Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

Have you noticed that in this section mostly American and European people are posting, who often don't have the beginning of a clue about what the others are talking about ?

So my idea is to make the whole section understandable for anyone : let's make some kind of sport dictionary that would explain the basics of all sports (Leagues, Major events, very basic rules, etc.).

FOOTBALL -a.k.a SOCCER in the US-

Basic rules: two teams of eleven players who can only touch the ball with their feet, legs, chest and head (including one Goalkeeper, who's able to take the ball in his hands within his zone). Game duration: 90 minutes ( 2 x 45 mins).

Main Competitions :
- World Cup (every 4 years , national teams) ;
- Euro (every 4 years, there is one in 2004, national teams) ;
- Copa America (South America, every other year, national teams) ;
- Champion's league (CL) (Europe, every year, best clubs from each national league) ;
- Copa Libertadores ( South America, every year, best clubs) ;

Each country has its own league ; the best ones are in England, Spain, Italy and Germany


-----------------------------------

Isn't it amazing how only America and Canada compete in the "World Series"? Let's have a Soccer World Cup with only Souh Korea and Azerbhaijan. It would make as much sense.

people from different countries compete on those american and canadian baseball teams

Spoken like a true American.

whats that suppose to mean?..you gotta problem with me coz i'm american

Nope.

TOPIC, peeps...

If no one thinks this thread is a good idea then let him die, but don't start this kind of discussion here...

I think it's a good idea GP, but I don't think that in a sports dictionary someone can give a quick rundown to the different tactics used in american football to get me to make good decisions in Madden 2004

lol, yers..

U forgot the UEFA cup G.P.

't was on purpose my dear Rusky, for I don't hold the UEFA Cup as a very important competition...But if you thnk it is...

-------------------------
FOOTBALL (aka SOCCER)

Main Competitions ( part II):
- UEFA Cup (C3) (Europe, every year, clubs that aren't as good as the best ones);

-------------------------

what about the european supercup?
or the confederations cup?

Well about the difference between Pingpong and Table tennis, I have been told that by my TT teacher...
Did you know that Pingpong was originally the name of a kit to play TT at home ?

that's what I get for helping?

See, everyone?!? That is the TRUE beauty of sports--the fact that we're all so passionate about the ones we love. Athleticism. Motivation. Devotion. Competition. Winning. Losing. The words may be different in all our languages, and the terminolgy from game-to-game varies as much as it does from country- to-country.

P.S. Yers-- I thought your Madden comment was really funny, too.

P.P.S. amity75--It's not our faults that we're American!

We're not all boorish idiots that think the U.S. is the center of the universe, but the ones that are tend to be the ones who get paid to criticize other's athletic ability or effort to forward their journalistic interests.
I acknowledge that the titles for championships in North America do sound like ego-strokes, but bear in mind that many of these titles are 100 or more years old. It would be rude of us to change the names just to be more politically correct, and it disgraces our forefathers, and ruins tradition. I respect each of you guys for your opinions and understand that only a few of you will agree with my point of view, but that won't change my opinion, and no one else should be expected to change their own or be criticized just for trying to contribute. That having been said, I say, let's play ball!

Either you keep this thread on topic and carry this on elsewhere or I close it.

players who come to the MLB from other countries who were some of the very best in their country are abover average here at the most part.. it was like the first year we made the dream team.. the other countries werent prepared.. baseball is still growing around the world and they just couldnt compete with MLB teams yet

Since you mentioned baseball, I'll start with that. MLB has two leagues-- the American and National. Each of those have 3 divisions: West, Central, and East. The divisions are made up of 4 to 6 teams. The National League has 16 teams, the American 14.
The regular season has 162 games. There are 2 sessions of interleague play, and the rules for those games are decided by the ballpark in which they are played. In an NL ballpark, both teams pitchers' make the up the ninth position in the batting order. In the AL, a designated hitter (DH) is used, just as they would in the World Series. We can talk about playoffs later. The roster is limited to 25 players- amended from 40 at training camp. There is no salary cap in MLB.
The position players are catcher (c), first base (1b), second (2b), shortstop (ss), third base (3b), right, center, and left fielders (rf, cf, and lf).
5 pitchers make up the start rotation (sp). Then there is the bullpen-- made up of relievers and closers. There are abbreviations to indicate which hand the p throws with (rhp=rightie and lhp=leftie). Switch hitters and pitchers are usually indicated by a #.
Games are 9 innings, with the home team always batting last. The inning ends when 3 batters (or baserunners) are retired (or thrown or put out, etc.) In an at-bat (ab), a batter gets 3 strikes. The third strike must be a swing and miss or no swing on a strike. A batter cannot foul out on the 3rd strike. A walk is issued on a count of 4 balls. This is called a base on balls (bb), and is charged to this pitcher. A run is scored as a baserunner steps on home plate-and is scored as a run for the player (r), and the player that drove in the run is credited with a run- batted-in (rbi). A home run (hr) credits the player for his hit, as credits him an rbi for every baserunner driven in. If the bases are loaded the batter gets 4 rbi, and another credit called the grand slam.
A hit (h) is a single, a double(2B), a triple(3B). A batter hits for the cycle when he hits all of the above and a hr in a single game.
That'll do for starters. How's that for on-topic?

1 correction a batter can foul out if its a bunt attempt

Oooh--good. Of course I forgot that, and there are also lots of other special circumstances within all the stuff I mentioned above. It would probably take us several entire pages of thread to explain all of baseball. Did you see anything else I missed in the above? What do you think we should mention next? I think you should cover pitching. What do you think we should mention? This is kinda fun

Good job Bassymbiote and Forumcrew ! I'm smarter now
Anyone else ? American Football ? Hockey ? Others sports ?

Well, we barely even touched on baseball, but we could move on if you like. There are lots of people on these threads that know their stuff--why don't you pick the next sport and ask us some Qs--It could be fun.

Great review of the game of baseball badsymbiote, the next step will be the Moneyball rules.

OK, then, in that case, you're on it!!! Good luck with ALL that! This is way out of my field of expertisse.

Basically I must admit that I hardly know anything about baseball (just the principles) for it's a sport that never managed to "spread" in France. We never get the games on TV btw. So yes I'm eager to improve my knowledge.

I don't think anyone in the world with one iota of intelligence could claim to know everything about the game--have you ever seen a baseball encyclopedia and rulebook? It's the size of an unabridged dictionary. And just when you think you've seen it all, something happens that changes your mind. That's why I love it. No matter your skill-level, there's always the potential to learn something more.

G.P., what sort of thing would you like to know? I can't even remember what we already talked about for sure, guess I could go back and look...

(I'm on a comp that limits me - I don't have much time now but we'll continue this on Monday )