Category Archives: Soccer

Is Soccer Boring?

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Luke Ford

Not to me. Here are some comments on Steve Sailer’s site: * Messi and the Argentine team had felt disrespected by Van Gaal and the Dutch team’s attitude and comments before the game, and especially by the latter’s height-ist style … Continue reading →

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Football in Sun and Shadow: An Emotional History of World Cup Football

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Luke Ford

From this classic work: How is football like God? Each inspires devotion among believers and distrust among intellectuals. In 1902 in London, Rudyard Kipling made fun of football and those who contented their souls with ‘the muddied oafs at the … Continue reading →

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The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Luke Ford

Here are some highlights from this 2008 book by David Goldblatt: * The British historian Eric Hobsbawm encapsulated this oddity when he wrote ‘The twentieth century was the American century in every way but one: sport.’ This is not exactly … Continue reading →

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The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning And Making Of English Football

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Luke Ford

Here are some highlights from this 2015 book by David Goldblatt: * Sir Richard Turnbull, the penultimate governor of Aden, told Denis Healey, then Britain’s defense secretary, that, “When the British Empire finally sank beneath the waves of history, it … Continue reading →

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The Barcelona Complex: Lionel Messi and the Making–and Unmaking–of the World’s Greatest Soccer Club

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Luke Ford

Simon Kuper writes in this 2021 book: * By 1970, they had developed a revolutionary new brand of football, one that would help shape the sport for the next fifty years, especially in the Netherlands and Barcelona. Ajax people didn’t … Continue reading →

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