[omoko]

Some of you may think this is a dumb question, but I would really like to hear a good explanation of why you call NFL football "football" when most players (except the punter and field goal kicker) don't control the ball with their feet! In most Asian and European countries, when people hear the word "football," they think of soccer, not the NFL. To them, soccer is football, and the NFL is "American football." Anyway, I really love watching "it", no matter what it's called.

[NASCAR Gnome]

Good question... I think it might have something to do with rugby.

There are 5 kinds of "football" that I know of:

Rugby, Australian Rules, USA and Canadian "football" all use an elongated ball. Soccer - the "real" football (since it's truly played with the feet by all players but the goalkeepers) is the only version of "football" that is played with a round, or spherical, ball!

I did a little research and came up with this:

American football: Information and Much More from Answers.com

It appears that my hunch about rugby was correct and since rugby grew because of a divide between guys who didn't particularly care for kicking a round ball all over a field and preferred to throw it around instead! It makes sense to have an oblong ball to throw because unless you have Shaq's hands, throwing a soccer ball overhand is all but impossible!

Originally Posted by NASCAR Gnome

Good question... I think it might have something to do with rugby.

There are 5 kinds of "football" that I know of:

Rugby, Australian Rules, USA and Canadian "football" all use an elongated ball. Soccer - the "real" football (since it's truly played with the feet by all players but the goalkeepers) is the only version of "football" that is played with a round, or spherical, ball!

I did a little research and came up with this:

American football: Information and Much More from Answers.com

It appears that my hunch about rugby was correct and since rugby grew because of a divide between guys who didn't particularly care for kicking a round ball all over a field and preferred to throw it around instead! It makes sense to have an oblong ball to throw because unless you have Shaq's hands, throwing a soccer ball overhand is all but impossible!

Hmmm...quite a good explanation. You did a good research too. It is a very informative article. Thanks!

[omoko]

Originally Posted by NASCAR Gnome

Good question... I think it might have something to do with rugby.

There are 5 kinds of "football" that I know of:

Rugby, Australian Rules, USA and Canadian "football" all use an elongated ball. Soccer - the "real" football (since it's truly played with the feet by all players but the goalkeepers) is the only version of "football" that is played with a round, or spherical, ball!

I did a little research and came up with this:

American football: Information and Much More from Answers.com

It appears that my hunch about rugby was correct and since rugby grew because of a divide between guys who didn't particularly care for kicking a round ball all over a field and preferred to throw it around instead! It makes sense to have an oblong ball to throw because unless you have Shaq's hands, throwing a soccer ball overhand is all but impossible!

Quite an interesting explanation. And you did a good research. But since "rugby" can have its own name, shouldn't American football have its own name as well? What would u call it, if not football? (now I'm just being silly)

[Bette]

Originally Posted by omoko

Quite an interesting explanation. And you did a good research. But since "rugby" can have its own name, shouldn't American football have its own name as well? What would u call it, if not football? (now I'm just being silly)

Originally Posted by omoko;261962[COLOR=Red

]Some of you may think this is a dumb question,[/color] but I would really like to hear a good explanation of why you call NFL football "football" when most players (except the punter and field goal kicker) don't control the ball with their feet! In most Asian and European countries, when people hear the word "football," they think of soccer, not the NFL. To them, soccer is football, and the NFL is "American football." Anyway, I really love watching "it", no matter what it's called.

First of all, someone on here once told me that there are no dumb questions.
Second, it was a good question and Gnome came up with a very good answer. It was a great job of research. I didnt know that before.
Third, we do silly on here. A lot.

I dont know. Football in America brings to mind its own images, its own feeling. Dont think I could call it anything else.
I love it too. Its my passion.

[omoko]

Originally Posted by Bette

First of all, someone on here once told me that there are no dumb questions.
Second, it was a good question and Gnome came up with a very good answer. It was a great job of research. I didnt know that before.
Third, we do silly on here. A lot.

I dont know. Football in America brings to mind its own images, its own feeling. Dont think I could call it anything else.
I love it too. Its my passion.

LOL ok so now I'll be as silly as I want to, won't hold back any silliness! I love football a lot too. I actually just started to watch football and learned about it five years ago after I moved to America. Before that, I used to think football seemed kind of ridiculous, for all they seemed to do were like...Ready? Run! Fall Down! Ready? Run! Fall Down! lol Now I'm waiting for the next season to begin and hopefully my Giants will do well again.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by omoko

LOL ok so now I'll be as silly as I want to, won't hold back any silliness! I love football a lot too. I actually just started to watch football and learned about it five years ago after I moved to America. Before that, I used to think football seemed kind of ridiculous, for all they seemed to do were like...Ready? Run! Fall Down! Ready? Run! Fall Down! lol Now I'm waiting for the next season to begin and hopefully my Giants will do well again.

Maybe silly isnt quite the right word for what we do. Maybe weird? Off the wall? Out of the box? Looney tunes??
I have to tell you that it is a very hard job to be the voice of reason and sanity here, but someone has to do it.

[NASCAR Gnome]

Some historians think that soccer originated from the Chinese using skulls of defeated and conquered enemies as the ball they kicked around - I mean you're kicking a decapitated head around because you probably wouldn't want to hold it in your hands anyway, right? Makes sense! Another theory is the original Mexicans had a game similar to soccer where they used their knees and hips and chest and (I think) head to pass and move a round ball (no, not a skull!) into a hoop high on a wall in order to score. It's hard to describe this game but I've seen recreations of it on TV and it's kind of a wierd-looking soccer. The bad news is if your team lost the game, you all lost your lives! Not very nice if you ask me...

[Seahawker 562]

I say who cares what its called, it still kicks a$$ any way you slice it

[omoko]

Originally Posted by NASCAR Gnome

Some historians think that soccer originated from the Chinese using skulls of defeated and conquered enemies as the ball they kicked around - I mean you're kicking a decapitated head around because you probably wouldn't want to hold it in your hands anyway, right? Makes sense! Another theory is the original Mexicans had a game similar to soccer where they used their knees and hips and chest and (I think) head to pass and move a round ball (no, not a skull!) into a hoop high on a wall in order to score. It's hard to describe this game but I've seen recreations of it on TV and it's kind of a wierd-looking soccer. The bad news is if your team lost the game, you all lost your lives! Not very nice if you ask me...

OMG are you serious????!!!!! where did you learn about this gruesome stuff?

[Weird harold]

I think it's called football, cuz it's played with a football. I just did some research, and apparently baseball, and basketball are played with baseballs, and basketballs respectively.

[omoko]

Originally Posted by Seahawker 562

I say who cares what its called, it still kicks a$$ any way you slice it

You're right. I was curious That's all.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Weird harold

I think it's called football, cuz it's played with a football. I just did some research, and apparently baseball, and basketball are played with baseballs, and basketballs respectively.

That makes perfect sense to me.

Originally Posted by NASCAR Gnome

Some historians think that soccer originated from the Chinese using skulls of defeated and conquered enemies as the ball they kicked around - I mean you're kicking a decapitated head around because you probably wouldn't want to hold it in your hands anyway, right? Makes sense! Another theory is the original Mexicans had a game similar to soccer where they used their knees and hips and chest and (I think) head to pass and move a round ball (no, not a skull!) into a hoop high on a wall in order to score. It's hard to describe this game but I've seen recreations of it on TV and it's kind of a wierd-looking soccer. The bad news is if your team lost the game, you all lost your lives! Not very nice if you ask me...

Yeeech! Gross.
Speaking of weird and off the wall----

[omoko]

Yeeech! Gross.
Speaking of weird and off the wall----[/quote]


Yah, now I understand why u said "silly" is not quite the right word to describe what you guys do here. lol

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Weird harold

I think it's called football, cuz it's played with a football. I just did some research, and apparently baseball, and basketball are played with baseballs, and basketballs respectively.

so why then is that game they play on ice not called puckyball ?????