Internet hoax dupes British sporting press

2009-01-24T16:09:57-05:00

2009-01-23T16:12:19-05:00

2009-01-24T16:09:57-05:00

fdog

Kealakekua 683219

31 One thing about soccer (or "football" or "futbol") in Europe or Latin America: it takes violence off of the field and puts it in the stands and out in the streets where it belongs! In most places, games don't count in the standings unless there is a death or at least several serious bodily injuries. 4099321

2009-01-24T15:29:40-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/314/911/thumb/pats_hat.jpg 3 MA

boston runner

boston 315291

30 In the real world democracy works, Gitmos will be closed, Syd and Masal live in the minds of every kid dreaming of the Impossible Dream, people will listen to Science (global warming is dreal) and 1+1 =2. Oh yeah, the winner of the World Series, World Championship, World Cup, Tour de France will win on heart, grit, determination, and the stuff of kids dreams. 4099114

2009-01-24T14:53:41-05:00

Spurs4CL

Las Vegas 447985

28 I just don't understand why the European football bashers bother coming on here and bashing a sport. Can't you be doing something constructive, like reading a book, playing a sport, going out and socializing, or doing something fun on the internet like looking at mock draft's, celebrity-sports look-a-likes, Youtubing stuff, or whatever. It just seems like such a massive waste of time. BTW, Mets are looking at Finch to fill the 4th spot in the rotation. Reports say Minaya is leaning towards Finch over Ollie Perez due to Finch having better control. 4098936

2009-01-24T15:18:51-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/639/028/thumb/Greenbay.gif 22 AZ

Squatch

639668

I just don't understand why the European football bashers bother coming on here and bashing a sport.

29 Because it brings the "Americans are xenophobes!!1!!@!" crowd into the comments, which is great fun. 4099068

2009-01-24T14:53:41-05:00

Spurs4CL

Las Vegas 447985

2009-01-24T04:28:33-05:00

DVARG

Mundelein 683142

16 100 bucks says if two moon gets out on a soccer field, he would be winded after about 5 minutes and be asked to taken off the field. Flop? Every heard of anything a called the NBA? Some of the best Oscar winning performances have been carried out on a basketball court. Willis Reed's dramatic walk onto Madison Square Garden.. sure he might have been slightly injured, but nothing compared to the story or myth. I love football, but let's face it... it's 5 minutes of play followed by 20 minutes of commercials. Soccer? No commercial interruptions.. It's 45 minutes, then 15 minute half, followed by 45 more minutes. And lastly, 3 billion people follow soccer.. why do you think NFL Europe failed big time? To Europe, football players are considered soft (not that I'm agreeing with that statement, but that is their perception - substitions, TV timeouts, injury time (watch a football game. If a team is behind and it's still not close to the two minute warning, I guarantee you'll see a player go onto the field with an injury.. psych! It's of course "miraculous" when they're back out on the field in 2 plays.. LOL 4096575

2009-01-24T14:30:40-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/572/472/thumb/FN1.jpg 148 XX

Winter

No City 572952

100 bucks says if two moon gets out on a soccer field, he would be winded after about 5 minutes and be asked to taken off the field. Flop? Every heard of anything a called the NBA? Some of the best Oscar winning performances have been carried out on a basketball court. Willis Reed's dramatic walk onto Madison Square Garden.. sure he might have been slightly injured, but nothing compared to the story or myth. I love football, but let's face it... it's 5 minutes of play followed by 20 minutes of commercials. Soccer? No commercial interruptions.. It's 45 minutes, then 15 minute half, followed by 45 more minutes. And lastly, 3 billion people follow soccer.. why do you think NFL Europe failed big time? To Europe, football players are considered soft (not that I'm agreeing with that statement, but that is their perception - substitions, TV timeouts, injury time (watch a football game. If a team is behind and it's still not close to the two minute warning, I guarantee you'll see a player go onto the field with an injury.. psych! It's of course "miraculous" when they're back out on the field in 2 plays.. LOL

27 NFL Europe didn't fail "big time." I went to a few games. There were quite a few euro fans. Problem was, NFL Europe was minor leagues, and everyone knew it. No star power to draw fans in. 4098822

2009-01-24T13:39:37-05:00

longdrive

Miami 555640

Players in the NBA fake and flop to get fouls all the time.

25 Only the Europeans. 4098477

2009-01-24T13:53:37-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/639/028/thumb/Greenbay.gif 22 AZ

Squatch

639668

Only the Europeans.

26 Pfffft. Xenophobe. 4098566

2009-01-24T02:24:54-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/572/472/thumb/FN1.jpg 148 XX

Winter

No City 572952

Soccer, a game for elementary school children, is the only sport which, when played at the professional adult level, rewards the faking of injuries. Everyone gets a hug and a trophy. It is no surprise that a fake soccer phenom had credibility. Soccer players are not legitimate professional athletes, so there's no difference between the "fakes" and the "real ones." They're all fakes.

14 Players in the NBA fake and flop to get fouls all the time. 4096399

2009-01-24T13:39:37-05:00

longdrive

Miami 555640

Players in the NBA fake and flop to get fouls all the time.

25 Only the Europeans. 4098477

2009-01-23T18:30:16-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/161/635/thumb/LIV11-1.jpg 3351 WI

Zizou10

Milwaukee 161935

6 American Football - where a 60 minute game lasts 3.5 hours. And of which there is 30 minutes of actual football played and 3 hours of commericals or non-football events. Awesome!!! 4093298

2009-01-24T13:37:18-05:00

longdrive

Miami 555640

American Football - where a 60 minute game lasts 3.5 hours.And of which there is 30 minutes of actual football played and 3 hours of commericals or non-football events. Awesome!!!

24 Soccer, where a 90 minute game seems to last forever. Where players get carried off of the field on strechers, writhing in pain after tripping on the grass. A game where World Cups are decided by the equivalent of technical free throws. Where the only action is drunken fans beating on each other. Awesome!!! 4098472

2009-01-24T08:32:12-05:00

cryptique

Ann Arbor 360049

20 No surprise that the usual morons showed up to voice their ignorant opinions about a sport they couldn't possibly understand. My fellow Americans, get over yourselves. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world for a reason -- but your attention spans have been so damaged by your voracious consumption of vapid, quick-cut media that you can't sustain concentration on anything for longer than a half inning or a set of downs. Your xenophobia helps you justify your irrational hatred of a superior sport by consigning it in your minds to the realm of "furriners." You focus on flops/fake injuries, admittedly a problem, but conveniently forget the incredible level of fitness required to play soccer, which is far beyond that required for any major American team sport. Soccer fans hate the flopping too, but if any of you ran up and down a pitch for ninety minutes the way these guys do, you'd at least begin to understand where it comes from. In a sport with no time-outs, you manufacture your own opportunities to rest. DVARG said it best, however: "3 billion soccer fans vs. 75 million American football fans. Enough said." 4096965

2009-01-24T12:49:40-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/639/028/thumb/Greenbay.gif 22 AZ

Squatch

639668

My fellow Americans, get over yourselves. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world for a reason -- but your attention spans have been so damaged by your voracious consumption of vapid, quick-cut media that you can't sustain concentration on anything for longer than a half inning or a set of downs. Your xenophobia helps you justify your irrational hatred of a superior sport by consigning it in your minds to the realm of "furriners".

23 This is why I always check out the comments whenever there's someting soccer-related: the comedy. There's always one sanctimonious **** indignantly stomping his little girls' feet, wagging his finger and swishing his skirts while potificating on the "xenophobia" of 'Murricans who think soccer is a huge bore. The only funnier type of commenter is the one in the Top Ten Sports Moments type threads, regaling everyone with a tale about how Gerhard von Gesundheit scored consecutive treble willywogs in a 132-hour cricket test match, singlehandedly winning the Rumbledumble Binghampton Cherry Blossom sectional, and ending it with a "Typical Americans, thinking the world revolves around you!", while posting his comment on an American sports website. Classic! 4098196

2009-01-24T11:08:10-05:00

leroy corso

Winston Salem 644350

22 Here's a story (see link below) that duped quite a few carolina fans. http://www.carolinasucks.com/pn/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=64 4097630

<div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/20901/instrument.jpg" alt="Instrument" /> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Masal Bugduv and Sidd Finch sing similar tunes.<br /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Lane Stewart/SI</div> </div> <p>Fearing that the secret of 16-year-old <strong>Masal Bugduv</strong> could not be kept much longer, <em>The Times</em> of London included the supposed soccer phenom in its list of "Football's top 50 rising stars" earlier this month. Though unknown to many, the Moldovian teenager ranked at No. 30.</p> <p>How magical are Bugduv's skills? Well, it turns out that they are tantamount to those of former <em>Sports Illustrated </em>subject <strong>Sidd Finch</strong>. Like the <a href="http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119283/index.htm">estimable Finch</a>, Bugduv, who was praised as "Moldova's finest," does not actually exist. Rather, he's the brainchild of an <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2209603/">elaborate new-media hoax</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>The hoaxer, it seemed, had exploited the trickle-up nature of online information flow. The blog comments fooled the blogs, the blogs fooled the news sites, and the news sites fooled the magazines. When the <em>Times </em>came to Bugduv, his story was resting on a pedestal of widespread acceptance. In the end, the hoax laid bare what we had all dimly suspected: Sometimes, sportswriters do not know what they are talking about.</p> </blockquote> <p>Blogger <strong>Neil McDonnell</strong> did the Internet-heavy detective work, following the trail, link by link, back to false AP stories posted in online forums and blog comment sections.</p> <p>In a world with ever-growing pockets of passionate recruitniks hungry to identify the next young athlete, the Finch/Bugduv formula never fails to make for a solid prank. Where does this rank in the history of fake prodigy stories?</p> <p><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2209603/">Fictional Moldovan Soccer Phenom Tells All</a> [Slate]<a href="http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119283/index.htm" target="_blank"><br />The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch (Apr. 1, 1985)</a> [SI Vault]</p> 43681

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