SHP Forums

Ever get the feeling that the world is getting - well - "stupider"?

Apparently this is the case, as "Waffle House" (a chain in the USA that - surprise - serves waffles) says that they will boycott Belgian waffles, because the USA is (or was) playing Belgium in the FIFA World Cup. (That's soccer, if you haven't been paying attention).

Sigh... ok, let's start with the obvious: Belgium didn't invent Belgian waffles, nor do they eat them. The waffles they eat in Belgium are named after the various cities in which they were made, like Liege and Brussels. But why bring reality into it? U-S-A! U-S-A!

Anyway, if you want to ban something that - y'know - actually has to do with Belgium (never mind that it's a stupid idea in the first place), why not ban Hercule Poirot?

It's Okay.

The US did something for a brief bit, calling "French Fries" "Freedom Fries" instead.

This is nothing more than joke that is a play on the "Freedom Fries" lunacy of the GWB admin. Don't take it seriously. After all, the "Freedom Fries" knuckle draggers hate it and decry soccer as a wussy a un-American sport.

Tawmis wrote:It's Okay.

The US did something for a brief bit, calling "French Fries" "Freedom Fries" instead.

I remember "Freedom Fries". I think that French toast was also renamed "Freedom toast".

The idea is older than the Bushy regime, though. During World War I, sauerkraut was renamed "Liberty cabbage" and frankfurters were called "hot dogs" - as if by changing the name, you change what the thing is.

Collector wrote:This is nothing more than joke that is a play on the "Freedom Fries" lunacy of the GWB admin. Don't take it seriously. After all, the "Freedom Fries" knuckle draggers hate it and decry soccer as a wussy a un-American sport.

Heh, well... I was hoping it wouldn't be a serious thing. As for Ann Coulter... the less said, the better. I've played soccer (including in competitions) for almost 30 years; she doesn't know what she's talking about. I don't like it when people pretend to be experts about stuff that they don't know, it's so dumb.

We beat you anyway
...and I also have a strong dislike for Hercule Poirot, so feel free to ban him.
...and the only "Belgian" waffles are made in... Belgium

There, now I'm feeling better

We need a picture of a Smurf blowing a raspberry (or Jokey presenting a gift) to the Avengers and what other American superhero comics there are. Tried to make one myself but I can't find a good superhero picture to use.
I'm so happy for the Belgians! Hope they can beat Argentina in the next round and hope the Dutch can beat Costa Rica - not much chance, but just think of a semi-final between Netherlands and Belgium!

BBP wrote:just think of a semi-final between Netherlands and Belgium!

Dream match! That would literally be one for the Dutch and Belgian history books

Am I the only one in the world who doesn't give a good goddamn about soccer?

dotkel50 wrote:Am I the only one in the world who doesn't give a good goddamn about soccer?

I don't, but then again, I'm not much of a sports fan, so I don't really care about baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc.

dotkel50 wrote:Am I the only one in the world who doesn't give a good goddamn about soccer?

Nor I. I do have some attraction to baseball and at one time Football, but living too close to a stadium is a good cure for that.

I was heavily interested in it for about a year, that was after the 2000 European championship were organised in NL and Belgium and my home town was one of the match playing cities. They'd set up bunk beds at the local swimming pool and staying over cost a whopping 120 guilders, especially bad with the chlorine smell. At the time I was friends with a family of which the father was extremely sociable. He met a group of 8 Swedes, who asked him if he knew of a good hotel - and then he offered them to come stay in his home, for free.

Anyway, for a year I followed all the adventures of local football team PSV, of the expensive Mateja Kezman who was disappointing and of the strong defense tandem of Hofland and Nikiforov, of the brilliant goalie Waterreus who was sadly always passed over for the national team since they already had the very good goalie Van Der Sar - but after a year, half of the players you were rooting for have left; and then I stopped caring.

In general football doesn't interest me, I don't follow club results (especially with the Chinese gambling mafia thing), but at the world- and European championships, when you can expect to see good football and where the player trade doesn't figure as much, that's when I'm interested.

And yes guys, I do understand the offside rule.

BBP wrote:I was heavily interested in it for about a year, that was after the 2000 European championship were organised in NL and Belgium and my home town was one of the match playing cities. They'd set up bunk beds at the local swimming pool and staying over cost a whopping 120 guilders, especially bad with the chlorine smell. At the time I was friends with a family of which the father was extremely sociable. He met a group of 8 Swedes, who asked him if he knew of a good hotel - and then he offered them to come stay in his home, for free.

Anyway, for a year I followed all the adventures of local football team PSV, of the expensive Mateja Kezman who was disappointing and of the strong defense tandem of Hofland and Nikiforov, of the brilliant goalie Waterreus who was sadly always passed over for the national team since they already had the very good goalie Van Der Sar - but after a year, half of the players you were rooting for have left; and then I stopped caring.

In general football doesn't interest me, I don't follow club results (especially with the Chinese gambling mafia thing), but at the world- and European championships, when you can expect to see good football and where the player trade doesn't figure as much, that's when I'm interested.

And yes guys, I do understand the offside rule.

I've never understood this stereotype that says that ladies don't understand sports. I've known lots of ladies who not only understand sports, but follow them more passionately than some guys. *shrug*

At any rate, I've played football (that's "soccer" to Aussies and Americans ) since I was about 3 or 4. I have played in amateur leagues, although their rather violent tendencies have put me off; now I just play for fun and fitness. I've always played goalie, and I have to admit that by now, I'm not too bad at being goalie.

I played for a university indoor soccer team, and one game sticks in my mind because of what happened. The other team was definitely stronger than us, and before the game they trash-talked us (e.g. "We're gonna beat the pants off you" etc.) Well... during the game they got three penalties, I managed to save them all, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. The other team were threatening retribution after the game, although (again) it was just trash talk.

I remember another indoor soccer game because I actually managed to kick a goal while still being in my own goal. The other team was doing what's known in basketball as a "full-court press" - i.e. they (including their goalie) were pressing their attack quite strongly while I and my defenders were trying desperately to keep them out. The ball came to me, so just to get it away from my goal, I kicked it as hard as I could. It sailed in a perfect parabola over everyone's heads and landed in the opposing goal. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes...

Yep, you do get some fun times playing soccer - especially indoor soccer, where the ball, the goal and the court are smaller, so the game is much faster and therefore much more fun.

Rath Darkblade wrote: I've never understood this stereotype that says that ladies don't understand sports. I've known lots of ladies who not only understand sports, but follow them more passionately than some guys. *shrug*

I think it's just one of those ridiculous "no girls allowed" things that some guys like to use. Not sure why, to be honest. I've seen it happen in gaming a lot too, particularly competitive gaming, which interestingly enough, has practically become a sport in of itself.

Rath Darkblade wrote:At any rate, I've played football (that's "soccer" to Aussies and Americans ) since I was about 3 or 4.

Huh. I would've thought Australians would say "football," but I guess I'm wrong.

BTW, Canadians call it soccer too.

DeadPoolX wrote:Huh. I would've thought Australians would say "football," but I guess I'm wrong.

BTW, Canadians call it soccer too.

I think it is because to them Football means Australian rules football, which to me, looks a lot like rugby. Of course Canadians have a variant of American football, so to all three countries the term football means something else.

Rudy wrote:We beat you anyway
...and I also have a strong dislike for Hercule Poirot, so feel free to ban him.
...and the only "Belgian" waffles are made in... Belgium

There, now I'm feeling better

Heh. Why do you dislike Hercule Poirot, Rudy? *curious* I'm fully aware he's not representative of Holland or Belgium. He's just a joke character. But I like him anyway.

Rath Darkblade wrote:At any rate, I've played football (that's "soccer" to Aussies and Americans ) since I was about 3 or 4.

Huh. I would've thought Australians would say "football," but I guess I'm wrong.

BTW, Canadians call it soccer too.[/quote]

Yep, Collector is right. Aussies here have something called Australian Rules Football, which is a little like rugby and which they are very passionate about. Whenever the World Cup starts, some Aussies (for some bizarre reason) start banging on about how Aussie Rules is so much better than soccer, because of ABC or XYZ. I don't understand why people have to do this. *shrug* Possibly it's because they're insecure about their own sport, so they have to make a big deal about how it's so great. What's your view on this?

Anyway, the World Cup is over. Congratulations are due to the Germans, who have been a very solid team this time around. Commiserations to Brazil, who were thrashed by Germany (and on their own home ground, too!) by 7 goals to 1. Of course, the Brazilians were missing 5 key players due to injury, but still... I'd never have expected such a lopsided result. Any views?