International Opinion of American Football

[RhombusHatesYou]

Its a shame that for some reason the scrums collapse alot these days. Use to be a rare occurance.

It's used as a deliberate tactic more these days to force a penalty, same as letting a scrum be wheeled too often. Plays to teams who prefer a kicking game (and if I wanted to watch a kicking game I'd watch aussie rules).

It does take a lot of team discipline to do it on more than a desperation basis though, not too many forwards are going to be willing to risk injury in a collapse or look like a complete bellend from being wheeled too often for it to be a regular tactic.

 

[Danzaivar]

'Homoerotic' is the first word that comes to mind. Not really given it enough thought to warrant any more.

 

[Dags90]

'Homoerotic' is the first word that comes to mind.

There's nothing homoerotic like a bunch of fully clothed men with helmets on. The only less homoerotic sport I could think of would be hockey or baseball.

I'm American and I don't care for it at all. I'm not particularly keen on sports in general though.

 

[Danzaivar]

'Homoerotic' is the first word that comes to mind.

There's nothing homoerotic like a bunch of fully clothed men with helmets on. The only less homoerotic sport I could think of would be hockey or baseball.

I'm American and I don't care for it at all. I'm not particularly keen on sports in general though.

You have to understand, we don't see the sport, just what you see in TV shows/movies.

Which tend to show:
-The men showering before acting macho
-The men showering after acting macho
-The men loudly proclaiming which cheerleader they wanna bang
-People moseying around the room in nothing/jockstraps
-All the buddy team-spirit stuff
-The afterparty stuff with everyone seemingly trying to assert masculinity

That's the "vibe" we get. Cos that's what we see. Topic's asking for International opinion so there's an international opinion.

 

[Corkydog]

It seems fine enough, as sports go. It does seem a bit wimpy compared to rugby though, as rugby players don't wear any protective gear beyond a mouthguard. Still, doesn't really matter, they're different games.

I don't know jack about rugby, and I don't really care about football beyond liking my state's team, but the NFL has a 100% injury rate. There has literally never been anyone who played in the NFL for a decent sized (>1 year) who didn't get hurt. The game is brutal, and the pads are neccesary to avoid everyone getting injured all at once. Or people dying, which would really put a damper on the game.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I have and i can say just because you smash a guy with a shoulder barge dosnt make it a bigger hit than rugby with the same if not greater forces are applied with only muscle and flesh to dissapate them forces plus a hit in american football consists of either a close line or a flying bash to the body. Rugby has technique to it, the NFL would have less injuries if tacklers were taught how to tackle effectively and more safely

Dunno how it is else where but from playing here in Oz and from tv viewing, American Football players also aren't taught how to take a tackle in a way that minimises the chances of injury... although, admittedly the armour does interfere with preparing yourself to eat turf one your way down after being thrown arse over tit from a crunching tackle. Doesn't do shit to protect from joint injuries, either.

You havent seen hurling then.

The game that even rugby forwards look at and say "You guys are FUCKING NUTS!" Tried playing a few games locally but it requires too much leg speed for me (ex-tighthead prop, thus not built for speed) to be any good.

 

[Dags90]

You have to understand, we don't see the sport, just what you see in TV shows/movies.

Which tend to show:
-The men showering before acting macho
-The men showering after acting macho
-The men loudly proclaiming which cheerleader they wanna bang
-People moseying around the room in nothing/jockstraps
-All the buddy team-spirit stuff
-The afterparty stuff with everyone seemingly trying to assert masculinity

That's the "vibe" we get. Cos that's what we see. Topic's asking for International opinion so there's an international opinion.

That's pretty much all sports in the U.S. (and pretty much all sports). During baseball it's customary to spank each other on the bum(in a totally heterosexual manner, of course).

Most football players are ridiculously proportioned (easily over 200lbs/100kg). The only consistently attractive ones are the quarter backs (they throw the ball). Example below.

People need to realize that football and rugby can't be related well in terms of violence because of the difference in the size of the players and game mechanics. Football players (note, not footballers) have gotten bigger and bigger since the game's formalization. Rugby is also more an endurance sport, whereas football is straight out bursts of power.

 

[ENKC]

Funnily enough I have the Eagles versus the Packers on now. It's the first time I've seen NFL on so far this season. Here in Australia, 'football' means Australian Rules. However, I'm more of a rugby union person myself.

So what do I think of gridiron? Well, it seems quite excessive to have such huge teams with some role players who are only around for a couple of minutes a game. And with sixteen game seasons, it seems like some punters must be spending their entire careers preparing for half an hour of play time in a year.

I suppose I see it as a game with a lot to like, but the stop-start nature of it is crippling from a spectator point of view. Five seconds of play with a minute of re-organising in between does not make for much excitement.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Most football players are ridiculously proportioned (easily over 200lbs/100kg). The only consistently attractive ones are the quarter backs (they throw the ball). Example below.

Pfffft... He hardly compares to the shear studliness of Os du Randt.

Or the almost girlish good looks of Tana Umaga.

 

[Wicky_42]

Well, I wasn't - as stated in the Wiki article, the origins of what we would recognise as a computer were made largely by Englishmen. Hence it appearing on a list of English inventions. Note the absence of the word 'digital' from the original quote.

My mistake dude. I did know, but hey, everyone makes mistakes. I did a stupid one though...

'S cool man, no probs

 

[Duskwaith]

The game that even rugby forwards look at and say "You guys are FUCKING NUTS!" Tried playing a few games locally but it requires too much leg speed for me (ex-tighthead prop, thus not built for speed) to be any good.

Thats not to mention the fights that break out during Gaelic games, managers and the like run on the pitch to kick the shit out of each others teams. Plus arming everyone with sticks isnt a great idea either.

Just thought i should post this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9MT0qfu8Po&feature=related

 

[Cee.y.X]

As for your second bit, I'd like to see even the best Hail Mary pass beat this magnificent try from 1973:

I had a look at it, don't get it, looks messy and suddenly some guy comes out on top. Sorry just can't understand Rugby at all.

 

[Milford Cubicle]

We had 2 semi-pro American Football players come to our rugby club a few years ago to try it out. One of them broke their arm in training before he'd even played a game. The second played one game before declaring that we were all insane and vowing never to play that "game" ever again.

Fairies.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I love rugby but often get annoyed about how discussions on Amercian Football (or Gridiron, which sounds more badass anyway - so why not use that?) always lead to comparisons between them. They have a similar shaped ball and involved tackling, running, passing and kicking for goals. But they are quite different. Passing is a pretty obvious area so I won't go into it but tackling is massively different.

In American Football the idea is to stop the play immeadiatly so putting on a big hit as quickly as possible is the natural thing to do. In Rugby technique is important because the tacklers are trying to prevent the tackled player unloading the ball while also attempting to take possesion of the ball. The way tackling is coached and practiced is very different because there are different goals.

In rugby there are a few big tackles made in a match but usually these are isolated and often due to the ball carrier being isolated from his team (and are opportunistic) or come from desperate defensive scrambling.

Anyway this thread was about how other countries view the game of Amercian Football. From my perspective it seems that we appreciate high-light reels and game summaries but find the waiting between each play to be very off-putting. I have watched a couple of Superbowls and find this is the big problem (a 10 minute highlight package of the Superbowl is more to my liking).

 

[LandoCristo]

As an American who's lived abroad for a long time, I actually prefer rugby due to it's high-pace action. American football has a few seconds of action, and then a minute to get back into defensive lines, and then a few more seconds. Kind of like baseball. Maybe I should write a paper about how all American sports are slower paced then the rest of the worlds...

 

[Gavmando]

I'm tempted to say that AFL is the best... But I just cant do it.
I mean, sure, they have the best qualities out of both games. (The physical endurance of soccer and the strength of NFL) But they wear those pansy little shorts. And that just aint right.

But both American football and real football are boring as bat shit. Union and League are the only good footy codes. You havnt truly lived until you've been at the bottom of a ruck with someone stepping on your head!

 

[TheZapper]

I've tried to watch american football before but I find it incredibly boring. Rugby too.
I play rugby quite regularly though and it is much more fun to play than watch.

 

[CouchCommando]

I enjoy watching the highlights of gridiron, can't stand to actually sit through a game though too many stop starts and time outs for my liking, More inclined to watch Rugby or League, but considering that's what I grew up playing and watching that's not that surprising.
Each to their own I guess. I can sit through a conversation with some one who loves it though, as long as they don't mind explaining some of the terms and shit, plays etc.