I was born a bred on American football. 🏈 

When I began visiting Bangkok in 2002, I found myself immersed In an altogether different game that shares the name. It wasn’t infatuation at first sight. But slowly, incrementally I found myself coming to appreciate the game and its rules. A succession of boys would ask if I minded if they watched it after the room festivities died down back in my room. It served as a common denominator. 

After meeting my long time friend, as rabid a fan as I can imagine, I was drawn deeper into the lure of the game. The last World Cup and now Euro 2024 are continuing my indoctrination. 

Last year I posted this observation about game from The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer (Laurent Dubois, 2018):

“Soccer is sensual. It is about the pleasure of watching athletes’ bodies, their faces, their motion, admiring and commenting on their hairstyles and tattoos. When we talk and write about soccer, we evoke—more often unconsciously than consciously—its sensuality. Its role as a source of pleasure……Soccer may be the most tantric of sports. Some of the greatest and most riveting of games end 0-0. Perhaps what is truly sensual about soccer is that it is about interplay, relationships, motion between people, all tied up with our deepest and most mysterious emotions.”

11 hours ago, reader said:

Its role as a source of pleasure……Soccer may be the most tantric of sports. 

also source of frustration. I was watching Spain-France Euro 2024 semifinals  yesterday, glued to the screen. At one point I accidentally dropped  something and bent to pick it up - it was exactly 2 seconds when Spain shoot their equalizer , then 3 minutes later somebody knocked into door , I went to open it and it was very moment when Spain packed their 2nd , winning goal into the net . So I missed 70econds of the game and it was good enough to miss 2 goals out of 3.

For reals? That’s just absurd. Usually a thing that is … is just what it is. But thanks for the shudders.

The win is attributable to a teenager. Prepubescent kids accompany the players to the field. Think things through, guys; it helps keep creepiness in check and Clarice from a warranted knocking on your door. You don’t have to be prurient about everything.

6 hours ago, Riobard said:

 You don’t have to be prurient about everything.

but I guess we still can if we choose to, no ? better than being prudish I suppose

28 minutes ago, vinapu said:

but I guess we still can if we choose to, no ? better than being prudish I suppose

No. Better to be priggish than getting into the weeds on autonomy.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

2 hours ago, Riobard said:

No. Better to be priggish than getting into the weeds on autonomy.

no, that will not go well with any of 57 different Heinz ketchups

6 hours ago, reader said:

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Says the guy that deems a globally beloved sport played by all genders and all ages as tantric-grade. That ridiculous little passage evoked cringe not sensuality. But try workshopping it on a playing field and see how that plays out. The terms ‘own goal’, ‘red card’ come to mind.

No body understands what you say, much less the senseless pics and videos you post.

But fear not, there’s one thing you can be counted on to do with utter consistency: more of the same. 🙂

1 hour ago, reader said:

 

2 hours ago, reader said:

No body understands what you say, much less the senseless pics and videos you post. 🙂

Speak for yourself when aggrieved. I don’t respect or value arrogant assertions of representation. In contrast to your snivelling on behalf of the herd, I understand everything there is to know about you. I just have to watch the news for parallels. The only receipt you have is your flimsy criticism and that of a handful of cronies in your corner. 

As long as you’re giving notes, I will say something inarguably speaking for myself. It would be easier to navigate this board without the daily hammering of random articles from a handful of nation-specific news outlets. I find the majority of them not relatable to what I perceive the board’s main agenda. Who’s to stop you? Nobody. But speaking for myself, the experience is one of cluttered spam. Like I said, my take is irrefutable. The only rebuttal could be: how could you not appreciate something you said you don’t? Perhaps you could wrap your brain around the holes in the idea that when you say nobody it means everybody when in fact it refers to you and your futile attempt to shape the narrative. 

I doubt that a steady influx of, say, Brazil-centric news articles would generate much attention. It would just add to the lopsided tone of the general subforum you monopolize. Show me the polls SVP.

I reiterate, read the room seeing as you are a reader. Your offerings within your favourite locale would be better suited to a board Club option thematically geared to the Thaiger, etc, ad infinitum re: English language material mirroring what news everybody accesses anyway or is simply extremely locally centred. Alternatively, you could just recommend that readers subscribe to their favourite news outlets. Or a subforum on Thai linked articles I won’t waste time on sifting through.

I’d add “You do you”, but you may grasp your own rigidity seeing as how prone you are to project it. If you can do that selectively according to your basic needs perhaps conscientious attention to newslink selectivity could ensue.

Thanks for the laughs, though. 

How can I put this….?

I know!

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

25 minutes ago, reader said:

How can I put this….?

I know!

However put, yours is the excellent foppery of the world. 

4 hours ago, reader said:

No body understands what you say, much less the senseless pics and videos you post.

But fear not, there’s one thing you can be counted on to do with utter consistency: more of the same. 🙂

+1

3 hours ago, Riobard said:

As long as you’re giving notes, I will say something inarguably speaking for myself. It would be easier to navigate this board without the daily hammering of random articles from a handful of nation-specific news outlets. I find the majority of them not relatable to what I perceive the board’s main agenda. Who’s to stop you?

Well, I hope that @reader  NEVER stops posting these articles.  I find them extremely useful.  Try living in Thailand as an expat and not being able to understand what is  or may happen to you thanks to this crazy current government's new initiative to tax us expats who live here more than 180 days in a year.  Furthermore, thanks to @reader posting articles about the various gay pride events in Thailand, I was able to participate in many of these events, that I would not have known to exist - especially in Koh Samui - thanks to my recent trip to Koh Tao via Koh Samui.

I would suggest that you just ignore the parts of this forum that you are not interested in.  For example, for the South American continent - I ignore all of those many related posts because I chose to retire and live in Southeast Asia.  But, I am happy to see that they exist - as I believe that they add value to those readers who are interested in South America.

It's a bit like someone saying "I think Ryan Reynolds is hot" and someone else coming along and saying "stop being so purient, he acted with that kid in that film".

Nonsense.

14 hours ago, Riobard said:

 It would be easier to navigate this board without the daily hammering of random articles from a handful of nation-specific news outlets. I find the majority of them not relatable to what I perceive the board’s main agenda.

That's not nice so I plead : force yourself to be nice. As bkkmfj advised It's easy to skip parts we are not interested in. I guess when shopping,  you only visit aisles with stuff you are shopping for. That approach will work great here too