I had that thought during my last post.Holy moly -- another tiebreaker. I think we need a smiley for "nail-biting!"
I'm pretty sure a lot of people would say that about figure skating. To each their own.
If you really must know, football is popular because it's a game that's relatively easy to play, it costs pretty much nothing to play, the rules are simple, it's relatively safe (at least when playing recreationally), and it can be fun to watch if the game is interesting and the players are skilled. The game has immense international appeal, particularly in places like Africa where many sports aren't the most affordable or accessible (I mean, you don't need ice and $1000 skates just to compete at an elite level).
And because it's a team game, people can really get behind a team representing their city/country, rather than an individual.
I agree that football/soccer isn't for me the most exciting sport to watch, but there's no denying the power the sport has to bring people together. Figure skating doesn't have that (save for the team event, I guess), which is probably a huge reason why it isn't even marginally as popular as football. I mean, look at the passion football fans have for their teams (they live and breathe their favourite team's successes/failures)... there are fans of skaters, but most fans of Asada aren't as emotionally invested in her success/failures the way that people who live in Chelsea or Brazil are emotionally invested in their team's success.
Ahhh GSK I love reading your posts! You almost always say exactly what I'm thinking plus stuff I hadn't even thought about but is clearly relevant and interesting, and you say it in a way that is so civil and respectful. Kudos
Chelsea. I felt a little bit sorry for United last season, but I guess next season they should feel sorry for us.
Has anyone seen the football-based movie Victory? It's not a top-flight film, but I find it very interesting and enjoyable. It's set in World War II and concerns a bunch of POWs who are recruited to play a match with a German team in a Paris stadium as a propaganda stunt by the Nazis. There's adventure and intrigue involving the French Resistance, and the last scene is exhilarating. One plus for the film is that most of the football players of both sides are played by actual soccer stars of the era, including the great Pele. (His backstory is that he's from Trinidad and was fighting with British forces when he was captured by the Nazis.) Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone are the actors on the football team, and I believe other actors include Max von Sidow. As part of the ending credits, the cast is introduced one by one, with the actual footballers shown in freeze-frame, each with his name and country shown over his image.
It's not an entirely realistic film, of course, but as a pure adventure, it's lots of fun, and the soccer is well done. It's very rare to have a soccer film, at least in this country. Most films with sports themes are (as you'd expect) baseball or (American) football films, with some basketball movies such as Hoosiers thrown into the mix. Anyway, I wondered whether this was a film anyone else here had seen. Just the enjoyment of watching Pele play (including his bicycle kick, which is done in slow-motion replay several times just to make sure you know it really happened!) is a delight.
It's a terrible movie.
That's a great movie.
I knew that either you or LRK would have come across it. Glad you enjoyed it too.
As I said, it's not at the level of On the Waterfront or anything, but it's got a couple of high points that reach me every time, especially the ending, which in my heart of hearts I wish had really happened at least once during the occupation of France.
No, it's not on that level - besides they're two different subjects - but I like Caine and von Sidow and it's very entertaining to see real football players in it.
In Italy is a classic. I do personally enjoy that movie and watch it many times.
Why not? You can throw in Music and Books into the mix also.Reading these last few posts, I'm sorely tempted to start a "favorite cheesy movies" thread...
^I typed "poignant violin music" into Youtube and got this as my first result: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBSIWb7pT3o