American football

[ReverseLunge]

You guys like American football?

[ThatReallyHurt]

Wow... uh, those are some choices...

I was kind of hoping there'd be an "indifferent" selection.

[Orangeaholic]

It's not as good as fencing, but it's fun to watch.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Go Vols You Sonnamab.itches, Negroes Go Long And Hail Mary Like a Bat Outta Hell!!!!!!!

[mrbiggs]

If I had the.....body for football, that's what I'd be playing right now. I really love football, but not as much as fencing.

[Westley]

Patriots Are

AFC

CHAMPS!!!!!

WOOOOOT!

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Westley

Patriots Are

AFC

CHAMPS!!!!!

WOOOOOT!

I LOVE THE PATRIOTS!!!!!! BOOO YEAH!!!!!

Football is one of the only sports that I ever watch. (The others are baseball and bull riding ) So exciting!

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I'm a homer I gotta admit, love the Sox and Pats, and even the lowly Clets and non-existant Bruins. Thus:

PATS PWN'D ALL YOU SUCKAS

[darius]

Keep chortling, Bostonians.

You think karma was nasty the last 86 years around, it's gonna be worse when the Sports Gods read all the websites...

darius

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I, for once, feel very confident in my team's chance to win this game. The Indy game and the Steelers game seemed like larger hurdles than the Red Sox of the NFL do. However, I don't think the Pats can do better than holding the best offense in the NFL (and perhaps history) to 3 points and scoring 41 on the best defense. So, obvioulsy it's not going to be as easy as a game as the others seem to have been, but they'll cruise on into dynasty status.

[Larrison]

Coming from the last major market to NOT have a professional team -- I really don't miss professional American football. Still going to get together with friends on Superbowl Sunday and have food and watch the game; but like who are these teams playing, again?

Seriously -- American football is a sport much more enjoyable to play, than to watch.

*Grins* and the best games are played down at the beach on a hot summer day when a sweep left play takes you knee deep in cold surf and a tackle tumbles you into the backwash of a wave. Really fun way to play! particularly if coed tackle football...

Do I like it? Yeah. Played it for 2 years in high school, and pickup games & interdorm competitions through college. Hard to come up with enough folks now for a good game, other than tossing the pigskin back and forth.

[drippingwet]

Isn't it another term for rugby?

[Louweasel]

Originally Posted by drippingwet

Isn't it another term for rugby?

With padding and crash helmets, and the absence of some rules, like those against mid-air tackling and forward passing. Plus no scrums, no "firm pressure" need be appliedover the goal line and they shout "hut hut" for some reason I've never understood.

Can anyone explain american football to an english girl?

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by darius

Keep chortling, Bostonians.

You think karma was nasty the last 86 years around, it's gonna be worse when the Sports Gods read all the websites...

darius

Yeah, but the Red Sox winning it all makes up for whatever happens. If the Patriots never win again, I'll be happy knowing that I saw the Red Sox winning the world series (and doing it again next year).

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Louweasel

Can anyone explain american football to an english girl?

I think I can help. You have two teams, one that has the ball (offence) and the other that doesn't (defence). Offence has 4 tries (usually just do 3 because they'll have to kick it to the other team) to get a first "down" (10 yards). The offence moves to the defence's end zone which is at the end of the field where they get a "touchdown" (6 points). If they get a touchdown, they get to kick it in the middle of the goal posts for a point. There is also a field goal where the Offence kicks the ball pasts the goal posts for 3 points. This is usually when they aren't able to get a touchdown. There are other things like interceptions, but your going to have to see it.

Anything I missed?

[darius]

Can anyone explain american football to an english girl?

It's not that hard. The first trick to understanding football is knowing the roles.

OFFENSE :
- Skinny white guy : Also known as the "quarterback". The skinny white guy attempts to throw, or pass the ball to the tall skinny black guys before he gets jumped on by the large black guys on the defense.

Sometimes, a black guy will also play "quarterback". This causes much consternation among fat white Republican men, who feel this as some sort of encroachment on their birthright.

- Tall skinny black guy : Known as "receivers". They receive the ball that the "quarterback" throws, and try to run as far as they can before they get jumped on. Sometimes they reach the end of the field before getting jumped on. In NFL rules, this means that the "receiver" gets 15 seconds to do a dance.

- Short skinny black guy : Known as "running back". Sometimes the "quarterback" is very scared of the large black guys, so he will "run" the ball. This doesn't involve him running with the ball, like you might think. Instead, he hands it to the "running back", who inevitably gets jumped on by the large black guys.

- Fat white guys : Known as "tight ends". This is an ironic name, since their large rear ends disqualify them from being "receivers". However, they also catch the ball, although they rarely get down the field as far as their "receiver" brethren.

- Fatter white guys : Known as "offensive line". They try to prevent the large black men from the defense from jumping on the "quarterback".

DEFENSE :
- Fat black guys : Known as "defensive line" or "linebackers". They attempt to jump on the "quarterback", but will settle for a "running back" if necessary.

- Skinny black guys : Known as "cornerbacks". They run behind "receivers" and wave their hands. Occasionally one will find a colorblind "quarterback" who will throw to them. If they catch the ball, they will also do a little dance.

- Skinny white guys : Known as "safeties". Affirmative action states that there needs to be more white guys in the NFL, so this position was invented. A "safety" hangs out in the middle of the field and provides "help" to other positions, which means do absolutely nothing. Occasionally a "running back" or a "receiver" will make it into the middle of the field with the ball, in which case the "safety" is contractually obligated to hurt them. While "receivers" are obsessed with dancing, "safeties" are obsessed with delivering the hit which will show up on ESPN as a "dirty hit".

So those are your actors.

The game is simple. The object of the offense is to advance to the end of the field, for a "touchdown" (which is NFL slang for a "receiver" dance), which scores 6 points. You get four tries to do this. However, if you advance the ball 10 yards or more from the inital starting point, you get 4 more tries. This is called a "first down". The defense's goal is to stop them from doing that, by jumping on the person holding the ball.

The "line of scrimmage", or "place where somebody holding the ball was last jumped on", is where the ball is placed. The "quarterback" yells some secret code which contains the play and the word "hut", and then one of the fatter white men gives him the ball. At that point, the quarterback will try to avoid being jumped on while giving the ball to somebody else.

Once a ball carrier has been successfully jumped on, the play is over. Both teams meet up to talk with their coaches via radio, while the sportscasters draw yellow lines around different camera angles. The "line of scrimmage" is reset, and play continues.

This all takes a lot of coordination and peak athleticism. Football is considered the most "masculine" of sports by the American public; given it's bootylicious dance displays and grown men slapping each other's asses in celebrations, it is a sign that we, as a nation, aren't ready to come out of the closet.

So, where is the appeal? Well, I subscribe to the CAS theory of watching sports; in that the quality of a spectator sport is defined by the amount of "crazy-a$$-$hit" that its players do. Sure, in football there are 10 seconds of action followed by a minute break. But so many things are happening during that action that you can spend the minute break discussing and replaying them. And one-handed diving catches, brain-shattering hits, receivers getting knocked every which way ... all these things are so incredibly crazy that it's wildly entertaining to watch.

darius

[mrbiggs]

(American) football and rugby have similar rules, but they are played very, very differently, from what I've seen of rugby. Football is such a great sport, I can't beleive Europeans don't really play it.

[Larrison]

In ancient history, I've played both Rugby and American football as organized team sports. American Foot is descended from Rugby, and there are some major similarities between the two. However there are a couple of differences...

The most obvious change is that the forward pass. Typically, the quarterback (who receives the ball to start the action) is allowed to throw the ball forwards to a player downfield, past the line of scrimmage where the play starts. This tends to open up the playing area to a large area with multiple players moving at full speed downfield on both the offensive and defensive teams. Sinc the play is more spread out through this, the teams stop and regoup after a tackle ending one team's advance.

The second change is a little less obvious, but probably more significant -- the ability to "block" for a ball carrier, who is attempting to move the ball downfield towards the goal line. In Rugby, you're not allowed to get ahead of the ball carrier and block for him. What happens from this, is that as a defensive player in American Football, while you're lining up to tackle a ballcarrier heading near you, is that you'll get tackled unexpectedly from a side and thrown to the ground.

Add in the ability of players to be really running at full speed, and the possibilty of serious injury does go up quite a bit, without protective equipment.

The games are similar, but quite different. Rugby is more fluid and you do a lot more running. But you get hit a lot less, and usually at lower speed. American Football seems more like chess in that both sides set up specific coordinated attacks and defenses, and then modify these to move the ball forward or to defend against it. The positions are a bit more specialized, and you will get hit on just about any play.

[Louweasel]

Thank you gentlemen, that was very helpful! It does indeed seem that it is quite similar to rugby in principle, apart from the major rule differences that Larrison mentions - forward passing and blocking.
The other thing that occurs to me is that in rugby you are not allowed to tackle people in mid-air. For want of a better example, in Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding Junior jumps for the ball and before his feet are on the ground again, someone hits him good and hard and he doesn't get up for several minutes. This isn't allowed in rugby, for safety reasons. We aren't as padded. Although to be fair your neck is probably at as much risk from a nasty spearhead tackle whether you are wearing a crash helmet or not... You can only tackle people who have the ball, as well.
Oh, and when you score a try in rugby (like a touchdown) you have to place the ball with firm pressure so you can't jump in the air and throw it down.


Mrbiggs, I think the main reasons the english don't play american football are as follows:

a) our violent tendencies are catered for by rugby and sometimes hockey. You may think field hockey isn't as violent as your beloved ice hockey, and maybe it isn't, but my big brother plays field hockey and frankly the idea of a 6 foot two male built like a brick sh!thouse tearing up the field towards you armed with a big stick, a very hard ball and the principle that it's only a foul if the ref sees you....

b) I can't imagine many british girls taking to the idea of cheerleading. Maybe it is misrepresented on tv and films but it seems like an evil cult of stepford schoolgirls!

c) I don't think british men would cope with the arse-slapping, or the dancing at the end of the field. Having said that they do traditionally all get in a giant bath together afterwards.

[LordTofuDog-jnr]

Originally Posted by mrbiggs

(American) football and rugby have similar rules, but they are played very, very differently, from what I've seen of rugby. Football is such a great sport, I can't beleive Europeans don't really play it.

From what I've seen of it I can't believe it's actually played at all. It all comes down to what you're brought up with, I think Aussie Footy is ownage on all other "codes" but that's what I was brought up with.