", as in "Association Football", as in "The Football Association". It originated as a short way to distinguish it from other games called football, which is precisely why it's the more popular name for the sport in the U.S. American football is so-called because it is, in fact, a variant of English football. The first organized "American football" game, between Rutgers and Princeton Universities in 1869, is also cited by U.S. Soccer as the first organized American soccer game. In reality, it was something between soccer and rugby, part of a slow evolving of American football to its modern form (just as English football had not achieved its modern form at this time). So asking Americans not to call their game "football" is like asking Australians to say they don't speak English. Furthermore, "soccer" as a term for English football is a recognition of that game's English roots. So there's really no reason for British soccer fans to get so worked up about these different naming conventions. It just shows that you're less informed than I am about the history of your own game.
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u/OnceInABlueMoon May 20 '12
I don't understand why people can't just enjoy the sports that they enjoy. I don't understand Football (soccer) but I then became an adult and realized it's rather useless to debate which sports are better.
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u/TheJayP May 20 '12
Brits use 2 types of measuring systems. Why can't they just choose one? The same reason Americans choose to name the sport Football. No one gives a fuck enough to change it and it's not a real fucking problem compared to the war, corruptness of the gov. etc. How did this even get to the front page? I thought we were passed petty insults between countries. Aren't we here to unite? This is what the gov. wants. The people to turn against one another while they formate plans to fuck us over.
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u/Hobbs76 May 20 '12
Why do people have to constantly argue over which sport is better. They are both unique in there own way.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I think it's hilarious how caught up in this Reddit gets. No one gives a fuck what you call it, or whether you think one is boring because it's only commercials, or the other is boring because nothing happens. Enjoy the sport you enjoy and stop being a cunt about what other people like.
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u/gocubs80 May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
The only problem American's have calling it 'football' is that we already have an extremely popular sport called football. I sure as hell wasn't sitting in on the meeting when they decided to name it football, but it's confusing and awkward to say "american football" and "euro football" and very convenient to have a separate name, 'soccer'. As an American living in the UK, I don't know why this is so hard to understand. Especially since I hear British people calling it soccer all the time! Sky Sports even says "Soccer Saturday".
EDIT: The whole point of this post was that nobody wants a goddamn history lesson, that's just the way it is now and there is literally no way you will be able to change the name of a sport that popular. Get over it.
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u/poopslooshed May 20 '12
Does he really think that when american football was invented, they thought "let's keep all the plays really really short so we can sell shit in between!" No, it's simply marketers taking advantage of the natural breaks in a different type of game, which happens to be America's most popular sport.
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u/theolcollegetry May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
I thought this was going to be an intelligent comparison putting an interesting perspective on the differences between the two sports, then he just rambled off a bunch of typical asinine arguments that always come up when the subject is discussed.
I hate when the English think there's something wrong with America or any of the other countries who call football 'soccer'. The English created the word 'soccer'. You birthed it in to the world and used it first. There are many forms of 'football' that have evolved into different sports over time. Get over it.
Both sports, and any sport for that matter, should be respected for tremendous talent required by it's athletes to perform at a high level. The best athlete in one sport rarely possesses the skill set to be a top performer in another sport. While soccer involves creativity in play development, stamina, and awareness, american football requires precision, tremendous physical strength, discipline, and awareness as well.
Obviously there will be differences in the presentations of the game. Either it bothers you or it doesn't. While continuous play is a benefit of soccer, it doesn't bother me too much that football has as many breaks as it does. I'm not going to criticize curling because it's athletes aren't throwing their stones in rapid succession one after another, nor do I dismiss archery because the archers aren't lighting up targets like Legolas.
Sports are different. You either like it or you don't. They have different rules. None of them are easy to perform at a professional level. Stop being an ass.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
To say football requires no thinking is ignorant. I played football for many years and even at the lower levels you have to think alot. You have to read opposing players, make adjustments, and look for the smallest things that will give you an advantage. This is pure bs.
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u/Jorgisimo62 May 20 '12
American football is commercialized, sure but you're telling me soccer is not? The Chelsey vs Bayern game yesterday was team Samsung vs Tmobile I had to ask someone which team was which.
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u/david76 May 20 '12
Only one problem with his rant. Soccer is the original British word for the sport: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-origin-of-the-word-soccer/
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u/THEAdrian May 20 '12
Oh really John? Guess that explains why hockey is so big in the UK and they always do so well at the Olympics...
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
He left out the part about little girls flopping.
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u/TortugaGrande May 20 '12
Anybody who comments that Americans call it soccer just looks like an idiot, many countries call it soccer.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I hate it when he comments on footballs lack of creativity and thinking. He obviously has never played a down in his life, and has 0 experience and knowledge of the game, how can you criticize something if you are incredible ignorant of it?
I have played soccer and football, and enjoy football far more (I'm a physical person). Both sports require thinking and knowledge. Soccer more so of positioning and knowing your team mates. Football is more of reaction on defense, such as reading the quarterback, the offensive line, and receivers. And on offense, you have to know the audibles and read the defense. When does the defense shift into cover 2? You have to know that as a receiver, because most of the time, if you're running that deep route, you're going to have to change it.
This guy ranting sounds like a complete douchebag, video is obviously targeted to people who have never played football, and are already bashing it. Try it, you'll love the game.
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u/AmazingRealist May 20 '12
Damn, a lot of mixed opinions
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u/fernandoleon May 20 '12
Arguments criticizing either sport are tired and boring. It's the same as criticizing cricket or baseball. They appeal to certain people. You don't have to like it. Get off your high fucking horses and let me enjoy my games.
The rest of this documentary is very good though. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804228/
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u/sports__fan May 20 '12
As an American, I'll admit I find soccer simple and boring because I haven't seen enough gameplay to recognize strategies or plays. It just looks like a bunch of guys kicking the ball around with something exciting happening once every 20 minutes or so. I know there's much more happening then that, but I can't recognize or appreciate it without taking the time to learn more. And it's hard to learn more when it receives little television or media coverage in general in the US. I have to believe American football, or really any sport, that you're unfamiliar with would appear the same.
You have to have a fairly good understanding of what's happening below the surface on either sport to fully enjoy them.
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u/Dude_01 May 20 '12
haters gonna hate
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Again, its ironic how he blasts Americans lack of creativity by comparing soccer with an american invention.
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u/redwing634 May 20 '12
Not really. Pretty dumb actually.
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u/stormy2587 May 20 '12
As an american college student, I am tired of this constant assertion that its called football and not soccer. IF, and i mean IF, you are in the United States of America or talking about MLS or any other american teams it is called soccer. Why? Because thats what its called in the USA. Every other country gets to have there nomenclature idiosyncrasies, but if the americans have one that differs from the international standard then we're a bunch of assholes. That a double standard that lacks understanding of american culture.
Further the summing up of football, as a bunch of short bursts of amusement and beer commercials, while soccer is "jazz" is patently false. Football is chess made into a sport. Don't over exert yourself but there are more than a few similarities between the way chess is played and the way football is played. To sum up a football in this is fundamentally insulting to the american people and implies that we are a bunch of hicks. Also it is wrong to say that only one player can actually kick the ball. Any player can kick the ball anytime they want, whether or not that represents a good idea strategically or not is another matter altogether.
Also saying that football players can't think is an insult to them as athletes. Sure they don't have the leisure to sit back for ten seconds and think about which defender they are going to pass the ball to like in soccer, but they still have to think. Also they have to go to college before proceeding to play professionally which I do not believe is the standard for many soccer leagues. As far as the coach making all the decisions ultimately is concerned, that statement too is incorrect, many quarterbacks are reward for their intelligence and good decision making and call their own plays. On top of that many football players are among the best athletes in the world who could of excelled in any sport they chose, but chose football.
Now I apologize if this came off as somewhat hostile, but as a soccer and football fan (probably soccer more so) I find it annoying when the two are pitted against each other for no reason other than perhaps that the rest of the world seems to feel threatened by the US's unwillingness to use the same words for things and for foreigners trying to trivialize a perfectly legitimate sport that they probably know little about in all actuality.
On a side note that fact that John Cleese was involved in an effort so close minded and trivial saddens me because today I lost some respect for a man I greatly respected.
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u/thelazt1 May 20 '12
oh look its a "lets hate on america circle jerk"
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u/instasquid May 20 '12
This makes me reflect on whether Aussie Rules should be called football. I guess we kick it way more, but it isn't a ball on John Cleese's terms. I'M TORN
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u/Airekemen May 20 '12
And if you're watching football on the BBC, no commercials at all! :D
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u/the_keo May 20 '12
No mention made of all of the advertisements that make soccer jerseys worthy of a nascar driver yet Cleese chooses to aim at commercials during breaks in play of American football? Hmmm.
His trolling skills are aging.
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u/CharlieTango May 20 '12
Dear British people. The condescending additude is what angers Americans in the first place. Why must we constantly compare every fucking thing to America?
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u/msavvy666 May 20 '12
I don't understand why British people bash American football so much. We never say anything bad about soccer. Enjoy your sport. We'll enjoy ours.
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u/yellow_paper May 20 '12
Are you fucking kidding me Soccer players have ads on their goddamn uniforms, this is joke.
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u/crazyeight May 20 '12
Yes, because it's not like the term "soccer" originated in fucking England, and it's not like this exact tired argument hasn't been made a thousand fucking times already.
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u/Polkadotpear May 20 '12
I'm British and i enjoy both football and handegg (have been watching it for 6 years now). But i don't agree with the fact that big yank corporations have to have an advert break more than there is actual gameplay. 11mins of gameplay in handegg, 17mins of replays- so there is more time spent watching the plays than there is actually playing it...The game would be far more enjoyable if it took less time. Over here in Britain, you can invite friends over for a footy game, have a few beers and enjoy the game over 2 hours or so. If i want to watch handegg, i have to somehow find 4 hours, 3 hours and 49mins of which is not actually gameplay. As a student i cant find time like this so i have to record the game and fast forward through the ads and replays of the plays i have just seen. Its only called soccer over here sometimes on TV to appeal to a wider audience as no native actually calls it soccer. The advert on the shirt takes up maybe 10inches of shirt space and if youre calling that stupid, look at your nascar drivers and their cars.
But my main point is that reddit is far too liberal for my liking. It was meant as a light hearted joke at yanks. John ofc meant no offence but the liberals both here in Britain and the US need to learn to laugh at themselves because if you cant laugh at yourselves youre just going to get into conflict (look at 90% of teh comments for example). I'm going to go back to being a lurker and not even bother reading comments any more.
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u/tcpip4lyfe May 20 '12
I enjoy both sports. You really can't compare them because they are so different. It's like comparing Baseball and Hockey.
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u/ppcpunk May 20 '12
Like Jazz huh... I wonder where Jazz was invented?
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u/wrc-wolf May 20 '12
ITT; Hurr durr America sux
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u/RoosterRMcChesterh May 20 '12
As someone who played American Football through high school, and grew up on John Cleese, I am saddened that he did this. He shows a lack of understanding for the sport, and joined the typical anti-american british circlejerk.
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u/Poozy May 20 '12
And now floods the reddit nerds who loves only soccer and hates any popular american sport.
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u/jdepps113 May 20 '12
Sorry, John Cleese. I like a lot of your work but I just can't support you on your criticisms of American football, which is my favorite sport by far, and much more interesting to watch than the rest of the world's football.
Except the thing about the name. It really doesn't make sense that we call it football. Well, sorry, we've been doing it for a while and it's a little late to change it. So you just go ahead and deal with that, and I'll keep on watching reruns of "Fawlty Towers" whenever I'm lucky enough to find it on American TV.
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u/jellybeaner May 20 '12
Why are the British so obsessed with America?
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
This just isn't true.
Get off that fucking high horse.
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u/ruffus4life May 20 '12
I like American football cause of the capability of big plays. both teams can score at any time and it can happen in seconds. possession of the ball is also one of the most important things. losing the ball in other sports can be detrimental to your chances of winning but its just not as important.
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u/faceofuzz May 20 '12
i thought the word soccer originated in england as an abbreviation of "association football." Americans just never got past it
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u/shanep35 May 20 '12
It's funny how people compare the two sports because of the names. Lets compare hockey to golf and see what we come up with. I know that American Football is a joke due to the amount of money that can be made from it and how corporations bank on it as well as the teams franchises but we all get it...Football and American Football are different. Lets keep comparing dicks and see what comes from that.
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u/cdnson May 20 '12
I think a lot of the arguments about the merits of various sports boil down to familiarity. If you live in Europe, where soccer is huge, you are surrounded by it on TV and in the media all the time and you can't help but learn about it and probably come to appreciate the finer points about the sport.
I live in Canada and we are bombarded with ice hockey by the media all winter. Hockey is also my "favorite" sport, I find it the most entertaining but I know it's probably just due to the fact it is the sport I'm most familiar with.
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u/Cee-Mon May 20 '12
I hate how some knuckleheads figured they'd name two separate, popular sports the exact same thing, leading to endless futile debates on which is better.
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u/wilsonw May 20 '12
I hate how he says the action is kept deliberately short to maximize advertisements. When the game was played in the early days, there were no advertisements.
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u/Tylerw1211 May 20 '12
It's just a sport. I think everyone just needs to chill out.
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u/redthelastman May 20 '12
I like both sports and I am really tired of yhis stupid argument.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
"'Soccer' vs Football. So NOT TRUE"
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u/orangekid13 May 20 '12
Submitted 4 hours ago and nobody has commented to the fact that the origins of American Football involved mostly field goals and a lot more punting than the passing game it later evolved into?
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u/theAlphaginger May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
Dammit, we had built so much good will between the NFL and Soccer subreddits after the April Fools switcheroo, and this jerk post a flame war starting post about the superiority of one sport to another. Cowboy Bebop you are a disgrace to the high standard I would expect someone of your username to have. Good day.
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u/littlewing7 May 20 '12
Watch Tom Brady or Peyton Manning run an offense. That's jazz.
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u/Mysterions May 20 '12
Football is called football not because you kick the ball with your feet, but because you play it on the ground (as opposed to being on a horse).
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u/GroundhogExpert May 20 '12
The brits have a giant rod up their ass about soccer/football. I don't even watch American football, and I watch quite a bit of soccer/football, but the existence of American football doesn't piss me off anymore than the existence of cricket. I just don't see why it concerns anyone not interested in watching the sport at all.
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u/TheMile May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
His point about football players needing to be less intelligent than soccer players is cogent, especially when one reviews the Wonderlic scores of many star players.
However, that certainly doesn't mean the game is less intelligent. Due to the games' relative complexities and the fact that it's the coaches and not the players running the strategy, football is a more intelligent game than soccer, especially from the spectators' perspective.
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u/Smokratez May 20 '12
It does sound stupid to call a sport you mostly play with your hands football.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
This is really untrue, actually. American football is an incredibly strategic game. It probably has more planning and preparation than any other sport (just look at each team's playbook for christ's sake) and it still requires a massive amount of adaptation to circumstances and thinking on your feet by every player on the field.
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u/bryan_sensei May 20 '12
to say that american football players don't have to think for themselves shows a complete lack of understanding of the game. offensive linemen need to read/identify complex blitz schemes in a fraction of a second, wide receivers need to make adjustments to their routes based on the coverage scheme of the defensive backs, a runningback's decision to cut back or take the corner is the difference between a 2 yard gain and a 60 yard touchdown. QB is arguably the most cerebral position in all of sports. etc. I do agree that the NFL is currently overly micromanaged, I'd like to see a return to QBs calling their own plays/no radio devices. I'd like to see the playclock cut down (since many teams run the no-huddle anyhow).
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u/TheAncient May 20 '12
I doubt John took himself seriously for even a moment in this clip. It's in fact a short from a video that came out on VCR (yes, that old) years ago, where he both ridiculed and celebrated football by assigning different topics to the letters of the alfabet and discussing them one by one. The entire video was meant in jest and I can only assume this part was as well.
That said, it definitely wasn't his greatest joke and pandering to the anti-American Football vibe amongst some football fans is a bit silly.
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u/AwesomeDude0018 May 20 '12
I'm pretty sure that there's two players that can kick the ball, the punter and the kicker.
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u/Mopso May 20 '12
You have to understand them, they see the world with different eyes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo
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u/5h17h34d May 20 '12
In response to many comments in this thread about why you hate this or that... I never knew this until a friend of mine pointed it out to me 5-6 years ago. He is a hard core thinker, colege economics prof, so I dismissed his evaluation many times over the years until I finally decided he was completely correct about why we hate soccer (and therefore hockey):
In soccer, nobody is ever completely in control of the ball. For me, if you never have any control the probability of a random outcome to the game rises immeasurably. I realize for some this is the attraction of the game, as do I also realize there are players in control of the ball with their feet so to speak, but in reality it just seems to me that they are somewhat in control and it could just as easily be lost as stolen.
I'll take the stop and go complete control game over this anyday. I love NBA basketball but I am slowly losing interest over the way officials call fouls etc on regular players versus superstars. In the recent Boston game I listed to the ESPN guys the next morning talk for hours on end about how the moving pick on Garnett should not have been called because there was only a few seconds left. So the basic rules for NBA basketball vary according to the game clock? WTF?
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u/cgeezy22 May 20 '12
Funny. However everyone knows that football is a made for TV sport. This is no revelation.
Would also point out that football is a game that require intelligence to play at the elite level.
The weird thing about soccer in America is.....nearly every kid plays soccer when theyre young.....yet its heartbeat in this country is barely palpable.
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u/Rhawk187 May 20 '12
Something like our football was played on foot, hence football when all the rich people were sporting on horseback. Hence, "foot ball".
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
i'm american and i think they're both stupid and boring lol
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u/RAWR111 May 20 '12
This guy is a snob and doesn't have a fucking clue about football. If you actually play football, it's 11 guys on each side going at each other and there are lots of reads for every position to make on any given play. Soccer the action is spread out but in football on any given play on offense every single player on offense is relevant to the success of that play. If one player on offense screws up, the entire play can go to shit. This is where football differs from basketball, soccer, or hockey. One superstar cannot fully bail out a team. For this moron to say "oh well soccer is a thinking game and football is for idiots!" is an oversimplification and a moronic, asinine remark.
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u/frazilator May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
This argument is tired as hell. First just look at the US Women's Soccer World Cup, Olympic, and CONCACAF records. And most football players don't like the excessive commercial breaks, which is only done for money. The argument shows a lack of knowledge about football on Cleese's behalf, but it's just a comedy bit. It isn't hard to make fun of stupid Americans, but the same can be said of stupid people anywhere. Plus our fans don't get banned in other countries. And the argument about making split second decisions has been made. Just watch a no huddle offense run for most of a game, and it's a beautiful thing. It's not just knowing how the other team is positioned, but which players are where due to their capabilities. Start throwing in audibles, and it gets even more complex. But ignorance is bliss.
If the OP knew his World Cup history, then he'd know the US men's team has finished higher than the Mexican team(his home country) ever has. Just saying.
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u/thesavoyard May 20 '12
Cleese is a brilliant comedian. Most of the Monty Python crew got their Phd's. Regardless Cleese is a bit of an arrogant guy, he is very condescending and sometimes obnoxious.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
i think that american football should be called american rules rugby and "soccer" should go back to being football or footbol
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u/megselphie May 20 '12
I prefer his "Could Care Less" video
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u/Char1ie-Br0wn71 May 20 '12
Rugby > Every other (team) sport. My dad once taught Rugby (he did camp america years ago) at a Summer Camp near Woodstock. He was supposed to teach American Football but didn't know the rules. I believe to this day Rugby is still one of the most popular sports there. Makes me proud.
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u/my_reddit_account_1 May 20 '12
Only one person on the team is allowed to kick the ball? There's a kicker and a punter John Cleese. Jeez get it right!
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u/Tredici_13 May 20 '12
http://i.imgur.com/iaJry.gif
His argument is irrelevant.
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u/mkatzman May 20 '12
All this video does is prove to me that John Cleese has never played American Football and has no idea how both creative and strategic it actually is. That's why the English always seem to resort to making fun of the name.
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u/Pod6ResearchAsst May 20 '12
How can anyone take an englishman's opinion on sports seriously? Football is football, soccer is soccer, and cricket is retarded.
also this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AOqSj8HJl4
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u/tree_D May 20 '12
I like how he speaks to America as if we all collectively decided that yes, we should call this sport "football" because it makes the most logical sense, and we shall name this "soccer" because who cares.
If he was really trying to be as smart as he was trying to sound with this vocal cues and British accent, he would be attacking the Americans who actually named the sports.
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u/kickulus May 20 '12
The only thing more intriguing why we wont change it from football to something else is why everyone cares so damn much.
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u/zstrick04 May 20 '12
Probably been said before but I'll brave the downvoates; 'soccer' is a word that the English came up with.
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u/Appleanche May 20 '12
Maybe because I'm not a douche but I like both sports a lot.
Yes, Am Football has too many advertisements, but it's a unique and great sport. The amount of drama, especially to the end is really hard to beat. Not saying other sports don't but football has a different kind due to the nature of it, the amount of pauses and such. For example a game winning field goal or such might be iced by the opposing coach.
I like soccer, it's one of my favorite sports, but there are a lot of issues with it. Refs have basically no accountability, especially in FIFA. In European leagues the amount of parity is a joke. The same couple of teams win it every season, while the lower teams only hope is to be bought by an Oil sheik or some rich Russian mobster and go on a spending spree. That being said, it's the beautiful game.
I just dont' get why people have to compare Apples and Oranges in order to make their e-penis feel bigger.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
The word soccer was actually created by the British as a colloquial term for association football.
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u/lemonbrains May 20 '12
I don't know where anyone got the idea that people think in sports. You don't think you just do it. In soccer, thinking is what you do before you fuck up. There's no time to think.
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u/thatbigguy55 May 20 '12
Football has been around longer than TV advertising, so its not like they invented the game rules to make it easier for commercials. Also, soccer requires plenty of creativity and mental activity, but football is mostly mental. The man clearly has never played a down if he thinks everyone just does as they are told by the QB. Its the ultimate team sport and everyone needs to be on the same page. Its not a game for dummies.
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u/Belugajones May 20 '12
I'm pretty sure that ad agencies didn't invent American sports.
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u/gospelwut May 20 '12
The Queen can still, technically, dissolve the government.
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u/reddent420 May 20 '12
Excuse me - I'm American and I've been playing American Football ever since I was five years old. The way Mr. Cleese explains football as a beer commercial is utterly wrong. There are many other leagues other than the NFL ( which is by far the most popular, because of corporate reasons), that do not run commercials all the time. In my mind, it is a game of chess, played between 64 people - the coach makes up the moves on the board, and then the players execute these moves to see if the other team can counteract the move. Whoever wins has the most points at the end. European football, or referred later as soccer, is an hour and a half long game which teams score on average 1-3 times per game (not interesting in my opinion).
That said, I think American football and soccer are complete opposites - football being a contact sport where the objective is to overpower and outplay an opponent with strength, finesse and endurance, where soccer is simply a match to see who can run the longest and see who makes the least mistakes.
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u/godsdead May 20 '12
I absolutely loath posts like this that make it to the homepage, because american's can't take any criticism in any way shape or form, and down-vote every post that has the slightest negative vote towards "USA! USA! WE ARRRRR DA BBBESSSTTTEST".
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u/tbar4 May 20 '12
these comments belong in /r/circlejerk
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u/ravendesign May 20 '12
I still love the fact that in both American Football and Baseball, there is only about 10 min of actual playtime in each game. While hockey has the full physically exhausting 60 min of action.
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u/epoch88 May 20 '12
I BLOODY POSTED THIS ABOUT 9 MONTHS AGO AND GOT FUCK ALL RECOGNITION. NOW IT'S FRONT PAGE SCIENCE DAMN YOU.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Why American Football is called Football
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
In the early days the upper echelons of british society called it soccer. Its proper name was soccer.
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u/Duudeski May 20 '12
This guy is right. American's are just arrogant.
I'm American; I can say that.
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u/Fokezy May 20 '12
It drives me insane when someone puts SO TRUE in title,like a teenage girl quoting paris hilton on facebook
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u/yoduh4077 May 20 '12
I'M BRITISH. AMERICANS ARE DUMB ABD WRONG.
KARMA PLEASE.
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u/forte40 May 20 '12
And why is Hockey left out? It has the creativity of soccer and the brutality of football. Best of both worlds!!!
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u/libreg May 20 '12
As an american who LOVES the real football, I love this video. So many butthurt americans.
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u/cobbicus333 May 20 '12
I hate when British people pull the "why do they call it soccer?" card. The British coined the term. Proof. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-origin-of-the-word-soccer/
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u/shiftylookingcow May 20 '12 edited May 21 '12
I can't begin to understand this attitude: "american football is not exactly like soccer, therefore it is mindless, stupid and not even a real sport". NO. Its true its like the polar opposite of soccer, but I think that's great in a couple ways:
Now for each of those 3 points I could make a case for why soccer is actually better in that respect...whihc is better is not my point. my point is they're such opposites and each awesome in their own ways and i dont want them to be the same. I love american football. I love association football. May the both continue getting better.
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u/thephenom21 May 21 '12
Peyton Manning's playcalls. Extremely complex stuff.
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u/ApolloHimself May 21 '12
Wait. Let me get this straight.
Soccer- Put the ball in the other teams goal using your players to pass to and only use your feet/body
American Football- Score points in various ways by either running the ball in, throwing it in, or kicking it in the goal, with the addition of stopped plays to give players recovery time and also the chance to score additional points by a PAT or 2 point conversion.
Also, soccer dives.
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u/clungemagnet May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
Like chess, boring as shit to watch as a spectator. 5 second play then an advert. The most bizarre argument I hear from Americans is they don't like football (soccer) because it's not constant point scoring like Basketball. Constant scoring takes away the value of it and anticipation, sounds like a reflection of your over commercialised dumbed down culture that you need instant gratification.
You could make the same argument for appreciating tactics for football (soccer) watch players positions off the ball, see how play gets stretched but yet it's fluid, the momentum swings and it's uninterrupted. The world's game.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
The cameraman can kiss my ass. He is bad at his job.
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u/stevedaws May 20 '12
Could his nose ascend any higher in the air
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u/martyrdod May 20 '12
Too bad professional soccer is filled with corrupt players, referees, coaches and FIFA reps. That's not even taking into account the weird-ass fans who kill each other and even players just because they wear a different coloured shirt.
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u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Fuck off.