Euro's

[Milli]

As a huge football fan (both as a coach and player) I hate the way some athletes in the game go on. Primadonnas at the finest - get paid too much for a sport they supposedly love and should play for a fraction what some earn. (latest rumour is van Persie to be offered £250,000 a week). It's totally crazy.
I have fines in place for the team I coach/manage where any booking for dissent results in a fine to the the player. These guys (the refs) don't get paid enough for some of the crap they have to put up with.

[RizZy]

There is huge truth in that.   They must have lost a ton of supporters over the years due to the increasingly 'dramatic acting' rather than actual playing.   That and the total disrespect shown to referees.   In any other sport they'd be sent off, banned and told not to come back until they had grown out of diapers.

Like yourself & having played American Football TL, I do like the way things are done in it, only the captains can talk to the Refs & you should call them sir at all times.

On the subject of feigning injuries & stuff, I'd quite like to see the same thing happen in footy as they do in rugby, just call the trainer on & get on with the game with only the most serious of cases needing a stoppage, I'd think that would get rid of a lot of the play acting.

[Sithvid]

Football It's the most popular sport in the world can be played by kids with nothing doesn't need a ref.
Baseball American football... Only won by Americans

[Padding]

Only Americans make a Baseball Tournament and call it "The World Series" but only American teams can play in it. Football is !win! and i surely dont mean the American version.

[Gone_Away]

@Padding @Sithvid..

Achem.. Toronto BlueJays

Last time I checked Toronto was still in Canada

[TeaLeaf]

Yep, I was there last year watching the Blue Jays and it is definitely still in Canada! :roflmao:

@Padding & Sith:
I think you both missed the point (but I don't think anyone is arguing against the 'world' point you both made).   What I was lambasting is that referees are abused by football players and that football players cheat by acting as if they were fouled or hurt.  When you pay someone tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands per week to play then as a professional you'd expect better.

If football handed out similar punishments to their players as for example 'american football' then you'd suddenly find the game would be much more fun and entertaining.  It would also gather a lot more respect and supporters as people like me despise the way football players abuse the game.

In american football, baseball, basketball or almost any other professional sport any contact or abuse of the referree results in an instant dismissal & ejection from the game, followed by a huge fine from the league & their own team and additionals bans for serial or bad infringements.   The result is that these games have very few issues with player behaviour, unlike football.   Then again, look at the arsehole in charge of world football, maybe that's the standard they are stooping for

[smilodon]

Sadly I think the issues are so pervasive it will take a huge effort to change things. I'm always amazed that American Football ended up being so sorted. You'd think that corporate America would have twisted and broken the game in so many ways that it would have been all about the money and nothing about the sport. The irony is that to a degree UK, and maybe even world Soccer, has allowed itself to slide down that exact slippery slope and now is much poorer as a sport for it. Billionaires can now buy any team they like, throw vast amounts of money at it and more or less guarantee themselves a shelf full of trophies. There are almost no checks and controls on how money is spent, how players are paid and  traded and how teams are owned. Add to that the slow creeping dissent and quasi-cheating that is developing and someone with 'a pair' seriously needs to step up and take control. I don't know much about UK football but I've never met anyone who thought the FA bosses were anything more than a bunch of timid, self serving idiots.

I don't think it's just football either. We've had issued with Cricket and Rugby Union in the past as well. I still remember news stories about Cricket selectors and their mad choices for who represented England. I also well remember when the Rugby Bosses sacked Will Carling an England captain for suggesting the Rugby Officials weren't running British rugby well. It was only due to the fact that the whole England team got behind Will and not one of them was willing to take the captaincy that he got his job back and gave us a great run at the next World Cup.

Of course the main problem is that American Football is by definition only a USA sport, so rules applied are binding across all professional teams. If UK football teams had a salary cap placed on them I imagine every decent player would simply up sticks and go play for another European team that could still pay the huge salaries. If is was a Europe wide rule they would all head of somewhere else. It would need to be a world wide rule and then you're into the whole minefield of different standards and costs of living. There would also be the question of the various amounts of money generated in different countries by football. How would you compare a fair salary for a player in the UK against one in Brazil?