Comical British Article on American Football

[Lloyd_Christmas]

I got this on a google news alert for the Pats. I find it interesting and comical to read something like this because American football is so ingrained in us.

American Football Explained:

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/sports/s...-sports-report/american-football-$1101410.htm

Patriots are mentioned a few times.

 

[BelichickFan]

"It also provides a respite from the stress of following your usual British football or rugby team."

Hmmm. I've never considered the NFL season to be my restful, low stress period

 

[pats1]

You can't get past the first sentence without an inaccuracy:

each team has 54 active players on its roster at any one time.

It's 53, actually. Damn Brits.

 

[Phokus]

You can't get past the first sentence without an inaccuracy:

It's 53, actually. Damn Brits.

They're using the metric system to count players, duh

 

[Tippett56]

Apologies all. I have never heard of the site and can assure you that not all of us think this way. It must be a hard news day if this is the best they can do....I mean we expect these things a few days before Superbowl but not in the middle of June??

 

[dryheat44]

Several small inaccuracies aside, it is an interesting read. I'm really curious to see what effect the (2nd regular season game outside the US) Giants/Dolphins game has on British fans and just those curious. I'd think there will be some major long-lasting effects and fans made that day. Of course, they'll be heavily weighed towards the Dolphins and Giants, but fans are fans.

 

[BelichickFan]

I'm really curious to see what effect the (2nd regular season game outside the US) Giants/Dolphins game has on British fans and just those curious. I'd think there will be some major long-lasting effects and fans made that day. Of course, they'll be heavily weighed towards the Dolphins and Giants, but fans are fans.

I doubt it.

Bring a Manchester United - Liverpool "football" game over here and see what a long lasting effect it has . . . not.

 

[dryheat44]

I doubt it.

Bring a Manchester United - Liverpool "football" game over here and see what a long lasting effect it has . . . not.

Not really a good comparison. Most Americans know about soccer, and have played soccer at some point in their lives. You can't see the same about the British and football.

A better comparison would be ..... I don't know. Hurling?

 

[BelichickFan]

Not really a good comparison. Most Americans know about soccer, and have played soccer at some point in their lives. You can't see the same about the British and football.

That makes my point even more valid, I think. If I saw the soccer game it might peak my interest - Hurling ? I'd have a few beers while watching and leave saying "that was a funny game".

 

[Tippett56]

Several small inaccuracies aside, it is an interesting read. I'm really curious to see what effect the (2nd regular season game outside the US) Giants/Dolphins game has on British fans and just those curious. I'd think there will be some major long-lasting effects and fans made that day. Of course, they'll be heavily weighed towards the Dolphins and Giants, but fans are fans.

The problem wont be the enthusiasm for the ame when the NFL is in town, it will be how to follow it up. NFL is mostly available on SKY (a Fox company) late night Sundays. I got into the game when it was on Terrestrial TV in the mid 1980's. we could all watch it and talk about it at school.

 

[mgcolby]

Interesting how the Brits use a "C" in Offence/Defence but use an "S" for Offensive/Defensive. I realize we obviously changed the language but it is strange none the less.

 

[gomezcat]

Personally, I think the Brits should stick to their own damn games. .


Actually, that is a pretty good article. Friends always ask me to explain Football and I find it really difficult to do without them glazing over somewhere around "well, it is USUALLY 10 yards for a first down, but if you have a penalty.....". I sat down with one friend for a "tutorial" prior to the last SB ( I have previously watched them on my own, with the exception of the Buffalo-Giants one, and that is a long story involving US Marines at your Austrian Embassy). Anyway, I digress. I put on a DVD of one of the Pats' games and realised I was on a hiding to nothing....

To address Mgcolby's point, the spelling thing is a weird one. Often, it's a case of the way things sound. To my mind, the c in offencive would sound like a "k" rather than a "s". Perhaps that's the reason for changing it. Don't quote me on this, but I think American spelling is more logical than ours.

 

[BelichickFan]

Interesting how the Brits use a "C" in Offence/Defence but use an "S" for Offensive/Defensive. I realize we obviously changed the language but it is strange none the less.

You should check out what they've done to Aluminum

 

[gomezcat]

I got into the game when it was on Terrestrial TV in the mid 1980's. we could all watch it and talk about it at school.

Exactly, which was how many of us got into the game. Channel 4's highlights packages were well suited to an audience new to the game. IIRC, they were on a Tuesday evening and Saturday(???). Someone needs to do the same again.

 

[gomezcat]

You should check out what they've done to Aluminum

Time to completely recant my post above yours.

 

[BelichickFan]

The thing that drove me nuts when I lived in England was how they always used the team name as a plural.

A headline should be "Arsenal Wins" as it's a singular subject but they always write "Arsenal Win". Drove me crazy - although that particular headline would be OK as that was my favorite team all those year ago.

 

[mgcolby]

You should check out what they've done to Aluminum

How do they spell it? Alumanam?

 

[BelichickFan]

How do they spell it? Alumanam?

It's a slightly different word : Aluminium

 

[gomezcat]

The thing that drove me nuts when I lived in England was how they always used the team name as a plural.

A headline should be "Arsenal Wins" as it's a singular subject but they always write "Arsenal Win". Drove me crazy - although that particular headline would be OK as that was my favorite team all those year ago.

The interesting thing is that I have noticed a change in that recently, albeit not all the way across the board. I've also noticed that people say "right now" instead of "at the moment", "that sucks" and some other stuff. Either that, or I spend so much time on patsfans....

 

[BelichickFan]

The interesting thing is that I have noticed a change in that recently, albeit not all the way across the board. I've also noticed that people say "right now" instead of "at the moment", "that sucks" and some other stuff. Either that, or I spend so much time on patsfans....

LOL. Do you remember Liam Brady and Pat Jennings ? They were my two facvorite players back in the late '70s. Not sure why both my favorites were Irish though