Whilst in the US we went to see an American football (should be called rugby or handball) match, hugely frustrating to watch and not anywhere near as fast or exciting as our beautiful game but it had to be done. It has set me thinking, the cost for the 3 of us to go to the game was £185 (no child concessions) yes that's British pounds and we had to book months in advance to get seats. Take a look at this: please log in to view this image Wouldn't we kill to have a stadium packed to the rafters like this? Imagine the revenue for each game! How come our income is so poor in comparison? This is college football not professional teams such as the red socks or red skins! How come it works in the states but not here? We are doing something wrong in this country, wish I knew what it was!
Interesting to note it is also not a covered stadium, although I would have thought that their weather is not a lot different from ours in regards to temperature and rainfall. I would imagine the coastal side gets hurricanes. What months do their American football season run through?
I think their footy season starts pretty much when ours does, not sure when it finishes. It gets a LOT colder there but I think it's also drier. I would think (though I don't know) that bad weather would be more likely to postpone games that it would do here.
There are some structural differences aren't there? 1) College football is effectively the next step down from the one-tier NFL, with college scholarships for elite school-age athletes making the players all-but professional and the direct draft selection of college players into the NFL each year being a huge media circus. Games are fully televised and so the equivalent of the Championship, not local schools football. 2) The vast distances between cities & towns in America, especially outside the East Coast, mean that it's less likely anyone outside the NFL hubs is going to regularly nip off to watch NFL rather than their local college team. Look away now Sensible. 3) Generally speaking, Americans have much higher standards of living and disposable incomes than we do. 4) They tend to be much more patriotic and so more committed to and supportive of their local communities [as the north of England is compared to the south]. 5) They celebrate when "one of theirs" steps up to stardom & riches in the NFL through the draft system. This is a stark contrast to the antagonism in some quarters when young soccer players transfer from the likes of Argyle to the PL. 6) They are generally more optimistic when times are hard - The American Dream - in short better base material for smaller-scale & less successful sports enterprises than the average cynical Brit.
Erm! not sure I would agree with your number 3) as a reason. Maybe it might be true of Virginia but not America as a whole. I suppose the proof to the situation would be are these Stadiums situated in the poorer areas. If I remember correctly did Hurricane Katrina go through some of the less well off areas, I thought they sheltered in or near a Stadium? I think one of the answers and I don't mean this disrespectfully is probably covered in your last three points, in that Americans do love the dream, the badge, the stripes, I will not go on.
This part of Virginia is inland and hurricanes almost always stay near the coast, losing power if they should travel inland. I would say this part of Virginia is a relatively affluant area. Americans are much more patriotic than us generally speaking and less cynical, according to my friends a lot of the patriotic sentiment came after 9/11.
Great take on Americans notdistant. I also am not so sure about the affluence side of things either to be honest. I would say that certain parts of America are affluent where others are far less so. We tend to see the affluent bits in movies and news items etc where we don't the slum parts. Also I think that Americans are very insular. This is where the redneck tag comes from and mostly see themselves as superior to most. A great number of Americans I have met, and they were generally naval types were quite thick when it came to worldy matters. Most of them didn't know what was happening in the next City to their home town let alone in the world as a whole. Just for Mrs lalala, did I mention fat? You watch Americans on things like game shows. They whoop and holler and get so excited at winning something. Somewhat less reserved than the Brits although some of us let the side down these days on that score. Just comes across as greed and the need to win at whatever cost. Perhaps the drive to succeed isn't necessarily a bad thing and some Brits would do well to adopt a little of that themselves instead of the stiff upper lip and being enough just to participate. But they do take it to an upper stratesphere level. I'm not a phobic on the subject just generally have never found Americans to be my cup of tea is all. Some I have liked so it is not all of them but the type I describe have outnumbered the other variety vastly in my experience. Perhaps I've just met the wrong sort.
Some fair points sensible. Interesting that they see their football as THE football game yet they only compete with other Cities/States in the US. There are indeed many very poor parts of the US, New Orleans being a good example also I was very unimpressed when we flew over Chicago, a flat, boring landscape built up for miles and miles - some pretty impressive stadiums sighted from the air but otherwise grey and dull not an affluent area would be my guess. Americans are mostly less reserved than us Brits but sometimes I think we are too reserved. As for "thick Naval types" ahem! Actually joking apart there are some bloody think planks that occupy our armed forces, they often join up because there is little else for them to persue, my guess is that it's the same in America. Personally I would never catagorise Nationalities by saying I don't like them, the world is full of people who don't try to understand other races - the cause of a lot of trouble in the world today! It matters not to me where someone is from, there are good and bad living all over the world. To say that Americans "are not my cup of tea" is a little short sighted. Just my opinion.
Did someone mention the F word... please log in to view this image ps. this image is from Virginia, just for la la (no insinuations I hasten to add)
I did carefully say "Generally speaking, Americans have much higher standards of living and disposable incomes". Clearly, the absence of a social security & healthcare safety net means that there are depths of poverty in the US which we probably see very rarely in the UK. It's presumably the average that drives sports attendances though and the published stats put the USA somewhere around 7th to 9th in the world GDP per person league table and the UK between 20th & 30th. That gives the average American between 30% and 40% more purchasing power than the average Brit......... And of course, as has been pointed out here many times before, the far South West is below the national average.
Opinion is often based on perception of the individual rather than any hardened fact which I acknowledge. My comment for example of "not my cup of tea" is not based on any prejudice but the majority of the American people I personally have come into contact with. Perhaps I've just been unlucky. I have a moral code and way I conduct myself on a personal level and people who are my polar opposite are obviously going to be alien to me and not my cup of tea. I don't like bragging types, I don't like greed and believe that all people are as equal as each other. I do not tip my cap to anyone and am not in awe of fame or fortune. Now my perception of Americans is that they are quite opposite "generally" to that outlook. Ergo where my opinion comes from.
I'd be interested to read your opinion on the Aussies then sensible, my experience of them has to be similar to yours on Americans - always bragging about their country/weather/cricket team etc etc. I don't have a problem with them as a whole race, just what I have seen/heard.
Getting back to your interesting picture Mrs LaLa........who were the two teams playing.........am I right in thinking that there are 4 fifteen minute quarters and a game can last three hours or more..............with long stoppages after every few seconds of action..............it can look boring on the telly..............even with all the stoppages cut out....... and the body armour makes our rugby players look literally naked. I expect you can take a book to read to fill the boring gaps.
Plym, it was immensely frustrating and boring too, too many stoppages. Yes there are 4 quarters but the teams can request a stop to discuss tactics as well as this. No player ever seems to get through with the ball as the opposing player will literally throw himself in his path if he has to. No banter either as away supporters only usually consist of members of the player's family and few others. American football is more about the whole spectacle rather than just the game itself as in our game - the cheer leaders, bands and flag waving razamataz lol. The teams were Virginia Tech and I think the other side was Boston - can't remember the full name now. I'm glad we went, it was an event and had to be done whilst we were there but I don't see it ever replacing the beautiful game in my affections. BTW did you know they pad their bums as well as their unmentionables?
Oh yeah and they have hoards of subs, every so often you see loads of players exchanged all in one go. They also have about 4 refs - lord help 'em!
And the kicker only comes on to put it between the posts,,,,,and immediately goes off again.........and it is possible I think for them never to get the chance to come on anyrate. Yes.........they have a defensive team and an offensive team......yawnnnn.
