[dktorode]

American football is pretty boring, And all the stop starting works on my tits.

[cerveza_fiesta]

The only thing I don't really understand in Football is the clock, regarding who controls it and how they can just "run down the clock" at the end of the game by not doing anything at all....seems weird.

The appeal for me is the quickness of the plays. Granted I've watched a lot more football than rugby, but it's just such a smash and grab sport. Perfect for the average american's attention span. 10-15 seconds of furious activity during which absolutely everybody gets bashed up and sometimes a totally rad move comes out of it. Then it repeats about 30 seconds later.

There's lots of strategy to it, but it seems to be more about psyching out the other team...making them think you're going to do one thing when you actually do something completely different. I know the defense guys just kinda smash into the other team's offense over and over which is boring, but the fun part is watching what the runners and the Qback do. Some pretty intricate plays sometimes. Plus the body armor means the players generally go for more ridiculous hail-mary moves knowing they won't get hurt too bad...which sometimes results in a really epic reception or interception. I guess it lends the game a more superhuman quality or something...again appealing to the average american's mindset.

The momentum of it can be pretty great too. Like when a team really picks it up and starts driving in successive steps down the field. It might take 10 individual plays, but when a team can string together enough smart moves, eventually resulting in a touchdown its pretty cool.

Don't get me wrong, rugby is an awesome sport, but it seems more of a smart sport...like you have to pay attention to it and be patient to reap the rewards of watching it. Kinda like soccer that way. Truly epic plays, but requires more brain power to appreciate them. Football is the type of thing you get instant gratification from because the first 0.5 seconds of the game invariably involves about 10 gigantic humans smashing headlong into 10 other gigantic humans...followed by some stuff involving an oddly shaped ball. The repetition is important to the appeal too since even if you happen to miss the first .5 seconds of the game, you know with certainty you're going to get your gratification again 30 seconds later....and again and again.

[Morgoth]

how can you say american football is quick? There are comercial breaks as often as every fifth minute ffs. I would've gone on a killing rampage if I had to watch through an entire match. Face it, any game that has added breaks so that it will be easier to show comercials in between automatically fails.

[Slum]

I'm not at all sure about this notion that the rugby ball is shaped differently from a football


Rugby:

Football:


If anything, a football is simply more aerodynamic to facilitate the passing game.



Oh, and I hate the constant commercial breaks as much as the next guy, but they DO give you a chance to get drinks and food, flip to a different game to see a score, talk shit and toss around the nerf w/ your buddies. So, it's not all bad.

And the commercial breaks are really only about as long as the huddle, time out, side switch, what have you. It's not as if they're standard 3 minute commercial breaks all the time.

This post has been edited by Slumgullion Spitteler: 19 February 2009 - 04:08 PM

[Hinter]

Slumgullion Spitteler, on Feb 19 2009, 04:06 PM, said:

If anything, a football is simply more aerodynamic to facilitate the passing game.

And smaller, we rugby players have bigger balls

[cerveza_fiesta]

cerveza_fiesta, on Feb 19 2009, 11:08 AM, said:

I find all sports insanely boring to watch on TV, but I've seen both semi-pro rugby and CFL football live and I gotta say American football is way more entertaining. By a long shot.

Morgoth, on Feb 19 2009, 11:54 AM, said:

how can you say american football is quick? There are comercial breaks as often as every fifth minute ffs. I would've gone on a killing rampage if I had to watch through an entire match. Face it, any game that has added breaks so that it will be easier to show comercials in between automatically fails.

see above

Live, football is extremely entertaining. It's like the difference between watching soccer on TV vs. Live or hockey on TV vs. Live. You just don't get the feel of it on TV...the pace is completely different somehow when there isn't a mass of electronics and wires and high-tech displays between you and the game.

I think a lot of the added enjoyment and involvement comes from needing to pay attention more when its live since they don't slow-mo every single play 50 times right after it happens.

I wholeheartedly agree with the TV ads every 5 minutes though. i would dearly love it if they just displayed the game straight-up. Unfortunately like everything else, sporting franchises are hugely dependent on sponsors and they need their airtime for making it possible for you to watch the game at all.

PS, from a aerodynamics standpoint, the football is a superior shape for long passes when thrown properly. The textured surface and pointed ends make for very slick air flow over the object.

[Shinrei]

The commercialization of football is really unfortunate. I've been to a lot of live games, and when you do that your realize how much the guys stand around waiting for the damn TV to come back from commercial so they can start the game again.

I have to disagree with cerveza fiesta though, the more you watch the game the more you get out of it. There is much more going on under the surface that meets the eye, and the defense has to be smart a fluid - not just smash into things. Defensive play calling is IMPORTANT, and you need a good middle linebacker (the QB of the defense) to make the right audibles and get people where they need to be based on the formation of the offense.

Its definately a cerebral game. Imagine it like armies clashing, regrouping to assess the 'damage' and then clashing again. And Brett Favre is an ascendant.

[frookenhauer]

Shinrei no Shintai, on Feb 19 2009, 04:35 PM, said:

Its definately a cerebral game. Imagine it like armies clashing, regrouping to assess the 'damage' and then clashing again. And Brett Favre is an ascendant.

Ooo! I can totally see the similarities to chess . I reckon shin is on to a winner with this idea

[Bhurnae]

Football

 soccer_ball_903.jpg (4.63K)
Number of downloads: 3

[Slow Ben]

Bhurnae, on Feb 19 2009, 12:08 PM, said:

Football

soccer_ball_903.jpg

SOCCER!!

Oooh look at us, we just use our feet.

[Bhurnae]

Soccer is the name given by people who cant say Association..............................btw Spuds and Manc citeh on tonight

[Macros]

Watching an american football game after, without the adds, just the plays, would be sufficiently entertaing.
But taking near 3 hours to get through an hours worth of play is ridiculous
people blame the adds, but its actually the break to wheel out the oxygen masks and teddy bears for the players

[frookenhauer]

That's grossly unfair...all we get is oranges! *grumbles*

[Shinrei]

The Aussie expats (and soccer fans) on another message board were going on and on about the Australia vs. Japan match.

Tons of anticipation, excitement. Ends in a 0-0 tie. LAME LAME LAME !!!!!! (Repetition and exclamation points added for emphasis on the LAMEness).

[frookenhauer]

I never knew Australia and Japan played RotW Football?!?

[HoosierDaddy]

Seeing as how both have been in the past two world cups, you must not pay attention.

[frookenhauer]

Only to the teams that actually matter. Mind you Japan has recently sent player(s) to the premiership so they are on the up and as for Australia...maybe in a decade they'll mean something, but right now all the action is not in that part of the world Europe and South America rule.

[HoosierDaddy]

Either Japan or S. Korea made it to the semi-finals in 2002. Think it was Japan. Australia made it to the knockout rounds too, didn't they in 2006?

Edit: So you also don't pay attention to England, anymore. That's good!

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 19 February 2009 - 11:07 PM

[Macros]

S.Korea made the semi's methinks

Regardless of their performance, the upcoming powerhouse in international football will be an african nation.

[Gothos]

a lot of japan's and skorea's success in 2002 lies with the refs