John Cleese - Soccer vs Football
very educational..
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3. RandurSource 1 year ago
Finally the answer, clear ans simple, so we can link to video 6352 the next time someone wants to argue
As Much as I loved this and the truth it had in it ill give american football a few plus points One the Adverts a worth watching and side by side with Rugby union its much more entertaining , Rugby union has so many rules nothing happens for more than half the game and when it does 2 seconds later a ref stops it for god knows what ever reason ,
Also Football in the UK these days is a sport for over paid puffs who fall on the pitch all the time screaming in pain holding a completely different part of there body to the one that was just hit and the ref hand out cards for stupidity.
thank you John Cleese, this is my point all years long. Its genuine stupidly named but you know how things runs in America, we have elected a curious george to be our president for crying out loud, TWICE ! Now all the innovation forces are gone overseas, and China own our asses to the core, this country is going down
All around the world if you ask a person what is football you would get the same answer but not in america. There you can find modified versions of european sports like baseball from cricket, american football from rugby. Well if they created new sport, why not create a new name? Why use the existing one, which is not even appropriate. Handball is more acurate, why not using that name?
9. BooTheGoose 1 year ago
Haha, awesome. Reminds me of Eddie Izzard on pronunciation.
"You say tomAYto, we say tomAHto.
You say aluminUm, we say aluminIUm
You say erb, we say Herb.
Because it's got a f#*king H in it"
i'm from north american and i think american football is one of the most boring games to watch ever. maybe 1 in 10 plays something exciting happens. too much play stoppage, not enough action for my taste. gotta admit that american football players are excellent athletes though.
Ha !
But at least North America always wins "The World Series" .
Now there's a true International contest .
Um , ...... , hang on ...........
History note: Football was originally the name of any sport that requires the participant to use their feet for movement. Unlike sports like Polo which are played while on a horse. In general, all sports of the lower classes were labeled football to differentiate them from sports of the upper classes.
The people would then give the sports separate labels, like soccer or rugby. It was not until modern time that we started naming sports more logically like basketball or baseball.
16. LightAng3l 1 year ago
#(removed comment) you have no idea about what you are talking about....
"There is very little room in soccer for individual achievement." That just proves how clueless you really are.
Lillian Thuram
Roberto Carlos
David Beckham
Oliver Kahn
Zico
Lev Yashin
Ronald Koeman
Luis Figo
Alvaro Recoba
Alfredo di Stefano
Raul Gonzalez
Michael Platini
Carlos Alberto Torres
Ronaldo
Gerd Müller
Johann Cruyff
Franz Beckenbauer
Diego Maradona
Pele
Zinedine Zidane
Just to name a few known ALL AROUND THE WORLD ...
Now to name an american football player known outside America.... aaaa...there is that guy....aaa... no..can't think of any.
i don't like the word soccer beacuse it's very close to the word sucker.
Maybe that's why americans don't like the game ![]()
It's kind of ironic that he makes a joke about bad naming, while he keeps referring to USA as America (The continent from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego)....But he is totally right.
20. Comment rated too low. Show this comment JohnMichael 1 year ago
#9 Where do you get "tomato" from? He never used that word as an example -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJQsvoY6VU
21. sbrucecaboose 1 year ago
soccer is actually a british nickname for football, americans didnt come up with it they just say it because their already is a football.
also i presume its called football, because no matter that you carry the ball, you still have to move your feet to progress down the field. unless its thrown to you-which is the most exciting part about american football: the throw.
john cleese is right in that player creativity is limited (in kinder words) because soccer is more of a cardio-endurance sport. football is a hard hitting sport. cant you see there is worlds of difference in that alone?
i guess what i mean to say is we don't mean to offend you with liking a sport that we also call football, and call your football soccer. sorry,
You can joke about American football and the NFL all you want,but the truth of the matter is that the NFL is so popular in the UK that they increased the capacity of Wembley Stadium to 90,000 to accomodate all the NFL fans in the UK.
http://www.nfllondon.net/
http://www.nfllondon.net/wembley-stadium.html
23. Comment rated too low. Show this comment YetiGrowl 1 year ago
#16 mike "pinball" clemons. former star of the toronto argonauts...hahaha.
#21 it still isn't a ball but a coconut. And by said standards, running and cycling and such are also football because they are performed with your feet.
#22
Where does it state at your two links that the Wembley Stadium was increased in size to 90,000 to "accomodate all the NFL fans in the UK" ?
There is no "truth to the matter" at all .
Such arrogance on your part sir !!!!
i really think that american football and baseball (and hockey, by the way) are the best examples of how thing are well done... they are all soooooo boooooring sports, but they have all the money they want... and certainly not because of the players
27. sbrucecaboose 1 year ago
some people just have to pick a fight where there isn't one...
rugby is technically "rugby football," so have it out with those folks over their egg shaped ball and all your hot air.
We call it soccer, because that is what it was called for decades before England decided to change the name in 1863. You would think someone so passionate about the sport would know it's origins.
29. c0mmanderKeen 1 year ago
#28 Yes that name was chosen indeed. By.... the football association xD
John cleese is a legend btw, I love this guy.... may Monty Python live forever ![]()
#(removed comment) should go back to school ![]()
btw look up wikipedia soccer and check the article title for another clue ![]()
Why does every American need to be so friggin' arrogant about their home country, sports etc? Just reading the comment's, it's very easy to point out whose American and whose not. John Cleese for the win tho ![]()
'Soccer' stems from Association Rules. Association was shortened to soccer as slang. So, soccer came first. 'Football' came later.
How boring would the world be if we didn't have stuff like this to argue about?
If you enjoy these kind of pointless arguments with people getting very... excited about their point of view, go check out the discussion pages on football/soccer (whatever those maniacs have named it nowadays) on wikipedia. It's a hoot! ![]()
#22 nfl played no part is the decision to increase stadium capacity, if it was anything in particular then it would be concerts that get played there (take that for example managed to sell over 80,000 tickets for several nights) which isn't possible anywhere else in the UK
34. aeneas9999 1 year ago
I personally hate soccer (quite unusual for an Italian guy..), but John Cleese is a Genius and he's totally right!!!
#25 & #33 I threw in that "fact" just to tweek some noses; mission accomplished!
But the fact that NFL games are so popular in the UK that all the tickets are sold out in an hour or so proves there are some fans there. Over half a million people applied for tickets for one game,impressive.
I liked John Cleese best in Fawlty Towers. I always tried to see those skits.
Everyone knows "football" was invented during the "revolutionary" war. When we Americans kicked your Brit arses back across the pond where you came from. HA ![]()
38. Comment rated too low. Show this comment whowhatme 1 year ago
#36
"Fact" .
Ah , another "fact" ,
like Tonkin Bay , WMD , da , dee , da , dee , da .
Good one :-)
No noses tweeked .
Me thinks the world is beyond that .
Your kind are no longer trusted .
39. whowhatmeNo2 1 year ago
#36 Sux2bu ,
As an aside , I was wondering how the duo "USANUMBERONE" and "OLDPHART" are doing ?
I know he/she were allegedly working in the same ofice as you , sharing the pc .
No neg-vibes .
They/he/she okay , as construction seems? to have taken a downturn ?
#38 Fact,you are a bore. No sense of humor and nothing relevant to say.
#39 He is doing fine and I still work for him.Our office has 12 PC's and we all get along very well. We just had the biggest sales month in 2 years,I guess the slump is ending.
#40
Actually totally and factually untrue .
I could regale you with such funny and hilarious anecdotes that would have you buy a change of underwear every other minute .
Um , yet , methinks , perhaps you would not understand my discourse in a humorous way .
All translations made for merkings where relevant .
42. whowhatmeNo2 1 year ago
#40
I'm happy he is doing well . Good news .
I'm really glad that you have also upgraded and expanded from a single pc , which you claimed you shared with "old Phart" , to 12 pc's .
Great news .
Or is that 12 pc's , yet you only have the one internet connection ?
Bin there .
Done that .
46. Hallsavenger 1 year ago
if your arguing over this your a fucking dumbass its just a game. Its not what life is all about.... just think about that.
#44 The US has only been a Nation for about 235 years or so. We came from many countries and together became the strongest country in recorded history. Ain't that amazing?! (did that answer your question?) ![]()
You could have looked it up for yourself.



+101
1. t3mp3st 1 year ago
Haha, soooo true