03-17-2008, 04:40 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Personally, I'm ambivalent toward professional soccer and rugby because pros tend to lose sight of sportsmanship and go into boring agressive behaviour more often (leastways, that's the feeling I get watching Touch and soccer worldcup - so many people yelling and kicking each other rather than the ball blink.gif ). Playing soccer at school or with friends is fun, though.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Husky, with regards to Association Football, it's actually quite opposite of what you described. The sport is now plagued with issue of players diving and faking injuries to draw fouls/penalties. I mean, there is no real aggression involved. This was witnessed in the last World Cup's final match that featured France and Italy. It was the worst game of soccer I have ever seen. All this drama and playacting persuaded me to follow Rugby which I find more exciting to watch and play than any sport I've known so far.
With regards to unsportsmanlike activities in these games, well sometimes these aggressive outbreaks are triggered by unsportsmanlike gestures like illegal tackles etc, so it tends to be sorted out by the use of jungle-justice. Things like this are pretty rare even in an rough sport like Rugby. I still prefer it to the "sport" I've come to despise aka cricket.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indian schools can't be relied on for making the necessary changes to encourage more sports in kids' lives though. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You're right on that one. When I did my schooling in India, my school allowed us a grant total of 30 minutes for PT (Physical Training - sports etc) <i>weekly</i>. In the US however, we had about 90 minutes of sports every single day and the activities were rigorous. Not crap like cricket or some stupid childish game.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->families need to promote more of it amongst their youngsters - it will only lead to their kids having more energy and better success all-round.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah. Also, like BV said somewhere else, this is a truly global phenomenon for Indians. Even among NRI's there is no active encouragement on the part of parents to make their kids pursue sports.
Personally, I would like to see a massive resurgence of traditional games and activities like mallakhamb, kabbadi, Hindu wrestling, and the use of our traditional weights for bodybuilding. Success in Olympic events will naturally follow when crap like cricket is disbanded.
Husky, with regards to Association Football, it's actually quite opposite of what you described. The sport is now plagued with issue of players diving and faking injuries to draw fouls/penalties. I mean, there is no real aggression involved. This was witnessed in the last World Cup's final match that featured France and Italy. It was the worst game of soccer I have ever seen. All this drama and playacting persuaded me to follow Rugby which I find more exciting to watch and play than any sport I've known so far.
With regards to unsportsmanlike activities in these games, well sometimes these aggressive outbreaks are triggered by unsportsmanlike gestures like illegal tackles etc, so it tends to be sorted out by the use of jungle-justice. Things like this are pretty rare even in an rough sport like Rugby. I still prefer it to the "sport" I've come to despise aka cricket.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Indian schools can't be relied on for making the necessary changes to encourage more sports in kids' lives though. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You're right on that one. When I did my schooling in India, my school allowed us a grant total of 30 minutes for PT (Physical Training - sports etc) <i>weekly</i>. In the US however, we had about 90 minutes of sports every single day and the activities were rigorous. Not crap like cricket or some stupid childish game.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->families need to promote more of it amongst their youngsters - it will only lead to their kids having more energy and better success all-round.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah. Also, like BV said somewhere else, this is a truly global phenomenon for Indians. Even among NRI's there is no active encouragement on the part of parents to make their kids pursue sports.
Personally, I would like to see a massive resurgence of traditional games and activities like mallakhamb, kabbadi, Hindu wrestling, and the use of our traditional weights for bodybuilding. Success in Olympic events will naturally follow when crap like cricket is disbanded.