What's the latest in people's lives?

[Nutso]

Denver killed football de Estados Unidos. Maybe this is the curse of Tebow?

[McAvoy]

Yeah that game was bad. I planned to do heavy drinking tonight. Now I am sober and just want to go to bed.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I did not watch a single second of the Super Bowl, and I'm kinda glad I didn't.

[McAvoy]

I watched it and the game sucked. Made me wish something else was on.

[Tinadrin Chelnor]

What sport is the superbowl for? Lots of people over here seem to watch it too.

[McAvoy]

American Football. Not soccer/European football.

[IanKennedy]

Superbowl always sounded very camp to me, like they have this bowl and it's 'Super' (in the voice of big gay al).

[Griffin]

What sport is the superbowl for? Lots of people over here seem to watch it too.

I've noticed that too in the last few years, at first I thought it was just a Welsh thing, but it's started happening up north. Strange that it's only the superbowl they watch when I was under the impression that it was a final rather than a standalone event.

[Tinadrin Chelnor]

I've noticed that too in the last few years, at first I thought it was just a Welsh thing, but it's started happening up north. Strange that it's only the superbowl they watch when I was under the impression that it was a final rather than a standalone event.

I know little of the whole thing myself, just that a lot of my friends watch it nowadays. I'm not a fan of watching sports at all, even managed to avoid the entire Olympics

[Tinadrin Chelnor]

And also, after a fifteen year "break", I have taken up Karate again. To be fair, I was forced to quit by my father, and I have been wanting to take it up again for years but lacked the confidence. So I started at my brother's club, and feels really good in my gi again. Still some obstacles in the road to recovery, but getting there little by little

[sunnyside]

I've noticed that too in the last few years, at first I thought it was just a Welsh thing, but it's started happening up north. Strange that it's only the superbowl they watch when I was under the impression that it was a final rather than a standalone event.

It's the final. Which could make it the best game of the season...or not. It'll probably have the best halftime show, and definitely the best commercials.

I know little of the whole thing myself, just that a lot of my friends watch it nowadays.

I'm not much into sports myself, but I've come to warm up to Football after playing a videogame with my brother-in-law. I didn't appreciate how strategic it is and how much the coaching staff is important due to designing offensive and defensive plays and formations. The thing about US football, which I thick sets it apart from other sports, is that you keep resetting back to a setpeice formation. So you can craft elaborate maneuvers for each player. Until you appreciate that I think watching football would be like watching chess without knowing how the pieces move or capture.

Stuff like this might at least give an idea what I mean.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-ana ... formations

Anyway once you get that you can start getting your armchair coaching on, which is fun.


One other thing relative to most other sports: Are you annoyed by jocks? Does it bother you that athletes get so much fame and money? Well, in American football, besides the injuries we've long known about, it's coming out that players tend to have serious brain damage that becomes debilitating or fatal with age. So, you know, if they're doing that for your amusement it seems a bit churlish to begrudge them some glory and wealth. So you can relax on that front.

Oh, and you might want to catch some football now. As the bodies pile up with the whole brain damage thing there are increasing calls to curtail or sissify the sport, especially at the college level.

[McAvoy]

I will also point out that out of all of the other sports football is very much a team sport. If you think about it, baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey really comes down to a one on one or one on two setup. There are plays but they are basic in the scheme of things. For a play to work in football, nearly everyone has to do their part to make it work. You can't run the ball with a bad offensive line for example. Great players csn only do so much. Receivers need to get open and actually catch the ball.

So yeah the sport is slow because it is a chess game between two teams. It isn't like soccer or basketball or hockey. Baseball is in its own category.

[Lt. Staplic]

I disagree. Soccer is just as much a team sport as Football. Your right that soccer comes down to a lot of 1-on-1's, but all/most 11 players have to win their 1-v-1's for the team to win. The same can be said in Football. Every linesman is in a 1-v-1 with the opposing side, each trying to win their particular match to protect/sack the quarterback. The receivers are in a 1-v-1 with the safety's to get open+catch/stop the pass+intercept. Any team sport can be broken up into individual 1-v-1's of which a majority of the team must win for there to be success.

[Griffin]

What's confusing me is that it's just the superbowl that seems to have gotten popular over here and not the sport itself.

[sunnyside]

I disagree. Soccer is just as much a team sport as Football. Your right that soccer comes down to a lot of 1-on-1's, but all/most 11 players have to win their 1-v-1's for the team to win. The same can be said in Football. Every linesman is in a 1-v-1 with the opposing side, each trying to win their particular match to protect/sack the quarterback. The receivers are in a 1-v-1 with the safety's to get open+catch/stop the pass+intercept. Any team sport can be broken up into individual 1-v-1's of which a majority of the team must win for there to be success.

I'm not an expert with Soccer. Actually, I'm not an expert with football either, but knowing it isn't at all a bunch of one on ones is pretty basic (and probably the first thing you have to know to appreciate the sport, at least it was for me).

You could do a google search on football plays, or watch the clip above. Here lemmi link something to make this quick.



The point of all that is that it isn't people going one on one. It's a play set up that leaves players on the other team completely free (and ideally some confused but that isn't so likely on this one) while setting up 2 on 1's or 3 on 1's at the critical points on the field. If one of the guys on the line gets confused and just goes up against the guy across from him it could easily ruin the whole play. The success of the thing depends on everybody executing their designated maneuver.

It's almost usually like that with recievers as well. They aren't just running around randomly trying to get open. They've each go specific routes designed to have an effect on the other teams defense and get specific players open at specific points on the field at a specific time in the play, and the quarterback will have practiced getting the ball to that point on the field.

My understanding of soccer is that you don't have plays like that, where a player could say with some certainty exactly where all the others players on their team will be going and what they will be trying to do.