NationStates Jolt Archive

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.

Okay, I'm a big American football fan. I have been known to spend almost all my waking time on Sundays watching the NFL.

Having said that, soccer is anything but boring. American football has roughly five to 10 seconds of action followed by (at least) one minute of inactivity where players are standing around or somesuch. American football hardly has much contact between the foot and the ball. It's mostly in someone's hands or arms.

In football (which we Americans so blithely call soccer), there's maybe five minutes of inaction for close to one hundred minutes of game action. Players are running around for the full 90 minutes, and teams in professional games or national team matches can only make three substitutions of field players for the entire game. The NFL has "situation substitutions" and third down pass rushers and running backs.

In "soccer", only one player can legally use his hands, and then only in a confined space.

"Soccer" is meant to be experienced live at the stadium with thousands of fans screaming, chanting, singing, and calling the referee and rival players all kinds of names.

Before I get too much farther into the debate, I'll just say Hail to the Redskins!

The Toronto Argonauts.

in the NFL, I'm a Packer and Charger fan, also like the Jets (So not a very great year for me)

Love rugby, too.

Hey, we don't all like rugby. We have our own version of football. And it's better than yours, even though I still think it's crap. So there.

The Pats

American football>that soccer shit

~snip~


ZZZZzzzz.... What did you say? All I heard was soccer is blah blah before I fell asleep.
I know the rules. I had to play it as a little kid. I know Football (not futbol) is inappropriately named, and I don't care. I've heard that complaint on here a hundred times. I know people are running the whole time, they don't have plays, they don't get a lot of substitutions... and it is BORING! BORING I tell you! No one ever scores. There are no real hits. It is a bunch of skinny guys kicking the ball to each other for an hour and a half. It is a slower version of hockey without the hitting or the ice skates.

The Pittsburgh Steelers. Nyah.

There are no real hits. It is a bunch of skinny guys kicking the ball to each other for an hour and a half. It is a slower version of hockey without the hitting or the ice skates.

Don't forget the diving. They crumple like a preschooler origami class.

-snip-

Yep, this pretty much showcases the American football mentality. Hell, it even showcases the stereotypical American mentality.

Yep, this pretty much showcases the American football mentality. Hell, it even showcases the stereotypical American mentality.

damn straight

denver broncos

I like how you set out to annoy Jets and Giants fans.

You know, Australians laugh at your American version of football. Most of us tend to think that you guys are piss-weak, seeing as we play pretty much the same game, without all the protection you seem to feel is necessary. I find it highly amusing that you feel that soccer is boring, or that the players are weaklings, but you Americans feel the need to don a suit of armour to play a game.

Go Eagles

Redskins Suck

Cowboys Suck

Giants Suck

You know, Australians laugh at your American version of football. Most of us tend to think that you guys are piss-weak, seeing as we play pretty much the same game, without all the protection you seem to feel is necessary. I find it highly amusing that you feel that soccer is boring, or that the players are weaklings, but you Americans feel the need to don a suit of armour to play a game.

D1 college players that didnt even go anywhere near to the NFL have done very well in Rugby leagues.

piss-weak

Wait, Australians actually use expressions like that? The TV was right for once?

Anyway, I find American football boring. Like many people said, there is a lot of waiting around (and beer commercials) that take away from actual game play. Soccer/Football/FUTBOL!!!GOOOOOOOOOL!!! is more of one fluid motion and more pleasing to the eye. Then again, I don't watch that either. I have the internet to entertain me.

The Pats

American football>that soccer shit

We don't NEED the suit of armor, we just prefer to not to get killed. As a football player, I can attest to the fact that every single pad that we use is important. To play with less padding is to take a foolish risk with the body. I do not want to end up with a horribly screwed up body like all of those 1930s football players. That said, I sometimes play pickup scoccer with my friends. Soccer is and OK sport to watch, and actually fairly fun to play. But I prefer football. And the time between plays is 30-40 seconds, not a minute. Thats a fairly big diffrence, and when you are watching or playing a game you hardly notice the time going by.

Soccer is a much better arobic workout but football requires more strength. Both games require finesse. I don't see why Football is so un-popular outside the US, but by the same ticket I cannot see why Soccer is so neglected inside the US.

Oh, and Washington Redskins are my fave football team.

I like how you set out to annoy Jets and Giants fans.

I was wondering if someone was going to notice that... I was going to call them Jersey A and Jersey B to see if I could get them really riled up. And I was going to call the Washington Redskins the "Potomic River Basin Indigenous People".

Go Eagles

Redskins Suck

Cowboys Suck

Giants Suck

Uh. Yeah, except the Eagles are LAST in the NFC East.

Just in case you didn't get me the first time, the Eagles are LAST in the NFC East.

The Redskins are going to crush the Eagles next week. Just wait and see.

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all.
Well, that's why you are American, and the rest of the world isn't, right? ;)

It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf.
No, it isn't. The point is to understand a game, and once you do that, everything can be exciting.
Ever watched lawn bowls?

However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games?
Who? Where, when? What are you talking about? I have been to a number of games, and I have never witnessed a riot.
You must be generalising...

There are also two forms of rugby. Rugby League and Rugby Union. Just to educate the OPer.

I was referring to those that play American football and think that they are tough. I do realise that Americans do play league and union.

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.


Only Americans would cause a stadium to crash down for a free coke, think about it.
The REAL Football is what you would call "Soccer" the sport you yankees call football is "American Football".
You are talking in general terms in regards to Football fans in the world I hope because the only places you will find people fighting, rioting etc. over a football game is in South America and England.
In my mind Football is more of a sport than American Football, in American Football it is not as much of a ball game as it is a Human Fighting "Game" in Football you will find World Class Players who are in the best form a Human can be in. The run for a solid 90 minutes and all that time they use tactics, use their minds to figure out a perfect shot or play, they find out how to misslead the other team and it is far more of an effort playing with your feet rather than your hands.
Sure you can say American Football has all of this in their games but the thing that makes Football more of a Sport is the fact that Football players play the game for a solid 90 minutes but in American Football they take breaks every 5 minutes and beat each other up...whats so fun about that??

Soccer is a much better arobic workout but football requires more strength. Both games require finesse. I don't see why Football is so un-popular outside the US, but by the same ticket I cannot see why Soccer is so neglected inside the US.


Why "American football" is unpopular in non-America. Mainly because its not part of our culture, every nation has their national game. What pisses me off is that the US has a reasonably good team in the world cup and its like your 5th favourite sport or something

I cannot stand soccer.

Yes they run around and kick the ball around, but if you ask me - the whole "if you understand a game you enjoy the game" thing is a load of bollocks.

I'm British and I was raised with soccer, and I can honestly say if I could wipe a sport off the face of the earth it would be first - shortly followed by baseball or golf.

What many of you I think are missing about football, or just not mentioning is that it's a much more cerebral game for the viewer. What plays should you call? Can you spot the gaps in the defensive lines coverage and think the QB should call an audible?

Yes you have a lot of really big guys making hits on each other play by play, but football is a game of strategy more than anything else.

Soccer, you've got your simple formations and that's pretty much it.

Many of you ask why football is so unpopular outside the US? Well the simple fact is that it IS growing in popularity throughout the world, just as soccer is growing in popularity in the US.

As for my favourite team, I'm prolly gonna go with the Pats, I've been fooling around with them on franchise mode, and you've gotta admit, if that team doesn't have a dynasty coming up, who does?

Why "American football" is unpopular in non-America. Mainly because its not part of our culture, every nation has their national game. What pisses me off is that the US has a reasonably good team in the world cup and its like your 5th favourite sport or something

Well, we (America) pretty much grew up with Football (and Baseball). Soccer's a recent thing, really.

The NFL is one thing, yes. But then, there's collegiate Football, which is ten times more exciting.

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.
Perhaps you can actually learn how to use your feet?

Newcastle United is the best Football Team

football sucks...

Manchester United

oh, i thought we were on about REAL football, the type where the foot is used primarily

Manchester United

oh, i thought we were on about REAL football, the type where the foot is used primarily
RUGBY PWNS ALL!
Wellington Lions!

RUGBY PWNS ALL!
Wellington Lions!

soccer is my sport de preference
and thats it

[QUOTE=AllCoolNamesAreTaken]Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf.
[QUOTE]

So football is boring eh??? I refer you back to the evening of Friday 26th of May 1989. Arsenal were playing Liverpool at Liverpool's stadium. It was the last game of the season and if Arsenal wanted to win the League they had to beat Liverpool by two clear goals. With what was virtually the last kick of the game Michael Thomas scored and the result was 2-0 to Arsenal and Arsenal had won the league for the first time in 28 years!!!!

This was the basis of the book and film Fever Pitch

By 'real football' I assume you mean 'rugby football'.


Go the 'Canes.

This was the basis of the book and film Fever Pitch


I've heard that described as 'Nick Hornby's only shit book' although I've never read it :p

Wait, Australians actually use expressions like that? The TV was right for once?

Anyway, I find American football boring. Like many people said, there is a lot of waiting around (and beer commercials) that take away from actual game play. Soccer/Football/FUTBOL!!!GOOOOOOOOOL!!! is more of one fluid motion and more pleasing to the eye. Then again, I don't watch that either. I have the internet to entertain me.

Yeah, its a sad but true fact. Incidentally, which tv show were you watching?

I am a Australian and hence like Real Football as below
www.afl.com.au
None of this pussy helmets or pads shit.
If I get hit in the head, I want a concussion god damn it

Steelers rule! :D

Steelers rule! :D

You're damn right they do. Big Ben is the man.

In your face, "Sophomore Slump".

newcastle united

TOON ARMY!

i've been to 2 american football games and it was no where near as fun as going to a proper football match with chants and songs against the opponent , esp international games - much more passion :)

Seahawks all the way 13-2:p

Oh I love Rugby and....cricket:eek: not so much the 'futbol'.

FYI: Im english and female just for your stats

Steelers rule! :D

THEY RULE SO MUCH THE BENGALS TAKE THE AFC NORTH.

:D

I'm a Bengals fan.

THEY RULE SO MUCH THE BENGALS TAKE THE AFC NORTH.

:D

I'm a Bengals fan.

My brother loves them Bengals. I'm happy for them, that team has a lot of character and not a lot of glitz.

My brother loves them Bengals. I'm happy for them, that team has a lot of character and not a lot of glitz.

Our schtick used to be "rofl, we suck". Now that we don't have that, we don't have much of anything to base ourselves on but character. ;)

You Americans miss the point with real football (that is to say, "soccer" - I cant understand you people...football has less to do with socks than it does with feet...).

The point is to go to a game, and cheer and shout and chant your team along. If they lose, they lose, and you can bitch and moan as much as you like, nothing is going to change that ('cept maybe the FA...). If they win, great, go get drunk and reminisce.

I used to abuse American Football all the time, having never seen it once in my life. So, I decided to watch the last Superbowl, as it was aired on terrestrial British TV for the first time. It was the single most boring sport I have ever seen (and I have watched golf and snooker for Christ's sake). They stopped every ten seconds or so, there were twenty million advertisements in between plays, and, frankly, by the end I wanted to remove my eyeballs with a spoon.

As for rioting; thats a hell of a generalisation there, as is claiming the only places you are likely to see rioting over a football match are in the UK and South America. The Turks are disgusting when it comes to football (both on and off the pitch), the Italians have been known to riot as well, as have many other countries' teams.

Similarly, I seem to recall riots in America, by the fans of WINNING teams, i games such as the Superbowl.

Final point; you cannot possibly claim that American football is "REAL" football you retard. Rugby Football, and "Soccer" Football came first!

Okay, I'm a big American football fan. I have been known to spend almost all my waking time on Sundays watching the NFL.

Having said that, soccer is anything but boring. American football has roughly five to 10 seconds of action followed by (at least) one minute of inactivity where players are standing around or somesuch. American football hardly has much contact between the foot and the ball. It's mostly in someone's hands or arms.

In football (which we Americans so blithely call soccer), there's maybe five minutes of inaction for close to one hundred minutes of game action. Players are running around for the full 90 minutes, and teams in professional games or national team matches can only make three substitutions of field players for the entire game. The NFL has "situation substitutions" and third down pass rushers and running backs.

In "soccer", only one player can legally use his hands, and then only in a confined space.

"Soccer" is meant to be experienced live at the stadium with thousands of fans screaming, chanting, singing, and calling the referee and rival players all kinds of names.

Before I get too much farther into the debate, I'll just say Hail to the Redskins!


I simply can not believe your audacity. If you were a real football fan you'd know there was alot going on in that "Minute of inactivity", which, btw, is limited by a 40 second playclock.

Soccer has more action? What are you smoking? Each play in American Football is affecting the outcome of the game, and at best soccer has 3 or 4 outcome changing moments per game.

There is absolutely nothing to get excited about in Soccer except a scored goal. Plenty of European idiots (I feel fully qualified calling you that, I am a German citizen as well(American Mom German Dad)) counter that the footwork and all that bullshit is exciting but then why don't you go watch practice all the time? I'm sure there's alot fancier footwork going on at Brazil's national practices than in any games.

Simple fact. Nothing happens in soccer. Every single play in American Football is affecting the game. It affects field position, placement of the ball, offensive and defensive alignments, play calls, time left on the clock, I could go on and on.

American Football is very very complex. Soccer is just about the simplest sport on the face of the planet.

And when was the last time you saw an American Football player fake an injury to try and draw a penalty? I'd let you guess but the only answer is FUCKING NEVER.

Soccer players = total fucking pussies. (Of course this changes dramatically when they are playing for their countries and not a club. Club soccer is fucking unbearable, national soccer is actually fun to watch, even exciting.)

Soccer players are the ones that do the sport the biggest dis-service. If they weren't so concerned with how they looked, or weren't so concerned about how well they can fake an injury, maybe Americans would have a modicum of respect for them.


As for the NFC team I'm rooting for, Seattle Seahawks all the way.



Oh, and in case you guys weren't sure that the guy I'm quoting is indeed a fucking moron check this.

"Soccer" is meant to be experienced live at the stadium with thousands of fans screaming, chanting, singing, and calling the referee and rival players all kinds of names.


You dumbass, Arrowhead Stadium? Lambeau Field? FedEx Field (Home of the Redskins and the highest seat capacity in the NFL at around 90,000)? Are these not stadiums filled with thousands of screaming chanting fans?

You must be european, as your understanding of American football is grade-school. (And you'll retort likewise that I don't understand soccer but seriously absolutely nothing that affects the game happens for 98% of the time they're running around playing keep-away. And that is fucking dullsville.)

I've played football for twelve years and I'm playing D3 right now. Could have gone D1AA, but that's not the point.

Football is a collision sport, not a contact sport. All you naysayers go on about pads, and the breaks in between. If you haven't played the sport you'd never understand. Pads do nothing, not a single god damned thing they only get in the way. And the breaks in between are to coordinate the next play, it also gives the players a break so they can go full speed the next play.

Soccer players (football whatever) are people I respect, but by no mean are they any "thougher" than football players. Sorry but watching a bunch of twigs run around after a ball isn't my idea of entertainment. I'd rather see a 240lb guy get smashed by a 200lb guy blitzing from the outside.

Check this out if you think American football is soft.
http://media.putfile.com/HArd-Hitz-2_000165

Not the video I was looking for but close enough

Raiders rule btw. :D

My favorite football team? I would say England or Brazil.

Favourite football team? Real Madrid, and I...

Oh! Oh, you say real football. And here was me being naive and thinking that the word football consists of the word 'foot,' as in using your foot, to kick the 'ball.'

Deary, deary me. Well, I guess I'll know better next time. Whenever someone says real football, I'll be sure to remember that it's the one where you throw and catch it, and where you kick it up to half a dozen times a match (wow). So silly of me.

/sarcastic rant

TOUCH DOWN Chicago Bears!

I think real football refers to the kind that involves a lot of pain and strength. Your "football" will be known as fragileball or agilityball, your choice.

I think real football refers to the kind that involves a lot of pain and strength. Your "football" will be known as fragileball or agilityball, your choice.
Gaelic Football it is then.

Gaelic Football it is then.

Very well, i'll spend some time trying to change American football's name because although I aqm a radical NFL advocate it is a little wierd.

I can't get too pleased about a 28-13 win over the Colts, but it breaks the record for wins for Seattle as well as makes an 11-game win streak. YEAH!

As far as the comparison between US football and football, it's completely fucking pointless. It makes as much sense as comparing baseball with biathlon or volleyball with kayaking. Folks, they're DIFFERENT SPORTS requiring a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET of physical prerequisites. End of story.

To those touting US football superiority, soccer's action is constant and requires a different kind of ability and endurance than US football. I've played both games (soccer halfback and football strong safety) and I understand that both are equally demanding in completely different ways. The skill it takes to place a lead pass into space in front of your charging forward so that only he can get it without being whistled offsides (all while running and maintaining possession yourself using only your feet) is astounding.

For the Europeans, think of this: you play safety for a US football team. Shaun Alexander has just broken through the defensive line and linebackers on a running play to head straight for you. Now Shaun is 5' 11" (what's that, 180cm?) and weighs 225 pounds (some 110kg?), runs 40 yards (35m) in 4.3 seconds and has a wicked stiff-arm (ability to shrug off tacklers by extending the arm not carrying the ball). You're all that's left between him and the end zone. Stop him. Keep in mind that tripping is illegal as is grabbing the facemask or clotheslining him or leading with your helmet. As a safety, Shaun likely outweighs you by at least 25 pounds and is as fast as (if not faster than) you. Go on, stop him, soccer boy. Bring this speeding and agile warrior to the ground. Incidentally, he's rushed for over 1800 yards and 27 touchdowns so far and he's in a contract year...more incentive to flatten you like roadkill or embarass you with a paralyzing juke.

So it's utterly juvenile to posture and strut like jock-asses and assert that any one sport is "better" or "harder" than another. Let's just play.

That being said, I'm a fan of Celtic, Liverpool, Ajax, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Panathenaikos and the national teams of England, Germany and Brazil as well as the women's teams of the USA, Denmark and China.

Duh duhduhduh duh, GO PACK GO!

I'm a huge Steelers fan.

Final point; you cannot possibly claim that American football is "REAL" football you retard. Rugby Football, and "Soccer" Football came first!

Lets see... first, I can claim that, because I DID! As someone else here has mentioned, your version of football should be renamed "run-up-and-down-the-field-for-an-hour-and-a-half-keepaway". Saying that soccer is better than our "american" football because you use your feet more is like saying that your great aunt Rose is hotter than Eliza Dushku just because Rose is a prettier name. Please people, get a real argument.
Calling me a retard doesn't do anything but perpetuate the notion that soccer fans are drunken baffoons since I have an IQ of 187, a master's degree, and do not have to resort to kindergarden name-calling about a sport.

Calling me a retard doesn't do anything but perpetuate the notion that soccer fans are drunken baffoons since I have an IQ of 187, a master's degree, and do not have to resort to kindergarden name-calling about a sport.
But the things you're saying about the most-played sport on the planet, the only sport that actually deserves the name "the world game", is borderline trollish.
Let's just sit back, relax and each watch what we like best, without criticising.

--snip--
Calling me a retard doesn't do anything but perpetuate the notion that soccer fans are drunken baffoons since I have an IQ of 187, a master's degree, and do not have to resort to kindergarden name-calling about a sport.

Man, actually mentioning your IQ and not even bothering to round off the number? Historically lame. Thing is, I agree with you, but jeez, lay off the IQ and degree-dropping as justification. Nobody's impressed.

Nobody's impressed.

Sorry, but he pissed me off. I had to deal with Jesus-freaks all day at work, so I'm already set to hand out attitude if I see any. I don't give a rats-ass what you people think, but someone calling me a "retard" because I think soccer is the crappiest sport ever just irritates me.

But the things you're saying about the most-played sport on the planet, the only sport that actually deserves the name "the world game", is borderline trollish.
Let's just sit back, relax and each watch what we like best, without criticising.

My thread was a direct reply to the other "favorite football" thread, which I disagreed with because, as we have already covered, people in my nation have a different sport we call football. I have said nothing that even approaches trollish, but your bias is noted. I however, wish to criticise soccer, because I truly do not understand its appeal. I played the game as a child and hated it. The only thing I got from it is the ability to make the cross-country team in high school.

Sorry, but he pissed me off. I had to deal with Jesus-freaks all day at work, so I'm already set to hand out attitude if I see any. I don't give a rats-ass what you people think, but someone calling me a "retard" because I think soccer is the crappiest sport ever just irritates me.

No worries. I completely understand. Grab yourself a lovely beverage and relax. Life's too short to let a retard calling you a retard work you up. Where do you work (and/or whom did you piss off) to have to deal with Bible-humpers all day?

Sorry, but he pissed me off. I had to deal with Jesus-freaks all day at work

Don't feel bad I had to do irrigation in a retirement community for the summer. Just glad that's over with.

No worries. I completely understand. Grab yourself a lovely beverage and relax. Life's too short to let a retard calling you a retard work you up. Where do you work (and/or whom did you piss off) to have to deal with Bible-humpers all day?

I just downed a Jager-bomb and have a lovely bottle of Blue Moon right here now. I feel better. I worked both jobs today, that may be part of my problem. And the fact that I was working while ALL the football games were on today didn't help. Job 1= manager at Sam's Club, where everyone in the world HAD to shop at today, with a ton of attitude each, all while spouting Merry Christmas, yelling at me for not allowing Christmas Songs to be played at work (I don't make the damn company policy). Job 2= Wine Consultant for ABC. Had some real pissed off people there today too. Bitching at me because I'm out of Crystal. I can't help it if the damn thing is allocated. I tried to order more. The stuff is crap anyways. The only reason its popular is because it's in damn rap videos. AND, I had a freaking wacko Church protesting outside the store, saying that alcohol is the root of the corruption of Christmas or some such garbage. I had to call the cops and get the freaks arrested.

I just downed a Jager-bomb and have a lovely bottle of Blue Moon right here now. I feel better. I worked both jobs today, that may be part of my problem. And the fact that I was working while ALL the football games were on today didn't help. Job 1= manager at Sam's Club, where everyone in the world HAD to shop at today, with a ton of attitude each, all while spouting Merry Christmas, yelling at me for not allowing Christmas Songs to be played at work (I don't make the damn company policy). Job 2= Wine Consultant for ABC. Had some real pissed off people there today too. Bitching at me because I'm out of Crystal. I can't help it if the damn thing is allocated. I tried to order more. The stuff is crap anyways. The only reason its popular is because it's in damn rap videos. AND, I had a freaking wacko Church protesting outside the store, saying that alcohol is the root of the corruption of Christmas or some such garbage. I had to call the cops and get the freaks arrested.

Sweet, Merciful Crap! You have my sincere condolances and sympathy. Cristal IS crap. Expensive crap, just like the damned spinning rims and gold tooth appliances. Like Chris Rock said, there's rich and there's wealthy. Besides, a nice demi-sec or halb-trocken or even a juicy asti is better than Cristal. Taste is always in short supply come Christmas.

Sweet, Merciful Crap! You have my sincere condolances and sympathy. Cristal IS crap. Expensive crap, just like the damned spinning rims and gold tooth appliances. Like Chris Rock said, there's rich and there's wealthy. Besides, a nice demi-sec or halb-trocken or even a juicy asti is better than Cristal. Taste is always in short supply come Christmas.

Exactly. If you like the dry sparkly stuff go with the Charles Krug. Much better tasting. Hell, even Dom tastes better than LRC. Nothing on TV...That's it, I'm depressed. I'm going to raid the wine cellar.

Man, I feel so much better. Nothing a nice bottle of '94 Guenoc Langtree can't fix. And I checked the score in my fantasy league, whose championship is this weekend... unless Todd Heap scores 54 points (not gonna happen) I am the victor! The "Freedom Fries" make it two Fantasy Football Super Bowl Rings in a row! I can smell the dynasty...I already know who I'm keeping for next season. In my league you can keep one player, but you have to give up your first round pick. I am SO keeping S. Alexander.

OMG Colts lost.:(

soccer is my sport de preference
and thats it
More the fool ye be then.

Seahawks all the way 13-2:p

TOUCH DOWN Chicago Bears!

Redskins > The rest of the NFC (Weeks one and three. Redskins 9 Bears 7, Redskins 20 Seahawks 17)

Redskins > The rest of the NFC

Not with a QB who has two bum knees and who was shipped out of Jacksonville for being inconsistant and over the hill.

Mark Brunell threw for 4 touchdowns agenst the Cowboys, who have a very good pass defense. The Joe Gibbs System makes Brunell (or Ramsey for that matter) look very good.

And, just an FYI, the Redskins are 9-2 agenst NFC teams, and one of those losses was because of a bull_hit call by a dumb**s ref.

Favorite: KC Chiefs.
Least Favorite: Raiders. MY GOD, they're the worst fans i've ever met. If it's not them blindly launching threats at you (over a sports team), it's just simple rude behaviour.

Favorite: KC Chiefs.

So, Priest Holmes or Larry Johnson?

ZZZZzzzz.... What did you say? All I heard was soccer is blah blah before I fell asleep.
I know the rules. I had to play it as a little kid. I know Football (not futbol) is inappropriately named, and I don't care. I've heard that complaint on here a hundred times. I know people are running the whole time, they don't have plays, they don't get a lot of substitutions... and it is BORING! BORING I tell you! No one ever scores. There are no real hits. It is a bunch of skinny guys kicking the ball to each other for an hour and a half. It is a slower version of hockey without the hitting or the ice skates.

If you've been watching the NHL, you know it's not that low-scoring anymore. So Soccer is on it's own now :D.

Aside from that, I must add that being a true hockey fan and American (usually not in the same sentance), is lonley, :(. If I only would of been born in that unknown country above ours, maybe i'd be just slightly cooler.

So, Priest Holmes or Larry Johnson?

I'm going to have to say Larry Johnson. While I like Priest, Johnson is just the ownage :D.

Chi-town baby! Da Bears are goin' all the way this year! You heard it hear first!

If the Redskins get to the playoffs, no one in the NFC can stop them.

My advanse Super Bowl pick: Patriots 10 Redskins 9

I've got to go with the Seahawks and the Pats.

Remember, the Redskins beat the Seahawks Week 3. Further, Washington beat the Giants (who went into overtime agenst the Seahawks earlier this year, and blew three game winning field goals) 35-20 last week.

Remember, the Redskins beat the Seahawks Week 3. Further, Washington beat the Giants (who went into overtime agenst the Seahawks earlier this year, and blew three game winning field goals) 35-20 last week.

Washington was overachieving. I know it sounds like a cheap excuse, but thats what it is. They have beaten some good teams, but got derstroyed by some inferior ones. I just don't think they're a good playoff team, especially without Mark Brunell fully healthy.

Washington was overachieving. I know it sounds like a cheap excuse, but thats what it is. They have beaten some good teams, but got derstroyed by some inferior ones. I just don't think they're a good playoff team, especially without Mark Brunell fully healthy.

True, we did loose to Oakland, somehow. But other than that, the skins only losses have come to teams with winning records. And we beat every team locked into the NFC playoff field except the Panthers (who they did not play). Patrick Ramsey is more than capable of picking up where Brunell left off. Remember, in Spurrier's last year he was on fire before he got hurt. If he could do that under Spurrier, he could do much more under Gibbs.

Washington has only lost one game to and NFC team, and then came back to annihilate that same team later on in the season.

Favorite: KC Chiefs.
Least Favorite: Raiders. MY GOD, they're the worst fans i've ever met. If it's not them blindly launching threats at you (over a sports team), it's just simple rude behaviour.Wah! The Raiders are the original bad boys. We wore black before it was a fashion statement. We'd poke you in the eyes and punch you in the cup in the pile. We didn't always win but we made sure the other guys woke up hurting the next day. We were the most penalized team in the league for years and relished it.

How the fuck do you think the fans of a team like this are supposed to act?

I was born in Oakland, it's a port city, a working city living in the shadow of it's beauty queen sister across the bridge. It makes you jaded. It makes you tough and it makes you rude to the yuppy scum fans of other teams.

Deal with it.

True, we did loose to Oakland, somehow. But other than that, the skins only losses have come to teams with winning records. And we beat every team locked into the NFC playoff field except the Panthers (who they did not play).

Fair enough, but I just don't think the Redskins are a good playoff team. Call it a gut feeling, if you will.

Fair enough, but I just don't think the Redskins are a good playoff team. Call it a gut feeling, if you will.

Ok. Lets see what happens in the playoffs then.

Wah! The Raiders are the original bad boys. We wore black before it was a fashion statement. We'd poke you in the eyes and punch you in the cup in the pile. We didn't always win but we made sure the other guys woke up hurting the next day. We were the most penalized team in the league for years and relished it.

How the fuck do you think the fans of a team like this are supposed to act?

I was born in Oakland, it's a port city, a working city living in the shadow of it's beauty queen sister across the bridge. It makes you jaded. It makes you tough and it makes you rude to the yuppy scum fans of other teams.

Deal with it.

The orginal bad boys that tend to lose to the Chiefs, might I add :p. Besides, i'd respect Raiders fans more if they'd back up their threats rather than just walk away from me. Or at least attempt to, you know?

I'm more of a hockey fan anyways, untill the chiefs stop choking in the playoffs it's gonna stay that way.

Manchester United, four-downs is boring.

However, I have developed the world's greatest version of football ever, and after you play you will agree it has made Association, Rugby(League and Union), American, Canadian, Aussie, International and Gaelic rules obsolete. :D

Manchester United, four-downs is boring.

However, I have developed the world's greatest version of football ever, and after you play you will agree it has made Association, Rugby(League and Union), American, Canadian, Aussie, International and Gaelic rules obsolete. :D

Do tell...

actually your poll is off on australia... at least as far as i know, because australian rules football (no its different then rugby look it up), i believe is far more popular there than rugby. i live in ontario canada, and am in a club in the OAFL....

The Oakland Raiders - not much bragging to do these days

I am a Australian and hence like Real Football as below
www.afl.com.au
None of this pussy helmets or pads shit.
If I get hit in the head, I want a concussion god damn it

Exactly. AFL has skill AND pain inducement! We win.

Exactly. AFL has skill AND pain inducement! We win.

Get yer own thread!

I'm a lifelong Minnesota Vikings fan...

...too bad we missed the playoffs again. I want Tice gone, NOW! :mad:

I'm a lifelong Minnesota Vikings fan...

...too bad we missed the playoffs again. I want Tice gone, NOW! :mad:

Heh...at least you had a chance.

Think about us Lions fans...

Do tell...

Imagine a game most similar to soccer, but on a smaller field, with a size 4 ball. You're allowed to move the ball with your hands or feet, and forward passes are allowed.

No padding, with a contact level like rugby. Play would start with a kick from the centre to the opposite team.

Two points would be scored for throwing or kicking the ball past the goalkeeper, one point for kicking it between the uprights outside of the crease.

It's not done, but there's the jyst.

Get yer own thread!

please don't hurt me. I'm an innocent :) .

this is my 201st post! yay.

Redskins > The rest of the NFC (Weeks one and three. Redskins 9 Bears 7, Redskins 20 Seahawks 17)

Riiiiiiiight. Week THREE and in OVERTIME. Try again.

Heh...at least you had a chance.

Think about us Lions fans...

Oh, you poor bastard! :p

I find it interesting that, of the NFC North teams, the Bears were LAST on EVERYONES list to win the division at the beginning of the year.

Heh...well, at least we get more fun with draft picks! :rolleyes:

Oh, you poor bastard! :p

I find it interesting that, of the NFC North teams, the Bears were LAST on EVERYONES list to win the division at the beginning of the year.

Heh...well, at least we get more fun with draft picks! :rolleyes:

Yes, I am a poor bastard. I am quite proud of having top ten draft picks for the past 5 years and still managing to not have a winning season.

CFL: Toronto Argos
NFL: Chicago Bears

Aussy Football: Don't know just love to watch the games

im confused you said real football and then talk about a sport where neither a ball(by its definition) is used or where the foot is the predominant appendage used

For American Football, I've been a Seahawks fan since 1977.

It's been a long time coming, this season.

Oh, you poor bastard! :p

I find it interesting that, of the NFC North teams, the Bears were LAST on EVERYONES list to win the division at the beginning of the year.

Heh...well, at least we get more fun with draft picks! :rolleyes:

Favre needs to retire retroactive back to last season. Give Aaron Rodgers a shot.

Oh, and New England Patriots, of course.

Favre needs to retire retroactive back to last season. Give Aaron Rodgers a shot.

I never thought Brett was that great. He makes way too many dipshit mistakes to be in the same tier as Elway and Marino.

I never thought Brett was that great. He makes way too many dipshit mistakes to be in the same tier as Elway and Marino.

He's a gunslinger, which was fine when he was amazing and could throw assloads of TDs. But he's old and his skills have diminished but he still approaches the game with the mentality of a 24 year old, hence 20+ INTs.

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.

i am shocked. i hate you so much :eek:

He's a gunslinger, which was fine when he was amazing and could throw assloads of TDs. But he's old and his skills have diminished but he still approaches the game with the mentality of a 24 year old, hence 20+ INTs.

Yeah. He hasn't matured like the other two greats.

See, with Elway, he was a gunslinger, but he was always cool and collected. He had a few 20+ interception seasons, sure, but it was usually the fault of shitty receivers.

But, with Marino, he was always like a relaxed veteran. He only started to fade in his final two seasons because of a bad coach (that asshole Johnson).

With Brett, yeah, it's mostly his fault. He should've calmed down.

Yeah. He hasn't matured like the other two greats.

See, with Elway, he was a gunslinger, but he was always cool and collected. He had a few 20+ interception seasons, sure, but it was usually the fault of shitty receivers.

But, with Marino, he was always like a relaxed veteran. He only started to fade in his final two seasons because of a bad coach (that asshole Johnson).

With Brett, yeah, it's mostly his fault. He should've calmed down.

What he needs to do is instead of being a jerk and a diva, he should let Rodgers get some snaps so he can get acclimated to playing in the league. Rodgers is the future of the franchise, and if Favre cared about the Packers like he says he does, he'd consider what's best for the team and not what's best for his overinflated ego.

What he needs to do is instead of being a jerk and a diva, he should let Rodgers get some snaps so he can get acclimated to playing in the league. Rodgers is the future of the franchise, and if Favre cared about the Packers like he says he does, he'd consider what's best for the team and not what's best for his overinflated ego.

Exactly. It's similar to Peyton Manning's ridiculous salary.

If Peyton really cared about the team, he'd take a big paycut (75%, damnit) so the Colts would have more cap room to get a defense and a good running game going.

That's what's cool about the Patriots. The players do take paycuts, and they play like a team, not a fucking business.

Exactly. It's similar to Peyton Manning's ridiculous salary.

If Peyton really cared about the team, he'd take a big paycut (75%, damnit) so the Colts would have more cap room to get a defense and a good running game going.

That's what's cool about the Patriots. The players do take paycuts, and they play like a team, not a fucking business.

Exactly. Which is why the Patriots are awesome, and win Super Bowls.

What he needs to do is instead of being a jerk and a diva, he should let Rodgers get some snaps so he can get acclimated to playing in the league. Rodgers is the future of the franchise, and if Favre cared about the Packers like he says he does, he'd consider what's best for the team and not what's best for his overinflated ego.

Wow. I never thought I'd see those two words applied to Favre. Obviously, you've never met the guy.

If he were that way, you wouldn't get everyone in the league stating the opposite.

Exactly. Which is why the Patriots are awesome, and win Super Bowls.

Damn right.

Wow. I never thought I'd see those two words applied to Favre. Obviously, you've never met the guy.

If he were that way, you wouldn't get everyone in the league stating the opposite.

Well obviously I've never met the guy; he's Brett Favre. But his refusal to let Rodgers get any sort of real playing time in an obviously lost season reeks of ego. What everyone expected him to do was take Rodgers under his wing and tutor him on the ways of an NFL quarterback, considering he's one of the best, so when Favre did finally retire Rodgers would be ready to lead the team and wouldn't have to essentially go through a rookie season as the number one man in Green Bay. What he's done is refuse to let go of the idea that this is his team and his team alone, and stubbornly and bull-headedly plowed through this season without acknowledging that he's not as good as he used to be. He should be preparing Rodgers to lead the team in the future, not living in his glorious past.

Well obviously I've never met the guy; he's Brett Favre.


And? He is accessable. I've met him. Then again, I'm in Wisconsin.


But his refusal to let Rodgers get any sort of real playing time in an obviously lost season reeks of ego. What everyone expected him to do was take Rodgers under his wing and tutor him on the ways of an NFL quarterback, considering he's one of the best, so when Favre did finally retire Rodgers would be ready to lead the team and wouldn't have to essentially go through a rookie season as the number one man in Green Bay. What he's done is refuse to let go of the idea that this is his team and his team alone, and stubbornly and bull-headedly plowed through this season without acknowledging that he's not as good as he used to be. He should be preparing Rodgers to lead the team in the future, not living in his glorious past.

Is that what he's doing? Or is Sherman making the choice? Or someone up higher? Yes, Favre can bench himself--but maybe he doesn't want to circumvent the authority structure of the organization--the team. I'm just saying that having met him and his actual reputation in the league, don't be so quick to think that he's making that decision based on ego or anything else. He may not be the one making the decision.

I support Celtic football club! A soccer team in Scotland for those of you that don't know! However American football is still quite an interesting sport! America has a lot better sports than the UK!

Go Eagles

Redskins Suck

Cowboys Suck

Giants Suck

i'm with you....GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!

i also have been a vikings fan since i was 5 years old,but always eagles green for me,and i am originally from nyc.
my dad was a big jets fan,sao for an afc team...i can like em,boo giants..:gundge:

Uh. Yeah, except the Eagles are LAST in the NFC East.

Just in case you didn't get me the first time, the Eagles are LAST in the NFC East.

The Redskins are going to crush the Eagles next week. Just wait and see.

thats because we are riddled with injuries on all sides of the ball!(you know the armor we don't need..lol)
and just wait till we are healthy next year...we are gonna flat destroy the nfc east..like WE HAVE FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS!

enjoy your i game in the spotlight...i'll enjoy my past 5 years of utter dominance over the rest of the losers in the nfc east...and are return to the superbowl next year!

:D

Uh. Yeah, except the Eagles are LAST in the NFC East.

Just in case you didn't get me the first time, the Eagles are LAST in the NFC East.

The Redskins are going to crush the Eagles next week. Just wait and see.

thats because we are riddled with injuries on all sides of the ball!(you know the armor we don't need..lol)
and just wait till we are healthy next year...we are gonna flat destroy the nfc east..like WE HAVE FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS!

enjoy your i game in the spotlight...i'll enjoy my past 5 years of utter dominance over the rest of the losers in the nfc east...and are return to the superbowl next year!

:D

Hail to the Redskins! Hail Victory! Braves on the warpath, fight for ol' DC!

i was born and bred in SA, now living in NSW, and like both AFL and NRL, although i have taken a liking to soccer, and dont mind NFL. now i will list the codes in order, from most deserving of Football name to least deserving, and i will put the teams from that code i like after them

1 soccer/association football - Central Coast Mariners, Bayern Munich, Chelsea

2 Aussie Rules/AFL football - Port Bulldogs, West Adelaide Bloods, Fremantle Dockers

3 Gailic footbal - dont follow it

4 Rugby Union (football in NZ) - NSW Warritahs

5 Rugby League (football in QLD and NSW) - Wests Tigers

6 Gridiron/american football - Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Go Carolina Panthers!

i have been a colts fan ever since i saw a game of them in the 90s, when they played against the cowboys and made an impressive comeback victory with a super long fieldgoal in the end. i also thought their name was cool (that was before i could speak enough english to understand it means horses, not guns :-) some years later i bought a colts-faulk-replica-jersey over the new NFL shop on the internet.

what i find unique about the NFL is how the draft policy and such quickly brings a team from the bottom to the top. i remember a season, in which the jets only won one game and leno joked in his show who the worst team was, the jets or the team, that lost to the jets. then, just a few seasons later the jets allmost made it to the superbowl.

I'm not much a football fan. But I like the Raiders, and the Patriots.


... Hockey's better. [runs away]

I'm not much a football fan. But I like the Raiders, and the Patriots.


... Hockey's better. [runs away]

*beats with puck*

I can't vote on that poll :confused: I'm Australian, but I don't watch Rugby. I like AFL (Aussie rules football)

I'm not much a football fan. But I like the Raiders, and the Patriots.


... Hockey's better. [runs away]
I've never watched any hockey games, but I love playing it :D

Riiiiiiiight. Week THREE and in OVERTIME. Try again.

If we had had Hall instead of Novack it would not have gone to OT.

By the way my favorite soccer team is DC United

Okay, I'm a big American football fan. I have been known to spend almost all my waking time on Sundays watching the NFL.

Having said that, soccer is anything but boring. American football has roughly five to 10 seconds of action followed by (at least) one minute of inactivity where players are standing around or somesuch. American football hardly has much contact between the foot and the ball. It's mostly in someone's hands or arms.

In football (which we Americans so blithely call soccer), there's maybe five minutes of inaction for close to one hundred minutes of game action. Players are running around for the full 90 minutes, and teams in professional games or national team matches can only make three substitutions of field players for the entire game. The NFL has "situation substitutions" and third down pass rushers and running backs.

In "soccer", only one player can legally use his hands, and then only in a confined space.

"Soccer" is meant to be experienced live at the stadium with thousands of fans screaming, chanting, singing, and calling the referee and rival players all kinds of names.

Before I get too much farther into the debate, I'll just say Hail to the Redskins!

And in AFL, it's 20 minute quarters and 5, 10, 5 minute breaks between, but they stop the clock if the game pauses, or tell them to hurry up.

Go Pies! (http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au)

I'm Australian & I do not like rugby. I like our own unique, native code of football.

'Soccer' as you call it is my sport, as well as rugby and to a lesser extent cricket. I don't follow NFL, AFL or any of that...well, butchered rugby describes it best. In football, I support Millwall FC (Brits may have heard of them. They're the club with the reputation for thuggery, the club currently at the bottom of the Championship, the club that's had something like 3 chairmans in 2 years, the club that's had all our good players sold in the last two years, the club that's now got a goal to get in the Premiership in five years according to the new chairman, and the club that were runners-up in the FA CUP and subsequently got into Europe, where we lost to a Hungarian team) in football, and don't really support anyway besides the international team in rugby and cricket.

~snip~

That's nice. Really. Now go find your own thread. You know, like the soccer one that was the inspiration for this one. This is REAL football. American style.

Well, it looks like the playoff matchups are being cemented into place. Washington is losing, and may miss the playoffs. San Diego and Kansas City are out. And my Jaguars have the #5 seed in the AFC locked, and are obliterating the Titans with half the starting lineup sitting it out. I'd have to say it's a good day.

Okay, I'm a big American football fan. I have been known to spend almost all my waking time on Sundays watching the NFL.

Having said that, soccer is anything but boring. American football has roughly five to 10 seconds of action followed by (at least) one minute of inactivity where players are standing around or somesuch. American football hardly has much contact between the foot and the ball. It's mostly in someone's hands or arms.

In football (which we Americans so blithely call soccer), there's maybe five minutes of inaction for close to one hundred minutes of game action. Players are running around for the full 90 minutes, and teams in professional games or national team matches can only make three substitutions of field players for the entire game. The NFL has "situation substitutions" and third down pass rushers and running backs.

In "soccer", only one player can legally use his hands, and then only in a confined space.

"Soccer" is meant to be experienced live at the stadium with thousands of fans screaming, chanting, singing, and calling the referee and rival players all kinds of names.

Before I get too much farther into the debate, I'll just say Hail to the Redskins!


As a fan of both futbol and American football, I agree with this post entirely (except the silly part about the Redskins).

The Pittsburgh Steelers. Nyah.
Yeah Baby! wwooooo hhoooooo !

for heavens sakes..... the Dallas Cowboys are not on the poll~! *shakes head*

Miami Dolphins. Just always have and will support them, despite the fact that I'll probably be collecting my pension the next time they see a Superbowl on anything but TV. :(

Plus here in Ireland, Gaelic Football is real football. So Dublin there in that category.

Leinster for Rugby (ain't just Southern hemisphere pansies who like it ;) )

And Manchester United for football (soccer if you must), greastest club ever. I could go on, but it would hijack the thread. And real football is played primarily with your feet, I believe. Not like gridiron :p

I support Celtic football club! A soccer team in Scotland for those of you that don't know! However American football is still quite an interesting sport! America has a lot better sports than the UK!


Don't know, tossing the caber seems pretty interesting to me...:)

And kudos on supporting Celtic. Up the Bhoys! Screw the Gers! Roy Keane'll do you well

That's nice. Really. Now go find your own thread. You know, like the soccer one that was the inspiration for this one. This is REAL football. American style.
i seriously dont get how you can call it real football when feet hardly touch the ball. it is more like throwball or runball than football.

i seriously dont get how you can call it real football when feet hardly touch the ball. it is more like throwball or runball than football.

In the early 1900's, kicking was a vital and glamorous part of the game.

In the early 1900's, kicking was a vital and glamorous part of the game.

Adam Vinateri not vital or glamourous enough? He only won two superbowls for the Pats with his kicks...:sniper: quite a leg on that man,

Adam Vinateri not vital or glamourous enough? He only won two superbowls for the Pats with his kicks...:sniper: quite a leg on that man,

But he wasn't featured. Back in the days, punting was vital. If they had PS2 back then, a punter would probably have been featured on the cover of Madden.

There are no real hits.

yeah amen in soccer..but really, american footy isnt much better. being padded up in a dis-assembled sofa is going to offer a fair bit of support

go watch a rugby match..those hits HURT

yeah amen in soccer..but really, american footy isnt much better. being padded up in a dis-assembled sofa is going to offer a fair bit of support

go watch a rugby match..those hits HURT
As a player of Football, I can tell you that, while all that padding looks impressive, it still hurts alot to get hit. Much more than it looks.

i seriously dont get how you can call it real football when feet hardly touch the ball. it is more like throwball or runball than football.
I wonder if soccer fans will ever get another argument against football. I doubt it. How many times has this been brought up so far, in this very thread? So for the last time, we don't care.
Chalk it up to another way that Americans are arrogant, or whatever you want. We call the baseball finals the "World Series", even though there are only American (and 1 Canadian) teams. We call sparking white wine "champagne", regardless of where it is made. I call any soft drink "coke", even if it is a Pepsi. Names don't mean squat. The game is called football. Deal with it. Do you get pissed because there isn't water to jump into if you go to a pool hall?

I like loadsa sports, but who cares about that! I especially like Packers & Patriots. Then again, as I said earlier, I like loads of sports, but who cares about that! I especially like the Packers & Patriots.Then again, as I said earlier, I like loads of sports, but who cares about that! I especially like Packers & Patriots. Then again, as I said earlier etc.:mad: :mad: :mad:

You know, Australians laugh at your American version of football. Most of us tend to think that you guys are piss-weak, seeing as we play pretty much the same game, without all the protection you seem to feel is necessary.
I guess since you Aussies play a game with a bunch of other 120 pound guys, you probably don't need the pads. I used to play football when I was a child and 120 pounds, and we used no pads either. However, when a 380 pound man hits you at full speed, you probably should have some pads on.

Febuary 2007, the Miami Dolphins dynasty begins.

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.
Hoohoo boy, you have no idea the can of worms you've just opened. *sits down to watch show, dodging bullets* Hey, can someone bring in a keg?

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.
And uh, for all you non-americans out there, dont take this stupid f*c..ehh thats prolly a flamebait.. as an example for all of us. Soccer/futbol/futsol is a big sport here, and the ignorance of a minute percent of the population( including the ignorant fool here who...nah that'll prolly be a flamebait too) who actually think's soccer is for pussies doesnt really account for the populace as a whole.

That said, macho man, point me to ONE, yes thats ONE, professional soccer player in an american league who ass you could manhandle. I doubt you'd be talking trash much longer after a well placed kick to the torso.

All professional atheletes have far above averege strength. Your point is moot. I have yet to see a soccer player that could take on Sean Taylor, or even John Hall.

~snip~

Thanks for the bump. Another crummy soccer thread just sprouted up.

Have you read the thread?
Do you see soccer games on TV?
Minute %? More like VAST MAJORITY!
To point out a soccer player, I would have to know one. Which I don't.
And put ANY of your soccer players against a football player (who will incidently outweigh them by 200 pounds) and they will be crushed.

As if anyone would pay attention to you anyways.

All professional atheletes have far above averege strength. Your point is moot. I have yet to see a soccer player that could take on Sean Taylor, or even John Hall.

If you want hard men from football then there are plenty of them, Vinnie Jones and Roy Keane are probably the best known for it, but if you prefer there's Neil "Razor" Ruddock or Norman "bite yer legs" Hunter are some past stars who would possibly fit the description you're after, though in order to make it fair I'd say you'd have to put them up against players of similar weight, how many quarterbacks etc could take on the two players you've mentioned.

Or if you prefer, there are some players from Rugby football who could probably take them on.

I guess since you Aussies play a game with a bunch of other 120 pound guys, you probably don't need the pads. I used to play football when I was a child and 120 pounds, and we used no pads either. However, when a 380 pound man hits you at full speed, you probably should have some pads on.
Try researching Rugby football, where you'll get 300 pound+ men hitting people at full speed without pads.

That's the thing I didn't get about American football, the biggest guys on the pitch never seem to get any of the plaudits, or get anywhere near the ball, doesn't it ever happen that they band together (or any one of them and demand it off the small guys?)

John Hall is a placekicker, so he is not exactly a world champion bruiser.

As Rugby and Football have many similarites, there are certainly a lot of Rugby players who could fit the bruiser mold. In fact, once a US Sportswriter wrote a article for SI.com commenting on how some professional Rugby players could make it in the NFL.

Pitting almost anyone agenst Sean Taylor would probably constitute cruel and unusual punishment.:)

John Hall is a placekicker, so he is not exactly a world champion bruiser.

As Rugby and Football have many similarites, there are certainly a lot of Rugby players who could fit the bruiser mold. In fact, once a US Sportswriter wrote a article for SI.com commenting on how some professional Rugby players could make it in the NFL.

Pitting almost anyone agenst Sean Taylor would probably constitute cruel and unusual punishment.:)
I remember seeing a few clips of when Max Boyce (he's a Welsh singer/comedian) went and did a documentary on American football for Channel 4, they were looking to hype it up just before they started doing a highlights show (which is crap)).

In order to persuade the Dallas Cowboys to let him be part of their training camp, they told them that he was the greatest Welsh rugby player ever (he'd never played rugby to any sort outside of school as far as I know). And lots of press turned up to see the "first ever oversees signing". Naturally he went in and go absolutely mauled.

Part of the deal was that they'd show him a bit of each positions play, so they kitted him up, and stood him up against the lineman, and tried a quick demo with the lineman going soft on him. He went flying:) The lineman thought he'd killed him. One of the funniest things I've ever seen:D

The Biggest Club in the World..... Manchester United Football Club, originally formed as Newton Heath in 1892.

Okay, I'm a big American football fan. I have been known to spend almost all my waking time on Sundays watching the NFL.

Having said that, soccer is anything but boring. American football has roughly five to 10 seconds of action followed by (at least) one minute of inactivity where players are standing around or somesuch. American football hardly has much contact between the foot and the ball. It's mostly in someone's hands or arms.

In football (which we Americans so blithely call soccer), there's maybe five minutes of inaction for close to one hundred minutes of game action. Players are running around for the full 90 minutes, and teams in professional games or national team matches can only make three substitutions of field players for the entire game. The NFL has "situation substitutions" and third down pass rushers and running backs.

In "soccer", only one player can legally use his hands, and then only in a confined space.

"Soccer" is meant to be experienced live at the stadium with thousands of fans screaming, chanting, singing, and calling the referee and rival players all kinds of names.

Before I get too much farther into the debate, I'll just say Hail to the Redskins!

Amen. I whole-heartedly, adamantly, shout from the rooftops-ly agree.

Gaelic Football it is then.
Now there is a sport.Tho i dont playit anymore. :( Gone on to bigger and better things tho. I had to give it up so i cld row.

I guess since you Aussies play a game with a bunch of other 120 pound guys, you probably don't need the pads. I used to play football when I was a child and 120 pounds, and we used no pads either. However, when a 380 pound man hits you at full speed, you probably should have some pads on.

Febuary 2007, the Miami Dolphins dynasty begins.

Tell that to Jonathon Brown (6'5, 220) or Sandilands (7', 270)
Last time I looked your players don't run 10-15 miles per game, within about 2hours and 80% of the time flat out

Thats the thing about rugby. you play the full 80 minutes. No time outs, no 'team changes', no stops for TV etc. A huge percentage of rugby training is skills and fitness. If a 380 pound person started playing rugby, they would lose a huge amount of that weight through the fitness work they would be put through.

At the very top level of rugby, the heaviest players are generally no more than 125kg or so. Its hard to be much heavier and still have the fitness required to play the game. Players still put on weight and bulk up and things though. Backs are getting bigger and bigger in rugby. Eventually every top international player is going to be 105-110kg and ridiculously fit regardless of position.. (except perhaps the props who would be heavier).

Im glad to see my Steelers got mo0re votes than any other nfl team...it just warms my heart to know there are atleast 11(at time of this post) other steeler fans on here :)

Green Bay Packers


...the greatest franchise in the history of professional football, with 12 total championships (NFL titles and Super Bowls combined)

Green Bay Packers


...the greatest franchise in the history of professional football, with 12 total championships (NFL titles and Super Bowls combined)


Too bad they sucked it up this year, eh?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf.

Subjective statement. You cannot prove that it is a better/worse sport. Just because America is rubbish at it, you say its rubbish. . And dont cite the FIFA rankings at me. They are based on number of victories. Of course the USA can beat the Soloman Islands 50 times, so can England, Brazil and loads of others. But can the USA beat Brazil, Holland, England, Chillie, Senegal etc?

Im glad to see my Steelers got mo0re votes than any other nfl team...it just warms my heart to know there are atleast 11(at time of this post) other steeler fans on here :)
Agreed. Now that the Bengals are out of the way, the Colts are going down!

Subjective statement. You cannot prove that it is a better/worse sport. Just because America is rubbish at it, you say its rubbish. . And dont cite the FIFA rankings at me. They are based on number of victories. Of course the USA can beat the Soloman Islands 50 times, so can England, Brazil and loads of others. But can the USA beat Brazil, Holland, England, Chillie, Senegal etc?

the FIFA rankings are horseshite

here's what they should be:

1. Brazil
2. Holland
3. England
4. Argentina
5. Italy
6. France
7. Czech Republic
8. Portugal
9. Spain
10. Sweden
11. Germany
12. USA (USA beat Mex 3-2 aggregate in qualifying)
13. Mexico
14. Croatia
15. Turkey
16. Denmark
17. Switzeland
18. Ireland
19. Ghana
20. Poland


...something like that

I live in Australia and I would personally like rugby and Football/AFL (Our football) to be eliminated and bring in NFL. Australian football is the most boring piece of crap ever invented with a league of stupid rules, idiot players and idiot clubs all wearing mini shorts and tank tops.... Soccer sucks too!

the FIFA rankings are horseshite

here's what they should be:

1. Brazil
2. Holland
3. England
4. Argentina
5. Italy
6. France
7. Czech Republic
8. Portugal
9. Spain
10. Sweden
11. Germany
12. USA (USA beat Mex 3-2 aggregate in qualifying)
13. Mexico
14. Croatia
15. Turkey
16. Denmark
17. Switzeland
18. Ireland
19. Ghana
20. Poland


...something like that

Balderdash! I watch far too much football, and I can assure you the FIFA rankings ought to resemble the following:

1. Brazil
2. Italy
3. Argentina
4. England
5. Holland
6. France
7. Spain
8. Portugal
9. Czech Republic
10. Germany
11. Sweden
12. Poland
13. Mexico
14. Serbia and Montenegro
15. Turkey
16. Denmark
17. Switzeland
18. Ireland
19. Uruguay
20. Columbia


99999999. Scotland:p

England beat a patently superior Argentina by virtue of a late rally, one would not anticipate a re-occurance, whilst the Dutch under Van Basten are a little to young and inclined to implode periodically to be of any immense gravity, whilst Italy are the greatest tactical team on the planet. In relation to the USA, I simply do not rate them in the slightest, the majority of the team plays in the MLS, has never played for the footballing aristocracy in Europe, and they have one credible win to their name as of late against a somewhat unmotivated and laxidaisical Portugal in 2002.

I noticed some people yet again laughing at how professional football players use pads. I did the math once and the kinetic energy of two football players of average weight running at full speed is equal to a sub-compact car hitting a wall. Yeah, they can play without pads and are tough enough to do it, but the chance of death, never mind serious injury, grows exponentially without those pads. Also, the pads don't come even close to eliminating the pain of being hit hard, they just soften enough so every other hit doesn't cause life-threatening injuries.

And if you want near-constant action, watch Arena League.

I don't watch much Gridiron, so i know none of the teams, and to be honest i find it boring. It's the worlds greatest sport(Rugby Union) watered down.

Really I'm just posting ehre to complain about your poll, just because your British dosn't mean you love football, a lot of us europians love Rugby. Come to Welford road some time. (I'm a Tigers Fan,)

In football(Real) I support NFFC (Forest)

And for big tckles look to rugby:

http://wesclark.com/rrr/shanks-tackles-luges.jpg
http://wesclark.com/rrr/jay-tackle.jpg
http://wesclark.com/rrr/wilko-tackle.jpg
http://images.supersport.co.za/HabanaTacklesSANZ105.jpg

I don't watch much Gridiron, so i know none of the teams, and to be honest i find it boring. It's the worlds greatest sport(Rugby Union) watered down.

Really I'm just posting ehre to complain about your poll, just because your British dosn't mean you love football, a lot of us europians love Rugby. Come to Welford road some time. (I'm a Tigers Fan,)

In football(Real) I support NFFC (Forest)

And for big tckles look to rugby:

http://wesclark.com/rrr/shanks-tackles-luges.jpg
http://wesclark.com/rrr/jay-tackle.jpg
http://wesclark.com/rrr/wilko-tackle.jpg
http://images.supersport.co.za/HabanaTacklesSANZ105.jpg

This is horrible and I can't believe I'm going to admit this in a forum that may be read by thousands of people but, because they are my home team (at least for now anyway), I have to go with the New Orleans Saints!:headbang:

The problem with rugby is that none of those guys are very big. Even the shorter NFL players (5'7"-5'0") easily push 200 pounds. I've also never been very impressed by how fast rugby players are. Yeah, I like the sport, but it doesn't compare to the NFL or AFL for speed or violence.

I'm a big Packers fan. I don't care how crappy they're doing, I love them. Don't give me any pitty or say "we're sorry for ya", cause I don't want it.

I just love the Pack and Favre. Hope he stays too.

The problem with rugby is that none of those guys are very big. Even the shorter NFL players (5'7"-5'0") easily push 200 pounds. I've also never been very impressed by how fast rugby players are. Yeah, I like the sport, but it doesn't compare to the NFL or AFL for speed or violence.
Humm, in a physical endurance test I'm sure Sheridan would thrash a NFL or AFL player of the same wright and size, as with all otehr Rugby players. Handling skills and contact skills would aslo be better. I would also say that the two games are intirly diffrent, needing diffrent skills, and diffrent types of players. I would not survive in American Football. I easly survive in rugby.

A NFL team would thrash a rugby team in NFL and a Rugby Team would thrash a NFL team at Rugby.

Not so. Even overweight NFL lineman can run a mile sub-10", the skill players often run 3-6 miles a day as part of their normal conditioning. Football conditioning is absolutely brutal, which is why there are ten-twenty deaths every year relating to practices.

However, I will agree that an NFL team would be unprepared to play rugby against a professional rugby team, probably because most of them don't understand the rules. The same would no doubt be true vice-versa.

Rugby is arguably more a game for purists, with the lack of pads being an obvious point.

American football is so sectionalised that players can train for one specific task, a lineman can be huge and strong, but he does have less ground to cover (meaning they can carry more sheer bulk), and fewer different skills to master (as some modern props can do pretty much everything) than a prop or a hooker or another forward. Simlarly Wide receivers etc can do their specific job better, possibly even faster than rugby players, because that's their only job, they don't have to do anything else.

(I'd argue this makes rugby selection more tactical, since you have more strengths and weaknesses of each player to consider and balance)

Likewise in tackles, an American football player, after a tackle, has done his job, so he can put all his effort into making a spectacular tackle, with less technique, as long as the other guy hits the floor, he's happy. Rugby players have a lot more things to worry about (other players coming to stamp on you for a start) trying to turn the guy so your team wins the ball etc.

American football is a game built for highlights programmes and advert breaks, one spectacular event, then a break. Whereas rugby goes on and on. What rugby has better than American football is the continuity and flair. American football has almost ruled out individual flair by regimenting each player's role in every possible situation, and there are constant breaks.

In rugby, you have more opportunities for individual bits of magic and spur of the moment invention.

First of all, tackles don't get their name from their role of tackling, which isn't in fact that case. They're the utility linemen, the guys who can do any job on the line but are best at being in the "trenches" protecting the QB.

And no, how football is "segmented" has absolutely nothing to do with TV. The NFL has been around since 1905, long before television was even a pipe dream. And just because most NFL players don't play multiple positions doesn't mean they can't, it's often the case where you have a running back or slot reciever as the 4th string QB because that's what they played in high school. Positions are the way they are because football is chess where the "pieces" are humans and each "piece" has a role to play in the game.

American football>that soccer shit

Real football>rugby>american football

The Denver Broncos, a.k.a. The One True Football Team.

I havent' voted...

I'm Australian and I like Soccer/Football (real football...:rolleyes: ) not Rugby...

I'm getting sick of this egocentric bullshit between the sports. Have enough decency to respect another profession rather than:

"You sissies wear pads"
"We t3h mad biggest!"

This shit is embarresing as an athlete and as a human being. People have different tastes and we know that but don't start spewing off on how the other sport blows. This apples and oranges fight has been going on for too damn long just stfu and stay out of each other's threads.

denver broncos
Same here! I also like the MN vikings, but mainly the Broncos.

I'm getting sick of this egocentric bullshit between the sports. Have enough decency to respect another profession rather than:

"You sissies wear pads"
"We t3h mad biggest!"

This shit is embarresing as an athlete and as a human being. People have different tastes and we know that but don't start spewing off on how the other sport blows. This apples and oranges fight has been going on for too damn long just stfu and stay out of each other's threads.
Agreed.

First of all, tackles don't get their name from their role of tackling, which isn't in fact that case. They're the utility linemen, the guys who can do any job on the line but are best at being in the "trenches" protecting the QB.
What jobs are there "on the line"? (forgive my ignorance) Amd how different are they? As far as I know (which isn't very far compared to some people) it's just the same thing in different directions.


And no, how football is "segmented" has absolutely nothing to do with TV. The NFL has been around since 1905, long before television was even a pipe dream. And just because most NFL players don't play multiple positions doesn't mean they can't, it's often the case where you have a running back or slot reciever as the 4th string QB because that's what they played in high school. Positions are the way they are because football is chess where the "pieces" are humans and each "piece" has a role to play in the game.
No matter how it started, what I meant perhaps is that it is a game that is ideal for highlight programme and advert breaks (have they actually incorporated specific game breaks for adverts, or am I misremembering what someone told me?). I don't know, but watching American football I always get the feel of a lot of flash and gloss, but not much substance.

That also worries me slightly, because the segmented style of American Football is something advertisers will (and probably do love) and I worry about American Football "taking over" because it will be more profitable for TV channels to show American Football games because they can put more adverts in.

Rugby players have twice as many skills as American football ones to learn from the start since they have both the attacking and defensive sides of the game, plus the specialist skills for certain positions (eg scrums and line-outs). And it does seem to me that they are trying to take out as much player thinking as possible, the coaches now appear to call all the plays from the sideline and everyone knows exactly what they have to do, and they can't greatly alter that because then the plan falls apart, limiting the possibility of flair.

Also the continuous nature of rugby means that players have to adapt and sometimes do other player's jobs because the other players aren't there at the right time so often they will learn even more skills again, modern day rugby players are becoming almost complete multi-taskers, with big, heavy, forwards now often being completely comfortable running with a ball in hand or throwing passes 10-20 yards and sometimes more.

Finally, as a point of personal preference, I think continuous and flowing is more exciting to watch, and it opens up another way of playing, what's known as Champagne rugby, the way that New Zealand and more recently Wales are playing, with the ball being moved around through practically every member of the team, off-loading etc at will. It's hard to describe well but wonderful to watch, well, in my opinion anyway.

According to some of the reasons given in support of soccer and rugby, chess would be the worst game ever, simply because of the fact that you aren't always moving pieces.

I believe the main point that arises here is the fact that the cultures are different here. Our American friends here believe only something from their own country can be the best sport here as only their own opinions are valid. AMERICA IS NOT THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH!!!!!! The sooner some peole can learn to understand others points of view, we can all start getting along.

My favourite American football team is the Pats
My favourite football team is Partick Thistle (They are Scottish for our American friends who im sure very few will not know that as they are not American)

According to some of the reasons given in support of soccer and rugby, chess would be the worst game ever, simply because of the fact that you aren't always moving pieces.
No it wouldn't, there's a big difference between a game and a sport,American football (in my view) is like the difference between someone running a 400m, and someone running 40 sets of 10m, pausing in between to have a coach tell you exactly what to do for the next ten metres so you have to do the absolute minimum amount of thinking, if you took excluded the rest breaks the second athlete would probably be faster, but it's less pure, and really irritating to watch.

No it wouldn't, there's a big difference between a game and a sport,American football (in my view) is like the difference between someone running a 400m, and someone running 40 sets of 10m, pausing in between to have a coach tell you exactly what to do for the next ten metres so you have to do the absolute minimum amount of thinking, if you took excluded the rest breaks the second athlete would probably be faster, but it's less pure, and really irritating to watch.
As you say.

Rugby players have twice as many skills as American football ones to learn from the start since they have both the attacking and defensive sides of the game, plus the specialist skills for certain positions (eg scrums and line-outs). And it does seem to me that they are trying to take out as much player thinking as possible, the coaches now appear to call all the plays from the sideline and everyone knows exactly what they have to do, and they can't greatly alter that because then the plan falls apart, limiting the possibility of flair.

You confess ignorance about how football is played and then you go off and state this?

I play and watch footbal, I watch rugby, and I watch soccer on top of having played it in the past. There isn't any greater skill involved in any of the games, the skillset is just different.

It amazes me how foreigners will wax rhapsodic while comparing their favorite sport to football yet have absolutely no clue how the game is played. At least Americans play or have played most of the sports that are popular with the rest of the world.

You confess ignorance about how football is played and then you go off and state this?

I play and watch footbal, I watch rugby, and I watch soccer on top of having played it in the past. There isn't any greater skill involved in any of the games, the skillset is just different.

It amazes me how foreigners will wax rhapsodic while comparing their favorite sport to football yet have absolutely no clue how the game is played. At least Americans play or have played most of the sports that are popular with the rest of the world.
First off: The 3 biggest sports in the world are football, Rugby and Circket. How many Americans have played the last two?

I know everybody at my old high school played cricket at one time or another and pretty much every high school had a rugby team my last two years there, I just never signed up.

That's nice. Really. Now go find your own thread. You know, like the soccer one that was the inspiration for this one. This is REAL football. American style.

Well, it looks like the playoff matchups are being cemented into place. Washington is losing, and may miss the playoffs. San Diego and Kansas City are out. And my Jaguars have the #5 seed in the AFC locked, and are obliterating the Titans with half the starting lineup sitting it out. I'd have to say it's a good day.
REAL football is the European style, you know, the one ehere you actually use your feet. Also, REAL football (European Football) is the worlds most popular sport, while American football comes at a 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999th place.

Really? Must explain why every time the NFL holds a game in China, Japan, or Mexico the stadiums are packed. Go figure.

Really? Must explain why every time the NFL holds a game in China, Japan, or Mexico the stadiums are packed. Go figure.
Because those nations have high populations density. And the satadiums are prolly small as well because hardly anyone watches american football.

Really? Must explain why every time the NFL holds a game in China, Japan, or Mexico the stadiums are packed. Go figure.
But also the NFL-backed European American football league had to close because the interest was so low.

Football (i.e. soccer in USA) gets hundreds, thousands more participants/viewers/spectators than American Football ever does. In fact, probably games like handball get more spectators in Europe.

As for my favourite team, Djurgården... champions!

Really? Must explain why every time the NFL holds a game in China, Japan, or Mexico the stadiums are packed. Go figure.
First off thanks for the thing about American Highskools playing the rgeat game (Rugger) not only is that good for the sport but it also points that another nation will break into the top 10 soon. (France, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Fiji, Samoa, Oz, New Zealand, Argantina) Us and canda are just about in 11 and 12 at the moment.

And as for your thing about stadiums being packed, population density and size are a factor. or instance, football and rugby stadiums in the UK are packed-but so are ice hockey stadiums. The diffrence being that ice Hokey satdiums seat 1,000 people and even a small footballs team (Forest) seats 32,000 people.

Oh, and the japs will watch anything, serious, I think that Football and Rugby are vying for top spot over there.

Bargoa: You're talking out of your ass. NFL Europe is still going strong.

Swilatia: My aren't we prejudiced? As it happens, you're wrong.

This is the sixth American Bowl in Mexico, fifth in Mexico City. The previous four games at Azteca Stadium averaged 102,000 fans. The 1994 game there between the Cowboys and then-Houston Oilers set an NFL attendance record of 112,376, breaking a mark that had stood for 47 years (105,840 in Chicago’s Soldier Field to watch the Bears against the College All-Stars). The 1998 game between the Cowboys and New England Patriots drew 106,424 fans, the second-largest crowd for an NFL game, while the 1997 Denver Broncos-Miami Dolphins American Bowl ranks fourth at 104,629.

And attendance at the 2005 American Bowl in Tokyo was 45,203. However, if that's not good enough, let's compare raw stats.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

NFL 04-05 Season: 34,540,972 in total attendance over 32 venues for an average attendance of 59,996 people per game.

FIFA 04-05 Season: 11,494,764 over 306 venues for an average attendance of 37,565.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, look at that, perhaps football isn't all that unpopular. Oh, and that's just the NFL regular season, btw. That doesn't even begin to count the attendance of the pre-season (which includes the international games), the college attendance (which absolutely dwarfs the NFL's attendnace), and high school football attendance is frankly uncountable.

Are you going to shut up now, or do I have to bust out the big stats?

You confess ignorance about how football is played and then you go off and state this?
I confess relative ignorance, I've played American football casually with friends, and watched/listened to several matches and played American
Football video games and have regular conversations about it with people who follow it, I count myself therefore as having a general understanding of the rules and tactics, etc, without understanding all of the more obscure technical rules and the deeper nuances of the game.


I play and watch footbal, I watch rugby, and I watch soccer on top of having played it in the past. There isn't any greater skill involved in any of the games, the skillset is just different.
I'd argue it is, at a basic level rugby players have to attack and defend, whereas in American football they have specific players for each role, so it seems reasonable to me to say that in general rugby players have to learn twice as many skills as American Football players, in addition to the fact that American football has two basic situations, either the ball is snapped back to the QB, or the ball is kicked. Rugby has at least 4, and while the duties at each one are similar for some players, for certain players (eg hookers (rugby has some rather interesting positions:rolleyes: ) they have to learn skills unique to each situation, eg more skills than American football players).

The comment about players being coached out of thinking and lack of individual flair wasn't actually my idea, it came from the commentators in an American football game I was watching (Pats vs Somebody) when Brady couldn't hear the coach's calls, and had to take a timeout (I think, he may have just had to use up almost all of the play clock) to run over to the coach so the coach could give him instructions as to what play to call). And they said it was a problem with the modern game (not like in the "good old days"), when QB's didn't have the judgement to be able to see what position they were in, and call the appropriate play for that position if he couldn't hear the coach.

The comment about flair came from that discussion, and also from a discussion via the internet with a near-fanatical American Football follower about the game, in which they mentioned there being a lack of individual flair because everything was becoming so ordered and regimented.


It amazes me how foreigners will wax rhapsodic while comparing their favorite sport to football yet have absolutely no clue how the game is played. At least Americans play or have played most of the sports that are popular with the rest of the world.
see above, and taking evidence in a completely unscientific poll of Americans I've chatted to over the internet, very few of them had played/watched or even heard of rugby, and even fewer had of cricket.


Really? Must explain why every time the NFL holds a game in China, Japan, or Mexico the stadiums are packed. Go figure.
Because it's a one-off game that only happens once every year or two in that place, there's a difference between pulling a big crowd for a one-off novelty event, and getting bums on seats week in week out.

And Football (soccer) is as far as I know the most popular sport in the world, I'm currently researching it to try and give some official stats, but while practcally every site I find agrees it's football/soccer (US ones as well) I'm having trouble finding official statistics.

The general rule of thumb is: Football, popular in Europe, South America(especially here where it's generally the number one sport by a long way,) Africa, gaining popularity fast in Asia.

Cricket: Get's in because of a huge audience in the sub-continent, in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, it's practically the only sport, plus very popular in Australia and some Southern African countries (pretty much the British Empire, excepting US and Canada).

American football: Very popular in US, but not as popular elsewhere, a lot of people do watch it worldwide, but it's usually much lower on the priority list compared to Football and cricket, depending on where in the world you are.

Bargoa: You're talking out of your ass. NFL Europe is still going strong.

Swilatia: My aren't we prejudiced? As it happens, you're wrong.



And attendance at the 2005 American Bowl in Tokyo was 45,203. However, if that's not good enough, let's compare raw stats.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

NFL 04-05 Season: 34,540,972 in total attendance over 32 venues for an average attendance of 59,996 people per game.

FIFA 04-05 Season: 11,494,764 over 306 venues for an average attendance of 37,565.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, look at that, perhaps football isn't all that unpopular. Oh, and that's just the NFL regular season, btw. That doesn't even begin to count the attendance of the pre-season (which includes the international games), the college attendance (which absolutely dwarfs the NFL's attendnace), and high school football attendance is frankly uncountable.

Are you going to shut up now, or do I have to bust out the big stats?
You're missing a few important things out of your stats.
1. Is this just club football, international football, both combined?
2. In some areas (eg South America) that are hugely football/soccer orientated, they can't afford to have stadiums that are anything like as large as NFL ones.
3. Repeat appearances, more people might actually follow soccer, but since they don't go every week, those who do go every week count multiple times.
4. Often people who follow both sports live in other countries far away from the team they support etc, so they can't actually go to the game, but they are still fans, despite not showing up on these stats.
5. The football stat is wrong, or at least if it includes all games played by all Football clubs (and there are an awful lot of them) then it's wrong. Just by doing some quick calculations about average ground attendance at certain top Premiership (top English/British league) clubs I can tell you that it's a lot more than 11 million.

The comment about players being coached out of thinking and lack of individual flair wasn't actually my idea, it came from the commentators in an American football game I was watching (Pats vs Somebody) when Brady couldn't hear the coach's calls, and had to take a timeout (I think, he may have just had to use up almost all of the play clock) to run over to the coach so the coach could give him instructions as to what play to call). And they said it was a problem with the modern game (not like in the "good old days"), when QB's didn't have the judgement to be able to see what position they were in, and call the appropriate play for that position if he couldn't hear the coach.

The comment about flair came from that discussion, and also from a discussion via the internet with a near-fanatical American Football follower about the game, in which they mentioned there being a lack of individual flair because everything was becoming so ordered and regimented.

Well, whether or not the QBs recieve instructions on what play to call is generally up to the coach's style. However, that's the NFL, it doesn't count the fact that many high school or college teams can't afford that kind of equipment and often do have to rely on the judgement of the QB. Further, the defensive side has a captain as well, and he almost never recieves instructions from the sidelines.

I will agree that football is pretty regimentated, but then again it has more in common with chess than soccer. The game is entirely about tactics and if you look at the barebones of how its played, it has a distinctly martial feel to it. If you want flair, you have to look towards the individual players, not the game.

You're missing a few important things out of your stats.
1. Is this just club football, international football, both combined?
2. In some areas (eg South America) that are hugely football/soccer orientated, they can't afford to have stadiums that are anything like as large as NFL ones.
3. Repeat appearances, more people might actually follow soccer, but since they don't go every week, those who do go every week count multiple times.
4. Often people who follow both sports live in other countries far away from the team they support etc, so they can't actually go to the game, but they are still fans, despite not showing up on these stats.
5. The football stat is wrong, or at least if it includes all games played by all Football clubs (and there are an awful lot of them) then it's wrong. Just by doing some quick calculations about average ground attendance at certain top Premiership (top English/British league) clubs I can tell you that it's a lot more than 11 million.

First of all, call it soccer when you're talking to an American, I had trouble trying to figure out what you're talking about.

1. It's FIFA. I don't know what that might count as, but I used it as a basis because it's the league that hosts the World Cup.
2. Okay, so what? A majority of the national leagues have more in common with college and division 5 high school football then the NFL if you're talking about size.
3. Do you mean to say that people go to multiple games in a week? That's hardly a fair comparison when we're talking about the NFL, because NFL games only happen twice a week and all but one only happen on Sundays.
4. Believe it or not, the same applies to the NFL. I'm a Miami Dolphins fan and I live in Michigan, the only chance I have to ever attend their games is every third year when they visit Detroit to play the Lions. Keep in mind that the US is the fourth largest nation in the world, so distance is definately a factor.
5. It's the 04-05 FIFA season. If you want to dig up the national leagues, I'll go dig up the NCAAF stats.

Well, whether or not the QBs recieve instructions on what play to call is generally up to the coach's style. However, that's the NFL, it doesn't count the fact that many high school or college teams can't afford that kind of equipment and often do have to rely on the judgement of the QB. Further, the defensive side has a captain as well, and he almost never recieves instructions from the sidelines.
I bow to your superior knowledge in this respect, I made the fatal error of assuming the commentators knew what they were talking about
commentators:sniper:


I will agree that football is pretty regimentated, but then again it has more in common with chess than soccer. The game is entirely about tactics and if you look at the barebones of how its played, it has a distinctly martial feel to it. If you want flair, you have to look towards the individual players, not the game.
I think comparisons to chess are a bit far, probably closer to poker but I'm quibbling.

Ah, now I like flair in my games, but I've very very rarely seen it in American football. To the uneducated viewer plays seem to run in a few basic patterns,
1. QB takes snap, stands pretty still, throws it to other guy running exactly where he's told to who either, (assuming he catches it):
A) gets tackled immediately
B) is behind the defenders, and runs as fast as he can towards the end zone
C)has defenders in front of him and tries to dodge them while heading towards end zone but generall gets tackled.

They run regimented lines until they catch the ball, and after that they average about 4-5 yards after the catch, eg no real time to show any invention.

Ditto for running backs, they run the angle they're told to and occasionally get the chance to make a break and show some invention, but rarely.

I just like the players having more options and freedom, from a playing and watching perspective.

First of all, call it soccer when you're talking to an American, I had trouble trying to figure out what you're talking about.

1. It's FIFA. I don't know what that might count as, but I used it as a basis because it's the league that hosts the World Cup.
They're the official world organising body. But they get a lot of criticsim.


2. Okay, so what? A majority of the national leagues have more in common with college and division 5 high school football then the NFL if you're talking about size.
Varies with league I'd say, if you imagine that Europe=US, then I'd say the top stadiums in Europe are mostly on a par with the NFL (saying that without knowing the average size of NFL stadiums:rolleyes: )


3. Do you mean to say that people go to multiple games in a week? That's hardly a fair comparison when we're talking about the NFL, because NFL games only happen twice a week and all but one only happen on Sundays.
I'm saying that say you have 80,000 NFL fans, who go to four matches, if you look at number of fans who go to stadiums they'd be counted four times, whereas if you had 32,000 soccer fans and only 1/4 of them can go each week they'd come up as the same (are these stats for the whole season? or just a random week or what)


4. Believe it or not, the same applies to the NFL. I'm a Miami Dolphins fan and I live in Michigan, the only chance I have to ever attend their games is every third year when they visit Detroit to play the Lions. Keep in mind that the US is the fourth largest nation in the world, so distance is definately a factor.
5. It's the 04-05 FIFA season. If you want to dig up the national leagues, I'll go dig up the NCAAF stats.
What do you mean "FIFA" season, oh, FIFA is the international governing body, sort of a soccer UN (and they get similar criticism oddly enough) so the only matches they'd be listing is international matches, not the week in week out club matches that are actually more popular than international matches, which are often friendlies, except there have been World Cup qualifiers this year, but since these are generally foregone conclusions and/or are often played in tiny countries with tiny stadia aren't as well supported.

I think that the clear problem of doing it based on attendance at matches, most soccer teams will play a minimum of around 35 matches. The top teams more, sometimes up to 70-80, even if you average it out, it doesn't account for stadia size when playing at smaller teams (sometimes the best club team in the world will get drawn against a tiny semi-professional club with a pitch like a ploughed field and a capacity of a couple of thousand in a cup competition), not to mention people being able to afford to go to that many matches, and the often huge amount of people who can't get tickets (especially at the bigger clubs, where the waiting lists for season tickets a well into the years).

College: Florida State Semioles
Pro: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Well, mah fayverouite port has ter be shooting sand niggers an' gooks, ahur ahur ahur! Bu' since everything Americuurn is endorsed by THE LORD an better than anything them durn sub-human Europeans invented, ah say FOOOTball is berrer. Naw if only ah could see a soccer game for once to have some evidence...

Well, mah fayverouite port has ter be shooting sand niggers an' gooks, ahur ahur ahur! Bu' since everything Americuurn is endorsed by THE LORD an better than anything them durn sub-human Europeans invented, ah say FOOOTball is berrer. Naw if only ah could see a soccer game for once to have some evidence...
I really, really hope this post is intended as a joke, otherwise I'll have lost my faith in the human race (again)

Though my favorite team are the Bears, you really should have put the title as American football because their will be some confusion amongst a few people when intially reading the thread title.

I'm a packers fan, but rugby is way better than soccer and football. For that sport its South Africa all the way. Screw the All Blacks and the Lions.

ChicagoBEARS!!!!
PURDUEBOILERMAKERS!!!
BOILER UP!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Believe it or not, the same applies to the NFL. I'm a Miami Dolphins fan and I live in Michigan, the only chance I have to ever attend their games is every third year when they visit Detroit to play the Lions. Keep in mind that the US is the fourth largest nation in the world, so distance is definately a factor.

You're a Dolphins fan. I feel your pain from the years you had to deal with Wannstedt. I had to deal with 5 years of his crap as a Bears fan. Some of the worst years I've spent rooting for my team.

umm, purdue?:confused:

Division I-A college team. Like I said, football isn't just the NFL.

umm, purdue?:confused:
I go there. I know we suck, but I have to root for my school no matter how bad we are.

w00t!
Detroit Lions all the way!

Go Bolts

Chargers In Superbowl 41 Baby
Yeah Baby!, Yeah!

Breese All The Way, Lt Gonna Run By You And Gates Gonna Run You Over

OAKLAND RAIDERS

I love watching football in the 70's. Nothing beats the sheer brutality and viciousness of football back then. I <3 Jack Tatum

btw I play D3 football and have a close friend in D1 so I know the game pretty well.

I go there. I know we suck, but I have to root for my school no matter how bad we are.
No, I just didn't have a clue what the word meant:rolleyes:

American football has almost ruled out individual flair by regimenting each player's role in every possible situation.That's not quite true, for instance sometimes the defensive players will take on an offensive role (if they intercept the ball) and sometime offensive players will have to take on defensive roles. For instance, in yesterday's game, the Steelers' quarterback (the guy who throws the ball, for those of you who don't know) made a tackle that saved the game. There is a lot of regimentation, I agree, but it isn't quite as often as it's made out to be.

The Denver Broncos, a.k.a. The One True Football Team.The Broncos are going down next week! Huzzah! :)

First off: The 3 biggest sports in the world are football, Rugby and Circket.Surely hockey is more popular than cricket? (And don't you mean baseball instead of cricket, anyhow? Lol, just kidding.)

That's not quite true, for instance sometimes the defensive players will take on an offensive role (if they intercept the ball) and sometime offensive players will have to take on defensive roles. For instance, in yesterday's game, the Steelers' quarterback (the guy who throws the ball, for those of you who don't know) made a tackle that saved the game. There is a lot of regimentation, I agree, but it isn't quite as often as it's made out to be.

The Broncos are going down next week! Huzzah! :)

Surely hockey is more popular than cricket? (And don't you mean baseball instead of cricket, anyhow? Lol, just kidding.)
Cricket's amazingly popular in the sub-continent, it is THE sport over there, bar almost anything else. India has a population of over a billion, and Pakistan isn't exactly small, that's why it always ranks highly in terms of world popularity.

Cricket's amazingly popular in the sub-continent, it is THE sport over there, bar almost anything else. India has a population of over a billion, and Pakistan isn't exactly small, that's why it always ranks highly in terms of world popularity.I can see that, but isn't hockey highly popular in Northern and Eastern Europe? Though now that I think about it, aside from the U.S. and Canada, Russia is the only one with a sizable population.

My two favorite teams are the University of Nevada Wolf Pack and anyone playing UNLV. ;)

In England, we call soccer football. So, in that case, my favourite football team is Manchester United.

Cricket's amazingly popular in the sub-continent, it is THE sport over there, bar almost anything else. India has a population of over a billion, and Pakistan isn't exactly small, that's why it always ranks highly in terms of world popularity.
Not just that, but it's the West Indies, Australia and Sri Lankas no1 sport. As well as being No 1 in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India. It's Britians 3rd sport, and NZ's and South Africas 2nd sport

In my mind Football is more of a sport than American Football, in American Football it is not as much of a ball game as it is a Human Fighting "Game" in Football you will find World Class Players who are in the best form a Human can be in. The run for a solid 90 minutes and all that time they use tactics, use their minds to figure out a perfect shot or play, they find out how to misslead the other team and it is far more of an effort playing with your feet rather than your hands.?

tactics? each player on offense has to know a freaking playbook by heart. and the defense has it even harder- they have to look at the offensive formation and in about 20 seconds, choose a coverage scheme

he result was 2-0 to Arsenal and Arsenal had won the league for the first time in 28 years!!!!

OMFG!!! Two whole points?!!! this is a BARN BURNER!!!

I'd rather see a 240lb guy get smashed by a 200lb guy blitzing from the outside.

exactly. and speaking of hard hitting players - ever seen Sean Taylor of the Redskins lay a hit on someone? man, he can hit!! he gets fucking horizontal on most of his hits.

tactics? each player on offense has to know a freaking playbook by heart. and the defense has it even harder- they have to look at the offensive formation and in about 20 seconds, choose a coverage scheme

Different types of tactics, American football players have to recall from memory a play, and execute what they're told to execute, either by their on-field captain, or by the coach, soccer players have to invent things off the top of their heads, and try and understand what each other are going to do simply by looking.


OMFG!!! Two whole points?!!! this is a BARN BURNER!!!

Less is more, cricket teams often beat each other by over a hundred points, so that's much more exciting than American Football?


exactly and speaking of hard hitting players - ever seen Sean Taylor of the Redskins lay a hit on someone? man, he can hit!! he gets fucking horizontal on most of his hits.
No, but I have seen the likes of Jason White, Jerry Collins, and Brian Lima, have you?

Except that plays never work out as they're drawn. And don't tell me there aren't any plays in soccer, I've played soccer and had to learn a few basic plays. Football is much harder because you have 20-40 basic plays and as many as four permutations (audibles) that can be called on the field depending on how the other side is forming up.

Except that plays never work out as they're drawn. And don't tell me there aren't any plays in soccer, I've played soccer and had to learn a few basic plays. Football is much harder because you have 20-40 basic plays and as many as four permutations (audibles) that can be called on the field depending on how the other side is forming up.
There are a few basic plays revolving around corners and free kicks, and there are some very old moves you could argue as plays but aren't really, because they're so basic. A very large majority is made up as they go along,

memorising lots of different plays or having to invent your own on the spot, neither's easy, I'm not going to go out on a limb and say which is necessarily harder. *pulls up a fence*

football(soccer for americans) is a great sport. American football sucks. it is just a bunch of overweight men slamming into each other. you dumb americans couldn't even make a good name for your sport. you took the name from us

football(soccer for americans) is a great sport. American football sucks. it is just a bunch of overweight men slamming into each other. you dumb americans couldn't even make a good name for your sport. you took the name from us
*sigh* posts like this from both sides are absolutely bloody pointless and stupid, unless you'd like to give good reasons, please don't post, or better still:

imitate this smiley:headbang: it may enhance your intelligence, and if it doesn't, it saves the rest of us from having our intelligence being damaged by being in your general vicinity.

Thank you.

football(soccer for americans) is a great sport. American football sucks. it is just a bunch of overweight men slamming into each other. you dumb americans couldn't even make a good name for your sport. you took the name from us

Overweight? Sure, if you consider 200-250 pounds of solid muscle overweight.

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

Uh, Loserville?

Football + hockey > American football

Overweight? Sure, if you consider 200-250 pounds of solid muscle overweight.
Technically I think a lot of them are over the recommended weight for people of their height, so you could call them overweight (though I'd recommend doing so from a long way away, would probably be healthier)

Except that plays never work out as they're drawn. And don't tell me there aren't any plays in soccer, I've played soccer and had to learn a few basic plays. Football is much harder because you have 20-40 basic plays and as many as four permutations (audibles) that can be called on the field depending on how the other side is forming up.
Name one play?

If where onto the subject of plays in Rugby, there are many plays. For instance my teams backs have 8 seperate moves for open feild (Wharfedale Ball (Blinside Winger runs of 12 after 10 pops to 12 coming short, 12 then passes long ball to Winger.), red ball (quick along the hands, Black ball (Full back crash), blue ball (Slow along hands), Yellow Ball (Quick along hands, forwards out of the way.) ,Wharfedale 2 (Same as Wharfedale ball except winger acts as a dummy and ball goes back to 10, who loops round.), R1 (DSP) R2 (SP), R3 (13 crash after DSP), Sebah 1 (12/13 cross, 10 loops, ball goes to 13), Sedbah 2 (12/13 cross, ball goes to 10.) Sedbah 3 (12/13 cross, 12 dosn't realease, I'm going to give up explaining here. If you want more explinations ask.), Skywalker 1, Skywalker 2, skywalker 3, Ermysteads A, Ermysteads B, Ermysteads C, That ball 1, That ball 2, Folcons ball.)

we also have Tiger (Backs) ball, Rhino (Crash) ball these calls decided which set of calls to use and where it's going. Forwards calls, and being a back I don't know all of these. Rhino Option (Crash from outside 10), Gupter Ball, Ginger Ball, Scrummy Ball, Olive Ball, Rhino Crisis, 8's ball, Fanny Ball, Yorkshire Ball. These are just in open play and can be called at any time.

We have over 25 linout calls and 9 scrum calls, plus 5 defence calls-in the backs. We also have 12 penilty moves, kicking calls and many others. And every player in our team knows all of these, and they can be called at any time.

Except that plays never work out as they're drawn. And don't tell me there aren't any plays in soccer, I've played soccer and had to learn a few basic plays. Football is much harder because you have 20-40 basic plays and as many as four permutations (audibles) that can be called on the field depending on how the other side is forming up.
Name one play?

If where onto the subject of plays in Rugby, there are many plays. For instance my teams backs have 8 seperate moves for open feild (Wharfedale Ball (Blinside Winger runs of 12 after 10 pops to 12 coming short, 12 then passes long ball to Winger.), red ball (quick along the hands, Black ball (Full back crash), blue ball (Slow along hands), Yellow Ball (Quick along hands, forwards out of the way.) ,Wharfedale 2 (Same as Wharfedale ball except winger acts as a dummy and ball goes back to 10, who loops round.), R1 (DSP) R2 (SP), R3 (13 crash after DSP), Sebah 1 (12/13 cross, 10 loops, ball goes to 13), Sedbah 2 (12/13 cross, ball goes to 10.) Sedbah 3 (12/13 cross, 12 dosn't realease, I'm going to give up explaining here. If you want more explinations ask.), Skywalker 1, Skywalker 2, skywalker 3, Ermysteads A, Ermysteads B, Ermysteads C, That ball 1, That ball 2, Folcons ball.)

we also have Tiger (Backs) ball, Rhino (Crash) ball these calls decided which set of calls to use and where it's going. Forwards calls, and being a back I don't know all of these. Rhino Option (Crash from outside 10), Gupter Ball, Ginger Ball, Scrummy Ball, Olive Ball, Rhino Crisis, 8's ball, Fanny Ball, Yorkshire Ball. These are just in open play and can be called at any time.

We have over 25 linout calls and 9 scrum calls, plus 5 defence calls-in the backs. We also have 12 penilty moves, kicking calls and many others. And every player in our team knows all of these, and they can be called at any time.

Name one play?

On a simple level many teams have what might be called "plays" from corners or freekicks.

One example would be what's known as the "Sheringham Corner", (invented by Teddy Sheringham) where the winger pretends to cross the ball into the box from a corner, but then passes it to a player who's darted into space just outside the area who hits it first time.


If where onto the subject of plays in Rugby, there are many plays. For instance my teams backs have 8 seperate moves for open feild
snip

Which is why I rate rugby above American Football, rugby has arguably just as many plays, though probably marginally fewer, but rugby has more freedom and a "play" can be invented and performed on the spot (plus I just can't get used to the number of stoppages in American football)

Which is why I rate rugby above American Football, rugby has arguably just as many plays, though probably marginally fewer, but rugby has more freedom and a "play" can be invented and performed on the spot (plus I just can't get used to the number of stoppages in American football)

That happens in football, too. In fact, most of the pick up games have plays that are invented on the fly, if there are any plays at all. Btw, have you ever seen a football team in the hurry-up offense?

yes there are corner moves and free kick moves, but these rely on [erfect delivery far more.

In rugby you can only realisticly plan the first 2 phases. You have your set peice (Lineout-lickoff, scrum, whatever.) Then your move. You will probably have a second phase planned, (say off R2, we always plan a Rhino ball to hit 'em why there shocked. But after that it'#s completely off the fy-whatever you can come up with. As a winger I've found myself in the Fly-halfs position many times and had to call the shots.

That happens in football, too. In fact, most of the pick up games have plays that are invented on the fly, if there are any plays at all. Btw, have you ever seen a football team in the hurry-up offense?
sorry, but you've lost me

pick up games?:rolleyes:

as for the hurry-up, only on Madden, and on that you can call either the last play you did, or about 3 other ones, eg, just more pre-set plays.


yes there are corner moves and free kick moves, but these rely on [erfect delivery far more.
More than a NFL pass play?


In rugby you can only realisticly plan the first 2 phases. You have your set peice (Lineout-lickoff, scrum, whatever.) Then your move. You will probably have a second phase planned, (say off R2, we always plan a Rhino ball to hit 'em why there shocked. But after that it'#s completely off the fy-whatever you can come up with. As a winger I've found myself in the Fly-halfs position many times and had to call the shots.
That depends, there is a system called the pod system in rugby, in which you plan multiple phases ahead, not necessarily in what you do, but the team is divided into units and each unit knows where it has to do. The team I play for used to try it, but it's so difficult to do even though it's often effective and it's also a bit stifling creatively, but it runs over multiple stages.

An example would be

from a scrum, 12 takes crash ball, 13 and 7 ruck over fast (13, 7, and 12 are pod 1)

and the SH spins it wide the same way again to the 10, meanwhile 6,8 and 5 (pod 2) have looped round and the fly-half can choose between using them on crash ball, or using the full back and the winger.

A tackle goes in and pod 2 wipes out, 9 then spins it back across the field, through 10, 4 (basically there as a back up option to secure ball if something goes wrong in the middle,)( 9, and 10, are pod 3)

through pod 1 who've since resumed positions in the middle of the field, and finally pod 4 (the front row) who from the original scrum headed to the right side of the field and them and the winger more or less always end up with an overlap for the winger to score.

At least 3-4 phases of play.

When it works it's devastating, but there's a lot of room for error, and we've since given up on it, since it doesn't really play to our strengths (well, another style plays to them better).

ok reality check- American footbal is a minority sport and isn't real football. Remember the ROW plays more of the "beautiful" game than you do.
To answer your question the BRUMBIES!:cool:

Pretty self explainatory. My team is the Jacksonville Jaguars, so can you guess where I am from?

And for all you non-americans, futbol/soccer SUCKS! I don't know why you like the sport at all. It is ten times more boring than baseball or golf. However, both those sports have a lot of fans, so I can understand you supporting the talent level of players or their stamina or whatever, but why do you have riots where people are trampled at games? Do they give out free coke at games or something?

Here in the U.S., soccer exists primarily so moms can get out of the house on saturday, and the little kids run around so much they are tuckered out and don't give mom a migraine.

Without sounding dreadfully parochial, but wasn't Association Football founded about three decades before "American" Football?

If so, where do you get the "Real" bit in your title from?

Which is why I rate rugby above American Football, rugby has arguably just as many plays, though probably marginally fewer, but rugby has more freedom and a "play" can be invented and performed on the spot (plus I just can't get used to the number of stoppages in American football)

Undoubtedly - there are so many moments of flowing, sublime genius in Rugby - in AF, it's more sort of "Well, some bloke wrote this maneuvre once, so let's show the crowds it for the 358th time".

Rugby is much more difficult than American Football. In NFL you come on, do your thing, then leave. Then come on, do it again.. etc etc. In rugby you're on the field for 80minutes (if you don't get sub'd). You require many different skills as there are only 15 players. In American Football you just have to be good at a few things.. Sure, they're great at what they do, but that's all they can do.
How anyone can possibly say American Football is more skillful than rugby.. I have no idea. It just doesn't stack up.

I love the way you have "I am Australian" and liking Rugby - no New Zealand, no South Africa, and no f+cking WALES for godsakes? It's the religion down here...it's not just Aussies!

I love the way you have "I am Australian" and liking Rugby - no New Zealand, no South Africa, and no f+cking WALES for godsakes? It's the religion down here...it's not just Aussies!
Yes. It's a stupid poll. And there is no "real" football. Also a stupid comment.

I love the way you have "I am Australian" and liking Rugby - no New Zealand, no South Africa, and no f+cking WALES for godsakes? It's the religion down here...it's not just Aussies!
you forgot theres no English up there either for all thoose English that like Rugby I for one prefer Rugby to football

you forgot theres no English up there either for all thoose English that like Rugby I for one prefer Rugby to football

I don't suppose ESPN ever has rugby on so I can see it? Don't know where to see it in America.

MY GOD, THE IGNORANCE! Look, this isn't a thread about rugby or soccer. While I don't mind good discussion about the merits of those games, especially when compared to football, the absolute and willful lack of knowledge where football is concerned appals me.

If you haven't played the game, nor have anything actually constructive to add to the conversation, then click your little option on the poll and go away. Nobody here wants their IQs lowered by the idiotic comments of others. That applies to all sides.

MY GOD, THE IGNORANCE!

Oh, and I suppose calling American football "REAL" football when it actually stole the name from the original sport isn't ignorant on the thread poster's part? I think it goes both ways on that one.

Cfl > Nfl

(I have no idea why the fl's won't stay capitalized...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football