alan@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Alan Algustyniak) (03/21/84)
IORM (Look it up) Does anyone know why it is that the two sports, in America, are called 'football' and 'soccer'? Just interested Al Algustyniak
amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson) (03/21/84)
"Soccer" is a shortened version of "association football", after the body in England that codified its rules. It is often referred to in England as soccer to distinguish it from Rugby football (of which there are two types, Association Rugby and Rugby League; Rugby got its start in a game at Rugby school in England, when a boy playing in a soccer game picked up the ball and ran with it), but soccer is still "generic football" in most of the English speaking world. In the late 19th century, two U.S. colleges (I think that they were Lehigh and Yale; someone will, I am sure, correct me if I am wrong) arranged to play a variant of Rugby. This is recognized as the first football game in the U.S.; and, since soccer was rarely played, the game was called football. American football has become generic football in the U.S. There is, as I am sure you know, a Canadian football, which is a variant of the U.S. game; and is generic football in Canada. There is an Australian football which is a variant of Rugby (reported to be the world's roughest game), and I do not know whether it or soccer is generic football in Australia. John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (03/22/84)
[] I think it was Rutgers and someone else in the first football game. At least they celebrate it every year in some manner or another here in New Jersey. Hmmm, it might have been Princeton. Or, maybe it was the first official intercollegiate game? Come on all you sports fans, help out and send in your corrections.
andrew@inmet.UUCP (03/24/84)
#R:sdcrdcf:-92600:inmet:7300025:000:109 inmet!andrew Mar 23 14:21:00 1984 I believe that the first football game in the US was between Princeton and Rutgers, and that the latter won.
jbf@ccieng5.UUCP (Jens Bernhard Fiederer) (03/31/84)
The term "soccer" is a corruption of Association Football. Azhrarn -- Reachable as ....allegra![rayssd,rlgvax]!ccieng5!jbf
rob@ctvax.UUCP (04/04/84)
#R:sdcrdcf:-92600:ctvax:39900001:000:752
ctvax!rob Mar 26 10:18:00 1984
What John Hobson calls Association Rugby is a.k.a. Rugby Union.
Football to most Limeys is what is also known as soccer, unless
you are a UCT (upper-class twit) and the son of gentlefolk, in
which case football is Rugby Union. Rugby League is more common
in the north of England, which most UCTs try to ignore.
How can you tell a Rugby Union game from a League game?
If play is resumed by a single player placing the ball on
the ground and heeling it back to a teammate, then you are
observing a Rugby League game.
Rob Spray (former lousy Second Row Forward (they're the ones with the
cute leather headgear to prevent their ears from getting torn
off!))
uucp: ... {decvax!cornell!|ucbvax!nbires!|allegra!parsec!}ctvax!rob