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Original poster

World Cup- is it really all that?

200 replies

RebeccaBunchLawyer · 04/07/2018 11:20

Just that really.

A group of lads dashing around after a ball, on a patch of grass.

Am I missing something? Why is it so exciting? Is it the actual game, or the fact that it only happens every 4 years? Also, these young men are paid more per week than most hard-working folk (with
proper jobs) earn in a year, so surely they should be winning the odd match anyway?

Why are people so delighted when they actually win? Have I just answered my own question??!

OP posts:
futuristic1 · 04/07/2018 16:32

DH is obsessive about his football club and reads history and science fiction the rest of the time. He is neither 'of the people' nor part of a 'cultural elite'. But then he's Scottish and we don't give a shit about that class stuff.

Aren't you the lucky ones.

The80sweregreat · 04/07/2018 16:35

No , not shite at all ! I remember them doing ok against the big sides - giving it a go at least. Wales did well in the last Euro tournament. I like the smaller sides - they have guts.

Kingkiller · 04/07/2018 16:35

It's a pretty daft question, OP. Football is a popular sport. It's a comparatively entertaining sport to watch. Add to that the fact that lots of humans naturally enjoy getting excited about a tribal, competitive, 'them vs us' situation, and there's your answer. Lots of people have been brought up with it being a massive part of their family life and culture too.

The80sweregreat · 04/07/2018 16:39

The kids at school were fired up today - even the ones who dislike football. It has a good effect ( for a while !)
The money thing is a sticking point though.
I can see all sides of that argument.

Usernumbers1234 · 04/07/2018 16:41

@soddingunicorns

Yeah I think that would make really interesting reading. As would the age range of people who commit DV (I guess that stat must be out there somewhere) - my guess is it’s the 18-30s more likely to get angry about a football loss, older fans tend to grow out of it or at least once again it in more perspective as they age.

I sympathise on the Scotland / Old firm thing, that’s something that has spun way out of control. I’m not excusing it, but there’s a few other posts on these World Cup threads about sport being a proxy for tribalism and that they might even reduce conflict. No idea if it’s right, but given the depth of religious feeling that is behind that conflict, maybe the football, awful as those old firm conflicts are, may even reduce trouble in other areas of society by providing an outlet.

That’s not to excuse it, society shouldn’t need an outlet for tribal behaviour.

zukiecat · 04/07/2018 16:43

ghosty

I don't do any of those things on your list

I go to work, read books, watch some tv, and spend some time on here.

I think footballers are obscenely overpaid, not being argumentative, but how it is ok for them to be paid thousands each week?

SoddingUnicorns · 04/07/2018 16:45

@The80sweregreat aye I take that point, now and again we’re giant killers and it feels amazing!

user unfortunately sectarianism is rife across the board, not just football. Not with everyone, but it’s there. “What school do/did you go to?” is still a loaded question (ie is it a Catholic school or not)

It’s so much more than football and unfortunately it is tribal, across all walks of life and all ages.

It’s interesting because DP and I are not “typical” old firm fans, he’s ex army (which would usually tag him as a Rangers fan) and we’re not into the political side of it, we’re there purely for the football side of it.

ProfessorMoody · 04/07/2018 16:53

Professor please tell me you don’t teach economics

There's more of a chance of me sprouting wings and flying laps around the moon Grin

So if so much money is made, why can't that be ploughed into other things? Why does it have to stay in football?

SoddingUnicorns · 04/07/2018 16:55

So if so much money is made, why can't that be ploughed into other things? Why does it have to stay in football?

Do KFC support local schools? Or Tesco mend the roads? Or Coca Cola build and fund hospitals? It’s not just football which has ridiculous amounts of cash and doesn’t share.

The EPL has no soul because of money now, there isn’t the passion there once was. It’s sad to see actually, same with PSG, all cash and no passion, misses the point completely.

Raven88 · 04/07/2018 17:13

I'm not interested in it but I understand its popularity.

ProfessorMoody · 04/07/2018 17:14

Very true, Unicorns. I think McDonald's do a lot of charity work though.

ThursdayLastWeek · 04/07/2018 17:16

I read and watch football.
Last night I was at a gig too, I did all three!

I’m now confused as to me identity ConfusedWink

ThursdayLastWeek · 04/07/2018 17:16

Haha macdinalds are currently wanging on about how much money they’re ploughing I to grass roots football!

araiwa · 04/07/2018 17:19

Football teams spend money on their club

Some players are overpaid but generally speaking, they are paid what they are worth

SoddingUnicorns · 04/07/2018 17:26

McDonald’s do charity work to make good press to cover the fact they used to fund the IRA in the 70s and 80s.

rosesgarden · 04/07/2018 17:27

who have a career window of 15 years and are being paid the money that their sport generates as a business and that upsets you that they are overpaid?
Yes it does, i know the sport generates a lot of money,, and it's the fans who pay for it. The fact that footballers having a career of 15 years therefore justifies in part their high wage could apply to many others jobs, but it doesn't.

Usernumbers1234 · 04/07/2018 17:30

moody, many football clubs do a tremendous amount of Charity work.

Man City have regenerated an entire part of a city. Everton’s work in the community is held up globally as the best example of how a football team can contribute to society and when they heard about Bradley Lowery raising £500k of his £700k target they just gave him the £200k.

Wayne Rooney, so often held up as all that is wrong with Football, has given millions to the NSPCC, alder hey, claires house. And many many other players do.

Juan Mata established “common goal” where many professional players signed up to pledge 1% of their income to charity.

And hundreds of other examples. And it’s a cliche, but they don’t like to talk about it, because people will just say they are doing it to look good.

Football clubs generally don’t have public listed shareholders to satisfy like McDonald’s and KFC do. Now that is simply marketing in the form of charity, they do it for their own benefit so that profits increase, and I know from experience how little some of these big corporate charity projects actually give to the charities, it’s all lost in admin fees and dubious internal accounting. PLCs don’t give money away for nothing. Wayne Rooney doesn’t ask for his name and logo over the door of alder hey like Ronald McDonald House does (great charity incidentally, but clearly a marketing ploy too) He’s just a working class kid giving back.

Usernumbers1234 · 04/07/2018 17:33

Rosesgarden - what jobs doesn’t it apply to then?

SoddingUnicorns · 04/07/2018 17:38

The last food bank drive at Celtic Park generated 6 tons of donations!

We also have the Celtic Foundation which does a lot for many different causes, and fund a school in Thailand for children with SN (they write songs, they’re called the Thai Tims and are all over YouTube - they’re brilliant!) and recently built 67 school kitchens in developing countries (67 is a significant number for the club).

ProfessorMoody · 04/07/2018 17:56

Fair enough! I don't profess to know anything about football, so I stand corrected.

WallisWindsor · 04/07/2018 17:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

rosesgarden · 04/07/2018 18:05

User jobs like scaffolders, roofers, tilers?

ghostyslovesheets · 04/07/2018 18:14

zukiecat

sad that you have never seen a film or been to the theatre!

I also got to work, read books, watch some tv and spend time on MN - not sure of the relevance there

as to footballers being paid lots of money - we don't have a wage cap in the uk so I guess private businesses can pay what they like - NOT paying footballers millions wouldn't suddenly free up lots of money to pay nurses more though - and would reduce tax revenue

I hope you boycott companies like Google who avoid tax bills !

Usernumbers1234 · 04/07/2018 18:15
Grin

Roofers and scaffolders should be paid as much as footballers, I’ve heard it all now

Anyone with a modicum of physicality can do that job, and when was the last time you paid to watch that? Should I cancel my sky subs until they put the scaffolding channel on?

Footballers have an insane level of natural talent. They make huge sacrifices from the age of 8 for a tiny chance of being one of the few hundred players in the world that earn the money that upsets you. Thousands never earn anything from it and a “lucky” few that make it in the lower leagues might make 6 figures a year for a couple of years in their prime,

Scaffolders. Hilarious.

ghostyslovesheets · 04/07/2018 18:15

oh and make sure the books you read aren't by the likes of JK Rowling - I mean she gets paid millions as well!