The LSE died today...

The English invented (in no particular order): Football - by the far the most popular/profitable/entertaining sport in the World Cricket - probably the next most popular team sport in the world (by playing population) Tennis Golf Rubgy Union Running Sex Swimming Laughing The Balti Love The semi-colon The internet The sneeze.

So you started helping the Chinese only 10 years after the japs invaded? What fearless defenders of freedom you are! As for sport - I’m sure that just as Spongebob and Squarepants are entertaining to a 5 year old, you will continue to find 'merkin sports entertaining. And I’m sure you’ll enjoy chanting “my guy’s paid more than your guy!” if all else fails.

Admit it. You’re still smitten because we abandoned your joke of a monarchy. Alan Partridge is the most impressive thing to come out of England in the entire 20th century.

Rick O’Shea Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The English invented (in no particular order): > > Football - by the far the most > popular/profitable/entertaining sport in the > World > Cricket - probably the next most popular team > sport in the world (by playing population) > Tennis > Golf > Rubgy Union > Running > Sex > Swimming > Laughing > The Balti > Love > The semi-colon > The internet > The sneeze. …and the Romans invented the English

That’s another thing. The atmosphere at American games are pathetic. I’ve tried to “get” American football by watching it on the TV - but I’m a firm believer in attending a live sporting event to soak it all in, but I’ve never heard any singing from the US stadiums. Do the home fans sing to the away fans section at an American football game and vice versa because you can’t tell if they are? Maybe they don’t sing because they are all too busy eating cheeseburgers that they wash down with beer and statins?

cjones65 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Admit it. > > You’re still smitten because we abandoned your > joke of a monarchy. > > Alan Partridge is the most impressive thing to > come out of England in the entire 20th century. cjones65, despite being American, has my respect. I didn’t even think Americans were aware of Alan Partridge.

Flatley my dear, I don’t riverdance

hah. this is hilarious. funny how WWII frequently comes up when talking to europeans. talk about having a complex - get over it already. do you think americans care what “the world” thinks about football or baseball - they don’t. btw - it is reasonable to assume thay many people on this board would be aware of tom brady, given that most posters are in the US. if this were a london based board or a british based certification forum I wouldn’t be surprised (or indignant) at the mention of british / european celebrities.

My point exactly Gecco, Americans are out of touch with the rest of the World.

cjones65 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > and our sports > will always be both more entertaining and > profitable than any British-invented sport ever > will. That’s funny.

First of all. Yes, it is funny… Second of all, the English invented soccer like Germany invented beer. How can England claim they invented soccer, and Americans can’t claim they bested Germany in the big one? What’s with the double standard? Forms of soccer had been around in 1,000BC Japan when Celts were still doodling on cave walls. English didn’t invent golf either; Scots did.

cjones65 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > First of all. Yes, it is funny… > > Second of all, the English invented soccer like > Germany invented beer. > > How can England claim they invented soccer, and > Americans can’t claim they bested Germany in the > big one? What’s with the double standard? > > Forms of soccer had been around in 1,000BC Japan > when Celts were still doodling on cave walls. > English didn’t invent golf either; Scots did. I don’t wish to be drawn into a no-one-can-win argument, but your original post was about the British, so whether they were English or Scottish is not relevant. The origins of kicking a round thing are, as you suggest, slightly hazy, but the first rules of Association Football were written in the UK and the first club was formed in the UK. It is thought that the term soccer comes from Association so another connection there. There are quite a few British invented sports. On the subject of WWII, I make no comment.

Fair enough. But at least admit that well over half of the things that the British (or English- same thing really - personally know a handful of Irish and Scottish who would correct someone who called them British) claim to have invented were actually stolen?

serious point - I would have enjoyed this thread a whole lot more had i not been to Dachau recently (i’m extremely interested in military history but that trip redefined all my thoughts on victims, winners and losers during war) sarcastic point - I’m a brit and i do believe that we owe a lot to our american friends for their wartime efforts…or should i say we did owe them a lot until 2006 when we finally paid off the anglo american loan we took out straight after the war (the negotiation of which likely caused the death of one of the fathers of modern economics btw)

so based on that comment…americans should spend their time worrying whether europeans watch the NFL, or if asians know about tom brady’s existance? absurd. if anything, the US does not spend enough time addressing its own problems (which are significant), and tries to address those around the world. this planet would be a very different (and worse) place if the US had an isolationist foreign policy.