For a while now, I’ve been wondering what replaces football in America as the acceptable male sport. Baseball remains popular, despite howling to the contrary, but it is not a tough guy sport. Little boys need a sport where they can get all that aggression out of their system. Football has served that purpose in most of the country. In the Northeast and upper Midwest, hockey has been the tough guy sport for boys. In some areas like the Midwest, wrestling is popular. In the inner city, boxing used to be the thing.
Football is under assault by the Cult for a number of reasons. One is it is overly masculine. The other is it is too racial. They have tried hard to create great black quarterbacks, but so far it has come up empty. On the other hand, they can’t see to find fast white guys to play receiver and cornerback. Like track, the results reveal uncomfortable truths about people. Of course, there’s also the concussion issue which is probably exaggerated, but serious injury is real and enough to scare off some moms from letting their kids play football.
Football is also too Southern for the Cult. The best college teams are in the South and the best players are in the South. The Cult hates the South. That means another sport is needed to fill the need for boys. I’ve been leaning toward hockey filling that role. The reason is the “hockey mom” phenomenon. I know a lot of single mothers who put their kids into hockey. In the Mid-Atlantic, youth hockey is doing very well. Still, it is a cold weather sport and that makes it impractical for most of the country.
Anyway, watching the USA Sevens today – USA ties South Africa! – it occurred to me that this could be the next “soccer” for the Cult of Modern Liberalism. Like football, it is a tough guy sport. You can’t play rugby unless you have some courage. But, you’re unlikely to get your brains scrambled like in football. Heads clash, for sure, but not with the ferocity of football. The added bonus is it is easy to understand so single moms can stand on the sidelines and cheer.
The big bonus, I think, is it is a sport white kids can play. Speed, strength and size matter, but it is not a running and jumping sport like basketball or football. Cooperation and discipline probably count for more than anything in rugby. The game moves quickly and there’s a lot of action. The bigger bonus is the snob factor. Rugby is a sport played by gentleman, unlike soccer, which is played by criminals and deviants. Given that rugby is getting on TV I suspect that it may become the next big thing in America.
Thanks for the verse, Repair Man Jack. however as I dislike the whole drinking, boredom and sneaky violence of Rugby Union it comes as no surprise that I am unfamiliar with the song. I expect in true RU fashion it involves rudeness, swearing and generally boorish behaviour.
But each to their own.
To UKer,
“If I were the marrying kind,
and I thank the Lord I’m Not Sir!
The type of man that I would be
Would be a Rugby Prop Sir!
(Just seeing if you could provide the missing lyrics).
I played for years. It requires far too great an inhibation of spirited beverages for The Cult to tolerate. But a Rugby Super Bowl featuring The Mighty Alabama Slammers taking on the heretofore unstoppable Denver Visigoths would be a instant classic.
Late for this, but will chip in. Soccer is a game for gentlemen played by ruffians, and rugby a game for ruffians played by gentlemen. Except it isn’t. Rugby union is a tedious game with endless kicking for position and few runs. It has it’s following, but frankly it is a bore in which it is not unknown for some very dirty punches in the scrum and even people biting each other’s ears off. Nasty game for snobs only, and I knew a rugby union player who basically got drunk all the time. His fund of vile songs was about as good as it got.
But, soccer fan that I am, I am also a northerner and if I had to watch rugby it would be the League code, not Union. Rugby League is a tough but honest game without all the damned kicking for touch. The basic rule is six tackles, so teams — almost based entirely in the north of England — drive hard to get good field position with no more than five tackles.
If the US had to embrace rugby, you would enjoy League far more than Union. But the money is in Union thanks to its home county snobs and reactionary oiks.
I like sevens for the reason UKer mentions. It’s more action packed. You get long runs and there’s no defensive strategy you can employ to “sit on the ball.” I think Americans would have a tough time with 13 or 15 a side. The other thing that would make sevens attractive to American single moms is the games are over quickly.
Roger- I enjoy rugby, and wouldn’t mind seeing it get some traction in North America, especially at the expense of soccer- maybe we could provide a bolt-hole for fleeing Afrikaners, and they could spread the game here! Fat chance! But I must take exception to your comment about hockey- it’s low scoring, to be sure, and I think it could probably do something to increase the number of goals scored, but unlike soccer, there are many more scoring opportunities, which are mostly, whether they result in a goal or not, pretty exciting. Hockey does not televise well- better now in HD, so I’d suggest you take in a game in person- I’m a particular fan of the college game- the skill level is not quite what it is in the NHL, but it is fast and exciting. Give it a shot!
My grandson and I stumbled upon a rugby game that was televised a few months ago (Chicago vs New Zealand). It was non stop action!
We had no idea what the rules were or how points were scored, but by the end of the game it pretty much started making sense. Much better than any “traditional” sport. Unlike soccer, people actually scored. No boring thirty second pauses like football. Not monotonous like hockey and basketball and baseball.
Awesome sport.
Sporting games for whites…. MMA and surfing.
“…the whole Duke thing WERE actually true…” Sorry!
Lacrosse is growing like crazy, particularly in the hockey-playing Upper Midwest, and the West Coast- it’s also a way for small liberal arts colleges to get more normal boys to enroll. I’m guessing the Cult hates it, too- too preppy, too white (but then, I repeat myself), too violent. The Cultists behave as if the whole Duke thing was actually true, and representative of the sport.
Love the rugger. Six Nations always has a bit of passion. The Southern Hemisphere is better quality running. Some of the initiations that Rugby Clubs have are a bit gay though. Usually involves putting your mouth near something disgusting while the other blokes cheer you on. That comes out of the old brass military connection. Working class lads always find that part a bit off putting.
What, no frisbee golf, curling, polo?
Young guys play Quidditch. I wish I were kidding
We’re doomed
Rugby! The greatest competitive sport ever devised. No other game compares. Ball goes down, ball goes back in play without stopping the action, setting up, waiting on a snap. Makes it fast, agile and hostile. Players all have to know what is going on every second. Watching is fun, but nothing else is like playing…yeah, I’d like to see it take hold here.
E tuiho nei, tuiho nei, hi! Ponga ra!
Twenty years ago I came to know a Puerto Rican at my gym who had at one time risen to be the fifth ranked light-heavyweight in the world. He had been recruited to join a rugby club but said the sport was too rough for him.
Youth and adult roller hockey seems to be doing well here in Las Vegas. I’m a baseball guy all the way but the sport is very difficult to learn and maintain. BTW, although it is not a rough and tumble sport it is all about intimidation at each higher level.
As a kid I played every sport. My best was baseball. I have long arms and strong lower body so I could throw very hard. As I got older I could throw into the 90’s with movement. Elbow problems kept me from thinking beyond high school ball. Wrestling was my favorite sport, however. Nothing better than walking out on that mat in a big tournament in front of a big crowd. No excuses. The best man wins. If you want to feel what the gladiators were like, take in the NCAA wrestling tournament.
Two people I know put their misfit boys into wrestling at my suggestion. In both cases, the boys turned around and got back on track. They just needed structure and discipline and a way to blow off all that aggression. I’m thinking rugby would be a great sport that way too.
It really is a great game. I prefer sevens because it is more action. You get more long runs. Another thing Americans should like is the fact you can see the players.
Watched England destroy Italy in rugby today, a great game.Soccer over here still the sport of the male working class despite all efforts of the London based lefties.