How to Avoid Drinking Budweiser at the World Cup

I know it sounds awful to say that Budweiser might be preferable to something but it actually is. In Portugal for the Euro 2004, they served Carlsberg sem Alcohol at the stadia. You have never seen a more angry bunch of people than the Czechs who had about 8 beers each, only to discover they didn’t have any alcohol in them.

Beer without alcohol is like dancing without music… not funny at all.

Here in Brazil we pay hard cash to drink Erdinger or Paulaner, but it is worth it. If you’re going to Germany, you’re on the source!!! Drink away!!!

Can’t organizers get enough of bud? Maybe they give them a different bud during bidding.

The best bit of advice I’ve read in awhile. Thanks for the tips, they will come in handy when I get a little tipsy.

I have a pretty good one, although failure becomes quite expensive. You will need: an extra ticket, mannequin legs, a large blanket, a floppy hat, a keg of good beer, and a wheelchair. I don’t suppose spelling it out any further is necessary.

Don’t worry, I am not going to be drinking Bud. A Stein 15 minutes before kick off will be the ticket.

That’s a shame that a truly terrible beer is trying to taking over the world. I think there should be a mass protest. At the 75th minute of each game every person in the stadium should take a cup of bud and throw it at the referees.

[...] Here are some posts worth looking at: Budweiser at World Cup and World Cup Beauty Pageant The World Cup Tags site makes it easy to follow along on any topic related to World Cup that you’re looking for. [...]

[...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

[...] From the counting your chickens before they hatch department, we learn that British Finance Minister Gordon Brown has frozen the duties on England’s sparkling wines in anticipation of a World Cup celebration this summer. We can think of many ways we would want to celebrate, but consuming English champagne would not be very close to the top of the list. In fact, we might prefer cracking open a Budweiser, well, maybe not. But it did get us thinking about some of the things that we think are necessary for us to be able celebrate the World Cup in proper fashion. We call upon Mr. Brown and all politicians to lift all duties on the following. [...]

[...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

[...] Our good friends at Anheiser-Busch are offering you a chance to win some World Cup tickets. The makers of Budweiser will shell out tickets to you and your friends if you submit the best photo of yourself and a caption that includes the phrase, “Over 18 – I enjoy watching the game, having a Bud because….” As critics of the swill called Bud, we are fairly unlikely to win this one, but since only two people have entered thus far we figured we would give it a try. Here are our submissions. [...]

[...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

[...] So I learned today that Budweiser is the official beer of the World Cup. Normally you’d say, ok, whatever, but in this instance it means that the only beer allowed to be sold inside the stadiums is Budweiser. All this in the land of the great Pilsners and other beers – what is the pee water that is Budweiser doing on sale in Germany at all? The Germans (and I would think most Europeans) are understandably upset but it’s done. If you want a beer inside the stadium you’ll have to smuggle it in, or just drink water, tastes better than a cold Bud anyday. [...]

Here in the States we’ve always had to deal with the glut of watery piss-beer and power-starved security guards at our large-scale entertainment events. How’s a fan supposed to get a good heat on without breaking the bank? Why, the “BeerBelly” of course! http://www.thebeerbelly.com/
See? Every once in awhile, we Yanks can come up with a good idea!

American Bud spruelwasser at the World Cup in Deutschland!

Aaauuuggghh!

Bitte ein Bit!

Frankly, I think the whole thing is hilarious. All of Europe is so outraged that a beer (founded by a German), is going to be serving beer at the world cup in Germany.

Not to mention it is the number one selling beer in the world.

So, while I understand that being European involves some snobbery and hating everything American just by default, you guys really need to think this through.

Just because you like to drink rasberry flavored, wheat grass infused microgarbage, the numbers still speak for themselves: The majority of people prefer to drink “piss.”

That’s just the way it is.

Michael

Michael, you sir, are the biggest moron in the history of the world.

If you want to drink piss, go ahead and drink mine.

I guess Michael has never had a good Belgian, German, or Czech beer.

Nick has got it right! A stein before kickoff!

It just comes down to being loyal I live in ST.Louis and bud is the king of good paying jobs say no more all beer tast like shit or piss we drink it for the man or woman making 26.00 dollars an hour you still are the king of middle class people in the USA

As Monty Python Says:

”American beer is like making love in a canoe….it`s fucking close to water…”

[...] Is the fan base for the World Cup half full of it or half witted? Not unlike the competitive spirit of the Olympic Games, nationalistic fervor tends to run rampant every four years in pursuit of the top position in world football. This is not to be confused with the helmet and padding show that Americans tolerate between beer commercials, although some of us may be forgiven for comparing the two when American Budweiser reigns as the official beer of the World Cup. [...]

I myslef am a American and I hate Budweiser and all the other water downed crap American beers.. I think it’s a bloody shame that they are sponsoring the World cup in Germany.
I difinetly think some type of protest or petition should be setup so they don’t win the rights to the 2010 wolrd cup in South Africa.

First, let me say I’m a German-American, from Trippstadt (near Kaiserslautern), living in the USA, yes, I’m rooting for Germany, and yes, I like Budweiser.

By German brewing standards, many Belgian, English, Irish and and other popular brews would not be considered beer at all. The Americans are not saying to change your standards, but they are saying – this is a WORLD Cup, not a German Cup. People around the world have different tastes, and that’s why Budweiser is labeled an “American lager” by brewing standards.

Without sponsors, there would be no World Cup (or Olympics, or Bundesliga, or Premier League, etc.), because no one would want to pay the ticket prices for what it would cost to host the event.

You want to enjoy the World Cup every four years, yet you act like you despise the companies that make it happen. You can’t have it both ways.

And I don’t see any worldwide German companies stepping up to sponsor the event, by the way.

To my die-hard German beer friends, if you’ve got so damn much good beer that you’re hiding from the Americans, then why do you keep exporting Beck’s to the USA?

Budweiser is in the fortunate position to be very popular around the world, and they give back in the form of team and sporting event sponsorships, so that we can all enjoy a good match on the weekends. The world’s two largest brewers – Belgian InBev, and English owned South African Breweries/Miller, do not support world class sporting events. They just sit on their money and laugh at you when they raise prices.

So get with your friends, enjoy the matches, enjoy your Budweiser, and stop opening your mouth to complain – open it to cheer on your team.

I am of German origin, living in Ireland and I hate Bud.

Ted, how do you know there were no German companies stepping up to do major event sponsoring? Budwiser just had the highest bid…
The organizers are in for the money and so is Budweiser.
Your amlost reomantic view of Budweiser giving it back to the teams and fans – i don’t know. They invest money – to make more money. I’m sure the beer prices at the venues is not 2 Euro, but some rip off.

Read this..

http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/06/20/fifa_forces_footbal_fans_to_shed_shorts_budweiser_blamed/
(which linked back to the page)

Quote from Anheuser VP:
“We think this is about giving consumers a choice.” – LOL

Give people a choice – allow other beer to be sold and let the customer decide..
This exclusive sponsor shite!!!

They should introduce face-off sponsorship. Two beers go head to head during the wordcup finals and the fans decide the winner… THAT is marketing.

Just because millions of poeple like it doesn’t make it a good product… Like millions of flys eat shit too….

OT: Oh and btw, I don’t like guiness either, but its better (and cheaper) than Budweiser, Heineken, Carlsberg and all the other importet piss in Ireland.

Obviously you lack an understanding about how international sports sponsorship works, nor do you respect that different beer styles appeal to different palates.

Of note – sponsors don’t set beer prices, stadiums do. So if you’re paying too much for your beer, it’s your stadium owner who is ripping you off.

Similarly, FIFA governs fan behavior to protect their sponsors. It’s not the beer sellers disrobing fans, it’s FIFA personnel. If you and 50 of your friends wore Burger King crowns to a match (or to the Olympics), you would similarly be asked to take them off before entering.

What I do find amusing is that this situation of exclusive beer in a stadium only occurs outisde the U.S. In the U.S., it’s illegal to exclude other beers from a sports venue as a benefit of event sponsorship. But in Europe, it’s perfectly acceptable. Thus you could wear all the orange overalls and drink all the bitter beer you want at matches here.

[...] And a blog post entitled How to Avoid Drinking Budweiser at the World Cup [...]

You Europeans really are jealous of anything that is American aren’t you? We saved all of your asses in World War II and you have nothing but contempt for us despite the fact that you love our movies, our music and our products. Bud is the King because it tastes great, yes that’s right, and it is America. So you know you’ll love to drink it in private. Plus, as the Muslim population grows in Europe and you’re on the verge of Sharia law, you’ll come to us for help, we’ll save the day, and you’ll still hate us. German beer blows and so does soccer for that matter. So drink Bud and thank your lucky stars that you even have an economy because if it weren’t for the USA, you’d all be living life like you did in East Berlin only wishing to get a cold Bud and a taste of American freedom.

I concur with the sentiments of Uncle Sam, except to assert that it is not enough to say that soccer merely blows. It sucks ass completely. Soccer is played in the US however…by children. As they grow into men, they move on to men’s sports like Football, American Football

One more thing, there’s no need to like soccer because the rest of the world does. we have baseball, football, hockey and basketball, oh and watching paint dry, all of which are so much more exciting than soccer. Why should we go for a 3rd world sport just because th rest of the world does? That’s like living in a cave rather than a house becasue the rest of the world does. I prefer American football to futbol any day.

Now that I am dead, I have come to realize that the free market system is the best system around and freedom of choice is key to that. Bud earned the sponsorship and they deserve it. Beer is a matter of taste and there is no one beer better than an other just because where it’s from. If Bud is the largest selling beer in the world than it must be pretty good, at least to those people. So to call it piss is one man’s opinion but I feel that you feel that way mostly because it is American. And because Europe has an inferiority complex compared to America, that is your problem, not Americas. So if you don’t like Bud, go ahead and drink in your German pubs and stay there hating the people you really envy.

Please, Uncle Sam. I too am an American and am proud of my country’s accomplishments during WWII and in helping to rebuild post-war Germany but let’s get real. We didn’t do it alone. The Brits and Canadians deserve a lot of credit along with resistance groups in many countries. And none of America’s WWII accomplishments can negate the fact that Budweiser is a terrible excuse for beer.

Now time to disagree with American R.W.

There are lots of reasons for soccer not becoming one of the major sports in the U.S. There are already four major sports – baseball, basketball, ice hockey and American football to contend with. Soccer is the most played sport in the U.S., mostly by children where it is cheap (you need only a soccer ball) and a great form of exercise. As the children grow up, the other sports take over. Another reason for a lack of popularity is it is very difficult in a country this size for anyone to get excited over a “national team” to represent everyone. I think the same thing holds true for Canada where the sport doesn’t appear to be very popular.

As for American football, of the many “timed” sports (as opposed to those with no time limits such as baseball, golf and cricket), it has to be one of the most boring of all sports. An average American football game (according to the NFL which controls the pro sport) has 14.5 minutes of action. This, in a sport which consists of four 15 minute periods (one hour) and which take three hours to play.

Hmm. 14.5 minutes of actual activity in a 60 minute game that takes 180 minutes to finish means – drum roll please – that NOTHING happens for 92% of the time during those three hours.

What an exciting game!

And Bud is still a poor excuse for beer.

I was at the world cup. (portugal v angola 2 be exact.) nd they had a german equivalent, bit burger. i thought it was disgraceful 2 sell budweiser only just bcoz they sponsored the competition while germany, the spiritual home of beer, hosted the world cup. there was uproar because of that so the organisers allowed a german pils. the funny thing about it. no one bought budweiser in the end.

Uncle Sam, you are just a moron with a superiority complex.

Bringing up events from over 60 years ago, and using that to justify the force-feeding of whatever mass-marketed swill we shove at Europe (be it Bud, McDonalds or Disneyworld) is just idiotic. Your clueless attitude also demostrates why much of the world simply can not stand us. It’s called humility. Look it up, and give it a try.

I can’t really comment on much of what you said… your lack of understanding of even the most basic of realistic worldviews is pathetic. Your words are so stereotypically empty head right-wing, you are pretty much a parody of yourself. You can go scuttling back to Bill O’Reilly now…

I do agree with you that Americans don’t have to like futbol – and I think it’s great that we’re not that good at it (and I bet you’d say you LOVED soccer if we had a chance in hell of fielding a competitive team. We Americans tend to hate anything that we can’t master).

As for “Bud”, yes this watery yeast-juice is a fine example of “American Pilsner”… but if the beer-drinking palates of Europe justifiably don’t like this crap, they deserve a choice (Bitte ein Bit!), which fortunately they have.

Ted, obviously YOU do not respect that different beer styles appeal to different palates. Bud appeals to Americans. It does NOT appeal to the European palate.
See how simple that is?

I’m very satisfied that “Bud” got a PR black eye from their attempt to muscle in on a sport that they should stay the hell out of. Like I said before, it’s GOOD that we’re not #1 in everything, and it’s good that American beer be scorned in the place where beer was born.

FIFA are a bunch of high-class whores for cutting this deal – I only hope that *their* PR suffers as well.

I also find it “amusing” that people that hate futbol/soccer would take the time to post on a World Cup blog. Are you desperate for attention or something?

Gregory, It’s a shame that you fall into the typical liberal name calling game with no substance to back it up. Failing to see the significance of 60 year old history is exactly why people like you will be miserably doomed to repeat that history. You can’t see what’s happening in the world right in front of you and you fail to even look back at history to get some sort of compass on the future. What you don’t understand on top of that is capitalism and how America is a beacon upon which other countries can only hope to be a fraction of. Bud won the rights to the world cup through capitalistic freedom and that is one thing that has made America great. Our economy has grown 23% over the past 5 years. That growth is bigger than the entire economy of China. That’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be proud of. The fact that beer was born in Germany is irrelevant. Bud won the rights fair and square and if you don’t like it, too bad. Smuggle some beer in. If your German beer was so good it would have had the money to compete with Bud, but it doesn’t. Again, Bud is the largest seller in the world and can get more advertising out for the World Cup which in turn brings more interest and money into the Cup making it better for everyone involved. That’s capitalism. It makes everyone’s life better. So while you can’t understand what has made your country great, you cal lit idiotic and clueless. I’m sure you would prefer the more socialistic governments of Europe with their ridiculous unemployment and their slow economies. It’s too bad you can’t see what a great place you live in and hate the Bill O’Reilly’s of the world. YOu know nothing of where this country came from, what made us great and how to sustain that. YOu gladly blame America for all the wrong in the world and take joy in anything that hurts America and root for poor sales by Bud. Despite that, America will continue to stick up for you and provide safety for you. America is what is right with the world. MAy God bless you.

Whenever I see anyone in the USA rooting intently for the world cup, I call immigration as I am sure that they must be here illegally. Please pass me a Bud.

[...] Originally Posted by syscom3 So some people dislike Bud. That doesnt mean anything. The key is sales. If the product sucks, them people wont buy it. The product sucks, people buy it cause it cheap and they don’t know any better! If it was that good it would of been accepted with open arms at the world cup!!! How to Avoid Drinking Budweiser at the World Cup – FIFA World Cup 2006 – World Cup 2006 Blog __________________ "IF ITS RED OR DUSTY, DON’T TOUCH IT" I’d rather be killing Migs! [...]

First, I am amazed how silly some people are, taking advantage of the anonymity of the web, turning a dislike of Bud into an forum on anti-americanism.

Second, Bud is not beer but beer-flavored soda pop. It may be the best selling beer in the world, but it is only because it has a dominant market share in the U.S. Most Americans have a very narrow view of the world and other cultures, which reflects in their beer tastes. Simply put, just because it is consumed by so many does not make it a good beer.

Worse, by sponsoring the World Cup, Bud is doing a huge disservice to America because it reinforces everywhere the belief that “American beer is crap”. Start with this blog: it turned into an argument whether Bud is great or German beer is great, not whether there is good beer in America or not. After all, there indeed is such a thing as good American beer: Anchor Steam, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, St. Arnold etc.

Just like many Americans believe that European beer is all like Beck’s, Heineken and St. Pauli Girl and Australian beer is all like Foster’s, virtually every European believes that all American beer is like Bud. These are stereotypes and they are stupid!

Beer like anything, is a matter of taste. I love Bud, I drink it all of the time. It’s my favorite. You can’t tell me Iam wrong. You can only tell me you have a different opinion. I’m sure some German beers are good, but I prefer Bud to anything. I hate rap music but I can’t tell someone who likes it that rap is crap since it’s a matter of opinion. I agree that marketing plays a factor but not totally.For Bud to be the largest selling in the world, there have to be a hell of a lot of people out there that like it. If you don’t, you are entitled to that opinion but don’t put down people who do like it. OK douche bags?

Nobody is denying Anheuser Busch their marketing prowess. On the contrary! They achieved the impossible: they convinced a huge number of consumers to continue buying this beer-lookalike and even convinced FIFA to let them sponsor the World Cup.

Everybody is of course entitled to their own tastes. But the general opinion around the civilized world is that mega-beers like Bud, Miller, Coors, Foster’s, Beck’s… indeed are crap. Even calling it “beer” is like calling Bart Simpson “art”. There are certain generally accepted cultural standards. Just as one would not frame Homer and hang it in place of Mona Lisa in the Louvre, one should not even apply the term “beer” to Bud. “Beer substitute” or “beer-flavored lemonade” perhaps.

Neworleanian, There’s that pompous attitude again. You are stating that Bud is crap as if it were a fact. It’s an opinion. Plain and simple. The “Lourve” has the discretion to put whatever art they want to into their museum. If someone puts a Bart Simpson poster on their wall and they enjoy it, than it is art to them. Again, you can disagree, but it is only an OPINION. Why can’t people accept that other people have opinions that are different than theirs and respect that opinion? I hate rap music but I respect the fact that other people chose to listen to it. Good for them. Is that so hard to accept?

I am not at all talking about personal opinions, but rather about broadly, internationally (if not globally) accepted standards of what is tasteful and what is not. Nobody is expected to share the same values and agree on what constitutes art, good cuisine or a good beer. But not seeing the difference between Mozart and Hank Williams, Cabernet Sauvignon and White Zinfandel, or Sam Adams and Bud means the person is lacking a thing or two.

If to some Bud is the culinary apex, fine. But when Bud it is forced on hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world at the World Cup as the “King of Beers” it is a whole different thing altogether. It accomplishes two things: a) makes us look ridiculous and b) reinforces the stereotype that all American beer is like that. Same goes for McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. You can see them all over Germany, Italy or France and collectively they paint a picture of America that says we are a bunch of uncultured morons. This was the point I tried to make earlier that Anheuser Busch is making a huge disservice to the America by sponsoring the World Cup.

Anheuser Busch is kidding themselves that they can gain any significant market share in Europe. That is an absolute non-starter. I am in Europe about every other month and one can definitely see how beer in northern and central European countries is a direct expression of the diversity and the local cultural fabric. Bringing in some bland-tasting soda from the U.S. is like bringing coal to Newcastle.

You are not talking about personal opinions, but you are talking about internationally accepted standards. Don’t you see the contradiction there? How is there possibly standards of taste? It’s a matter of OPINION which is something you can’t accept. There is a deep seeded hatred of America throughout Europe, grounded mostly in a jealousy of our society. That is what prompted the article in the first place. If you put Bud in a green bottle and brewed it in Germany, the same people still may not like it but they wouldn’t make such a big deal out of it. The Fact that you feel it makes us look ridiculous is in itself ridiculous. No one put a gun to FIFA’s head and forced Bud upon them. They won the rights fair and square. I know a lot of people worry about how America looks to the rest of the world but America has to do what is in it’s own best interestes and if that doesn’t sit well with the rest of the world that is just too bad. That may sound arrogant, but think about your personal life. If your neighbor doesn’t like what you are doing, but you feel the need to do it, as long as it is lawful, why would you change that behavior and hurt yourself just to please your neighbor? It’s actually arrogant on your neighbor’s part to expect you to change to fit their likings. Bud is our beer, they won fair and square, too bad for Germany.

Frank, I definitely see your point… and I agree with both you and Neworleanian.

The historical definition of beer has been stretched thin by the uber-breweries like Anheuser-Busch and Coors. It doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t like Bud… good on you if you do, in fact… it’s just that as a piece of the overall beer spectrum, Bud is solidly down at one end… over with the other watery American Pilsners (but still better than Pabst Blue Ribbon – I don’t care HOW f&cking trendy it is to drink it!) whereas most beer drinkers from Europe, and many in America (especially as Bud, Miller & friends continue to slowly lose market share) drink a broader range of beers from the pilsners and ales over to the darks and stouts.
Bud is an okay American mass-produced pilsner. (C’mon… it’s partially brewed with RICE!)
But I dare you to try a GENUINE pilsner from the Czech Republic (try Czechvar or Pilsner Urquell) – that is the original thing, and Bud is nowhere near it. It’s like comparing a Riesling with a wine cooler.

As far as you saying
“If your neighbor doesn’t like what you are doing, but you feel the need to do it, as long as it is lawful, why would you change that behavior and hurt yourself just to please your neighbor?”
It’s called being a good neighbor. You may have the right to dump piles of porno magazines in your backyard, but if I’m your neighbor I’ll definitely be asking you to clean that crap up.

Another thing… why do I hear everyone claiming that Europeans are jealous of us?
Jealous of what?!? Have you been talking to any Europeans lately about this?

Frank, God, you really believe Europeans hate us? Come on, jeez! I think you are way of in your understanding of how Europeans feel about America. No offense, but you probably have not been outside the country much. Your view of the “deep seeded hatred of America throughout Europe, grounded mostly in a jealousy of our society” is totally off the mark. Although this has little or nothing to do with Bud, I will take a minute and reflect on it.

I spend about half a year every year in Europe, Africa and Asia on business. I have never seen any “widespread hatred of America” in Europe. You must have heard that on Fox News or somewhere like that. Most Europeans may not like Bush and do not care for our foreign policy, but they do not –with the exception of a few communists and anarchists– dislike America or Americans. To them America represents a rather exotic escape from the daily life in a sometime too ‘organized’ EU. Of course if somebody comes there with loud views about the rest of the world that have been shaped by shallow American mainstream media, that person will probably not be liked. But if you listen, treat others the same you want to be treated, agree to disagree on certain things, there is never any animosity. I have had a great time working (and drinking beer) in Europe!

This said, there are exceptions: leftists, anarchists and islamists, who do hate America for all sorts of wacky reasons. But these are a very small minority. Then there are those Europeans who have a limited view of the world because of either lack of education or resources. Those people tend to be just as clueless about the world, and just as full of prejudices and stereotypes as their counterparts in the U.S. But if you take your average middle-class European with decent education and a brain you will not find a trace of hate. There is also no jealousy, as most Europeans see there is less and less to be jealous of; certainly not the cost of our health care and higher education, our ever-increasing taxation, the shape of our highways, inner cities etc etc.

I was in Munich and north Italy a few weeks after 9/11 and I was amazed at the open displays of pro-American support everywhere. Even invading Afghanistan had widespread public support. That ended in 2003 when we invaded Iraq. The vast majority of Europeans saw that as an unnecessary war that detracted from the overall goal of going resolutely after Al-Qaeda, and that did more harm than good in the long term. Most Americans start to believe that now as well.

Back to beer: you are still not getting my point about what a mass promotion of Bud is doing to our image. It plays to those stereotypes about American food that, unfortunately, are wide-spread. To many “American food” is as acronym for mass-produced and mass-served fast food devoured en masse by a nation who does not know any better. Same goes for American beer. Most Europeans have never heard of Rogue Ale or Anchor Steam (neither have many Americans unfortunately). Incidentally, Anchor Steam happens to be THE American contribution to the world beer-culture, OUR gift to the world. It is a bottom-fermented lager but made at temperatures around 68F, instead the normal 48-50F – a Steam Beer. The tremendous variety of tastes produced by American microbreweries is largely lost on the rest of the world. Equally lost is the fact that there actually IS good food in America. Another stereotype is that we are a nation obsessed with pickup trucks, boots, country music and burgers. Very few foreigners have tasted crawfish etouffee, trout meuniere or shrimp remoulade. Whenever I cook some Creole dishes for my European, South African or Australian colleagues overseas, the outcome is always the same: total awe. One stereotype gone.

In the case of Bud, bringing a bland beer-soda to Europe is only reinforcing many stereotypes that a) we do not know what is good, but b) we are very keen on showing the rest of the world how things ought to be done. You follow?

I’m an American and I despise Bud, but that’s not why I’m here.

I’d like to address all the American soccer haters…. yeah that’s right, if you’re talking bad about soccer I’m talking to you.

You say it’s a boring game?

What about baseball? Half the time you’re sitting in your $120 stadium seat watching guys in tights scratch their balls and spitting.. waiting for the 5 seconds of action before more waiting.

What about football? I dig football, but seriously… it’s a bunch of guys standing around making their gameplan, then they line up, play football for about 10 seconds, then stop, rest, huddle, and talk about what they’re going to do next.. just to see some dude run into 12 others and suprisingly get tackled immediatly. End of play, wait for another… and don’t even get me started on the countless play reviews and coach challenges.

Hockey? That’s the definition of false excitemet. The games end with less than 3 points just like soccer does.. only difference is the ice rink is the size of a 2 car garage.. no wonder the players are always being knocked on their ass.

Basketball.. this sport would be MUCH more exciting if they made the court 100 yards long and the hoops 15 ft high. Right now it’s just 7′3″ players taking 4 steps to reach each end of the court.. sure the scores end with 100+ points.. because scoring is far too easy to be exciting.

Soccer takes amazing athletic ability & tremendous skill (you can’t just be 8 ft. tall like shaq and be allowed to jog around the court catching rebounds all day).

I’m a big sports fan and can appreciate all sports.. which is why it’s frustrating to hear guys claim soccer is boring because there’s no scoring.. my best guess is these are the same guys that neck deep in debt due to their compulsive need for instant gratification.

Soccer is a brilliant sport.

Gregory,1st dumping a pile of porno mags on your lawn is a bad example of what I would think you would consider exceptable behavior form a neighbor. WHat I am talking about is a/0 looking out fo ryour own safety, and b) economic freedom. IF your neighbor has a problem with that, that is their problem.
Neworleanian, I’m glad to see yuo have had some positive experiences in Europe but everything I see in the American media, shows how much Europe hates us. And I say it comes out of Jealousy and maybe that’s more amied at teh Jaque Chirac’s of the world, but there is definitely a culture of snobbery in Europe “Oh those stupid Americans” that sickens me. YOu can read a book called “while Europe slept” which gives a good picture of how the media in Europe, western Europe is dead set against us. IT permeates society, at least publically. Privately, Europeans do see what a great place America is but they don’t luke to admit it.

Back to the beer. I hear what you are saying but it still comes down to taste and a matter of opinion. McDonalds is not as good as SParks Steak house in NY but it still comes down to taste. I am sure there are plenty of good German beers that I would like but I still like Bud. It’s a matter of taste. It’s a matter of taste. It’s a matter of taste. Period. TO think otherwise is stuck up.

Local brewers should get first dibs on the beer served. The World Cup has so many sponsors already it wouldn’t make a difference.

Budweiser is good when you buy it for $4USD/six-pack from 7-11. It’s pretty damn disgusting when you’re shelling out cold hard EUROS for this monkey urine

Spülwasser, which roughly translates as dishwater is what the germans call Bud.

Here’s their anti bud website http://www.budout.org/

Frank man, you need to stop watching American news media. Seriously. Europeans were once jealous of America I think it is fair to say. But not anymore mate. Most Europeans would probably rather live in Europe than America. We actually kinda pity Americans that they are growing up, and living with such a skewed world view, predominately because of Fox or what ever other right wing media you watch. Snubby? Yes a little, I think we see our selves as having a better standard of living over all, perhaps a bit more cultured. This is maybe because your country loves to humiliate it’s poor, and that’s what we see most of America, white trash complaining to Riki lake about their relationship. I watch a lot of news media, from Irish news to BBC news to euronews and ABC. They all paint a slightly different picture of events, but seeing things from many different sources and perpectives allows me to discern what’s probably truth and what may not be. It allows me to form my own opinions, rather than regurgitating the opinions of the news casters.

On the beer thing, I hate Bud, As my friend once said, “You can take the bud out of the horse, but you can’t take the horse out of the bud”. Some years back it was very popular, but less so now, as people are more aware of other brands, not the ones that have already been mentioned, but big brands like Carlsberg or heineken or whatever. Still not particularly nice but most people would agree that it’s better than bud. Never really a lager man myself but I’d agree with Neworleanian, Bud and most big brand lagers really are stretching the limits of the word beer.

What I find really funny about this whole debate are the huge gaping holes in the first peoples arguments. Bud is the best tasting beer because it sells well? By that logic Soccer must be the greatest (team)sport as it’s the most popular, eh? eh?

Infact http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/What_is_the_most_played_sport_in_the_world

Check that out! Volley ball is the greatest sport ever? I don’t even see American football on that. See where I’m going with this?

I rather Rugby to be honest.

First Beer, then Europe. It’s extremely pompous to say it’s OK for you to like Bud but international standards say Bud sucks so you are wrong. I hear all the time how Samuel Adams wins the contest “Best beer in America.” That’s great but that doesn’t persuade me as far as what I like. I don’t like things because other people tell me to. When any person goes to the beer store they make a personal decision as to what they like and that is all that matters. You can all hate Bud all you want, but you don’t have to but it either. Like I have said all along, it’s a matter of personal preference. I prefer Bud, you can’t tell me I am wrong. I’m happy you like other beers but I don’t think about you when I go to the store to buy beer. Why can’t anyone except that? You’ll say, OK, that’s your choice, but you’re still wrong. That’s messed up.

Onto Europe. You all blame me for watching FOX, which you are only making an assumption, you have no idea what my viewing habits are. But Cathal gets his news from BBC and ABC. And those are not hugely liberal media outlets? How about CNN, NBC, CBS, and the New York Times. You probably get a lot of news there as well. They slant everything and everthing is so negative in regard to anything the US does. Cathal says he’s not jealous of America, he pities it. That’s condescending- although Ireland is the least European country out there, I’m not concerned about their hatred of the US.

I don’t have a real hatred for Europe. I would love to visit there and go to OctoberFest with all that great German beer and see all the old architecture and the old cities. But, sometimes you have to be aware of underlying attitudes that you don’t see unless you delve into it. I too don’t take everything I hear and read in the media as Gospel but I try to use my reasoning to make make own judgements and I know European media is very skewed against the US and much like the US media always looks at the negative, NEVER the positive and blames America for all the bad in the world. The USA is not perfect, The Riki Lake show ( I once knew her father) and others like it are a joke and digusting and Mcdonalds food does suck ( i haven’t eaten there in over 5 years) But there is a lot more to America that maybe the Europeans don’t see. They have mostly socialist economies so they will never have the great success stories and rags to riches that you have in America. Europe has added it’s share to innovations but not like the US and Japan and they have huge unemployment and although they have universal health care, they don’t have the quality doctors that we have in the states. They chose to appease and look up to Nevile Chamberlin, an historic failure rather than to Winston Churchill an historic hero. They blame the US for everything bad that happens in the world- the starving in Africa are the US’s fault, 9-11 was brought on by the US itself, etc. This attitude I may be over simplifying and it may not be an attitude held by all but I beleive it’s an attitude held by most. If George Bush is considered the biggest danger in the world by recent European polls, if most of Europe makes excusses for Palestinean terrorist and suicide bombers and they criticize Isreal for trying to protect itself and violent crime against Jews is still so high in Europe, than Europe has a lot of problems, much more so that the US. The US will continue to stick up for it’s own interests and will stick up for freedom all over the world while most of Europe watches and turns it’s nose up at us. But that’s OK because you know very well that when Europe needs us, and the day will come when they do, The USA will be the first ones there to protect the EU.

Jeez, you’re like a parody of a patriotic American. Anyways Britain (mostly England) is the least European country in Europe. George Bush is the most dangerous man in the world because he controls the largest military in the world and is a few sandwiches short of a picnic to boot. The leader of any world power who abuses it’s power will always be the most dangerous man in the world.

Europe was all for America invading Afkanistan, nobody had a problem with it because the goal and reasoning was sound, and everybody could see it needed to be done. People (even americans) have problems with Iraq, simply because everyone outside america, not viewing the right wing media of the US could clearly see that Iraq were of no threat and had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. Everybody knew this, but Bush still went to war, clearly for oil. He has lied on a number of different occasions to the US public, but you still think he’s super fantastic. He’s shit.

And no, I don’t watch cnn or nbc or any other news, mostly because I can’t, they are not shown in Ireland. You call me condescending, but you’re the one acting as if the USA is the greatest country evar!!1! Like a little teenage fanboy. News flash, it’s not. You would probably rate 5th in that league, as your country will never match the Roman Empire, the British Empire, The Holy Roman Empire (german) or the ancient Greek empire. You have along way to go yet. Yes you are the most powerfull at the moment, but your economy is hardly fantastic. Christ, Bush had to go to war in Iraq to stop a depression. War to boost eceonomy? Yeah that’s never being done before. And you talk as if Europe is totally devoid of entrepenuers, get over yourself. Europe has had a lot of shit to do over the last 60 years, rebuilding and what not. When was the last time america had to fight a war (worth mentioning) on it’s own soil?

And you can talk about how rich you are and “the American dream” all you like, but that’s clearly you just being delusional, the American dream is bullshit, it’s right wing psycho babble to keep you in your shit jobs, content that one day you will be rich, well sorry to break it to you, it ain’t going to happen mate, as most of time getting rich requires half a brain cell (at the very least) and they’ll probably screw you over on your pension aswell. And the American dream certainly hasn’t come through for the thousands, nay Millions of people leaving in poverty in the US, the highest level of poverty of any industrialized nation. That’s why we pity you. We actually have far better standards of living as the norm in Europe.
Ireland and many other European countries come above the US. Looks like all that money and success is going to good use.

And don’t even talk to me about “protecting freedom” You clearly are as stupid as most other countries think you are if you believe that bullshit. This coming from one of the least free countries in the developed world. I bet you just loved the PATRIOT act though. Yeah that’s really protecting freedom. It’s easy protect something that isn’t there.

“Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither security nor liberty.” – Benjamin Franklin

That is a quote I quite like, by an American. He would be turning in his grave right now were he to see the US of today.

http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2005/09/povertyoped.html

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778562.html

Meh, my reply was deleted. Not sure what for, but whatever. Bud is crap. You have crap taste!

And America is not so great. Highest poverty of any industrial nation. 10th on standard of living. Yep, behind a number of “socialist” european countries. Oh the shame of it.

Cathal, I kinda like Ireland since I am of Irish decent myself and Ireland is more capitalistic then the rest of Europe so my arguement really isn’t with Ireland but America poor have a lot more than the poor in most other countries. The standard of living in America is higher because America excels at everythnig we do. I don’t want to argue capitalism verses socialism but a hell of a lot more comes out of the US than does anywhere else. Capitalism gives economic freedom which gives busineses the freedom to grow and provide jobs. The US has a 5% unemployment rate which is much better than most of Europe. The European governments control what you earn by over taxing people and limting their mobility all to take care of people who are too lazy to contribute to society. I have no problem helping those that can’t help themselves but you shouldn’t help the freeloaders, like the French. A previous note degraded Americas taxation, which is a joke as Europe has much higher taxes, while we lowered taxes, raised revenues and decreased the national debt. America continues to grow with immigrants because we are the land of opportunity. Europe is shrinking, because it sucks.

And once again, you said it all “you have crapy taste.” How friggin’ pompous is that. If you don’t like something, the other guy is WRONG. What a pretentious attitude. In America, you are free to buy and like anything you want and if someone else doesn’t like it that’s their problem. I’m sure those in Europe would like to outlaw Bud, McDonalds or anything the elites don’t like. Maybe the Soviet Union wasn’t so bad after all right? At least when they were around people understood what freedom meant.

Thank God those frogs lost. There is justice in the world. Then again, the french embody losing so they are used to it. I’ll drink a Bud to their loss.

Broken Promises Ringtone

Tears Ringtone Tears Ringtone I Love How I Feel Ringtone I Love How I Feel Ringtone Been Around The World Ringtone Been Around The World Ringtone All The Good Things Fade Away Ringtone All The Good Things Fade Away Ringtone She Has A Girlfriend Now Rin…

But saying Europe suck!!! America Rocks!!! isn’t pompous? Actually you’re right, it’s not pompous it’s bloody childish, and could only be spoken by an un-educated, brainwashed Yank who spends his sundays watching the 3 hr football games, wishing he had made it rich.

How can you even say your poor is better than other peoples poor? That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! Your standard of living is 10th!!! in the world, lower than many European countries. Your president had to invade a defensless nation kill thousands of innocent people to avoid a depression. You punish your poor who can’t get jobs by cutting off social welfare after a certain time period (ohh my god, that has ’social’ in it’s name) and then force them into the army so that the rich can have their oil for cheap and get lots of business rebuilding a country and you seem hell bent on equating Socialism = Communism. They are not the same dumbass. Socialism is a form of government which attempts to give everyone a healthy living standard without stifling economic growth. I’d say that’s fair game. And people who free load, do so because of a culture which encourages it. We have free loaders in this country, but it isn’t a major issue. And I’d much rather higher taxes than lower taxes, and be forced to sacrifice my future family to war to help pay off the national deficit. What is it now? 5..6..7 trillion? Oh it doesn’t matter, you can just invade Iran when you need to anyways, I’m sure that you can find some link to terrorism and make up some evidence.

Long live the Queen.

________________________
“Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither security nor liberty.” – Benjamin Franklin

Name calling is always effective when you do not have a valid point.

Your arguement is wrong on so many levels. OK, we invaded a defenseless nation and killed thousands of innocents to avoid a depression. Defenseless? If they are so defenseless why has this been gonig on for 3 years? Innocents? While I will agree taht innocents lives have been lost in part due to our bombs, they were not the target and the terrorists and suicide bombers have killed a lot more innocents, their won people, than we have. To avoid a depression? We’ve sunk billions into this war, that can’t be good for the economy but our economy has grown substantially since 9/11 because of tax cuts and the will of the American people.

I know you would prefer to pay higher taxes so that the government can do more for you but our economy grew because of tax cuts. More people had more money in their pockets which tehy could either spend, to help business grow, or invest to help business grow and add jobs to the economy. And it’s not for cheap oil as you say as a gallow of gas in over $3.00 in the USA. morethan ever before.

And since you would rather pay higher taxes that must mean that you rely heavily on the government to provide for you. Do you really want to rtely on the government for more things? I certainly do not. The government, any government can not be anywheres near as effective as private industry. That has been shown over and over throughout history.

YOu don’t like that we limit social programs. Social programs aren’t meant, or shouldn’t be meant, to keep people in a state of need. Limiting it will make people go out and look for a job so that they can become productive members of society. Keeping them on the public dollar will only make matters worse and will have the government spending more. People need incentive in life to be productive and if cutting off services is that incentive for people to better themselves than so be it. Too many politicians feel the need to have people need them and therefore they want to spend more money to show how much they care. But all this does is make people more dependent upon government and nothnig ever gets fixed. People with no incentives will perpetually be drinking from the governments teet. And they rty to make the right look bad for nor caring, when in fact we do care and we want people to be able to take care of themselves.

No none ever said communisim and socialism are the same, but they do have similarities. Socialism wants the government to redistriburte wealth, take from the rich and give to the poor. That takes incentive away from the rich to be more productive and add to the economy and provide jobs and it takes away from the poor who really don’t have it that bad that they have to do anything for themselves. They are constantly blaming the government still for what they do not have and for what they feel entitled to. That drains society as a whole. Life I’msure is pretty nice under that syatem but you don’t have anyone going for the brass ring ans really making things better for those around him. If you like mediocrity, you’ll love socialism.

It’s too bad you’re Irish as I love Ireland. It’s the mainland of Europe that has the most problems. Then again, maybe you are French and just happen to be staying in Ireland.

Oh and Iran? Do you really thing we need to find terrorism there? Terrorism is so deep in that society if you can’t see it you are in denial. We may invade Iran, I truly hope it doesn’t come to that but if it has to be it has to be. We’ll save Europe once again if we have to. Would you be happy to see Iran get a nuke? You know they would use it, or give it to Hezzbolah or AL Qeada to use. If you can’t see that radical islam wants to destroy the western world because we are all infidels than you are in denial. It has been going on for 1500 years but now, in the days of WMD, its really come to a head. You may thing terrorists can be reasoned with but this is much much more important than beer or socialism/capitalism, they can’t be reasoned with. If you aren’t Muslim, you are an infidel and do not deserve to live. They want to exterminate Isreal and all of the Jews and it’s a shame that Isreal can’t defend itself without much of Europe blaming them instead of the Palestian terrorists. The terrists have to be rooted out in any ways possible and they can not be allowed to have WMD at any time. They don’t think there are innocent lives if you are not Muslim. And you have to be their sect of Muslim, Sunni, Shiite, Wahabi, etc. to be safe from the other sects.

So you can have your nice littel socialist governemtn but you need to be aware of the real terrorist threat before it kills us all.

Frank. Way to go. But one thing, try spell check next time.

Somehow I feel the urge to comment…

Frank has a few reality issues. I doubt they can be fixed though. Too much Bud has fried his brain… but anyways…

“We’ve sunk billions into this war, that can’t be good for the economy but our economy has grown substantially since 9/11 because of tax cuts and the will of the American people.”

Uhm, we’ve sunk billions into no-bid reconstruction projects… the guys in the field get 40 year old under-protected humvees…

The tax cuts that have benefited the RICH. I get to pay AMT because I’m not rich ENOUGH… In other words, I am paying for Big Business CEO’s boats and fancy vacations. Either way, it is PATHETIC if a family of 3 has to make 100K+ a year just to pay the bills, send the kid to enjoy a DECENT education and be able to afford a decent standard of living.

“And since you would rather pay higher taxes that must mean that you rely heavily on the government to provide for you. ”

Actually, if paying more taxes would actually help create that “safety net” in this country, I would have no problem at all paying taxes. What I do have a problem with is taking it from the have-nots and giving it to the haves.

“Do you really want to rtely on the government for more things? I certainly do not. The government, any government can not be anywheres near as effective as private industry. That has been shown over and over throughout history.”

Yeah, that’s why health insurance premiums rise 20-30% a year and everybody gets to pay higher and higher deductibles: because private industry is so incredibly good at taking care of the people (good thing nobody ever defines “the people”). Like the Medicare drug plan… I am so glad I don’t have to deal with that joke of a “system”. But that’s lobbying for ya… didn’t that used to be called corruption at some point in the not so distant past????

“The US has a 5% unemployment rate which is much better than most of Europe.”

The US is _incapable_ of properly determining unemployment levels. The problem is that you only get unemployment benefits for so long and then you’re on your own. The ones that are unemployed for years and are scraping by aren’t accounted for. Relying on the (poor excuse of a) welfare and/or social security system for any reliable data on unemployement levels is a joke as well. There are many people that are way too proud to rely on that (and then there are some that aren’t even too proud to get their 2 year old on some ADD drug to claim Social Security, but that’s a different story)

So, Frank, snap out of your “everybody hates me cuz i’m an american” BS… the real stereotype you gotta worry about is the one you’re displaying: IGNORANCE.

(oops… did I type that out loud?)

PS. I’ve been struggling with this as a full-bred european and I think I have found the person that holds the answer: Why is it that proud ‘mericans (you know the type: little american flag sticking out the rear window of the car – usually some big SUV, 87 “support our troops” ribbons – cross instead of oval in the middle optional (this explains the big SUV; it’s a stickerable area thing), typically sporting a big W04 sticker as well) are always quick to mention where they came from regardless of whether it’s been 2 generations or 15, even if it means admitting to being from -as W likes to call it- “old” europe?

Klots balls, I think you are the one in need of a reality check. Unfortuantely you are another liberal who just does not get capitalism. I’ve heard a million times. “tax cuts for the RICH.” First, all tax payers got tax cuts. Second, if you understand economics at all, you will understand that cutting taxes, adds money into the economy. As I said above, people have more money in their pockets and spend it, which means those “evil” businesses make money, and they can expand and create more jobs. That is how it works. The “rich” can invest their money and the companies they invest in can expand and add jobs. It worked when reagan did it, and it is working for Bush. That is simple economics. The top 10% of wage earners in America pay over 50% of the taxes. Don’t they deserve a break? I am not in the catagory but I would love to be. You are suffering from rich envy where you want the government taking more away from the “rich” and giving it to you. Wouldn’t you prefer to keep more of the money you earn? Isn’t that a large part of why America was started in the first place? remember the Boston tea Party? It was about taxes.

You criticize health care, and while I’ll admit the American system is not perfect it at least gives people choice in doctors rather than having the government cal the shots. You can pay for better doctors if you want to. If we went to universal health care that choice would be greatly curbed. Many Americans, single in their 20s, chose not to have health care. Why should the government pay for something they don’t want?

It’s very ironic how all of you have been telling me that Europe doesn’t hate America but you’ve all told me why America sucks. I guess you don’t practice what you preach. Can you say anything possitive about the USA?

America was recently named as the most patriotic country. That is something I am very proud of because I know America is the greatest. I never meant to say that Europe is a horrible place. I would love to visit there. It has a lot of history and old culture. But it does have it’s problems. America does too, we aren’t perfect but if Europe is so great, why aren’t Europeans as patriotic about their country? If I was living in Denmark I would be patriotic. I guess you guys just don’t understand the importance of patriotism. That is exactly why we’ll save your asses again some day from the Islamic threat that is hovering over Europe.

God Bless the USA. God Bless Budweiser.

I have lived in Europe and I now live in California (since 1980). I do not see much of a difference aside from the beer and the bread. Europe as well as the USA have one ruler and that is money… and poor is poor no matter where you live… People are not that much different. I will drink a “Rolling Rocks” to that. If you all want to drink Budwiser, that is fine by me… would never start a war over a beer brand. The world, no matter where you live, has room for improvement.

@ Red Blooded God Fearing American (but not from Texas) EXXXcellent post. Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalt’s.

I have a lot of friends in Europe and it is fair to say, they love the American people and their mentality but they do not love everything the USA does… Europe has its own identity and do not feel the need to follow all American trends. Rightfully so. I do like the USA but never thought that I am amongst a superior race with superior products or superior way of life. Europe has no reason to be jealous of the USA. I just read that Ireland is one of the best countries to live in.

Frank Grimes, the high American quality is for the high American income people. The average person struggles just like everywhere else in the world and middle class is dwindling. As far as best doctors is concerned, they have excellent doctors and scientists in Europe. I actually do not see anything where the USA is superior and I have lived here since 1980.

Not to forget, the American military has been cheated out of billions of dollars by its own sub-contractors… where is all that money coming from?

Oh and to your last point about Americans always saying where they are from, it’s because we are a country of immigrants and that is something that has made us great. We are proud of our heritage, and we are proud of America.

Can anyone tell me of a great german beer? I’d certainly like to try some. I’ll still like Bud but would love some German suds so I am open to suggestions, provided I can get it in NY.

“You can pay for better doctors”. This is exactly what’s wrong with the full on Capitalist, private sector practice. Rich people, because they are rich should not be valued within the health care system above someone who isn’t rich. That’s simply human rights.

Frank, your economy grew because loads of top companies got big contacts after the war. That was why the war was started. “The sinews of war are infinite money”. It was true hundreds of years ago the same as it is today. Hitler reformed Germany in the 30’s from a poor depressed country into an economic monster through the creation of jobs in military based R&D. It’s the oldest trick in the book.

You say you love Ireland, but hate terrorism. Bit of an oxymoron going on there I’m afraid, lest we forget how we gained independence? Or how the IRA forced the British government to start treating Catholics appropriately. Or even closer to home, the Boston tea party you so proudly boost about was nothing short of a terrorist act against the British and in the insuing war, Americans used Guerilla tactics not unlike the Guerilla tactics being used by allmost every terrorist group in conflict today.

Why are Americans so proud? My best guess is the constant propaganda and brain washing by right wing media. What the hell even contitutes as patriotism these days? Waving a flag certainly shouldn’t be the end all and be all of patriotism, perhaps patriotism should be the love of ones country beyond the purchase of a bumper sticker. What was your last actual patriotic act? Did you chose the american brand of nappies?

Why aren’t Europeans as patriotic? Well Germans aren’t allowed cause they’ll blow up Poland. English Patriots amount to a few people waiting 5 hours to see an old women walk by, or the people who go to world cups to fight germans (now that’s patirotism ¬__¬), Most of the eastern block hasn’t actual had control of its own country for most of the last 60 years. France has almost never won a war, thus have little to be patriotic about and Italians only love football.
:)

And pretty much everyone is an immigrant from some point in history, get over it, I don’t feel the need, upon meeting an African, to say ” My ancestors immigrated from there”. Though I wonder if you even believe that to be the case.

Things I like about America? Fantastic Movie and Music scenes. Porn. Muscle cars. Californian wines. “Worst car crashes ever”. The liberal media (south park, comedies and so on) Poker (not including american commentators). And your women.

Cathal my man, you have proven yourself to be truly out of touch. Being the socialist taht you are, you can’t grasp the benefits of capitalism. You have the freedom to earn whatever you can. That is freedom. With that freedom, if you earn more, you can buy more. Yes, there are still poor, but we try to get them to participate, not freeload. YOu see if you earn more, you deserve more. The government should not be making decisions for you. America is also the largest provider of charity to the rest of the world. We give more aid to other countries than anyone else. Again, I have no problem helping those truly in need. The poor in the US still get healthcare through emergency rooms and clinics. That’s not ideal but there is no reason to bring down the quality of health care for all to help the poor when they do get health care. They don’t get left to die. For more info on the topic go here http://www.angelfire.com/pa/sergeman/issues/healthcare/socialized.html#usa.

And just because someone does not agree with you does not mean they are brainwashed by the “radical right wing.” It’s a different philosophy much like beer tastes are different and a matter of taste, but if you can’t even accept that beer tastes are different how can you accept political philosophies to be a matter of opinion. I will admit, politics and economies are much more important and therefore more scientific, but certainly not 100%.

America is the largest economy in the world because of capitalism. Period.

I do love Ireland but I hate the IRA and any form of terrorism so on that point, you have no point. You are reaching.

YOu hypothosis that we started the war in Iraq to help the economy is so ridiculous, I will not even address it seriously. Obviously you do not really think there is much of a terrorismn problem in the world so you will someday learn of your own folly in a real bad way.

You also don’t see the importance of patriotism which is unfortunately sad. Patriotism gives you a sense of pride and purpose, something to feel good about outside of the earthly things that you mention about the USA that you like. I like America because of our freedom, our vision, and our openness. It is the land of opportunity and you can put it down all you want but seriously, we grow each year because people want to come here to experience the freedom and get the opportunity to grow. I admire the many first generation immigrants who come here, work hard and build a very profitable business to make life better for their children and their children’d children. It used to be the Irish and the Itialians but now it is the Mexicans, asian and Indians who come and become part of our society and help it grow. They get it. Many Americans are lazy and don’t get it. They feel they are owed something and do not take the initiative that these immigrants take. They don’t want to work hard to get ahead and want the government to give it to them. They are soft. They usually vote Democratic because they feel the governemtn owes them. They are sadly mistaken and they will never get ahead.

I am proud of those that get the American dream and live it. It’s too bad you don’t fee that that is important in your country. You are the type who likes to blame everyone else but has no real hard sollutions and will never contribute possitively to society.

You ancentry is also part of who you are. Aren’t you interested in your grand parents and their parents and wjhy you were born where you were? What got you where you are? Don’t you care about history? Probably not. As a liberal, you look ahead but don’t haver a sense of history to learn from it. That’s why liberals always make the same mistakes and why they try to appease the terrorist. Avoiding a problem is not solving it.

After hearing from you, I am even more proud to be an American. Thank you Cathal.

I just put in my best response ever and it is gone. Too bad. It was great.

Be that as it may, in short form, Those that earn more, derserve more and should be allowed to keep it. The poor can get health care through the emergency room and clinics. Not perfect but there is no need to make healthcare worse for everyone else to help those that can get sufficient healthcare if they want.

Again in the short version, I love Ireland but hate the IRA and any type of terrorism.

regarding the war, to think it was started to impove our economy is the type of conspiracy theory idiocy I can’t even address. If you do not think terrorism is a problem, you will learn some day that you are terribly wrong.

It’s too bad you don’t feel patriotism is important. It’s what makes us different I guees. I am proud of America’s freedoms, our opporrtunities and our openness. I admire the immigrants who come here and work hard to make a better life for their chldren and their children’s children. Many first generation immigrants work their butts off to make a better life for their children and they appreciate what we have here and the opportunites that they have. It used to be the Irish and Italian but now it is the Mexican, Asians and Indians. They get it. They came from a country that was not as free and can appreciate what we have. That is why we constantly grown and people all over the world immigrate here. Many Americans are lazy and don’t get it. They expect the government to provide for them. They are afraid to work hard to make a better life. They want to tax the rich so that they don’t have to work so hard. They don’t appreciate what their ancestors did for them and they squander away their chances. They vote Democreatic as they feel entitled to things. They blame everryone else, including the government for what they do not have. They don’t try to make anything better, only to get what they fee entitled to.

So it’s too bad you don’t get that. You don’t see that YOU are responsible for your own life and that YOU should have the power to make things better.

It’s tto bad you don’t care about your ancestry. Don’t you care about your grand parents and about their parents and where you came from and why you are where you are? I do. It’s imprtant to know where you came from.

Too many liberals like you look ahead without looking back. You need to know your history to learn from it. It’s too bad you can’t see that and that you feel entitled to other people’s money.

I am proud to be an American because we are a great country and I am proud of those that contribute to society and want to make something of themselve. I am proud of my Irish heritage and the fact that my great great grandfather came here from Spain. I am proud that my grandfather worked hard as a plumber and a fireman to give my father a better life. I don’t sit around asking my government what’s in it for me.

I forgot to add in my revise note about what was in my first and longer and btter note. regarding socialized healthcare, check out this web site http://www.angelfire.com/pa/sergeman/issues/healthcare/socialized.html#usa

I now know why my first attempt at teh note above didn’t go through. It’s because, I think, I put a web page inside the note. A lot of what I wrote was good stuff but I didn’t want to re-type it all. But, regarding socialized medicine, check out this web page.

Frank Grimes:
“You need to know your history to learn from it.”

LOL! You mean like the US Govt is learning from its history? US Foreign policy is entirely based on FIXING previous mistakes only to make those exact same mistakes over and over again… If that’s learning, then from now on, you can call me Benedict XVI.

“You ancentry is also part of who you are.”

BS! Now you’re blaming your ancestors for the fact that you are being narrow-minded, and incapable of seeing let alone RESPECTING other people’s opinions. But I digress…

“Aren’t you interested in your grand parents and their parents and wjhy you were born where you were?”

Not in the least as it doesn’t affect me, my opinions and my moral values. Now my PARENTS did – to an extent.

” What got you where you are?”

I know how I got where I am… it’s a fancy little piece of machinery called an airplane.

“Don’t you care about history?”

Which version of history? The TRUE version? Or the nationalistic version that american school kids get spoon-fed?

“It’s too bad you don’t feel patriotism is important. ”

As a matter of fact, patriotism is dangerous… it’s about half a step away from the type of nationalism that made Hitler (in)famous.

It was Lewis Black that once said “Why are there people in this country that say America is the greatest country on earth… yet they have never been out of the country… there could be countries giving away sh!t for free!” Welcome to that category of people Frank.

“I am proud of America’s freedoms, our opporrtunities and our openness.”

Hehe.. yeah, that’s why congress needs to flame the NY Times and several other news-media for releasing info about data sharing between the tel-co’s and the NSA, because this country is all about openness. Those damn liberals, always undercutting good honest government programs that do not at all invade anybody’s privacy.

I hate to tell you this Frankieboy, but you’re about as brainwashed as they come… Goebbels would eat your kind for breakfast – and apparently Fox (Fair and Balanced, my big hairy a$$) News does too.

That’s just great, you don’t agree with someone so you call them brainwashed. Can’t you see that I can call you brainwashed as well? You are brainwashed by the “left wing media” aren’t you. You guys love calling people names and putting people down who don’t agree with you. I state a case and you call me brainwashed.

the US has made some mistakes throughout hisory but the good far out weights the bad. Typically, the US has saved the world from tyranny, nazi-ism, communism, etc. Are those mistakes? Learning form your past would let you see that there are evil people in the world that want to control it and will stop at nothing to do so. We’ve stopped them in the past so we need to stop them again. Appeasement will get you Nevile Chamberlin and an over-run country.

You say I am narrow minded and don’t respect other people’s opinions. See the thing is I have a different opinion than you and I am making a case quite respectfully. I respect your opinion, I just don’t happen to agree with it. You have a hell of a lot more vitriol in your response don’t you?

It’s good to see that you don’t care about your grandparent, they would be so proud, and that you don’t really care about anyone other than yourself and your opinion. You’re a self made man, that’s great. You have absolutely no introspection it appears and that too is too bad. If you can’t see that your grandparents influenced your parents who you admit had “some” effect on you than you obviously can’t see what effect anything in the past had on your life or in the world for that matter. I can’t make you see that. I am just confident in the knowledge that the past does matter and that it is something to know about.

Your glib response about the airplane was great. Making a lame joke doesn’t really ridicule me as you intended, it actually ridicules you.

Comparing patriotism to following Nazi-ism is cute but just wrong. In Nazi Germany, no one had a choice but to follow Hitler for fear of being killed. That is not the same in the USA. And telling me what a a comedian said on stage is hardly a stirring argument.

But you are so right, the NY times should do whatever is necessary to inform the terrorists of our security procedures because after all, terrorists have rights too, don’t they? Seriously, The plan that the times blew the whistle on had to do with terrorist money and tracking that to help us track the terrorists. The fact that you somehow see that as an invasion of your rights is mind boggling. They aren’t tracking your money, unless of course you are a terrorist.

Quite frankly, I don’t see the point in arguing with someone who thinks it is OK to damage our national security. You too will fight for the rights of terrorists and be sadly mistaken someday. I don’t expect you ever to agree with a closed minded person like myself. I can understand why you hate patriotic people, we’re so happy with our lives and we have a sense of purpose. Those are hateful things.

So Klots balls, enjoy your life and stay safe and mat God be with you.

Frank. You have finely proven yourself to be brainwashed seriously. Lets go through the list:

You actually think Iraq was harbouring terrorist? WRONG. So few links were ever actually found, that I can only find 2 reports that Bin Laden and Saddam are (or were) linked, both with fairly tenuous evidence. http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006D9F9.htm
That’s a reason as to why it’s pretty unlikely that they had any relationship. Also Iraq also depised Iran, one of the other nations with Terrorist links, definately much stronger than Iraqs. Infact I’d imagine the only terrorists in Iraq are the ones who are there attempting to liberate it. Not ONE WMD was ever found. Yeah, real treat to the world. So in conclusion the terrorist link was bogus, America knew it and was went in (sacrificed thousands of lives) to help bolster the economy.

Patriotism is one step short of nationalism. Very true statement, infact if you were to Google quotes about Patriotism, there would be a series of pro and negative statements in regards to patriotism, depends really on perspective. But patriotism is why a lot of Young ( often poor americans) are going to fight an invisible enemy for their country, which is handy for the economy as it’s less of a drain.

You are brain washed because you actually think Terrorists ( or communists :P ) are a threat to you! They are not, they rarely ever attack within US borders and when they do, it is usually pretty small scale stuff. How many people live in america?

You are brainwashed because you believe America saved the world from communism. That’s like saying you saved the world from Santa Claus. Communism is not actually that awfull a thing that people needed to be saved from it. Dictators, or government heads who abuse their power is the danger, and because of how communism is set up, it is more likely to happen before a pass over of control to the people. But communism isn’t the problem. The corruptability of people in power is, and that happens within any type of government.

Put simply, the world didn’t need saving from Communism, the American government did. The rest of the world know that the McCarthy era was bullshit Paranoia and scare mongering by the government. When will you learn this? When will this be taught in schools, when will REAL history be taught in American schools? Terrorists are the new communists for the American government and they will milk it for as long as they can.

You hate Liberals, eh? You know that the word Liberal derives from the word Liberty, which of couse means freedom. Yeah? So in reality you actually hate freedom, why? Because freedom doesn’t protect you and your family from terrorist or whatever other threat the media push, like blacks or gang wars or drugs or sex or the internet.

“They aren’t tracking your money, unless of course you are a terrorist.”

Well if they knew they were terrorists, why didn’t they just send them to jail? The fact is they suspected they were terrorists but had sweet fuck all proof, and thus because of all that lovely freedom you so despise, they couldn’t do jack. The idea anyone under suspicion of been a terrorist, IS a terrorist is laughable. When Republicans stop proclaiming how great freedom is (while at the same time attempting to destroy it), I’ll stop hating Right wing church going republicans.

How can you hate Terrorism but love Ireland as it stands, It’s an oxymoron, there would be no free Ireland with out the rebels (in modern context called terrorists) fight for freedom. I actually appreciate terrorism as a legitimate form of action of repressed people. They’re hardly going to be able form some massive army, now are they, thus terrorism the only option left open to them.

I appreciate what that the IRA movement in Northern Ireland actually improved the lives of all Northern Catholics and Nationlists.

You hate the IRA? You hate the free state!

You hate Terrorists? You must Hate Reagan, considering he supported (billions of dollars of US tax payers) Terrorists in the 1980’s and helped arm Iraq.

What history do you know? Ireland alone has had more recorded history than the entire United states. Then we could go to Europe, where huge castles lie dorment, telling the tales of thousands of dead. Roman Sewers are still in use by Britain, some 2,000 years on. The reason for both Islamic and in history Christian hatred of Jews. How national divides were created. Yeah I know and love history, which is why I feel confident in saying that American is the same as pretty much every other Super Power/Empire in history, Arrogant, overly aggresive, power hungry, and dangerous.

And I know where my family came from.

And your point on US been very charitible is fairly mute. As it is fairly hard to measure that. First the amount compared to the economic size of the country determines how charitible it is, not just the dollar amount and also where that money is going.

Well done Cathal. You have proven your own idiocy. I love the fact that you call anyone who disagrees with you brainwashed. Like I said before, I could call you brainwashed too. It’s a different point of view. It’s not brainwashing.

Without going into detail, if you can’t see that Saddam Huesin was a terrorist you’re nuts. He murdered hundreds of thousands, many of his own people using chemical weapons. He paid bounties to the families of suicide bombers. We found over 500 chemical rockets, plus nuclear plans and some other weapons. You are in denial.

Also, I NEVER said I hate liberals. I have many friends and family memebers that are liberals. Outside of politics liberals are very nice people, they are just mis directed.

And All the people in the old soviet union who were freed from Communism will be happy to know that you feel communism isn’t all that bad. You’re right, it was the dictators but it was also the system. Every communist system is run by a ruthless dictator. Look at North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, etc.

Actually, were as I have repsect for others in this forum who I disagree with I have zero for you. That is for 2 reasons. 1- you don’t think America is at all threatened by teorrism. All terrorists threats in America are small you say. 3,000 people died on 9/11 that is not small. Even if it were only 3, that is intolerable.
2- you appreciate terrorist as a legitimate form of warfare. That is inexcusable. You favor the targeting of innocent people including children. That is sick and inexcusable. You should be the vistom of such an attack.

Lastly, you point to all wars and somehow make them about terrorism and you feel that is justified. How should I respond to that. That is so out there I can’t ever reason with someone who has no real morals them selves and clearly does not value human life.

You say America is power hungry and dangerous. What you fail to understand that every country we ever defeated we gave them their country back and we helped them rebuild and we helped them become part of the worlds community. We did not occupy, we conquered, fixed and left. That is what we are doing in IRaq. You just can’t see that.

And I knew you would complain about the % of the US’s charity. It’s not enough that we give the most, we have to give the highest %. We still give so much more than anyone else, but that’s not enough. Typical Liberal Douche bag.

I was trying to be nice but if you support terrorism you are an asshole.

Very good site with a lot of useful information.

I browse and saw you website.

wow

you are all idiots

the problem with politics is that its too black and white…..liberal/conserative…prochoice/prolife….probush/everyone else (haha just kidding)

the liberals claim to be open minded but they clearly arent….their idea of being open minded is trying to convert everyone else to their point of view

the conservatives claim to not be brainwashed yet they state facts that are somehow unavailable to everyone else

anyway, i think we should get back on topic on what this post was truly about…..beer

the one thing i COMPLETELY agree with on this page is that Budweiser should NOT be the sponsor of South Africa 2010

not because i think bud is really that bad (paint thinner is a bit of a stretch….)

but because its the world cup, and it deserves a truly great beer

i was in Portugal for the Euro 2004…Carlsberg sponsored that one, which is a great choice in my opinion

most german beers would be fine, although i would love to see a good Portuguese one, i.e. Sagres, Superbock

any other suggestions?

oh, by the way, dont bother replying unless its about what the post was meant to be about….if you want to discuss politics you can join one of the thousands of sites dedicated
to endless political posts that resolve nothing

Vitor,

I would have loved to have brought the conversation back to beer some time ago, I even tried once, but Klots Balls and Cathy kept getting under my skin.

I just tried a beer from Holland, I think, called Aass Beer. I had to buy it just for the name. Unfortunately it kinda tasted like ass. Seriously it was good for the first one but I got sick of it after that.

I’ll stick with Bud if that’s OK with everyone else. I’ll try any beer you suggest though.

Aass beer from Holland? Wow! I was born and raised in the netherlands. Never knew that stuff was from there. Oh but it isn’t! Try Norway – a quick detour to your favorite search engine will tell you this…

Personally, I believe any mass produced beer tastes like feet and should only be consumed if absolutely necessary (ie when there is no alternative whatsoever). But then again, I’ve discovered a brewery in town that will let you brew your own… Awesome beer, none of the mess!

The real dor having this discussion about Bud and mainstream American beers, and whether they taste like “Spulwasser” or not, is Prohibition. Only half the breweries reopened reopened after it was repelled. Many small ones were out of business for good, and that drove the stake in the heart of the American brewing industry, because mainly the largest breweries had survived. It has only been since the 1980s that the art of brewing finally recovered.

Who knows, Budweiser may have tasted good when Eberhard Anheuser and Adolphus Busch started the company in St. Louis. It is a bit of an American story: great beginnings by enterprising immigrants, but then bible thumpers and politicians kill nearly the whole industry by introducing Prohibition.

Check this out: http://www.schlafly.com/history.brewing.shtml

However, the damage is done. One or two generations of people grew up thinking that the Miller and Budweiser of today is all that beer is about. There are good American beers made in small breweries, but they do not have the market share or the advertising power of Anheuser-Busch to compete on the large scale. It is just like PCs vs Macs: a clever marketing strategy has made an inferior product the dominant one until it reached a near monopoly. Same with Bud.

One more point: how many of you are familiar with a beer called Budvar? It is made in the towm of Ceske Budejovice and its German name happens to be “Budweiser”. Although Budvar has been brewed there since the 13th century, it has not stopped Anheuser-Busch shysters from claiming worldwide rights to the name, claiming that the Czech brewery has been selling Budvar as “Budweiser” only since 1895. Eberhard Anheuser had picked the name Budweiser because it was a nearby town on the Czech Side of the border, plus it would be easy for Americans to pronounce. I think if he saw his product today, he would have picked the name “Spulwasser” and most Americans would never know the difference!

Sorry, the first sentence of my post should read “Rhe real reason for having this discussion”, This airort keyboard is very unpredictable! As are BA flights today, unfortunately :(

Frank & Cathal-

Given the content of this board … beer & politics (a great mix I think), I am reminded of the old saying

“God invented alcohol to stop the Irish ruling the world!” :-)

Klotsbal – you hit the nail on the head! In my mind, the problem with Bud obviously is not American beer-vs foreign beer, but mass-produced swill, vs beer crafted is small batches. Such beer has taste and character, while mega-beers do not. There are mega-beers in other parts of the world that are similarly character-less: Foster’s or Beck’s to name a couple, and on the other hand there are some great beers made in America as well.

For me it is more a question of ales vs lagers. I have never been much of a lager fan. I like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, some of the ales from Rogue in Oregon (i.e. Dead Guy Ale), Long Tail Ale from Vermont, Hoegaarden, and all the Weissbiers from Bavaria and Schwaben.

One more thought about Bud. The fact that Anheuser-Busch manages to sell it to 50% of American beer drinkers, shows the massive power of advertising (or demagoguery if you will). I think it is hilarious that Bud fans buy that stuff, think they are drinking a great beer, even fall for the advertising slogan proclaiming it to be the “King of Beers”! :)

Back to my original point, IT’S A MATTER OF TASTE!!!!!!!!. You don’t like Bud, I do. That’s good for me and good for you. Advertising isn’t everything. Some people obviously like Bud. A hell of a lot of people. They all aren’t having the wool pulled over their eyes. Maybe many Americans haven’t tasted some of the beers you have mentioned, but many have and stil lperfer Bud. Why can’t you handle that?

Frank, take a chill-pill. Every time when there is a critical comment posted here that in some way clases with your beliefs, why do you ALWAYS assume that the comment is directed at you? I fully agree that taste is a personal thing. The difference is that some people have good taste, some have poor taste. (DISCLAIMER: this does not neccesarily mean you.)

Nobody is prohibiting you from drinking whatever your heart desires. But -using your own argument- nobody can tell me that Bud actually IS good. True?

Frank, I would not underestimate the gullibility of the American consumer. Americans are fooled into believing all kinds of myths when purchasing consumer goods, from cars to computers to beer. But I agree with you that advertising isn’t everything: Most do fall for advertising, the rest buy because they d not know any better. Again, this does not -in any way- imply yourself…..

Advertising is a powerful tool and I often wonder what impact it has for Coke vs Pepsi and Bud or Coors light etc. I won’t deny it has an impact, but I don’t think it can make a product so many consider to be piss, to be the number #1 beer in the world. A hell of a lot of people have to like it to keep it #1. I typically don’t like anything that is popular. I usually stay away from what others consider the best (movies, TV, food, etc.) I prefer to make up my own mind and don’t like to go with the masses. Bud however is an exception. I care only about my taste buds when I am drinking and I like Bud. It is the sweat nectar of the Gods to me. Ahhh Bud!!!!! :)

As the original entry in the blog states, fans at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will have the distinct (dis)pleasure of having Bud as the official beer again. I am wondering why SABmiller, a South African company and one of the largest brewing conglomerates in the world, did not make sure one of their products was the sponsor?

In case people are not familiar with them, SAB stands for South African Breweries Ltd. They own some 150 brands in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia. Among them stand out such things as Miller Genuine Draft (another American taste-free ridiculous beer-lookalike, but nevertheless a great seller in the States) and Foster’s (equally bland Australian mega-brew), Peroni and Castle Lager. But they also some very good beers i.e. Kronenbourg, Amstel, Pilsner Urquell or Gambrinus.

This article is from the World Cup Blog on the Spiegel website. Der Spiegel the German equivalent of Time/Life Magazines.

It is about Dutch fans who had to take their pants off because they were considered a form of advertising for an AB competitor. Absurd? Advertising rights by AB notwithstanding, what happened to the rights of privacy and freedom of expression?

Dutch Could be Forced to Watch Without their Pants

Dutch football fans trying to attend their team’s game in Stuttgart today could be made to go into the stadium without their pants. The bizarre situation has been caused by a popular pair of orange “lederhosen” which breach a World Cup advertising embargo.

The Dutch are known as liberal people but even their orange army of football fans may find the idea of watching a football game in just their underwear slightly weird. But this is the bizarre situation facing many Dutch fans today because of a cult pair of orange trousers.

The problem is that the orange lederhosen bear the logo of Dutch brewery Grossbrauerei. Advertising by non-official sponsors is banned around World Cup stadiums. Heineken, which sponsors the Dutch national football team, is also not pleased at the guerilla marketing campaign. Before a friendly game against Cameroon earlier this month Heineken kicked up a fuss and forced Dutch fans to leave the offending items outside the ground. Later a Dutch court ruled that Dutch fans should be allowed to wear the trousers, but German World Cup organisers may disagree.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported this week that the bright orange lederhosen are the brainchild of Peer Swinkels, manager of a Dutch brewery, Grossbrauerei Bavaria. For every double six pack of the beer sold in Dutch supermarkets, the brewery have been giving out free pairs of orange, cotton lederhosen. The idea is supposed to be a gentle mockery of the Germans’ penchant for real lederhosen during the World Cup period. The lederhosen also feature a tail and a lion motif — the national symbol of Holland. So far over 250,000 pairs of lederhosen have flown off the shelves and they have become a cult item among Dutch soccer fans.

But anyone trying to wear their lion-like lederhosen in the stadium when Holland take on the Ivory Coast will have to leave them at the security check. Which leaves the distinct possibility that many fans will have to watch in their underwear. But hey, at least it’s warm in Stuttgart today…

– Chris Bryant, 6:00 p.m. CET

Original posting at: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,421777,00.html

Interesting site http://xoomer.alice.it/naxibo/4/

Budweiser is my friend!

Aass beer is not from Holand, but from Norway it means a hill i Norwegian.

Us south africans are pretty upset about the whole Budweiser thing considering we have the second largest brewer in the world and Budweiser is hardly available here probabl cos it tastes like piss. But end of the day its Fifa’s fault for not giving the host countries preference for sponsors. I mean at the moment how would the americans feel about an French company sponsoring their World Cup!

um… you mean they play soccer in the u.s?…. that’s weird…