Posts by Palimpsest

16

USA knocked out by Ghana

by Simon in

i really thought the us was going to do it but they got knocked out.. apparently, the same team (ghana) as last time - don't feel bad ... germany normally knock us out (probably tomorrow)..

Although the survey was done by household, the numbers in the data set represent individuals, not families. I can't replicate your football result in a search, but depending on the keywords used, I got soccer, football, basketball, and baseball all as answers to the question of the most played (not most popular) sport in America. Like everything, it depends on wording and methodology. So I'm going to stick with figures measuring people actively involved in organized sports, since that seems to me to be the best way to do it.

But ultimately, it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that it's still a very popular sport for American athletes -- no one disputes that -- and the media miss out on a huge opportunity by continuing to ignore a fan base that could be easily cultivated. That's the real message people should take away.

16

USA knocked out by Ghana

by Simon in

i really thought the us was going to do it but they got knocked out.. apparently, the same team (ghana) as last time - don't feel bad ... germany normally knock us out (probably tomorrow)..

Palimpsest

I can't find that particular booklet so far (I was hoping for a PDF), but there is a Census table at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s1212.pdf. According to that table, basketball is ahead of soccer and baseball is tied with soccer, but the Census is based on self-reporting and isn't restricted to organized play. It's counting people who are reporting involvement with basketball on a purely recreational level, like guys shooting a ball around at the local schoolyard. The soccer stat I gave above comes from a formal headcount of everyone involved in the American soccer pyramid at any level.

16

USA knocked out by Ghana

by Simon in

i really thought the us was going to do it but they got knocked out.. apparently, the same team (ghana) as last time - don't feel bad ... germany normally knock us out (probably tomorrow)..

Palimpsest

Palimpset, where did you get your info that soccer is the most played sport in the US?

The U.S. Department of State publishes an annual report on soccer since it's used as cultural information to be given out at/by embassies. We have a copy of it at my club. It's a booklet, but I'll look and see if I can find it on-line...

If you count college and junior (18 and under) leagues, it's the leader by far among organized sports in America. There are just under 20 million people involved in organized soccer here. The catch is that about 80% of people playing organized soccer in America are college-aged or younger. So some people argue that soccer shouldn't be counted as the largest sport because it's mostly children playing, but since they're the next generation and will set the tone for American sport moving forward, I don't see how we can ignore them.

16

USA knocked out by Ghana

by Simon in

i really thought the us was going to do it but they got knocked out.. apparently, the same team (ghana) as last time - don't feel bad ... germany normally knock us out (probably tomorrow)..

Palimpsest

Well, there goes the US's fascination with soccer (football).

So not true. It's the most-played sport in America and there are plenty of us who do follow it year-round. EPL matches, for example, are consistently the top-ranked programs on several international sports channels here in the U.S. The problem is that you can't watch them unless you have specific digital/satellite cable packages. As long as the media prevents people from actually seeing soccer, it will never grow. So it's a vicious cycle of sorts: They won't play it because they think there are no fans, but the fan base can't develop if they don't play it. The base is there -- it's up to the media to decide whether to take advantage of it.

Also, MLS made the mistake of putting their teams in high-population but over-saturated areas. Fans in New York, for example, don't need yet another sports team to follow. They would have been better off targeting mid-market regions where people needed a team to rally around. That gets people in the seats and also brings new viewers to television, and perhaps more importantly would stop MLS from bleeding money in stadium costs, which continues to be part of their demise. (Going to Salt Lake was one of the few smart things they've done over the past few years.)

And they desperately need to stop letting go of the home-grown talent just to keep themselves financially afloat. Tim Howard, for example, should never have been sold to Man U. Yet they bring in Beckham to be the new hero, and all that does is further cement the idea many Americans have of soccer being a European game. The management of MLS is awful.

(Sorry, tangent.)

3

Do you shop from TV, HSN, QVC or from infomercials?

by littlerockguy in

jw
friends

i find myself taking advantage from outlets like hsn and online shopping for different reasons, one basic reason being that i hate the experience of going to wal mart or some other dept store only to find the item out of stock, long lines and stuff, and not to mention not having what you want in the first place.. i buy skincare products (certain brand i have been using for a long time) from hsn when they have special deals on it better than i can get off ebay and i also buy certain andrew lessman vitamins when he has specials on it and other stuff from hsn.. it's basically it's website i order my stuff.

many times when you order from online the shipping and handling and even setting up of stuff is free, unlike when you order from a big box dept store.

i also buy most of my books online through amazon and ebay.

Palimpsest

I don't buy anything off television because it ends up being more expensive in the long run. You can get the same items in stores or on-line for lower costs; you just have to look. I do, however, buy a lot of my books through B&N and Amazon.

21

Let's get that Field Service Time in... Part 2

by Jim_TX in

jw
friends

about a month ago, i posted here about this fella standing outside of big lot's with magazines in his hand.. this morning, at about 11am, i went to big lot's to get some birdseed.

well, lo and behold, there he was again.

i said, "well, he is a jehovah's witness, and he is handing out literature.

Palimpsest

I've read many a tale on this board of jws somehow getting into secure apartment buildings that had no soliciting signs in plain sight.

My mother did newspaper routes on the side, so she used to use her keys for that. She would go into lobbies and leave magazines all around. The building managers never figured out it was her.

21

Let's get that Field Service Time in... Part 2

by Jim_TX in

jw
friends

about a month ago, i posted here about this fella standing outside of big lot's with magazines in his hand.. this morning, at about 11am, i went to big lot's to get some birdseed.

well, lo and behold, there he was again.

i said, "well, he is a jehovah's witness, and he is handing out literature.

Palimpsest

I don't have a problem with what you did, especially if the plaza's security guards were already tailing him. Well done! Regardless of what they think, Witnesses are not above the rules.

18

Despite your reservations with being a JW, did you ever sometimes felt like you accomplished something in field service?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

i've got my fair share of things that irritate me to no end regarding this religion.

however, i have to be fair.

i got up this morning, and for some reason i didnt feel overwhelmingly negative about what i was getting ready to do.

Palimpsest

No, I never had that happen. I would sometimes have fun just being out with friends, but the "work" I did never accomplished anything. I'm from a very liberal, largely Jewish and Catholic area, so we almost never had anyone talk to us. At best, I'd be able to get through maybe 10 seconds of my sales pitch before I got the "not interested" from them. I never had successful calls. No one wanted to talk, so the encounters you describe never happened for me.

On a related note, we only seemed to get new members in our congregation when people found someone truly helpless (like low-income single mothers who wanted somewhere to socialize) or when children were born. And most of the new recruits never progressed to baptism. For a relatively large congregation, we were lucky if we had one baptism in an entire year. It was just impossible to get people to engage at the door.

36

What Are Some "Strange" Beliefs Jehovah's Witnesses Have?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think it's fair to say that witnesses' beliefs are often odd.

how they come to a "biblical" conclusion is often unreasonable and far fetched!.

please list some ideas and views that jehovah's witnesses have that are unusual or weird..

Palimpsest

If a woman doesn't scream out for Jehovah when being raped, she committed fornication.

Say what? I've never heard or read that.

49

Michael Jackson---What Was Your Opinion Of Him?

by minimus in

jw
friends

a year ago, mj suddenly died.

for years, multitudes of people said michael jackson was a "sicko" a "wacko", a "child molester" and an "addict".. once he died, the man was glorified by people, the media and his family.. what did you think about michael?.....personally, i thought he was an eccentric ultra-gifted artist who was childlike and brilliant.

i was never convinced that he was a child molester but i will say i thought his behavior was "weird" with kids (and adults)..

Palimpsest

can you imagine if the Jackson family never were Witnesses>?

That's always what goes through my mind when I think of him. I have to think that was a huge part of his...weirdness.

Then again, I think his entire persona was just an elaborate act. Several of his family members, for example, have said that his speaking voice was completely normal -- he just used a childlike voice for interviews and public speaking to make himself stand out more and raise questions. He did whatever would get him attention and jack up his sales.