Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ah, they do have a win. I stand corrected. Still, I would expect a site that has the good sense to name itself “ soccerway.com”, and which had the forethought to don a Star Spangled Banner badge for US users, would have the good sense to display dates as American audiences expect.
I just don’t know why a sport that wants to make a header into America doesn’t speak the local tongue. In fact, I think many of the few American fans thrive on that quirk. It’s all a little too precious for the general American public.
On the spectrum of "fans," I'm definitely closer to "general American public" than I am footie hooligan. But I'm interested enough to try and learn some of the little quirks about the game. It's growing in popularity, especially among young people. And as it finds its way into other aspects of pop culture, I think some of those foreign quirks will slowly seem less foreign and less quirky. My mother, who has zero interest in any sports, will now talk about "the pitch," "boots," and "training" having binged Ted Lasso several times now. I'm not suggesting there aren't things that can be done to tailor it to American audiences, but I don't know that all of those little things are necessarily hurt its growth too badly.
On an RIFC specific note, I got a glimpse of the construction site from I-95 the other day. It looks like it's actually making real progress. Has anyone seen it up close recently to confirm?
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
3,853 posts, read 2,719,735 times
Reputation: 1616
Quote:
Originally Posted by lrfox
On the spectrum of "fans," I'm definitely closer to "general American public" than I am footie hooligan. But I'm interested enough to try and learn some of the little quirks about the game. It's growing in popularity, especially among young people. And as it finds its way into other aspects of pop culture, I think some of those foreign quirks will slowly seem less foreign and less quirky. My mother, who has zero interest in any sports, will now talk about "the pitch," "boots," and "training" having binged Ted Lasso several times now. I'm not suggesting there aren't things that can be done to tailor it to American audiences, but I don't know that all of those little things are necessarily hurt its growth too badly.
On an RIFC specific note, I got a glimpse of the construction site from I-95 the other day. It looks like it's actually making real progress. Has anyone seen it up close recently to confirm?
Of course my last two posts were made with tongue planted in cheek.
I grew up in “Soccer City, USA”. I grew up playing soccer, first in a youth league for several years, then on my high school team. I still have shin guards for some reason.
But we called the game soccer, we played on a field, and if we kept our opponents from scoring in a game where we netted two goals, we beat them two to nothing.
I don’t know who decided we should pitch the sport in the British parlance, but it really is too precious.
Yeah, I don't understand the hostility that seems to exist towards using American parlance. I've been corrected (or at least gotten looks) when I've said "tie," "soccer," "zero," etc. when discussing the sport. I don't have an issue with the use of the British parlance, but I do wish both would be accepted. There does seem to be a bit of pretense around some of the terminology, and that's not going to help win over the average American.
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
3,853 posts, read 2,719,735 times
Reputation: 1616
Quote:
Originally Posted by lrfox
Yeah, I don't understand the hostility that seems to exist towards using American parlance. I've been corrected (or at least gotten looks) when I've said "tie," "soccer," "zero," etc. when discussing the sport. I don't have an issue with the use of the British parlance, but I do wish both would be accepted. There does seem to be a bit of pretense around some of the terminology, and that's not going to help win over the average American.
Exactly.
Interesting note about the stadium progress. I haven’t been by that way in a while. I am due for a visit to Pawtucket anyway, so I’ll check that out while I am there.
There's no widespread "hostility" that exists towards using American parlance in discussing American soccer. Is there a segment of American soccer fandom that's taken to using English terms such as "football", "pitch", "draw", "nil", etc.? Yes, but to be honest, I hear just as many people who are still using soccer, field, tie, and zero/nothing.
The sport in this country is still overseen by the United States Soccer Federation. The most established professional leagues in the country are Major League Soccer, the United Soccer Leagues, and the National Women's Soccer League. Amongst MLS and MLS NEXT Pro teams, there are those that either identify themselves as soccer clubs or cling to American-styled place name-nickname combinations. In the USL system and the NWSL there are plenty that do the same.
Variety is the spice of life, so to each their own.
While I'm not about to say that professional soccer is on par with such entities as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, or the National Hockey League in the United States and Canada, interest in the sport in the two countries has never been more robust than it is today. Major League Soccer has added 15 teams over the past 16 years and welcomes another - its 30th - next season. Of the USL Championship's 24 teams, 21 - including RIFC - were founded in the last eleven years. So, the precious use of anglicisms certainly doesn't appear to be stunting soccer's growth.
Now, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be keeping a mighty sharp eye on Brett Johnson.
Yeah, I don't understand the hostility that seems to exist towards using American parlance. I've been corrected (or at least gotten looks) when I've said "tie," "soccer," "zero," etc. when discussing the sport. I don't have an issue with the use of the British parlance, but I do wish both would be accepted. There does seem to be a bit of pretense around some of the terminology, and that's not going to help win over the average American.
It depends on context. I watch a lot of Premier League and Championship League football. Just like anything else, there is a 100 word specific vocabulary. If I'm talking with my friend from South London who supports West Ham, I use English terminology and English pronunciation.
For example, when talking to a Brit, a tie is a game or match. "Blues-Spurs tie starts at 3 O'Clock". A Sox/Yankees rivalry game would be called a derby, pronounced DAR-bee. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have a long rivalry. Their games are called the North London Derby. Chelsea wears royal blue so from context, you're supposed to know that Blues is Chelsea. Birmingham City is also called Blues. Manchester City and Liverpool are both called Reds. When I first started watching English football, I probably missed 1/3 of what the announcers were saying because it's a foreign language.
If I'm talking to someone about the New England Revolution, I'll mostly use the American terms. Football would be ambiguous talking about a team that plays at Gillette. I use zero instead of nil. If a team is playing defensively, I won't use Brit slang like "park the bus".
To go on-topic, I was happy to see the renderings for the stadium at Tidewater Landing showed a roof over the stands. Hopefully, they'll use hybrid grass/turf rather than an artificial surface. Gillette is awful for that compared to a real soccer stadium.
It depends on context. I watch a lot of Premier League and Championship League football. Just like anything else, there is a 100 word specific vocabulary. If I'm talking with my friend from South London who supports West Ham, I use English terminology and English pronunciation.
For example, when talking to a Brit, a tie is a game or match. "Blues-Spurs tie starts at 3 O'Clock". A Sox/Yankees rivalry game would be called a derby, pronounced DAR-bee. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have a long rivalry. Their games are called the North London Derby. Chelsea wears royal blue so from context, you're supposed to know that Blues is Chelsea. Birmingham City is also called Blues. Manchester City and Liverpool are both called Reds. When I first started watching English football, I probably missed 1/3 of what the announcers were saying because it's a foreign language.
If I'm talking to someone about the New England Revolution, I'll mostly use the American terms. Football would be ambiguous talking about a team that plays at Gillette. I use zero instead of nil. If a team is playing defensively, I won't use Brit slang like "park the bus".
To go on-topic, I was happy to see the renderings for the stadium at Tidewater Landing showed a roof over the stands. Hopefully, they'll use hybrid grass/turf rather than an artificial surface. Gillette is awful for that compared to a real soccer stadium.
I guess my circle are mostly snobby English fans. My sister and brother-in-law bought several years ago about a 10 minute walk from Stamford Bridge, so we've been to a few Chelsea matches. My father-in-law lived for several years in Brighton and is a diehard BHA fan. So as the casual/fair-weather fan of the bunch, I'm constantly corrected on my "Americanization" of the game. I don't personally know too many Revs fans.
I'm so torn on Tidewater. The public money, Brett Johnson, and the fact that the state would invest in this vs. doing so earlier to keep the known entity in the Pawsox all bother me. But I actually think the Stadium renderings look great and I think that it should be a great experience when (if) it opens.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
