Hello there, does anyone here like the NFL? If so, come on down to the American football forum, on not606 for some gridiron based fun. See you there!
I must admit I watch the top five catches of the week on the BBC site and I don't understand what is going on whatsoever, but I feel curiously compelled to watch every week!
Whilst I prefer real football, American Football is actually a really tactical game. The gameday social side of it also makes for good fun.
When I lived in Lincoln a few years back, they had an American football team, in a quite decent league set-up, but it seems to have died a death!
To be fair, it has it's place, and like many American sports, the turn-out even for College games is huge! I just disagree with calling it football!
it's never really taken off here, too many competing sports. I used to like watching it in the 80s when it was first of Channel 4, there were some legendary players like the Fridge, Jerry Rice, Dan Marino etc. it's too long as well - 3-4 hours for one game!
My University has a team and I know a guy who was on the team. Apparently they have a seperate team for defence and offence!
Correct. There is also a special team that come on for kick off and punt returns. It is made up of players from both offence and defence.
NFL is fast becoming my joint favourite sport to watch on the tele. Please forgive me... I feel dirty enough as it is. Let's go Dolphins!
Forgive me if my memory is playing ticks, but didn't one of our player go to America to play their game, and he only came on to take the kicks? For some reason the name Phil Alexander is in my mind. Can anyone confirm this, or are the men in the white coats on their way to take me to Weston-Super-Mare
They do indeed have a specialist kicker, when a British athlete who's name escapes me, got banned for taking drugs, he flirted briefly with the NFL
When in Minneapolis a few years back I was taken to see the Vikings play the Packers. Everybody had a lovely time although most people seemed more concerned with stuffing their faces instead of watching the game. My companions explained the rules to me and at the time it made sense although by the end I felt that I had sat there for about 2 days!! I was told at the end that it was the most exciting encounter ever with the winning points being scored in the last second by a world record kick. If that was the most exciting god help the most boring. When I got back to the UK I watched a game on Sky but by then I had forgotten the rules and was quickly bored - I haven't watched it since. Aussie Rules Football on the other hand is brilliant - especially the white coated tic tac men - mainly because there appear to be no rules apart from thumping the proverbial out of anybody who gets in your way.
You should be complaining about this thread being related to American football and not real football, 1950! Just like you were about my Olympic and fencing threads!
I have to accept that to be a fair point Wonky although to be fair this is just a one off thread on a minority sport in this Country whereas in the summer we were faced with a fanatical religious crusade to try and get us to watch ping pong on tele rather than support football. It would be interesting to know whether, following the hysteria in the summer, attendances and participation in minority sports has in fact rocketed. My own experience as a motorist living in the country was that for a couple of weeks following the Olympics swerving to avoid an unfit wobbling cyclist became a national sport but since then we have just got back to the hardcore of cyclists getting in my way. My answer to this thread is also consistent with my general arguement at the time which is that minority sports are in that position because few people are interested in watching or participating in them.
I'm a 49er fan as well Carrabuh, coming from San Francisco originally (over 50 years a fan, as compared to only 40 years for the Canaries, though they are my first love now!). Have you watched the Rams game yet? If not, I won't spoil it, but it's another nail-biter! I had 5 minutes at the end of the Sunderland game to switch over to the 49ers on streaming. Life can be tough if you're an all-round 'football' fan!
Followed the 49ers as they were the first NFL team I ever saw. At last they are making a comeback and ought to make post season again.
