Why "Soccer"?

I've wondered for a while why we Americans call "soccer" "soccer" and not "football." Seems that it's not really our fault. According to a couple of soccer-savvy websites, when the sport first reached our shores in the late 19th Century, it was called Association Football -- a name we got from the Brits.

They were also responsible for calling it "Assoccer," a kind of abbreviation for "Association Football." That in turn became "soccer," and we Americans grabbed onto the term after World War II, partly due to our own "Football," which allows teams to touch the ball and has more timeouts than a three-year-old in a month.

So, basically, it's not really our fault that we call it soccer. We got the term way back when from the Brits.

Also, if you think about it, the other countries aren't really calling the game "football" either. If they were, then countries like Mexico would call it "La pelota de pie," and the Italians would call it "La palla di piede." No, they're picking up on the English term "football," so to the folks in Mexico, the game is "Futbol."

Well, enough of that, I have critiquing to do.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July.