Need a Brit opinion

So your dad and Nostradamus had something in common then?

Of course I've heard of Frank Zappa. That's one reason among many I never eat the yellow snow. And Tony Cook is a major Zappa fan, far more knowledgeable than I. Though I still don't have any direct experience of the soccer phenomenon in the US, I would agree that Americans typically, at least in the past, have never viewed soccer as a serious sport. It's the same with cycling. When I was growing up, bicycles were for kids. They were wonderful, and nearly every kid had one, but it was seen as a thing of youth. Certainly, no adult would ride a bike. And as for being a sport---burst of laughter. Now, however, there are 50+ year old budding Lance Armstrongs all over the landscape. Amazing.

Have you seen "Bend It Like Beckham"? Very Brit multi-cultural film about a Sikh girl from London who's really good at soccer. She ends up going off to the US with her teammate to play professionally, because it's very big and lucrative as a women's sport over there. It's also a very Brit (and un-American) thing to retain an interest in sports where your country or its representatives have very little chance of winning anything, e.g. tennis.

Good point. From the American perspective, if you don't win a medal in an Olympic event, there're no reason to have shown up in the first place. For that matter, in most events, anything short of a gold medal is seen as failure. That's probably why the Jamaican bobsled team was such a hit a few Olympics ago. The idea of participating in something for the fun of it can only be appreciated vicariously, it seems.

I don't know about the cycling thing. It's very very popular here in Colorado. The national olympic training center is in Co Springs, bikers are everywhere. This is a prime area for professional training with the mountains and all. Lance Armstrong trains out here, seems to be working too. What's he won, like 6 or 7 straight TDF's...and he's going again this year. We have professional soccer leagues, there's even a pro team in Denver, but they just don't seem to get the television contracts that the major sports get. I doubt that they could stand up to the World Cup level. Probably average at best. I've heard of the "Bend It Like Beckham" movie, it was supposed to be good. Isn't that a few years old? I see on average two movies a year. One of them is always a Charlie Chaplin movie, the other is what ever I'm forced to attend.

radiodenver, I too think you take the Soccer Mom's too far! I rocognised myself in some of your description!! And I'm not even a Yank!lol Someone has to take care of the kids ya know!! And sports are a great way to channel their excess energy! imo I try to encourage mine towards any sport they are attracted to. Don't give a toss if they give it up as long as they keep trying, It's fine with me. Neil my darling, Football, not soccer. tut tut.lol I spent some time with my family in the US a few years ago and my boys went to school there for a while. Baseball was the preferred sport of the kids after school. My middle boy loved it, the other two, well!! it just wasn't cricket! Jasper....fair dinkum! It was ours first though!

Good explanation Radio. Sounds a bit like me.

I think I didn't take the "soccer mom" explanation far enough. To be honest. What was that Frank Zappa lyric....? *I'm a moron, this is my wife, she's frosting a cake with a paper knife.*

Or even: "He thought he was a man, but he was a muffin. he thought he knew a lot but he didn't know nothin'" Now that's what I call brilliant. pip pip

I thought I said that cycling IS popular now. It's just that this is a very recent phenomenon. I knew something was going on when a college friend emailed me pictures of his Senior Cycling Team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Senior means over 50 in this case, and a more grim and determined-looking lot you've never seen. Hardly looks like fun to me, but each to his own. Anyway, that's when I started thinking that if a bunch of 50+ guys are willing to train for months to go on a 150 mile race in the blazing heat of August, something has changed. As for Zappa, I think Hank Williams has him beat hands down: "No matter how much I struggle and strive, I'll never get out of this world alive."

You've probably had quite enough Brit opinions from me already, Gary, but here's a few linguistic pointers which might avoid embarrassment. Never ask a Brit man if he's wearing suspenders. And never ask a Brit woman to park her fanny. And it's illegal to beat Brit kids in public, even if the sign says "Paddling Pool". I'm sure it works the other way too - stateside you wouldn't nip out to buy some fags, unless maybe you were in San Francisco. Faggots in gravy, anyone?

I always enjoy telling people from foreign parts that Mrs Bob No 1 used to have a woman who ran up curtains for her.

A Brit would say 'right little shit', but it's not necessarily used by everyone here.

no, i have never used the phrase "ripe little shit" never heard it before , i think it's a yankee phrase...don't blame us for it...

I ain't no damn Yankee.....Boy.

Careful Martin, he's a red-neck!

The Fag thing is old-hat. Now, being a X-Sailor, here's a pointer from the visiting US Navy boys... Never ask a Submariner to show you his socks. An most "fags" on board ship get tossed overboard. I couldn't tell if if they were lit or not.

well us brits are ok so i think that you yankees made it up for your selfs!!!c (in a friendly way lol)

Be warned Martin, you're in Deliverance country.

Hey Radio, this 'soccer' thing sounds terrible, we have a sport over here called FOOTBALL where we kick a BALL with our FEET, we invented it and it's the best, fastest, and most loved team game in the world. These soccer moms should try and get their sons into that instead of that crap you described. We also have rugby which is a bit like your American football but with real men and less dancing and more than three seconds play at a time without changing everyone in the statium down to the water boy and having half an hour of adverts and analysis of how many times the quater back has looked right on a tuesday between the hours of three and five this season. In Rugby we have no padding as such and there's a place you go to called the 'blood bin' where you can get stitched up and sent back into play. (I understand it must be hard for an American to see someone injured in a sporting arena without them then screaming some kind of macho war cry about Vietnam and then dragging a flag about the place while quickly chacking with the promoter that it was their turn to win and can they see the prototype of their new "UFC smackdown ball cracker" doll to make sure the tattoos are bitchin' enough and the pecs have that trademark sheen.) We invented baseball too, but here we call it 'rounders' and it's left in the school yard mainly as it's a bit shite for adults to be standing with a toe on a square pillow screaming, "run! run Billy, quick before someone tags my pillow with the ball!" then skip along to the next pillow giggling and hoping they can squeeze a game of 'kiss chase' before the dinner lady blows her whistle. Rounders (or baseball as you call it) is the kids version of cricket but with less danger for the little mites, they're only kids after all and it's just a bit of fun, not a real sport or anything.

lol At this rate you'll qualify as captain of the footie team and will get a free ticket to Port Arthur.

The only danger in cricket that I've ever noticed is the distinct possibility of being bored to death.

well Justyn there's the ball (harder than your baseball) there's the bowl, or 'pitch' (overarm and after a long run up that is hurled faster than your baseball,) its aim is to destroy the wickets behind the batsman (too dangerous for a catcher to be stood there, body armour or no) if he does manage to hit it then there are fielders stood there to catch it (often very nearby and without any gloves or helmets) more people are injured by the equipment of cricket than the equipment of baseball every year during the sport (I say equipment because we've all seen those hilarious images of baseball fielders running into each other and the bleachers but that's just ineptitude not dangerous sport. I also say 'during' the sport because many people are injured by baseball bats in America, in our sport it's the ball that's the missile and therefore, correctly, the most dangerous bit of kit) the fact remains that America has only invented one sport, basketball, it also invented netball at the same time and in the same place i believe. we took netball and gave it to the girls as a non contact sport then we looked for a sport for the men and came away empty handed. America looked at our sports and thought.... Football? too difficult. Rugby? f**k that I might get hurt. Rounders? well we could have a go at that but we'd need more music and big gloves. Then they realised they couldn't really compete at any of the above at a world domination level so softened down a few and invented basketball and kept their sports to themselves in the interests of avoiding harm, advertising potential and the pre-requisite guaranteed win.

I'll stick with my original observation about cricket. It is deadly boring. What I find astonishing is that my stating opinion about cricket automatically means, in your mind, that I am comparing it unfavorably to basball. I am not. That is your comparison, not mine. If you carefully read my original post you will find no reference to baseball, or any other sport, in it. Cricket is boring all by itself. There is no need to compare it to anthing. It shits on ice without any outside help. Try learning to read before you attempt writing. It might help, though cricket will still be boring.

Yankee is actually a Mexican term....Some of us have embraced it though. I grew up in the South, which isn't "yankee" country. I've lost most of my accent but my heart remains in Dixie. I've also never embraced most of the "Southern" social ways, lynchings, cross burnings, that sort of thing. I do a good hillbilly impression on my answering machine though. It keeps most people away from leaving me long winded messages.

from the institute of pointless research, apparently we even smile differently

Perhaps the origin of the British smile - allowing only a glimpse of the lower teeth - has something to do with our rather crap dental system. *inserts dentures, pickled overnight in Famous Grouse*

thanks for the advice Justyn, I really should learn to read I guess, I mean i've no idea what this is about that I'm writing now, I hope it comes across as what I want to say and that I'm not writing stuff like, "blow it out your ass you patronising and pointless moron, I was, in my comparisons to baseball, showing the danger that you state quite clearly you have failed to notice (other then being bored to death) in cricket and then continuing the theme of the previous post as there are others on here I may be inclined to communicate with other than your holy frigging self so please read whatever you write yourself (it was only one and a bit lines, can't be that hard) before telling me I can't read like some wanna be Oscar Wilde" "What I find astonishing is that my stating opinion about cricket automatically means, in your mind, that I am comparing it unfavorably to basball" no it doesn't, that's YOUR mind you're talking about there. I made the comparison in highlighting the potential dangers you failed to see. "If you carefully read my original post you will find no reference to baseball, or any other sport, in it" well... it was a whole line and a bit (and careful reading aint my strong point) but I'm pretty sure you mentioned cricket in there. still, as I obviously can't read it may be just about anything, I'm just slapping these keys with the funny shapes for shits and giggles.... ooh look, they make the same shapes appear on the tv in front of me! wow! ... there's never an infinite number of monkeys about when you need them is there?

Ely, I'm not much into any of those sports, so I could care less which one is mo-betta. I've been a motorcycle guy my whole life, so give me a dirt bike and I'm happy. I suppose the British invented "dirt bikes" also?

Yeah we did as it happens. The difference is that HERE, a 'dirt bike' is a cheap tart that will do it in any field that's handy.

well it was all a bit tongue in cheek Radio, as I'm sure you were aware, before JT decided to lord it about the place. I'm a football (soccer) fan and I truly believe that it's the finest team sport in the world. Never been into dirt bikes (apart from my drunken youth days and they were usually tourists) but I am into a sport that we share and that also happens to be the most popular sport in the world... fishing. Yep, read it and weep all you anti-angling types. Fishing is carried out by more people around the globe than any other sport/hobby (apart from sex but, again, that's a pipe of a different colour) and it's also a sport in which America can beat pretty much anywhere else into a cocked hat. It's my ideal fishing destination and, one day, I'll be seen out there, rod in hand, reel screaming, loviong every minute of it.

I love the fact that there are people out there spending "grant money" doing research to determine if Lobsters have feelings. I suppose that if Lobsters have feelings, we shouldn't cook them and eat them. It's cruel. The fishermen have been on the hit list for a long time. Too bad Jesus liked fish, that little retort keeps most of the quacks away from us Angler's! Even though I do like pork chops and he probably didn't eat those. As for "dirt bikes' being cheap tarts...., never heard that analogy before. Should one wear a helmut when riding a "dirt bike?"

yep and make sure its covered up with something extra safe

lol

There are a couple of expressions that I hear in American TV shows and movies that I would appreciate an interpretation of. The first is "Bite me", which I'm guessing means something along the lines of; "there's nothing you can do that would surprise me" but I could be very wrong. And the second is "In a New York minute", which just leaves me baffled. Would any of you splendid American folk care to explain?

Radio I have a question for you. What is a soccer mom? Obviously I know what soccer is and I know what a Mom is, but why the big fuss when you put the two together? Why not American football Mom or baseball Mom? What's so special about SMs?

"Bite me" would be a suggestion that all you're good for is sucking cock, so go ahead and get on with it. There could be other similar derivatives, none of which are complementary. IE...bite my ass, eat shit, suck one, etc...., usually used to show moderate disdain for another and used to be, if properly used it could provoke a fist fight. It's used so frequently now, it hardly has an impact on most good cursers. "In a New York minute" refers to the fast pace of life in New York City, and things that happen in a "New York Minute" take much less time than a regular minute.

Hi denver, Bloody little shit, is an English expression used in the Midlands at least! Or, Right little shit, but I must admit, the ripe little shit sounds American to me.rofl Tai

Missi recently called me a little shit on another thread...it was all water off a duck's back as I'm rather a tall chappie, actually...

i called some one (i cant rember who but i did)a little shit on a other thread!!!!

guys you have to see this !!!!

Thanks very much Radio, I can now look forward to watching, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens and Dharma and Greg from an informed and enlightened perspective ;o)

That wouldn't be hard to do Foxy. Somehow, I doubt my explanations added much to the depth of those shows.

Annie, A "Soccer Mom" is what some folks call a young woman that has a grade-school age child or two, lives in the suburbs, drives a mini-van, has a husband that works. She drives her and her neighbors kids to pee-wee soccer practice and watches their games on weekends. Afterwards they go for Icecream and McDonalds hamburgers. They live on streets with houses that all look alike, filled with people that all look alike, driving cars that all look alike. She likes the local shopping mall and watches television soaps or day-time talk shows while she's fixing lunch for the kids. She has a cell-phone stapled to her ear, a baby-seat in the car, a dog, a cat and tropical fish tank. She does her shopping at Wal-mart or the local mall. When the kids grow up, she'll get a divorce when she finds out her suburban husband has been screwing her best friend for years and learn to live a real life for herself because she's been so clouded to live the "American Dream", she never had a chance to live her own dreams.

Soccer btw is not a "real" American sport. It's a European import and most "real" Americans won't go near it. In the Suburbs, it's considered "Worldly" to have your children involved in a "Worldly" sport such as Soccer, but in thruth, they make their kids do it because they don't like the brutal nature of American Football nor have the patience to learn the game of Baseball. Soccer is simple and slow and boreing, thus it fits right in with their needs. A real American sport is "midget bowling".

Your question mark inflections piss me off. Sorry.

Me ?

I've never heard the phrase 'ripe little shit' in my life before this thread. A 'right little shit' is not what I would call a term of endearment, but I may be wrong. That description of a soccer mom is basically accurate, but it went too far. I think you can stop long before the infidelity and divorce. The whole soccer phenomenon escapes me because when I was in high school, no one played soccer. In phys ed I think we played soccer maybe 2-3 times, just to give everyone a chance to kick the ball a few times. There were no fields (we used the 'football' field) and no teams. It simply did not exist as a sport--until rather recently. Now, it is very popular in high schools, but not much gong on at the professional level yet. There is also a 'golf widow,' which is a wife left alone at home while the husband plays golf on weekends. There is also a 'NASCAR dad,' which is a man who attends the NASCAR automobile races on weekends. these are generally thought to be yee-haw Bush supporters. There is a much older phrase--'grass widow'--which I never completely understood. It might be a wife who sits alone in the house while hubby works in the yard (garden to the Brits), but I suspect it is something else. That phrase is from the 1950s and earlier.