[Closed] This there American football thing.

This is a pretty good start.

[url= http://thefootballgirl.com/football-101/nfl-rules.html ]http://thefootballgirl.com/football-101/nfl-rules.html[/url]

For a bit more detail then wiki is your friend.

[url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_rules ]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_rules[/url]

I never used to get it, then I was lucky enough to get a live game when in across in the US for work. Made a lot more sense watching it live and really the enjoyed the day.

Will be watching as much as I can next season.

The 49ers won their second superbowl the year I started watching, so that's how I worked out who to support. 🙂

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/memphis-ocelots-win-superbowl-by-eight-seconds-20160208105981 ]an excellent summary here[/url]

Sport* for people who find even rugby union much too free-flowing, and desperately needs lots more pointless stoppy/starty bits, preferably for utterly incomprehensible reasons

* the term is used figuratively in this instance to denote the mind-numbingly tedious stuff that happens between the adverts and Beyoncé

JonBoy - get yourself tickets to one of the International Series games at Wembley. Pick one of the teams and follow them!

Go Jags!

(that might not have been the most thought out team selection!)

I worked with a bunch* of Mercans for a year. With an interpreter on hand it was quite entertaining. As binners says it doesn't exactly flow but they are quite clever at what they do. I don't bother with it now though.

* I think bunch is the correct collective noun.

PS. Shouldn't it be "this here" or "that there"?

binners once again proving that the daily mash is nowhere near as funny as he thinks it is. Although it does work for the average football fan.

Maybe

their

articles

need

more

pointless

paragraph

breaks

in

for

the

rugby

union

fans

to

enjoy

🙂

I'm so sorry I missed it (like the 49 before it but...apparently) I do know that the Texas Beyoncers won by smashing an all star team of Mark Bonson, Pluto Marrs and 3mm Coldply.

Wasn't the best game for beginners, not enough offense but once into it you realise how well Denver's defense handled Newton & their game plan was perfect.

Redskins fan since 1982

I'd recommend starting with this explanation (cos it's something what I wrote): http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/can-anyone-explain-american-football#post-7236364

I watched 3/4's of it before I went to bed, I thought Denver had got it in the bag by then.
I used to be a big fan and even played it (full pads, helmet etc) when I was 15 that was good fun. Nowadays I find it too much faff to watch with all the stopping, starting and farting around.

Oh New England Patriots by the way, my 'team' since 1986

Denver cos they're best innit.

Personally I'd pick a team for whom

- you like the badge/colours (girly approach)
- you empathise with from a 'where you live' point of view

By that last comment I mean it's a somewhere that's geographically, meteorologically, or socio-politically linked to wherever you call home in the UK. Easy ones:

- Detroit = Birmingham/Cov
- Bournemouth/Brighton = Miami
- Green Bay = Carlisle
- any of the glam teams (LA, SF, NY, whoever's winning) = London
- Pittsburgh = Sheffield
- Whichever team everyone loves to hate = Leeds

Me - Skins on and off since the old Channel 4 / Nicky Horne days, but only ever been to Seahawks in the Kingdome (boom)

[img] [/img]

would that be the Baltimore Ravens then ? 😉 MOT

One for the oldies

I always thought it should be called 'Hand Egg'.

I like watching them Merican football. Particularly when their helmets crash into each other.

But I also like leaving the telly on Merican football to fill in the silent then fall asleep ... coz there is no good film on ... 😆

Neutrals should all support Green Bay.

Green Bay is the only community-owned and non-profit team. They are not allowed to up sticks and move to another city, which means its support is deeply rooted in its locality, like a British football club. The fans are passionate and it always has good support, through thick and thin, which is more aligned with the ethos of a British football club. Almost everyone in Wisconsin is a packers fan, and at any given time during the season it looks like 50% of people are wearing some merchandise - hats, coats, scarves, baby clothes etc. People also turn out in all weathers to watch. The ground is almost always sold out no matter how cold it gets. On top of all that, they are also the most successful team in the league afaik.

I think I'll stick with the thrill and excitement of a good ol' British sport.
Like the darts.

or snooker.

Sport* for people who find even rugby union much too free-flowing

Yes.

Once, everywhere had local rules for football (most of which included handling the ball in some way) including the old public schools which all had their own sets of rules. When the US and Canadian colonies matured and set up colleges, they also had their own rules. After they realised playing each other would be much easier if they all adopted the same rules, we ended up with Rugby football being played in public schools, and another different variant being played in Havard, Princeton and so on. They didn't want to stop playing when they left college so they created leagues which were commercial organisations. Meanwhile at a similar time people in the general public in England were getting together to create their own standard rules (which did not include handling the ball) and came up with the Football Association. Then the working class northerners playing Rugby got fed up with the toffs and broke away to form their own League, and the rules diverged afterwards (according to wiki).

So it would seem to be a case of convergent evolution with respect league and NFL.

Wasn't the best game for beginners, not enough offense but once into it you realise how well Denver's defense handled Newton & their game plan was perfect.

As an aside, I was watching West Ham V Man City a couple of weeks back, and there was an American sat behind me, who gave us gems including:

"I love your colours man"
"Awesome offense"

WT actual F?

I don't watch football

I think I'll stick with the thrill and excitement of a good ol' British sport.
Like the darts.

I agree with what mol says about the Packers. Happy enough to be a Steelers fan though. Firmly rooted in Pittsburgh and plenty of tradition and history.

One word - Buckeyes!

NCAA (college) football's where it's at. Local kids (sorta) playing for a local team in front of just 100,000 people.

You can also do some reading:
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, by H G Bissinger

Friday Night Lights

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose! 🙂

[b]CAN'T LOSE[/b]

[runs out of locker room, touching the graffiti on the way out]

😀

[i]Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle. He's gonna fight and he's gonna lose. But what makes him a man, is that in the midst of that battle he does not lose himself.[/i]

Every week...a different lesson in how to be a better man. 🙂

Texas forever.

[Clinks neck of beer bottle with deadlydarcy]

Still watch that last episode every so often... 🙁

I watched it all about 16 months ago and just bought the full set on DVD to watch it over again. It's an odd series. The premise is so crap sounding that I can never convince anyone else to watch it but it is so well done that once you start it's completely engaging.

Agreed!

I find myself describing it..."It's about high school football in a dead end town in Texas...and there's coach Taylor, and oh yeah, there's mrs coach...she's awesome..." And I see mrs DD rolling her eyes and whoever I'm telling going "Uh huh, yeah, I see..." 😆

Buckeyes you say...? Apparently their coming to the UK for some reason and are meeting up with Jnr's team to train (basically to show them how it should really be done!)

I wouldn't exactly say college football is local kids. There's a hell of a lot of money involved in college football and colleges will go to great lengths to recruit players throughout the country. But I agree the crowds the top teams can draw is amazing and good to watch for some good trick plays.

Green Bay since 1975. That is all.