USA for Euro 2008 [R]

[BrooklynRed]

Well, no one can accuse you all of not having a sense of humor.
*Cough*

[Ritchi3]

The idea of baseball was based on the english game of rounders

The Irish game of rounders. The first rules for it were made by the GAA.

[fah-q]

They call it the World Series because in 1903 when the American League played the National League the US was the only country that played baseball. With all the immigrants coming too the US in the late 18/early 1900's the rosters were a diverse mix of ancestries. Hence the name 'World Series'

[pedant]Actually its named after the Newspaper "The World" who first organised and sponsored it. [/pedant]

Actually apparently this isn't true

[fah-q]

Here you go:

Origin of the Name "World Series"

One baseball myth that just won't die is that the "World Series" was named for the New York World newspaper, which supposedly sponsored the earliest contests. It didn't, and it wasn't.

In fact, the postseason series between the AL and NL champs was originally known as the "Championship of the World" or "World's Championship Series." That was shortened through usage to "World's Series" and finally to "World Series."

This usage can be traced through the annual baseball guides. Spalding's Base Ball Guide for 1887 reported the results of the 1886 postseason series between Chicago, champions of the National League, and St. Louis, champions of the American Association, under the heading "The World's Championship." As the editor noted, the two leagues "both entitle their championship contests each season as those for the base ball championship of the United States," so a more grandiose name was required to describe the postseason showdown between the two "champions of the United States."

But the Spalding Guide -- which, after all, was published by one of the world's largest sporting goods companies, with a vested interest in bringing baseball to other lands -- had grander ambitions. By 1890, the Spalding Guide was explaining that "[t]he base ball championship of the United States necessarily includes that of the entire world, though the time will come when Australia will step in as a rival, and after that country will come Great Britain; but all that is for the future."

This didn't happen, but the name "World's Championship Series" stuck. Reporting on the first modern postseason series, the Red Sox-Pirates battle of 1903, the 1904 Reach Guide called it the "World's Championship Series." By 1912, Reach's headline spoke of the "World's Series," while editor Francis Richter's text still referred to the "World's Championship Series." The Reach Guide switched from "World's Series" to "World Series" in 1931, retaining the modern usage through its merger with the Spalding Guide and through its final issue in 1941. The separately-edited Spalding Guide used "World's Series" through 1916, switching to "World Series" in the 1917 edition.

The Spalding-Reach Guide was replaced as Major League Baseball's semi-official annual by the Sporting News Guide, first published in 1942. The Sporting News Guide used "World's Series" from 1942 through 1963, changing to "World Series" in the 1964 edition.

Moreover, the New York World never claimed any connection with postseason baseball. The World was a tabloid much given to flamboyant self-promotion. If it had been involved in any way with sponsoring a championship series, the fact would have been emblazoned across its sports pages for months. I reviewed every issue of the World for the months leading up to the 1903 and 1905 World's Championship Series -- there's not a word suggesting any link between the paper and the series.

[Resu]

I was in Houston when the Super Bowl was there a couple of years ago, great fun.
The think is that it`s just a big party, there really wasn`t any rivalry between opposing fans. If someone had painted their face or something like that people lokked at them as if they were crazy.
So it`s a great party, bur hasn`t got the "cup final feel" from Europe.

[Neil Young]

I foresee no legal obstacles once the USA returns to being a British colony.

It would also p*ss Radar off.

[BrooklynRed]

I foresee no legal obstacles once the USA returns to being a British colony.

It would also p*ss Radar off.

To be honest, if my fellow countrymen keep electing idiots and we fail to take care of our own citizens, it may not be a bad idea...

[Flake]

Well, last time I looked, Israel wasn't in europe either, so I guess its only a small step to let the USA in, Israel were allowed in cause all their neighbours hated them and didn't want to play though....

oh...

ahem...

[BrooklynRed]

hahaha. TRUE!

[paulcooper4]

Well, no one can accuse you all of not having a sense of humor.
*Cough*

[James]

They call it the World Series because in 1903 when the American League played the National League the US was the only country that played baseball. With all the immigrants coming too the US in the late 18/early 1900's the rosters were a diverse mix of ancestries. Hence the name 'World Series'

John Cleese was being interviewed on US tv when Clinton was president and was asked what he thought the main differences between the UK and the USA were.

He replied that there were 3 main reasons:

1. We talk properly.
2. When we have a world event we invite other countries.
3. You only have to get down on one knee when you meet our head of state!!!

[Radar]