NFL?I enjoy League, but much prefer rugby. League is too predictable, provided you don't make a mistake you can rely on keeping the ball for six tackles. I can't think of any other contact sport where there is no continuous contest for the ball.
But there are some rules I think rugby could steal, the drop out from under the posts instead of the 22 and the offside line.
League scrums are a farce, I saw one recently where the ball didn't even go into the scrum at all - it was just rolled behind the scrum and was picked up by the lock.
Quite right. I tend to forget gridiron because I have no idea why anyone would ever bother to watch it.
Given that the ball is in play for around 34 minutes of the average rugby game, I'm not sure we can stand strong on the "stop-start" argument. American football has its own rhythm, once you get into it you don't notice the delays so much. It's perfectly paced for a couple of TV replays in between each play.
If you've got Foxtel, watch some college games on ESPN - they're a lot of fun, and tremendous atmosphere.
American football has its own rhythm, once you get into it you don't notice the delays so much. It's perfectly paced for a couple of TV replays in between each play.
Speaking as a Yank who's worked around college football, I can say I do notice the delays, to a painfully large degree. But the delays are now part of the entire experience, which is as much about socializing and marketing as it is about the game itself.
The majority of people who gather to watch games on TV watch something around only 20 minutes of the actual game; most of the time they're socializing, drinking and eating, which is what the event is more about these days. It's even more so for the Super Bowl. College football is a bit snappier -- fewer TV time outs, for one thing -- but it still drags compared to rugby. Being at a game is a different story, but you still have to sit through the television breaks while in the stands, which is a little strange. If you want a fast-moving game, watch high school football or go to a college game that isn't being televised, or is on a local channel with limited interruptions. There's plenty of good DII and DIII football games that aren't televised, but you're not seeing that down under.
My wife and I are from Green Bay Packer land, who are some of the most fervent football fans you'll find (they're the only team that's partly owned by the public). We don't live where we can get regular games on TV, and can only tune in to watch on occasion. But rugby has kind of ruined it for us. My wife flipped for rugby a few years back, and since has a hard time sitting through a half of a Packer's game. We timed it once for fun, comparing how many phases you'd see in a typical Heineken Cup or Super Rugby game compared to getting from one play to another in gridiron, and it was something like 7-12 (pretty sure I'm off on that -- it was a year ago). If you approach it as a game of set-piece play after set-piece play, it's a little different, but we wouldn't want to watch a rugby game that was all scrums and line-outs, and no chain-passing or breakdown battles.
Thought I'd regale the site with a story from my weekend. Woke up feeling worse for wear on Sunday morning and checked some social media sites to see some of my mungo loving friends crowing about how the Roosters against Manly was one of the greatest, bestest, hardest, brutalest glorified touch football games of all time.
I decided I'd better check this out maybe loig had finally delivered a game that could compete with a bad rugby game? Watched the highlights, what I saw was a game with one score littered with bad handling and some decent front up tackling. The kind of tackling which makes you think they are professionals so of course they can tackle. Some how the media have spun it into something that will be talked about for years to come! The Emperor officially has no clothes its a pity so few people in Eastern Australia can see it.
what I saw was a game with one score littered with bad handling and some decent front up tackling. The kind of tackling which makes you think they are professionals so of course they can tackle.
They make a mockery of counting to six or is it five.
It's all too hard