Soccer is the most warlike, environmentally destructive sport around

[taterguy]

The "sport" originated when a conquering army starting kicking around the head of a decapitated enemy.

The fields require constant maintenance. Even during times of water shortage they get watered constantly and the fields get mowed three times a week, by mowers powered with 2-stroke engines that spew out far more toxins in the atmosphere than the average car.

I don't understand how anyone who thinks of them-self as progressive could possibly condone such a barbaric and Earth-killing enterprise.

What am I missing?

[Irreverend IX]

1. Serious or satire?

I honestly can't tell anymore.

[NC_Nurse]

2. LOL

I'm right there with you.

[BoneDaddy]

53. I know

what passes as "offensive" with some folks in here is often very very ridiculous.

[Mountainman]

109. If this is serious and spreads we may as well stay in bed all day since everything we do cause some

harm.

[Echo In Light]

163. In general, sports are promoted early on in school...

As they unite the citizenry in their praise for barbarism, this-side-versus-that-side jingoism, and establish irrational attitudes of submission to authority. In short, it's a form of cultural coercion that favors the agenda of the corporate/state nexus by ensuring fewer people will acknowledge or act on their moral indigantion over the systems's trampling of the less fortunate, at home or abroad.

[taterguy]

164. Careful, people will accuse you of always being picked last for team sports

Some folks don't appreciate being confronted with inconvenient truths.

[Echo In Light]

173. Yes, that would be indicative of the jingoism...

...they were indoctrinated into abiding: violence solves everything, and they with the most WINS! lol

[SteelPenguin]

191. This Post = Win

I can't tell either.

[taterguy]

193. We're all winners

[SteelPenguin]

195. hmmm

wouldn't that also make us all losers?

[taterguy]

196. Don't think, you'll only hurt the ball club

[KnuckleHead Bassist]

3. LMAO

Ok

[trumad]

4. Plus it sucks!

[depakid]

11. For some reason, the rest of the world doesn't seem to think so

Certain fans get so worked up, they tear down stadiums and set shit on fire!

[BlooInBloo]

24. True that.

[stanwyck]

93. I'm watching the U.S. Women's team play Brazil

right now. I got hooked on soccer during the 15 years my son played.

[lonestarnot]

5. Hohokams didn't they originate the sport.

And all sports that are glorified suck ass.

[semillama]

133. Are you referring to the Mesoamerican Ball game?

It is pretty similar to futbol/soccer.

Go check out the history section of the Wikipedia entry for football, especially the part about "mob football" - pretty interesting.

[NotGivingUp]

6. Huh? What about football where they smash into each other and

pile up on top of each other?

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

7. Huh.

I guess his kid didn't make the team.

[taterguy]

10. Let's leave my alleged off-spring out of this

As if I was even capable of reproducing even if I wanted to

[Blue Belle]

43. That's what I thought too!

I was reading it and thinking... geeze, bitter much? And then I thought it was just a desperate flame-bait thread, which, turns out it is!

Soccer isn't anymore destructive than football or baseball or golf. Golf is probably more so than the rest because of all the acreage that it requires, waste in upkeep, and chemicals used in the treatment of the course that leach off into the water tables and river systems.

[Warpy]

8. Golf

Ever see what goes into maintaining those fairways and perfect greens? You want to talk environmentally unsound, look there. Between the overuse of chemicals and water, there's not much to love about a golf course.

As for warlike, how about football? Or polo? The latter had its roots in central Asia, as I understand, with the severed head being knocked around by equestrians.

Or how about chess? That is pure Mediaeval war strategy, except the king is relatively impotent, an object to be protected instead of a leader in the fight.

Personally, I'm for anything that ritualizes war to the point that it neither bankrupts a country nor slaughters its citizens. To me, that is progress and consistent with being a progressive.

[Atman]

41. I was in Palm Springs in May and was astonished at the golf courses

Never mind the $250 greens fees...they have these massive plots of lush green grass growing in the middle of the desert, sustained with water drained from the Colorado River (you know, that little trickle running through the Grand Canyon?). It was 110 degrees, and the hotel had beautiful flowing waterfalls and forty-two swimming pools. Forty-two! With a separate hot tub next to each one. The water lost through evaporation alone in this environment must be incredible. It is totally irresponsible.

I had a conversation with a friend while I was there and asked what would be the consequence if someone somehow ordered Palm Springs bulldozed, shut down, returned to the desert as it should be. Seriously.

NOTHING, I surmised.

The people who own the property there are already multi-zillionaires and they'll write off their losses on their taxes and move to one of their other eight homes. It will cost NOTHING to any real human being, though it might make a few accountants cringe. So really, what do you think would be the downside of simply getting rid of places like Palm Springs altogether?

Oh, and just for yucks...someone is building a snowboard and ski resort in DALLAS. Drink up now...pretty soon your only choice will be Brawndo!

.

[Jade Fox]

166. Excellent points all. n/t

[11 Bravo]

9. Is the door to the Lounge locked?

[MissB]

14. .

[Occulus]

17. .

[MrCoffee]

19. absolutely. we don't want to get any poo flung on us from GD.

[IndianaJones]

12. can't be true, or it would be more popular here. nt.

[JVS]

13. That might help explain the fact that Europe, where soccer Is popular, had 2 HUGE wars in the 20th C

[taterguy]

206. Any region filled with turmoil and strife is also filled with soccer players

Canada's one of the most peaceful nations on Earth.

Their national game is hockey.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Occulus]

16. You forgot your sarcasm tag

All sports are a form of symbolic warfare. Even DCI.

When I was touring with the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps in 1994, we did a stint in California. It was there I learned a really, really wasteful method of watering football fields.

We entered the field as a vertical line, starting at an endzone, and moved as one to the 50 yard line. As we were doing a final, end-of-day runthrough of that year's show, I noticed a two-foot-high fountain of water out of the corner of my eye in the corner of the field as we were entering the field as I described. "No big deal," I thought. "Broken sprinkler. Meh."

Wrong.

As the runthrough went on, the dry area of the football field grew smaller and smaller. By the end- at which time I, spinning a flag, ended up lying on my side at the end- there was about 4" of standing water on the entire field. We were told that was how they water the damn thing.

Wasteful. I couldn't believe it.

Ban football? Ban drum corps? Eh?

And why did you mention soccer as an environmental waste instead of, say, golf?

[HerbieHeadhunter]

18. Football (soccer) is the best sport on the planet...

in my humble opinion, so I guess what you are missing are other peoples' subjective tastes in sport.

The rest of your post is a bunch of crazy.

[taterguy]

32. Undisputed facts are crazy?

There's a lot of that going around
It's crazy to say there were no WMDs in Iraq
It's crazy to say that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer

If any facts in my OP are incorrect then please correct me.

[redqueen]

76. Someone already did...

Having fun, are you?

[Marrah_G]

20. I can't tell if people are joking or not anymore

It's liue DU has become a bottomless pit of manufactured rage.

[spoony]

52. Not just rage, CONFUSING rage

Which makes me...outraged, I think. Lol.

[lumberjack_jeff]

95. Agreed. n/t

[mitchum]

21. Nicely done

[Prophet 451]

22. WTF?

I can't decide if this is satire or not and I hate football (and I live in England where it's virtually a religion).

[riverdeep]

23. Yeah, for wasteful golf sure comes to mind.

Acres and acres of prime real estate, set aside for hitting a ball. Went down to Arizona not too long ago, and was surprised by the golf fever they have there. That's right, not only are you living in a desert, you're using a precious resource so you can play GOLF.

But all sports have warfare as their cultural origin. One tribe cheers on it's soldiers in a ritualized contest to declare superiority over another tribe. Never could understand that aspect of it myself. When I was in high school I didn't understand why I was supposed to think that a neighboring school was the enemy when my parents could have just as easily moved into that district as the one I was in. They almost did.

I don't think that's the only way to appreciate sports, though. When I watch, rare, I'm drawn to the artistry and command of body and mind that athletes can display. I'm also drawn to the best and most composed team, that often isn't the one that I'm supposed to be cheering for based on my locale. I'm not a homer.

[judaspriestess]

25. you're missing alot IMO

the only time I watch fox is for the fox Soccer Channel. how many mowers are there compared to the average car?? I'm sure its pales in comparison.

Soccer is growing ever more popular in the United States with the MLS getting better but they still have a long way to go. Brazil's national team was just here a couple of weeks ago playing Team USA and the Mexican National Team in Chicago and Boston. Pretty much sold out the venues.

on edit: and the bonus, so many players are gorgeous and fit(I am referring to the men)
I love you Robin van Persie

GO TEAM USA WOMENS SOCCER - FIFA WORLD CUP 2007. The womans team kicks ass, I think they would beat the mens team USA in a heartbeat.

[taterguy]

27. Cars are used to transport people to work, not glorify barbarity

So your comparison is invalid

[judaspriestess]

28. Is that ALL cars are used for?

People have been murdered using cars as a deadly weapon, pretty barbaric.

so I think your comparison is also invalid.

[taterguy]

31. Any inanimate object has multiple uses

However, cars are generally used for essential transportation

[LanternWaste]

110. You believe that soccer as it is currently played...

You believe that soccer as it is currently played glorifies barbarism?

I can only assume that you believe canned hunting (as it is currently played) glorifies early man's quest to survive...

[taterguy]

122. When you assume you make an ass out of u and me

And I don't need your help in that regard.

[BuddhaGirl]

100. I can't wait for the new women's pro league to start in 2009

so far there are six teams, hopefully more will be added before then!

HUGE, HUGE women's soccer fan here!

[BB1]

113. you know your player

don't you? Just pointed out the greatest talent since Dennis Bergkamp.

BTW, I've seen the USA Women SoccerTeam play and they're pretty good. They wouldn't beat the guys, though, but I appreciate your optimism.

on your edit: all players have to do offense as well as defense, so they wouldn't be huge piles of meat in tights, solely created to stop the opposite huge piles of meat in tights. Soccerplayers need to run, and fast at that.

[redqueen]

115. I love van Persie too... but I love Fabregas more!

[malaise]

26. Soccer is the second greatest sport on the planet

Cricket is #1.

No sport destroys the environment more than golf.

[mrfrapp]

44. "I don't like cricket...

...I love it" -- 10cc

An old-timer friend of mine objects to football being described as the national sport. He accepts that it's the national game, but it's just not a sport. Cricket is the national sport.

[truebrit71]

71. ...I love it!"....indeed I do...I absolutely love that game...

...fascinating to watch in all of it's forms...

[americanstranger]

149. I thought that was...

I don't like reggae. The song is, after all, called 'Dreadlock Holiday.'

- as

[Stinky The Clown]

29. Hahahahaha

[taterguy]

37. Senseless destruction of the environment is hilarious

Har de har har

[BlueManDude]

30. One 'nil to the Arsenal!!!!

[frylock]

33. well played!

[Jed Dilligan]

34. Golf is much more destructive environmentally

Soccer, as it's played today, is all about hyperventilating lawn chemicals. No wonder my HS's soccer coach died of cancer in his mid-30s.

[achtung_circus]

35. Football/soccer

The British Empire's second-greatest gift to the world.
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Tuesday, July 6, 2004, at 4:36 PM ET

The following anecdote appears in one of Niall Ferguson's absorbing studies of the British Empire. On the eve of independence for the colony of South Yemen, the last British governor hosted a dinner party attended by Denis Healey, then the minister for defense. Over the final sundown cocktail, as the flag was about to be lowered over the capital of Aden, the governor turned to Healey and said, "You know, Minister, I believe that in the long view of history, the British Empire will be remembered only for two things." What, Healey was interested to know, were these imperishable aspects? "The game of soccer. And the expression 'fuck off.' "

http://www.slate.com/id/2103467 /

No reason on earth that the engines must be 2 stroke- 4 stroke are even being used for Seadoos, now.

[taterguy]

38. So every municipality should buy new mowers to replace 2 Stroke engines?

Good luck with that plan.

[tigereye]

36. isn't golf much worse?

My kid played soccer in a gym.

[ProfessorGAC]

143. Enough With The Golf

Nearly 70% of all public golf courses use only fertilizer. Not every golf course has the funds to look like Augusta national.

Few weed killers are used on most courses (for cost and environmental reasons). Some pre-emergents are used to prevent germination of prolific weeds. (Dandelions, for instance.) Mildecides and anti-mold agents are only used in high shade areas, simply because the kind of grass on a golf course can't handle them and still be cut short.

Too many folks here are still thinking of the 1970's when discussing golf course maintenance. The golf industry got hammered for environmental reasons in the 70's and 80's and thousands of them have changed policies to be more environmentally aware.

Want to talk about waste of land: Let's talk cemeteries.
The Professor

[Karenina]

39. All the clean fun!

[taterguy]

40. The clean fun paid for with the blood of those who die in oil wars?

I think not.

[QC]

42. And then there's the soccer hooligans... n/t

[Poiuyt]

46. It's just not a soccer tournement until the SWAT team breaks out the riot gear

[AutumnMist]

45. Hockey.......

Hockey....Hockey. That is all.

Edit: No satire. I do love those sweaty men. Sorry. I just do.


This weekend the first game will be broadcast. That night we dine in hockey land.

[pookieblue]

139. *woot*

Hockey season is here!!! I love me some hockey.

this girl (me) who used to hate all sports...went to her first hockey game about 10 years ago. and she has been hooked ever since.

[Dorian Gray]

47. Very Funny! :)

[CRF450]

48. This thread is fucking stupid beyond belief

And all mowers but a select few push mowers dont use 2 strokes anymore, and its been that way for a long time!

Take away our entertainment and hobbies why dont ya?! I'll keep riding my dirtbike, which is my hobby and sport.

[taterguy]

175. Thanks for your fucking input

[Xithras]

49. I think your facts are a bit off.

First off, both rugby and modern soccer descend from the Roman sport called Harpastum. It had nothing to do with kicking heads around.

Second, dedicated soccer fields are actually pretty uncommon. There may be stadiums in some nations where it is particularly common, but the overwhelmingly vast majority of games are played on grassy pitches already connected to existing urban or suburban parkland. Those parks are already being treated, watered, and mowed by the same equipment you're attacking for soccer fields, and very few of those fields would cease to exist if soccer evaporated as a sport tomorrow.

In much of the world, it's played on dirt lots anyway. A very good friend of mine recently brought two young soccer loving boys to central California from Mexico. Until they came here, they had never played a game on grass. Just dirt.

Thou doth protest too much, methinks.

[taterguy]

59. Au contraire, your facts are off

In my city the competitive soccer fields get mowed three times as often as the other city fields. It's the standard in the area and I suspect it's that way nation-wide.

[redqueen]

78. You suspect, huh?

*sigh*

[taterguy]

83. I haven't taken the time to research the field maintenance practices of all municipalities

Sorry.

However, I do know what my city does. I asked someone who's knowledgeable about soccer and he said that's how it's done everywhere. That's why I used the word "suspect."

I apologize if harsh reality makes you sigh.

[redqueen]

86. It's not harsh reality... it's conjecture & nonsense.

warlike... pff.

Yeah, but american football is more like teatime, though, right?

[taterguy]

88. So I just made up the fact about fields being mowed three times a week?

a) I'm not that creative
b) If I was gonna make up a lie I'd make one up better than that.

[redqueen]

89. No, but you admit it's just your area...

then you go on to just assume it's the same everywhere.

[taterguy]

90. So how often do they mow the soccer fields in your area?

Tell the truth

[JVS]

158. The silence is deafening!

[taterguy]

199. It's like a roar

[malaise]

187. Both the Chinese and Japanese played an earlier game.

Read the history of football. Even FIFA has acknowledged this.

[AZ Criminal JD]

50. Did your child sit on the bench all season? n/t

[taterguy]

51. Did your parents not teach you how to read?

That issue has already been addressed in this thread

[spindoctor]

54. It's called FOOTBALL and hands off!!

Don't fuck with my religion or I will declare a jihad on your sorry ass.

You forgot to mention hooliganism as one of the nasty side-effects. Then again, some see that as a sport all by itself.

[redqueen]

79. I prefer "The Beautiful Game"

[taterguy]

160. You're going to declare a jihad on me because I accused your sport of being warlike?

Good plan

[Az]

55. Maintenance wise golf has it beat

Much more land consumed by golf and the maintenance borders on anal.

Once past the issue of maintenance one realizes that the land used by soccer fields is already not exactly nature. It is typically played in parks set aside for our use and as such is outside natural environments. No squirrels aloud on the playing field mean its not nature.

[taterguy]

57. How loud do squirrels get?

I've never heard one make much noise

[gollygee]

56. My daughter plays soccer. I guess I'd better turn in my Dem. voter reg. card

LOL

I drive her there in a minivan too. I'm going to hell!

[cynatnite]

61. And you both should join the army while you're at it...

BTW, I may lose my Dem. voter card, too. My son plays soccer and my hubby loves Nascar. My whole family might have to go with you and your daughter.

[muriel_volestrangler]

58. Yeah, but rugby gets war-dances at the start of important matches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83U_Vg1GRvA

[cynatnite]

60. Oh, come on...kids love soccer

My son does. It's healthy, gets him outside, learns team work and it's fun.

That's what you're missing.

[mudesi]

62. LOL! What about American football?

Doesn't that require a field?

Or baseball?

[Marr]

63. Not to mention people BREATHE the entire time they play it!

Hello? Do you any idea how much oxygen is consumed every year by people playing soccer?! It's a whole damn lot I tell you!

[MazeRat7]

64. Dude... step away from the bong and the computer. -nt

[taterguy]

70. Someone with a differing opinion is automatically a drug user

How enlightened

[MazeRat7]

74. No.. it was a metaphor. Sorry it escaped you. -nt

[taterguy]

75. A metaphor for what?

[MazeRat7]

80. For dancing on the head of a pin

While I'm sure this issue is important to you, I was trying to say step back and look at the bigger picture.

With all that is happening and appalling in the world, your concern is the underlying rational/meaning of the international sport of football ?

MZr7

[judaspriestess]

65. You know whats great about soccer matches

NO FRIGGIN COMMERCIALS every ten minutes.

[redqueen]

82. YES!

It's so the best sport ever.

[whoneedstickets]

66. That's why I prefer Golf !!

[ruiner4u]

69. Golf is even worse...

*bong hit*

the ancient Scots would cut the testes of those they conquered and hit them all over the place with sticks..

[Mountainman]

111. Well all the enviro-nazis around here want to bust all our balls, those that have them

that is.

[taterguy]

126. Your balls must be huge

Congratulations dude

[dysfunctional press]

67. REAL (i.e. "american") football is much more warlike than soccer.

soccer is just...well...boring as hell.

[truebrit71]

72. You must be confused...there's REAL Football, played with one's feet...

...and then there's American Football where a bunch of pumped-up nancies put on armour and hit each other before rushing to the sidelines and gulp down some oxygen....

REAL men play RUGBY....No time-outs, no armour, all heart....

[bdamomma]

202. soccer or as it is called "football" in other parts of the world

is not perceived as boring, but that is your personal opinion.

[rucky]

68. Severed heads don't roll well in tall grass.

what do you expect them to do?

[redqueen]

73. What? This HAS to be satire.

[alfredo]

77. Off road racing destroys miles of rural landscape.

[CRF450]

91. I like offroading

Many of the trails I ride on can grow back over in no time.

[alfredo]

92. I do too, but I am also aware of the damage done to marginal land.

It does compact the soil making it less able to hold moisture. Then when plant growth is inhibited by disruption of the top soil, erosion becomes a problem.

Many of the problems are tied to over use, and ignorance of special problems in a locales like above the tree line.

Using pre existing trails is the responsible choice.

[CRF450]

101. Location plays a part in it too.

I live on the eastern coast, in fact the great dismal swamp in NC is right behind my house. And the couple trails I'v made going into the woods grow back over in no time during summer. Trails in desert areas take a good while to grow back over because of the dry sandy grounds.

[alfredo]

103. Right. We have problems with some four wheelers in our

national forest.

The Daniel Boone National Forest.

http://www.hideawayridge.com/area.html

Another part of the forest.

[Bucky]

81. I am sick of you Hillary haters spewing your DLC filth!

Oh wait, why was I scorning you again?

[taterguy]

125. Sorry

[Swamp Rat]

84. Prove the sport originated by kicking around a decapitated head.

[americanstranger]

150. History Channel showed a 'Modern Marvels' called 'Balls' last night.

And there was an anecdote at the beginning about how in one game in ancient South America, often there was a sacrifice of the captain of the losing team, and the captain's severed head was used as a ball.

So that makes soccer absolutely evil.

Too. much. Free. Time.

- as

[JitterbugPerfume]

85. Cricket is the baddest game in the universe

Earth is the only planet that condones such blatent cruelty!

Soccer pales in comparison.

if you "get" this , you are a fan of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

[NeedleCast]

87. Plus it's Communist Sport

Everyone knows that.

[WinkyDink]

94. In all seriousness, skiing likely is the most destructive to the environment.

[lumberjack_jeff]

96. What if it were played with the severed heads of off-roaders?

Hah! Gotcha there!

[taterguy]

104. I thought most folks on this board opposed capital punishment

I guess maybe it would be ok if you played it with off-roaders who decapitated themselves while off-roading.

[lumberjack_jeff]

105. Well, we do. But we also *really* like soccer.

We must atone for the gross environmental impact of all the pee that results from the beer-drinking at soccer events somehow.

[Dukkha]

97. The MOST environmentally destructive sport...

cross-country forest burning!

2nd most: synchronized waste dumping

[tchunter]

171. oh god, that made me laugh n/t

[ileus]

98. Plus it's a europeein' sport.

[HughMoran]

99. LMFAO!!!

Is this a story you're working on for "the onion"?

[Desertrose]

102. Not as stupid as golfcourses in the middle of the desert.

Really really stupid & wasteful.

Did I mention its stupid and wasteful to have to water grass to make it grow, then mow it off...in the middle of the DESERT!

DR

[Sufficient Voice]

106. I would agree with you--

except football (even more violent) and golf (even more anti-environmental) are much more popular in this country. Quite a few sports, are mock war. They give warriors an outlet. Considering that real war is so bad, maybe mock war isn't really that bad, at least in comparison. Maybe if modern sports weren't so commercial, involved more involvement and less spectators, and were environmentally conscious, they could become a deeply positive social outlet.

[EnviroBat]

107. Soccer, the drug-free alternative to Ambien...

zzzzzzzzzzzz

[ThomWV]

108. 2-stroke lawn mowers are pretty much non-existant now days

[LanternWaste]

112. I would imagine that the pollution...

I would imagine that the pollution caused by 75,000 cars arriving at almost all American football stadiums every Sunday for six months of the year alone would outweigh in environmental destruction caused by soccer, but that's just conjecture on my part.

But since you post your opinion as absolute fact without using any qualifiers, what sources do you cite for you claim "...most environmentally destructive sport around"? What are the objective measures used in the studies? Who did the studies? Are these studies peer-reviewed? These are relevant questions that I'm sure you will address specifically without any tap-dancing...

[redqueen]

114. kick for answers

[taterguy]

128. Me too

I want answers right fucking now