• This topic has 37 replies, 23 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by Grace.
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  • This there American football thing.
  • JonBoy
    Free Member

    So I stayed up to watch the superbowl. I have to say despite not having a bloody clue what was being talked about I think I enjoyed it. So as someone who’s is very new to it, where is a good place (easy going) to find out what a 2nd down or 10th in the 3rd is. Also how do you pick a team to maybe follow?

    gobuchul
    Free Member

    This is a pretty good start.

    http://thefootballgirl.com/football-101/nfl-rules.html

    For a bit more detail then wiki is your friend.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_rules

    I never used to get it, then I was lucky enough to get a live game when in across in the US for work. Made a lot more sense watching it live and really the enjoyed the day.

    Will be watching as much as I can next season.

    pondo
    Full Member

    The 49ers won their second superbowl the year I started watching, so that’s how I worked out who to support. 🙂

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

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    binners
    Full Member

    an excellent summary here

    Sport* for people who find even rugby union much too free-flowing, and desperately needs lots more pointless stoppy/starty bits, preferably for utterly incomprehensible reasons

    * the term is used figuratively in this instance to denote the mind-numbingly tedious stuff that happens between the adverts and Beyoncé

    hammerite
    Free Member

    JonBoy – get yourself tickets to one of the International Series games at Wembley. Pick one of the teams and follow them!

    Go Jags!

    (that might not have been the most thought out team selection!)

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    I worked with a bunch* of Mercans for a year. With an interpreter on hand it was quite entertaining. As binners says it doesn’t exactly flow but they are quite clever at what they do. I don’t bother with it now though.

    * I think bunch is the correct collective noun.

    PS. Shouldn’t it be “this here” or “that there”?

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    binners once again proving that the daily mash is nowhere near as funny as he thinks it is. Although it does work for the average football fan.

    binners
    Full Member

    Maybe

    their

    articles

    need

    more

    pointless

    paragraph

    breaks

    in

    for

    the

    rugby

    union

    fans

    to

    enjoy

    🙂

    surroundedbyhills
    Free Member

    I’m so sorry I missed it (like the 49 before it but…apparently) I do know that the Texas Beyoncers won by smashing an all star team of Mark Bonson, Pluto Marrs and 3mm Coldply.

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    Wasn’t the best game for beginners, not enough offense but once into it you realise how well Denver’s defense handled Newton & their game plan was perfect.

    Redskins fan since 1982

    Cougar
    Full Member

    I’d recommend starting with this explanation (cos it’s something what I wrote): http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/can-anyone-explain-american-football#post-7236364

    mitsumonkey
    Free Member

    I watched 3/4’s of it before I went to bed, I thought Denver had got it in the bag by then.
    I used to be a big fan and even played it (full pads, helmet etc) when I was 15 that was good fun. Nowadays I find it too much faff to watch with all the stopping, starting and farting around.

    mitsumonkey
    Free Member

    Oh New England Patriots by the way, my ‘team’ since 1986

    scuttler
    Full Member

    Denver cos they’re best innit.

    Personally I’d pick a team for whom

    – you like the badge/colours (girly approach)
    – you empathise with from a ‘where you live’ point of view

    By that last comment I mean it’s a somewhere that’s geographically, meteorologically, or socio-politically linked to wherever you call home in the UK. Easy ones:

    – Detroit = Birmingham/Cov
    – Bournemouth/Brighton = Miami
    – Green Bay = Carlisle
    – any of the glam teams (LA, SF, NY, whoever’s winning) = London
    – Pittsburgh = Sheffield
    – Whichever team everyone loves to hate = Leeds

    Me – Skins on and off since the old Channel 4 / Nicky Horne days, but only ever been to Seahawks in the Kingdome (boom)

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    would that be the Baltimore Ravens then ? 😉 MOT

    scuttler
    Full Member

    One for the oldies

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSaJ0sBgwdk[/video]

    JefWachowchow
    Free Member

    I always thought it should be called ‘Hand Egg’.

    chewkw
    Free Member

    I like watching them Merican football. Particularly when their helmets crash into each other.

    But I also like leaving the telly on Merican football to fill in the silent then fall asleep … coz there is no good film on … 😆

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Neutrals should all support Green Bay.

    Green Bay is the only community-owned and non-profit team. They are not allowed to up sticks and move to another city, which means its support is deeply rooted in its locality, like a British football club. The fans are passionate and it always has good support, through thick and thin, which is more aligned with the ethos of a British football club. Almost everyone in Wisconsin is a packers fan, and at any given time during the season it looks like 50% of people are wearing some merchandise – hats, coats, scarves, baby clothes etc. People also turn out in all weathers to watch. The ground is almost always sold out no matter how cold it gets. On top of all that, they are also the most successful team in the league afaik.

    DezB
    Free Member

    I think I’ll stick with the thrill and excitement of a good ol’ British sport.
    Like the darts.

    surroundedbyhills
    Free Member

    or snooker.

    wrecker
    Free Member

    Sport* for people who find even rugby union much too free-flowing

    Not sure why you’d hold RU up as particularly stop-start considering that League has a restart after EVERY ***ING TACKLE!!!!
    The basis of NFL isn’t a million miles away from league really (X “goes” to get X distance then HOOF!)

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Yes.

    Once, everywhere had local rules for football (most of which included handling the ball in some way) including the old public schools which all had their own sets of rules. When the US and Canadian colonies matured and set up colleges, they also had their own rules. After they realised playing each other would be much easier if they all adopted the same rules, we ended up with Rugby football being played in public schools, and another different variant being played in Havard, Princeton and so on. They didn’t want to stop playing when they left college so they created leagues which were commercial organisations. Meanwhile at a similar time people in the general public in England were getting together to create their own standard rules (which did not include handling the ball) and came up with the Football Association. Then the working class northerners playing Rugby got fed up with the toffs and broke away to form their own League, and the rules diverged afterwards (according to wiki).

    So it would seem to be a case of convergent evolution with respect league and NFL.

    ransos
    Free Member

    Wasn’t the best game for beginners, not enough offense but once into it you realise how well Denver’s defense handled Newton & their game plan was perfect.

    As an aside, I was watching West Ham V Man City a couple of weeks back, and there was an American sat behind me, who gave us gems including:

    “I love your colours man”
    “Awesome offense”

    WT actual F?

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    I don’t watch football

    CountZero
    Full Member

    I think I’ll stick with the thrill and excitement of a good ol’ British sport.
    Like the darts.

    Complete with an arena full of braying, chanting drunken oiks. Good choice. At least snooker keeps the audience participation to the absolute minimum.

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    I agree with what mol says about the Packers. Happy enough to be a Steelers fan though. Firmly rooted in Pittsburgh and plenty of tradition and history.

    StirlingCrispin
    Full Member

    One word – Buckeyes!

    NCAA (college) football’s where it’s at. Local kids (sorta) playing for a local team in front of just 100,000 people.

    You can also do some reading:
    The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
    Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, by H G Bissinger

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    Friday Night Lights

    Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose! 🙂

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    CAN’T LOSE

    [runs out of locker room, touching the graffiti on the way out]

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    😀

    Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle. He’s gonna fight and he’s gonna lose. But what makes him a man, is that in the midst of that battle he does not lose himself.

    Every week…a different lesson in how to be a better man. 🙂

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    Texas forever.

    [Clinks neck of beer bottle with deadlydarcy]

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    Still watch that last episode every so often… 🙁

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    I watched it all about 16 months ago and just bought the full set on DVD to watch it over again. It’s an odd series. The premise is so crap sounding that I can never convince anyone else to watch it but it is so well done that once you start it’s completely engaging.

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    Agreed!

    I find myself describing it…”It’s about high school football in a dead end town in Texas…and there’s coach Taylor, and oh yeah, there’s mrs coach…she’s awesome…” And I see mrs DD rolling her eyes and whoever I’m telling going “Uh huh, yeah, I see…” 😆

    hammerite
    Free Member

    Buckeyes you say…? Apparently their coming to the UK for some reason and are meeting up with Jnr’s team to train (basically to show them how it should really be done!)

    Kuco
    Full Member

    I wouldn’t exactly say college football is local kids. There’s a hell of a lot of money involved in college football and colleges will go to great lengths to recruit players throughout the country. But I agree the crowds the top teams can draw is amazing and good to watch for some good trick plays.

    Grace
    Free Member

    Green Bay since 1975. That is all.

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