The Origins of (the word) Soccer

 

The Origins of the word Soccer....like the sport itself originated in England.

For those that don't know, don't care, and/or are too stupid to look it up, the OFFICIAL name of Soccer/Football/Futbal is association football.

Americans that continuously complain..."why not call it football like everyone else" Are ignorant about the origins of soccer in the first place.  The better question would be, why don't Americans call it "Throwball" instead of "Football"...Since you don't ever use your foot for anything, except running (exception the kicker/punter). 

Association Football was codified in the UK in 1863, at which point the term Association Football was coined to distinguish it from rugby football.  The word soccer is a colloquial abbreviation from the word asSOCiation.  The Brits at that time had a propensity to shorten names for their own convenience.

It was common practice in England to use the names football and soccer interchangeably until the 1970s.

And, the misguided opinion that the US calls it soccer while the rest of the world calls it football is wrong.  First, ignoring the obvious instances of countries that don't speak English, even within English speaking countries, the US is not alone in referring to it as soccer.  Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States refer to the world’s most popular sport as soccer...a word originated as an English Colloquial abbreviation for the true name, "Association Football".

You may return to your regularly scheduled programs!

Peace
G

Big Blue Wrecking Crew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Giants’ season was on the line.  The Dallas Cowboys were in 1st place at 7-5, and the Giants were riding a 4 game losing streak at 6-6.  If the Giants managed to win they would tie Dallas, and hold the tie-breaker against Dallas…propelling them into 1st place in the NFC East with 3 games remaining at Met Life Stadium.  They would have the season entirely in their hands. 

Giants marched into Arlington, Texas looking for a win, and holding an undefeated streak at the new $1.3B Stadium.

In a thrilling game, where the lead changed several times, Eli Manning proved himself an Elite 4th Quarter Quarterback by leading them down the field with under 2-minutes left in the game trailing by 5 points, 34-29.

With 46 Seconds left in the game, Brandon Jacobs punched it in on the 8th lead change of the game, and after a successful 2-point conversion the Giants took a 37-34 lead, leaving the Cowboys 45 seconds to try and tie.

Tony Romo lead the team down the field, and into field goal range.  The Dallas kicker lined up for a game tying 47yd field goal which appeared to be good, but Tom Coughlin called a timeout just before the kick.  So, the kicker lined up for a second attempt at the game tying 47yd field goal.  However, this time Jason-Pierre Paul got up and deflected the kick, and the Giants won the game by a final score of 37-34.

Now the Giants are tied with the Cowboys at 7-6 (holding the tie-breaker) with 3 games remaining in the regular season.  All 3 games will be at their home stadium (Met Life Stadium).  They will host the redskins, play against the Jets (away), and end the season at Met Life Stadium on New Year’s Day against these same Dallas Cowboys with the division possibly at stake.  But, at the moment the Giants hold the upper hand in the division.

Eli Manning once again proved he deserves (at least) consideration in the debate about the top 5 Quarterbacks in the league.

In my book, I would place Eli at #5 behind…#1 Aaron Rodgers, #2 Tom Brady, #3 Drew Brees, and #4 Ben Roethlisberger.

But, that’s just my opinion.

Enjoy the stretch run Giants’ fans…it should be fun…it definitely won’t be boring!

Go G-Men!

Peace
G