ONTD_P's Photo of the Day: August 10, 2011.

[ladypolitik]

Comments

[entropius]

Football is one of those rare ways in which the whole world forgets its bullshit and just enjoys being alive.

[erethesunrises]

Yes, exactly. One of the biggest reasons I love it so.

[entropius]

Cricket is the same way for the countries that play it.

Hilarious cricket anecdote: One of my graduate-student colleagues in the physics department is a South African, who's a cricketer.

We had an Australian professor as a visiting colloquium speaker, and as usual the grad students (~20 of us) took him out to lunch. South Africa had just beaten Australia in a major match, which is a huge upset (Oz takes its cricket very seriously)

Mike (the South African) asks: "So, got a question for you. You're Australian, right?"

Aussie: "Yeah, I am ... why?"

Mike: "So, how does it feel to suddenly be from a second-rate cricket nation?"

Aussie: "Uh ... what? Wait, you're South African, aren't you? YOU BLOODY WANKER!" (in front of *everyone*).

It was absolutely priceless. Imagine Mike in a thick Afrikaans accent and the Aussie in the Australian accent, and it gets even funnier.

[homasse]

Yeah, if you ignore things like spectators throwing bananas and making monkey noises at black players, the rampant homophobia... :/

I love soccer, but let's be real, here.

[koken23]

There is something special about football/soccer though. For all the issues it undoubtedly has, there's something beautiful in a game where the rich and the poor can all play on more or less the same terms. No fancy equipment, no expensive home ground, no specialised conditions.

All you need is a ball - when I was a child, we used to make one out of newspaper and string - and some space.

[bleakwinters]

Yeah, right. Is that why so many people started saying Japan deserved the tsunami for winning the women's world cup? (among other horrifying shit that got thrown around)