Bob

that's where the pats and sox's are lucking...there the only new england team in the big leagues...celtics are a joke and don't count, after the hay day of the 80's...

tony_2003

No, American Rugby is a pile of shite.
I'd rather watch paint dry, with a looped CD of the queens xmas speeches playing in the background.

Jabba1

Your quite right of course. Joe Namath, Johnny Unintas, Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, "mean" Joe Greene, Fran Tarkenton, Joe Montanna and of course "Refrigerator" Perry. All of them should hang their heads in shame for having been involved in the "shite" that is American football.

Too bad Vince Lombardi couldn't see the error of his ways before winning all those championships. John Madden should change the name of his best selling sports title to "John Madden's pile of shite".

elfman

1983. Channel 4 only started broadcasting in November 1982.

http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/features/c4/sport1.htm

Anyway, pedantry aside I enjoy watching the NFL on telly, although I have a few modest ideas about how the game in general could be improved, should they ever ask me. I've also learned to enjoy baseball since moving here, but hockey and basketball I can't even pretend to give a toss about. The last is a minor disappointment to my FIL who is something of a college basketball afficionado.

I'm also in a superbowl pool in the office, with $1,000 up for grabs.

Celtic_Angel

Ahhh , i'm celtic angel and you must be the resident masochist!!! :scared:

Bob

horses for courses...still a dull game, wouldn't be bad if they didn't stop every few seconds...and out of those names, only a handful would be known worldwide...just doesn't hold much appeal, but then again,bit more of an effort playing, can't just have a ball and have a knock about against a wall like you can with footie can ya...

Manc

Come on, American Football is absolute wank......

then again, I am a Lions fan, so it's only natural that I have this opinion.

Jabba1

Agreed!!! Even I can't dispute that logic.



BLASPHEMY!!!! There IS NO world beyond the US borders!!! You will be executed at dawn for spreading such treasonous lies.

tony_2003

Montana...that's an old fat guy who endorsed a couple of computer games right? Or was it Madden...Never heard of the rest. Listing a bunch of players doesnt argue your case either...in fact it weakens it since no one has heard of them outside the U.S.

I could give you an arms length list of why American Rugby sucks...but two will do for now.

1. Skill & strategy - there is none! Tell me how much training it takes to learn how to run behind most of the oposition and catch a ball with gloves on?
How much skill does it take to pack on 500 LBS of fat, stand in defence wait like a human wall made of flesh and try and block anyone running at you?

2. Football is played with the foot NOT the hands.

Bob

That's madden...but also heard of the fridge and lombardi...so not to hot eh

dgsyd1

Never was a truer word spoken!

Jabba1

Gee, one gets the impression you don't much care for American football. Incidentally, I could point out that your reasoning works both ways. Few (if any) Americans have heard of even the top European football (soccer) players. That's to say nothing of top Rugby and Cricket players, that stuff's all greek to us Americans.

As far as American football players having no skill, well, that's debatable. I for one grant you that the offensive line isn't a skilled position. On the other hand, it would be tough to argue that Barry Sanders had no skill as a running back, or that Lynn Swann and Jerry Rice were not skilled wide recievers.

The quarterback must have skill in order to run the offense efficiently. Dan Marino and John Elway are evidence of this. BTW, Joe Montanna quaterbacked the San Francisco 49ers to four Superbowl championships during the 80's. John Madden is the former coach of the Okland Raiders during the 70's. He's the most famous color commentator in NFL history, working alongside Pat Summerall for many years in the CBS booth. He currently does commentary alongside the play-by-play of Al Michaels on ABC's Monday Night Fooball.

One last note. Many British people are aware of William (refrigerator) Perry because of a British tv spot that he appeared in during the mid-80's. The spot was an advertisment for (what else) refrigerators. In 1985 the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys met in London for an exibhition game at Wimbley stadium. The British press literally swarmed on Perry as did the fans at Wimbley before and after the game. That spot had made him a household name in the UK.

elfman

That was one of a series of annual exhibition games they called the "American Bowl".

http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History...%20history.htm

Pigtails

I can't stand football. A bunch of hairy men throwing a bag of air across a field for 3 hours!

However, I DO go to the parties to hang out with friends and hopefully be amused by the adverts. I always get invited to the best parties too....something to do with the fact that I can provide free beer I think!

Bob

yeah, but those other sports do have a world presence that are well known globally, unlike yankie footie....which doesn't...even baseball has a larger world audience..at least it's played in cuba and japan....one thing that amuses me, if the US played Canada in the footie, would they be imperial or metric field like the Canadians use? Any ideas?