QuoteSo the definition of a strange, rare and peculiar sport is one that isn't played in Iceland?
Right so.
Out of all those strange, rare and peculiar sports listed I'll give you hockey as the only sport worth a mention, but only the (pansy) field variety, Iceland takes the kudos in ice hockey, the man's game.
So the definition of a strange, rare and peculiar sport is one that isn't played in Iceland?
Right so.
We're better at tennis too. Suck on that IcelandOriginally Posted by pineapple stu
Ireland are in Europe/Africa group II
Iceland have never been higher than Europe group III
Last edited by Acornvilla; 19/09/2014 at 5:59 PM.
Well if you are actually serious (which I wasn't) and being idiotic, then yes I'd say GAA and Aussie rules would be regarded as strange,rare and peculiar in most every country outside the one country it's 99.9% played in. Perhaps that's a bizarre thought for some to take, but there you are
Rugby has a popularity in certain countries, cricket outside the usual suspects would be a rare/peculiar sport in most areas of Europe and it would be utterly bizarre to think that cricket or baseball could be be played in an arctic climate above any minimum kindergarten standard.
The main competitive team sports in Europe in no particular order, played in most every country, are football, basketball, handball, hockey (ice and field), volleyball, and water polo. Rugby is very popular in one traditional area but not widespread, the main european competition has little interest outside 5 or 6 unions.
Ireland is struggling at this football thing, GAA is the real national sport, a situation not unlike New Zealand where rugby is regarded as the national sport and football is a game they stuggle to play well.
Ah here I was with you until water polo. Ban this blatant troll, tets.
You really are a tedious troll, "serious" or not. But I think you know that.
For what it's worth - more European countries entered the rugby world cup (40) than the basketball world cup (24). Neither Ireland nor Iceland entered the basketball world cup (neither did Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Norway, Romania, Holland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Hungary - played in most every country, eh?). Basketball Ireland is bankrupt at the moment, but when we had a team - it was better than Iceland's.
Ice hockey? Would you stop. 46 countries in the world in their World Cup. Mostly countries with snow. Not really applicable here.
Volleyball - the north play and are about the same standard as Iceland. Can hardly be a good thing.
Water polo?! Right so Ted. Still fewer European countries entering the world Cup than in rugby.
Handball is awfully silly. There, I said it. I don't mind it - nearly played it in college - but it is awfully silly.
So - we're better at basketball. Ice hockey not applicable for climate reasons. Volleyball - a quarter of the country is as good as Iceland. Water polo - evidence of senility. Why would you play niche stuff like that anyway when you can pick up a hurl?
And what's Iceland got after all that? Handball? A game so irrelevant in Ireland we have another sport called handball? Yeah, you can keep that, thanks.
Even football is a one-off aberration.
don't think he's being a troll, some people have their own opinions on what constitutes a "proper" sport. Americans can't understand why baseball isn't massive worldwide, the French do love their boules, etc
for the record, I think Ireland plays a much wider variety of sports than Iceland, while they are stronger in some individual sports.
Anyway, back on topic.
Going to throw tennis out there again, seeing as it was ignored! Ireland are decidedly on the up, our top 4 guys are all pushing around lifetime highs at the moment (teams consist of 5 players + a coach), while Iceland are nowhere to be found. You should probably look into how huge the Davis and Fed cup are. Wouldn't put it into a bracket lower than rugby, cricket or that ilk as it's huge in pretty much every major European country as well as growing in Asia and having always been a big thing in the Americas, north and south.
edit: didn't read the last line of tets post, sorry I'll shh too..
Last edited by Acornvilla; 20/09/2014 at 8:53 AM.
I was joking, commandant
Yeah! We don't do that with any other sports!
True, but I just don't think riding horses around in swimming pools lashing sticks at rubber ducks to try propel them through two upright posts at either end of the pool is really the height of our cultural contributions, so I kept shtum about water polo.
amaccann raised it in the Gibraltar match thread, but I'm assuming games against Gibraltar won't count toward, or against, our FIFA ranking?
Correct - it does not count
Just as well. Only winning 7-0 might see us fall a few places
Maybe FIFA won't recognise Robbie's hat trick and refuse on principle to list him ahead of Ronaldo.
It might get confusing, like with darts and boxing.
How far will Poland jump up from 70th placed after beating Germany who were no 1?
You tell us!
I think we be moving up now a little
On the FIFA website, there is a calculator of points. Our game against Gibraltor, doesn't count, but we should rise in the rankings with the draw yesterday. I think in terms of points we have risen from 506 to 519 points.
Looking ahead to the draw for WC 2018, there are a few european countries ahead of us that are very reachable in the coming few games like montenegro, but equally there are countries behind us that may soon overtake us like Poland and Norn iron if they continue their excellent runs. Beating nations like Germany and Greece is worth a massive amount of points.
If I was to guess, should we take 8 points off Poland and Scotland, then we would be high 3rd seeds and have an outside bet of 2nd seeds. Beating the Germans would cement us as 2nd seeds imo. Winning friendlies against the USA and England will also help massively.
It has been a funny campaign for alot of countries. The rankings could look very different this time next year. At least, it's a positive change from being the highest ranked 5th seed, as we were last year.
Think we move up to around 57th place next week
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