What's the deal with FOOTBAL!!! ?

[w9496]

It's a great tactical sport that involves some form of violence every 30 seconds.

Lots of people are going to make arguements about padding, or for our friends across the water, "armour". They have to wear pads to stop linemen from dying every game. It's usually two guys that are 6'4-6'9 and weighing more than 300 pounds slamming their heads into each other 3 times a minute for an hour.

 

[Swyftstar]

I think the best way to understand Football, or any sport for that matter, is to watch it with fans. You can then observe the nuances and can start to understand better why what looked like a mundane act was actually a well designed play with huge implications. I myself didn't understand soccer at all until I watched it in a room full of Europeans and got the hang of the whole ebb and flow of the game, how a breakaway can be thrilling or how a non-goal can be just as exciting as a goal.
It also helps if you aren't dismissive about the sport because of who watches it and if you aren't dismissive of the actions that go on during the game because you don't understand it. If you're going to take that attitued then there is no point in even being bothered wondering about it.

 

[GrimTuesday]

oh .... your not from the states .... this explains so very much.

partly, school pride, starting at the high school level going up through college and into the pros, partly its a national pass time

and mostly the country as a whole not giving two shits about soccer. we're a Base Ball, Foot Ball people, get over it, or ya know, try actually watching more then one game a year.

also, soccer is REALLY BORING to watch like golf

snip

that a mix of old Seattle Mariners and Dallas Cowboys you got going on there?

Nope, straight old style Mariners Trident logo.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Because if you don't like it you're not a AMERICUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN.

And please, refer to it by it's real name "Hand Egg". Thank you.

It's like Rugby but with armour and you stop every 5 seconds.


I was never any good at it but it's a hell of a sport.

Seriously? American Football seems to be made just to sell advertising space. The constant stops and from what I have seen of the superbowl makes that pretty plain. I mean, most people care about the advertisements when they talk about the SB online, that ain't right!

This totally sums up my view of American Football.

As for the big deal? No idea- I guess it's a fun excuse to drink beer and relax, which is pretty cool by me.

 

[Lunar Templar]

oh .... your not from the states .... this explains so very much.

partly, school pride, starting at the high school level going up through college and into the pros, partly its a national pass time

and mostly the country as a whole not giving two shits about soccer. we're a Base Ball, Foot Ball people, get over it, or ya know, try actually watching more then one game a year.

also, soccer is REALLY BORING to watch like golf

snip

that a mix of old Seattle Mariners and Dallas Cowboys you got going on there?

Nope, straight old style Mariners Trident logo.

i don't recall the star ... but cool ether way, *is from that general area*

 

[Wadders]

Okay, not a thread about why "soccer" if football and "football" should be called something relse, but...

You American folks, what's the big deal about it? Having worked in sports TV production for a while, I'll admit I can appreciate the expertise of Brady's passes, or the power of Tebow's comebacks. There's more to the sport than just "Oh look, ball, let's all pile up on top of it!". I admit all that.

But, I don't get why it's such a "big" thing? To the point of a local TV blackout if NFL games aren't sold out 72 hours prior to kick-off[footnote]Source is wikipedia, so it might be wrong[/footnote]? Why is it that Super Bowl commercial airtime is measured with more zeroes than I'll ever see in my life?

In short? I get it, football may be more than just a bunch of thugs having it at each other, even if it does involve a lot of thuggery and thugs; but what's such a big deal about it?

You know how there is some thinly veiled nationalism/ethic-pride in soccer(which results in fans acting like this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=Ukqo_3f-sB4], this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hosf86OLxM] and this [www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmxsnplMtb8]), well football is kind of like that but with states. Yes we are all part of the same country but people from different parts of country like to show some state pride in the form of football.

Heck it doesn't even stop with state pride, because when it comes to high school or college rivalry, football is one of the main ways school pride is shown.



......At least, that is my take on it. *shrug*

Here is an example of said behavior....

...and people say fan violence in Football (soccer) is bad?

They might want to look into segregated seating.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

...and people say fan violence in Football (soccer) is bad?

They might want to look into segregated seating.

I don't know about that, I mean just look at the violence that has occurred in Glasgow between the Celtic and Rangers fans....

 

[Wadders]

...and people say fan violence in Football (soccer) is bad?

They might want to look into segregated seating.

I don't know about that, I mean just look at the violence that has occurred in Glasgow between the Celtic and Rangers fans....

Yeah, that's a pretty extreme example, and taken from 30 years ago.

Nowadays football violence in England, and Scotland too, is no way near as bad as it used to be.

Just saying that if American Football went for segregated seating, you wouldn't get fights like the one in that earlier video. Fans could just hurl abuse at each other from across a line of security personal like they do over here

 

[Aris Khandr]

also, soccer is REALLY BORING to watch

Yes, it really is terribly boring to have a game that actually keeps going. Much better to stop the game every ten seconds, so as to not tax the limited American attention span.

 

[Lunar Templar]

also, soccer is REALLY BORING to watch

Yes, it really is terribly boring to have a game that actually keeps going. Much better to stop the game every ten seconds, so as to not tax the limited American attention span.

so says the American living in the south .....

cept the part about nothing happening cept running back and forth. I'll take some one getting hit hard enough to knock the helmet off, interceptions, full returns, and the other stuff that can happen, (and the cheerleaders ) over soccer which is just running back and forthin utter chaos.

sides the breaks are used for the huddle with is basically 'planning' something soccer lacks near as i've been able to tell, and before you dig up that video of that British guy being stupid, and not even trying to understand the sport, again. he's wrong anyway just sayin

 

[Username Redacted]

I would say that one of the main reasons that it's popular is the same reason that certain genres of videogames are popular and that is that violence is cathartic. Also the geographic rivalry stuff gives rise to a sort of localized nationalism (this is the reason why you often hear sports fans refer to the team as 'we' or 'our').

 

[Daveman]

It's actually alright to watch if you account for the adverts. It takes a different kind of athleticism to sports like rugby and football but that doesn't really take away from it significantly. Plus it's incredibly tactical which is interesting to learn about. Also the draft system helps keep the teams at least reasonably balanced. So basically, I think it's pretty cool.

I mean I only got into it last season. People will inevitably hate me because I'm a Giants fan however I decided to support them as my friend supports the Patriots and the first game I watched was the Giants just beating them in week 9. I then continued to support them for their 4 game losing streak following that. It was very nice to then support them all the way through to winning the Superbowl and immensely satisfying for that win to be also against the Patriots.

 

[Jonluw]

I have to agree with the OP here. I have no idea how Americans can stand to watch football. I tried it for a bit when I was visiting NY, and they played for ten seconds at a time, stopping between each such tidbit of play to show me some inane advertisements.
It was unbearable and slow-paced beyond belief.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

The most fun I've ever had with Football were here:

Spoiler: two best examples

As for the sport itself, I never really played it and I don't watch it on TV. When it comes to the Superbowl, I've never sat down and watched a full...one. Kind of disappointing for a burger-swilling American but I guess we can chalk up my lack of enthusiasm to the fact that my Grandpa supposedly came here from Canada...and to Canada from Ireland I think, Hell I don't know I've only seen the bastard twice and not within the past decade in a half.

Or it could just be that I'm not enthusiastic about any sport and, don't watch any on TV.

 

[ElPatron]

And to Europe/world what's the deal with football (soccer)

It's a sport and sometimes the ball goes into a net.

However we have around 80 minutes of gameplay, 10 minutes of fucking around and 15 minutes of commercial breaks.

American Football has in average >20 mins of gameplay.

No, I cannot explain how can football be interesting, but I do understand why half of the world prefers it over American Football.

But, I don't get why it's such a "big" thing? To the point of a local TV blackout if NFL games aren't sold out 72 hours prior to kick-off?

That's to promote ticket sales. Otherwise everyone will watch it on the TV and the stadium gets the shaft.

 

[KFalcon]

also, soccer is REALLY BORING to watch

Yes, it really is terribly boring to have a game that actually keeps going. Much better to stop the game every ten seconds, so as to not tax the limited American attention span.

so says the American living in the south .....

cept the part about nothing happening cept running back and forth. I'll take some one getting hit hard enough to knock the helmet off, interceptions, full returns, and the other stuff that can happen, (and the cheerleaders ) over soccer which is just running back and forthin utter chaos.

sides the breaks are used for the huddle with is basically 'planning' something soccer lacks near as i've been able to tell, and before you dig up that video of that British guy being stupid, and not even trying to understand the sport, again. he's wrong anyway just sayin

In reference to Soccer (real football), you see it as chaos? You consider passing, intercepting, tackling and tactical positioning as chaos? And the tactics are built into the team during training and are also given in the team talks that occur pre-match and at half time, e.g. to counter specific threats etc. In addition you can usually hear the manager giving instructions during the game and during fouls/breaks in play etc, when time allows.

FYI - not saying one sport is better than the other, I appreciate them both as sports but prefer Football (soccer) over American Football because of the flow of play. Oh and the adverts of American Football annoy me.

 

[Lunar Templar]

also, soccer is REALLY BORING to watch

Yes, it really is terribly boring to have a game that actually keeps going. Much better to stop the game every ten seconds, so as to not tax the limited American attention span.

so says the American living in the south .....

cept the part about nothing happening cept running back and forth. I'll take some one getting hit hard enough to knock the helmet off, interceptions, full returns, and the other stuff that can happen, (and the cheerleaders ) over soccer which is just running back and forthin utter chaos.

sides the breaks are used for the huddle with is basically 'planning' something soccer lacks near as i've been able to tell, and before you dig up that video of that British guy being stupid, and not even trying to understand the sport, again. he's wrong anyway just sayin

In reference to Soccer (real football), you see it as chaos? You consider passing, intercepting, tackling and tactical positioning as chaos? And the tactics are built into the team during training and are also given in the team talks that occur pre-match and at half time, e.g. to counter specific threats etc. In addition you can usually hear the manager giving instructions during the game and during fouls/breaks in play etc, when time allows.

FYI - not saying one sport is better than the other, I appreciate them both as sports but prefer Football (soccer) over American Football because of the flow of play. Oh and the adverts of American Football annoy me.

2 things

1) yes, i do
and
2) and a large chunk of that was meant as ribbing toward Aris, ya know, friends away from the site an all