2002-06-23 Don't get your hopes too high up! Of the bits and pieces of the games that I saw on TV, the American announcers never spoke a metric unit. Everything was in FFU. Every time I heard someone say yard, I just figured that the real distance was metres and they just changed the name. But, in reality I don't know if they did that or actually converted. So, it is not possible to go back to the true metre if one doesn't know the situation with yards.
Also, football (soccer) may be played on a 100 m field in most cases, but the rules allow for it to be played on a field varying from 90 m to 120 m and from 45 m to 90 m wide. So, an American football field can be used to play standard football and still be within the required specifications of the field. I'm sure if football ever becomes popular in the US, like American football, basketball, baseball, etc., the Americans will play it with an FFU bias. Football will not metricate America. I too read about the change in the money, but from what I heard, the colour changes will be subtle. Meaning only as a form of tinting and background hues. The bills will retain their "distinctive Americanism". The colour is suppose to thwart counterfeiting. But, from an article I read, counterfeiters like to bleach 1 $ bills and overprint them with 100 $. With sophisticated printing machines available, this will still be possible, even with the colouring added. It would be impossible if the bills varied in size. For example, a 100 ? note is bigger in size than the 5 ? note. No amount of bleaching a 5 ? note will make it possible to over print it with a 100 ? note. Change may be in the air, but the changes are too subtle to amount to anything. Let's face it they are only cosmetic. John > None the less, the USA is in the midst of joining the rest of the world > in 'football' power and prowess, as the national team played well enough > to make it deep into the second round of the World Cup this year (almost > beating Germany, too) and fields all across the USA are being literally > overrun by young people playing the game. > > A sea change is DEFINITELY in the air. > > (I also hear that our money will be taking on additional colors starting > next year....)
