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But as jayrandom correctly points out, the US is already metric. The official US foot measure isn't defined as anything but a fraction of an SI meter. There's no standard foot measure kept in the Bureau of Weights and measures, nor is it defined as a number of wavelengths from a specific emitter or some such.
Well, just because soccer is played at the elementary level doesn't necessarily make it a more interesting sport. Sports is nothing more than a cultural expression and most people in the United States just don't care for soccer that much, even though they might have suffered on the sidelines as their kids played it in elementary school. Heck, my 16-year-old son has played soccer since he was three and HE can't get into watching soccer on TV. Here are some of the reasons Americans don't really enjoy soccer:
1. Low scores. Hey, we get that people elsewhere think that a 1-0 score is suspenseful. To us, it just means that nothing happened. Even in a baseball game that ends 1-0, you at least have the taut suspense of a pitcher's duel.
2. Tie scores. We hate tie ball games. If I've invested 2, 3 hours to watch an athletic event, I want a freaking winner and a loser.
3. Insufferable soccer fans. If you like soccer, that's great. Knock yourself out. But don't be one of this legion of smug soccer lovers who think just because something is popular in Nigeria or Brazil, it automatically makes it culturally superior. Hey, they like military coups in those countries, too, but I don't want that imported to the United States. And, despite what the culturistas think, just because I don't want to watch people aimlessly kick a ball around for 90 minutes that doesn't mean I don't know what wine to order with the fish.
Mind you, every sport has its drawbacks. Football combines the two worst American traits, violence and committee meetings, into one game. Baseball can be excruciatingly boring until it's not. All basketball games should be cut to five minutes. Yet if you go into the CD sports forum, you don't see five thousand whiny threads that ask, "Why don't more Europeans like baseball?" However, you'll find threads by the boxcar ask why Americans don't like soccer.
But as jayrandom correctly points out, the US is already metric. The official US foot measure isn't defined as anything but a fraction of an SI meter. There's no standard foot measure kept in the Bureau of Weights and measures, nor is it defined as a number of wavelengths from a specific emitter or some such.
Smaller pints = less drunk while fighting.
Funny thing about that standard meter. The bar that was used to define it keeps changing in length (which is probably why they went with another standard to measure it).
The metric system came into the forefront during a rush of nationalism in France. Enjoy...
And around the same time, decimal currency was enthusiastically adopted by a certain large new democracy that had just whooped some serious British a$$.
And around the same time, decimal currency was enthusiastically adopted by a certain large new democracy that had just whooped some serious British a$$.
True. Look how well THAT has worked out for us. I used to be able to live quite comfortably on less than $10K per year. BTW, quarters are not a division by ten. Just my two bits.
The Canadian Football League has played for 100 years (exactly) on a field measured in yards, but they chose to lay it out as a 110 yard field, instead of the US standard of 100 yards. Canada metricized in the 1970s, but left the field dimensions alone, even though 110 yards is very close to 100 meters and would have lent itself perfectly to a metric reconfiguration.
I remember reading that, unlike our football which has a standard sized field, soccer has no standard size. That's just one of the little tidbits I recall.
I remember reading that, unlike our football which has a standard sized field, soccer has no standard size. That's just one of the little tidbits I recall.
Correct. But I believe there are regulations to keep it within a certain size. Between 90-100 meters I think.
I found what looks to be a good reference for soccer sizes:
The Soccer Field Dimensions
The field of play shall be rectangular, the width of which shall not exceed the length.
The width shall not be more than 80 yards (73.15M) nor less than 65 yards (59.44m) and the length shall not be more than 120 yards (109.72m) nor less than 110 yards (100.58m); however, fields of less than minimal dimensions may be used by prior written mutual consent of the competing institutions. The optimum size is 75 yards (68.58m) by 120 yards (109.73m).
The Soccer Field Dimensions
The field of play shall be rectangular, the width of which shall not exceed the length.
The width shall not be more than 80 yards (73.15M) nor less than 65 yards (59.44m) and the length shall not be more than 120 yards (109.72m) nor less than 110 yards (100.58m); however, fields of less than minimal dimensions may be used by prior written mutual consent of the competing institutions. The optimum size is 75 yards (68.58m) by 120 yards (109.73m).
I guess things have changed since I last read about soccer dimensions...
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