continuing proofs America is wacko

Pettytyrant101 wrote:
When you add in Americas troubled race history it seems even more of a no-brainer that doing nothing would only risk social unrest-which is exactly what has happened.

I agree, and it seems most of the nation does as well. What I suspect happened is because Florida's new "stand your ground" law hasn't been tested before the Supreme Court yet, and because Supreme Court cases can run into millions of $$$$$, no prosecutor's office wanted to be the guinea pig. Race may or may not have played into the decision, but money is enough to explain it all.

The money thing sadly makes sense. But then America is a country where the dollar is King- part of the problem is the US insistance private is better, always. The end result is even getting the wheels of the justice system to move costs a fortune even for the Authorities themselves.

As far as what is taught in school, if you just look at the textbooks, you can see shifts in emphasis. For quite a long time now, probably since the 60's or 70's history textbooks definately have been stressing the multicultural aspects. In some texts you get quite a bit of socially orientated material, and less on history. Classes called specifically Social Studies are considered history. It's obvious academia is trying to influence education, and in a positive way, though someone like me may not like it. I want the history raw & detailed and let me make my own conclusions.

I can't help thinking that although I would give academia credit for trying, it does not have much effect. Kids here for the most part do not get into general studies, but see it more as a necessary evil. Pass the course, check the block and move on.

There are a lot of myths that get passed down, not just through school but through culture in general. There are stories like George Washington and the cherry tree, or Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag, which are more or less completely fabricated. There are also historical events like the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, and others that have been so mythologized that the historical facts are irrelevant. What matters is the story and the patriotic lessons they're supposed to convey. Some textbooks have gotten better about addressing the historical facts, but all in all, most American children are raised to believe that in the 1770s Philadelphia was basically Mount Olympus and Boston was the Plains of Ilium. It's all a bit scary when you actually stop to think about it.

I stumbled across this last night and just had to pass it on.

...Hold on! You didn't have anyone in particular in mind when you posted that did you!

Pettytyrant101 wrote: ...Hold on! You didn't have anyone in particular in mind when you posted that did you!

No. If anything, I was poking fun at ourselves, the Americans. Euros like to think we are dum, and we like you to think that so we can get away with things. But in all seriousness we do have some real pieces of work.

No doubting America is strange. I mean why American Football?- its another US symbol of unity- their own sport no one else really bothers with (or takes seriously). Yet more than anywhere else probably the US is a place of immigrants. And most of them- The english, scots, irish, italians, mexicans etc all come from football (real football) mad countries- total passion for the game- yet proper football is not Americas no1 sport. Odd.

What is people's (often Europeans, it seems) problem with American football? I'm not saying this is the case with Petty, but in general on the Internet it seems like there are a lot of people who are completely baffled or even offended at the existence of a sport they don't understand. I don't know if it's just confusion stemming from the name (though I'm willing to bet 90+% of American football haters aren't familiar with the sport's history or why it's called that) or just a generic "durr, dumb Americans like violence" thing. Whatever the reason, it's always baffled me. Who cares what sports other people like to watch? And why don't these people whine about Canadian football, Aussie rules, or other regional sports?

Idk. To me, American Football just seems to be a version of Rugby with helmets & pads. Its fun when you are a kid, or play the reduced contact versions, like two-hand touch or flag football. Full contact with full grown men is too dangerous in my opinion. Soccer has increased in the last few decades in the school sports systems. Just one of the sports here that hasn't made much inroad in the professional level as far as paying fans.

I think what makes American Football unusual is the extent that it has been willing to adjust itself to fit on a television screen. I think most people trace the rise of modern professional football to the big 1958 televised game.

Just think, there are short bursts of excessive violence interspersed with pauses long enough for commercials, going to the kitchen for more beer, or to the bathroom. Could it be more perfect?

After each play, everything stops for discussion and analysis by professional entertainers, and if that weren't enough, there's a halftime break long enough to go to the store when the refrigerator is empty.

Television and American football is truly a perfect marriage!

There is certainly something to that. I remember when color TV's were coming on strong, they always seemed to show Football on the screen in Adverts, and even in the store. And there is the mating of big games with holidays and family gatherings.

Just one of the sports here that hasn't made much inroad in the professional level as far as paying fans. - Turembar

That's the bit I dont understand when the country is largely made up of people from football daft countries- why didn't they bring their sport with them? Why adopt this new one instead? It seems to be a part of the ideas in the make an American kit.

The Champions League and the World Cup are two of the largest tv sports audiences in the world every time, so not sure about TV explaining it.

On modern myth-making I would suspect popular media venues and video games have more of an effect on molding people then school has. School was probably more influental in the days before movies, TV, computers and gaming consoles. A bit scary when it has moved from teachers to profit driven media to determine.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Just one of the sports here that hasn't made much inroad in the professional level as far as paying fans. - Turembar

That's the bit I dont understand when the country is largely made up of people from football daft countries- why didn't they bring their sport with them? Why adopt this new one instead? It seems to be a part of the ideas in the make an American kit.

The Champions League and the World Cup are two of the largest tv sports audiences in the world every time, so not sure about TV explaining it.

My gut feeling all along has been that Soccer doesn't gain popularity because it seems duller, and not so intense. Now some sports here aren't that much more exciting, like baseball. But soccer looks to me like a bunch of people just running back and forth on a field. Not trying to put it down, just give an honest opinion. It is more fun to play and I have played on teams a few times.

Yes but its not like Americans sprang out of nowhere- all these nationalities were from footballing countries. Why did they not set up teams when they got there?-that was generally how the game spread originaly to everywhere else.

Ozzy Rules football is brutal, and thats just the mullet hair, and they dont have sleeves? who does that?? weird.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:
That's the bit I dont understand when the country is largely made up of people from football daft countries- why didn't they bring their sport with them? Why adopt this new one instead? It seems to be a part of the ideas in the make an American kit.

Well a lot of the major European immigration to America was in the late 19th and early 20th century when I'm guessing people in Europe weren't quite so "football daft".

Professional sports in America during the early 20th century was almost exclusively baseball and boxing, with baseball being the one that was regularly broadcast on radio because it was easily described.

Team sports like football, basketball and hockey were mostly played for fun by schools and athletic leagues. Part of the problem in the west was that it might be several day's boat ride to the next town big enough to field a team. (In Alaska the high school teams still sometimes have to fly 400 miles to play the next team in their league).

It wasn't until the TV made it possible for audiences to follow complex team play that a professional league really made sense for anything other than baseball. That's when football came into it's own.

Then there's that silly little rule in soccer about not tackling each other.....

Mrs Figg wrote:Ozzy Rules football is brutal, and thats just the mullet hair, and they dont have sleeves? who does that?? weird.

A Man's sport, my love... A sport Men play --- without those crash helmets and padding they wear in Softie-softie-land (US), or the theatrics in Scotsie-lah-de-dah-land, when someone almost kicks you and (presumably to judge by said theatrics) almost kills you.

Gladiators without the advantage of weaponry. Man against Man in primeval contest... Aussie (Ozzie) Rules!

Well that is the Aussies, isn't it ? They celebrate the spirit waco. Funny how they consider Yanks both as softies and violence-addicted morons, simultaneously.

yes Orwell all very fine and alpha male and whatnot, but NO SLEEVES?? thats just wrong on an aesthetic and practical level. No sleeves mean you have to wipe away your tears on a lace hanky.

major European immigration to America was in the late 19th and early 20th- David

My team, Rangers, were founded in the late 1800's, so don't know about it being too late,and people only got more football daft nonetheless.]
The distance thing makes ssense.
"that silly little rule in soccer about not tackling each other"- tackling is central to the game, its just that its skillful,tactical and subtle, you don't do it by just colliding with an another player at highspeed like two trucks crashing head-on.

And as to Aussie Rules- its exactly the sort of game I would expect from a nation of exfelons-vague rules, lots of violence.
Football is much more respectable that that- we keep the violence in the stands where it belongs.

Pettytyrant101 wrote: Football is much more respectable that that- we keep the violence in the stands where it belongs.

That thought had occurred to me. I mean English Soccer Fans is a catch-phrase after all. I remember one night when even the combined forces of an entire country (Luxembourg) were insufficent and 200 police from neighboring Germany had to be brought in. But I think the Egyptians have taken the lead in this respect.

We Scots of course deplore that sort of thing (except when we play England)- the Tartan Army (Scotland supporters who travel to watch the team) had a good think about this and saw there were two options.
Option A- act like thugs, attack the locals, smash up bars, spend a night in a foreign police cell. And option 2- act like happy drunks, get drunk with the locals, pour money into the local bars by drinking them dry, spend a night in a bit of foreign skirt.
For some reason English fans took option A.

And when the Tartan Army arrives in your country they make themselves quite hard to miss. As France found out last time we played them there.

yes it was very windy! ...and they were all wearing kilts... and well ..
Tartan Army bar stool, look away now if you are squeemish.

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