It has been said that Football is a gentlemens game played by thugs, and Rugby is a thugs game played by gentlemen.

 

I agree with this.

I watch a lot of Rugby League and the players are very fair, I played football almost my whole life and the amount of scum behaviour, niggly crap, behind the back business and low-blows that go on is beyond almost any sport probably.

Anybody and everybody can play and does play football, enough said.

 

Jeff, there have been several racial incidents in cricket, especially amongst players.

 

Yeah cricket has had its issues, but it's silly to even try compare it to football.

Jeff is right, there's a different level of respect and courtesy displayed in cricket. I mean, if a player is given out and is and makes his disappointment at the umpire's decision known in any small way, he's liable to be fined a percentage of his match fee. Even this is relatively rare though.

More than that, you get the feeling, as Jeff says, that the players are genuinely pleased for their rivals and their accomplishments. There's an almost fraternal feeling. A respect and appreciation for 'the game' is, I suppose, what sets cricket apart from many other sports.

 

Isn't cricket the one with all the spot fixing and the English cricket team toured the apartheid state of South Africa?

 

Oh come on...Australia dragged cricket into the mud with cheating and sledging. Not to mention numerous match fixing scandals. Even going all the way back to the Bodyline controversy, cricket has had major scandals.
Rugby has had its fair share of controversies as well. There was that "Bloodgate" scandal, and I've seen numerous fights, spear tackling etc. in Rugby. Let's not pretend that any group of sportsmen are more noble than the rest.
Anyway, I believe "The Beautiful Game" was coined due to aesthetics, and not any moral criteria. Watching Barcelona, Holland (old school anyway), Zidane, Riquelme, to pick just a few, play at their best, it's clear why.

 

Football is a beautiful game, because of the way it is played. The players being cheaters, racists or ulgy has nothing to do with it. Meh Jeff you can do better.

 

But a game is about so much more than simply what's going on on the field.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching football more than any other sport but - objectively - there are some serious issues with the modern game.

Sledging in cricket is legendary [not in a good way].

Sledging is absolutely harmless. As a batsman, I used to love the sledging that went on. This is about as hardcore as it gets (well, unless you're Merv Hughes):

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Makes a nice change from, "**** you ****ing ****".

I wouldn't really say it's much better or much worse than football

I would.

 

What's beautiful about diving, cheating, corruption, match-fixing scandals, violence, racism? All that's missing from football is drug cheats like they have in cycling and Olympic athletes.

It doesn't deserve to be called the beautiful game.

 

Football & Hockey for me.

 

I like only the sports which i can play well in it and know their rules. Football > VolleyBall..

football the has been the most beautiful sport..

 

Tennis is a good example, that is one of my favourite sports. Often you will see players applaud the shot when they're beaten by their rival, if it's too good. There's a lot of respect amongst the players [although it seems to vary in the WTA, for example intense rivalry amongst the Russians while the Italians enjoy a peaceful camaraderie]. Naturally if you look you can find evidence of "ugliness" but yeah tennis is cool. Toni Nadal often applauds a good shot made by Rafa's opponent.

 

At the end of the day it's just a phrase uttered by Pele.

 

If that were true, it would be the first sensible thing he's said

 

Or are there other sports more worthy of this title, to you anyway?

Football, despite being so named the beautiful game, is often marred by ugliness.

For example, earlier this year, I had the privilege of watching the England vs. South Africa Test Match, and in the first test, Hashim Amla became the first South African batsman to score 300 in a test match.

Acknowledging his achievement, the English spectators gave him a standing ovation, and likewise the English players paid tribute to this amazing innings. Similarly all throughout the series, there were handshakes, amiable banter, all of this shared on both sides.

There was mutual respect from both sides, always.

Then there's the actual sporting aspect and while cricket is a boring sport for some, for others, a perfectly timed cover drive by de Villiers or Kallis etc. is to me a beautiful thing.

Well, you just need to direct your eyes to how teams from the Orient approach football. With honour, dignity and passion. But there's a ***** in that argument.

 

:howler::howler: Fird hahahahaaa.