Women and football

[PatriotsReign]

To those of you who voted that Football should just be a man thing, and who weren't joking ( I suspect most of the votes were tongue in cheek), I defy you to go head to head with the likes of patchick and the other women on this board. I reckon they will kick your arses in terms of their football knowledge.

That's fine, but men still want to see and hear MEN host & discuss all the weekly football recaps. I watched and listened to a female host on the NFL network this week as she questioned Tyrrell Davis and it just didn't seem natural. I enjoy talking football with women but I always feel I have an edge since I played the game for years. Anyone can understand stats and read up on strategy, but the only way to understand the physical aspects of the game is to have played it.

I think female reporters work on delivering stories as background leading up to the game but in a round-table discussion on gameday or NFL today, I need to hear men getting me pumped up for the games.

As a matter of fact, I don't think women are right for baseball play-by-play either..."There's a LONG DRIVE....way back...WAY BACK...GONE!" must be delivered by a male voice.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Baseball is very easy to pick up, considering the primary focus of the game is pitcher vs. batter. The bare essence of football - trying to march down the field in sets of 10+ yards within 4 downs/set - is something most people can grasp the first time they watch a game on TV, especially with the yellow first-down line (the best innovation in TV sports viewing ever). However, how teams go about getting those 10+ yards is something that takes a long time for most newbies to truly appreciate. That appreciation requires a deeper interest in the game that perhaps more guys than women are willing to invest, on average.

Here are two examples:

1. Baseball - Last night Papelbon comes in to throw some heat in order to mow down the Rockies. My wife knows he's the hard-throwing closer who is going to throw as hard as he can and dare the Rockies batters to hit it. She knows subtleties like wasting pitches in attempts to get guys to chase 0-2 pitches off the plate, but those subtleties are not deep anyway. Papelbon basically does his straightforward job and that's that. Easy to understand.

2. Football - Pats/Cowboys. Pats run on 1st down. Pats run on 2nd down. Brady scrambles on 3rd down for a 1st down. Brady fakes the handoff, safety bites on the fake, Brady steps into the pocket and throws a dart to a single-covered Stallworth for a 69yd TD. Any casual Pats fan can cheer the TD, but only a football strategist truly appreciates how that TD was set up by the prior running plays, causing the safety to bite on the run-fake and leaving the middle of the field open for Donte. The strategy is worth cheering as well as the TD. There are other times in the game when good strategy is excuted perfectly that doesn't result in a score, so the casual fan is left saying something like, "good play" while the serious fan is clapping, "Great play, guys!"

Regards,
Chris

 

[Hoodie]

As my 7-year-old daughter is learning from me.

Good for you. She'll grow up with great memories of bonding with her Mom over sporting events too.

 

[patriotspride]

i think women should do or watch whatever they feel like .if they want to watch football great .if not who cares .

 

[Bella*chick]

I have to say, I don't like hearing women do play by play or football analysis either. However, nor do I like the commentary of most men...basically I think 95% of them are not very good commentators or they don't know what they are talking about.

There's plenty I don't know about the game of football (like Xs and Os) and that comes from not having played it. But I've been watching this sport for 20+ years. I have stories upon stories of men underestimating me when it comes time to discuss the football games.

I am no fun to watch a game with. I am a screamer, a curser and I let my mood be dictated by what happens on the field. I treat almost all fans of other teams with contempt and ridicule.

But yeah, what's with the baseball spitting? I swear, Terry Francona looks exactly the same in every game I've ever seen. He just stares and spits. Stares and spits. You could splice film of him from one game into every other game the Sox every play and no one would know the difference.

 

[xmarkd400x]

But yeah, what's with the baseball spitting? I swear, Terry Francona looks exactly the same in every game I've ever seen. He just stares and spits. Stares and spits. You could splice film of him from one game into every other game the Sox every play and no one would know the difference.

Chewing tobacco in all liklihood. That's where the idea for "big league chew" gum came from. Its even shredded like chewing tobacco.

 

[RayClay]

running into each other, falling down, getting up and doing it again."


What are your feelings on this subject?

This expresses my feeling about what women are good for.

If you can squeeze one in at half time, why not? Not during the game though.

 

[nhpatsfan]

I have to say, I don't like hearing women do play by play or football analysis either. However, nor do I like the commentary of most men...basically I think 95% of them are not very good commentators or they don't know what they are talking about.

There's plenty I don't know about the game of football (like Xs and Os) and that comes from not having played it. But I've been watching this sport for 20+ years. I have stories upon stories of men underestimating me when it comes time to discuss the football games.

Great post, Bella. There are lots of threads I read, but don't post in, because having never played the game it does take longer to learn the intricacies of plays, coaching, etc. But, I soak it all up - and crave more.

Those who said it comes from being nurtured in childhood probably have a point, but it wasn't that way for me. I remember my dad & uncle taking my brother and male cousins to a Giants game every year. I could have cared less. It wasn't until I was an adult that I discovered the game on my own. Yeah, I read Football for Dummies ... and about eight other books. I watch the shows and study the recaps. I read just about every thread on these boards. I've spent more than my share on Patriots products, and trek faithfully to Gillette every year. I haven't missed a game on TV in 11 years. I make cupcakes for my kids (I teach) before every game and put player numbers on them. Bottom line, I'm a fan just like every other member of this board - male and female. Like some of the others, I have no time for baseball - too slow, too much down time, too....straightforward. But break down a good screen play for me and I'm yours

 

[wistahpatsfan]

My wife's a Bills fan transplant who has embraced the Pats but not fully. when the Bills and Pats play, she's a Bills fan. I tell her she's not a fan of either team...drives her nuts,,,that's my job, though. Typical chick. Can't make up her mind, but she's rediculously hot and sweet, so I let it slide.

My daughters will both be Pats fans. No Bills crap allowed in the house except for my wife's personal foul, stupid-looking Buffalo crap.

Suzie Colbert is good commentator on the game. The only female comentator I can handle. She's also a cutie, which don't hurt. Jusk ask Broadway Joe.

 

[Frezo]

But the draft, ahh! The perfect combination of football and shopping.

"I'll take the Ohio State QB."

"Will that be debit or credit?"

 

[patchick]

"I'll take the Ohio State QB."

"Will that be debit or credit?"

See now, it's all about comparison shopping, reading ingredients and trying to find a bargain. That QB from dinky Idaho State? Look under the label and you find a tall, strong, smart blue-chip prospect who was named the starter at Michigan before an injury sent him to the clearance aisle. The speedy Ohio State WR who made all those highlight-reel catches? Overpriced. You do better picking those up second-hand.

 

[QuiGon]

I have no problem with smart, loyal football fans who happen to be women. But I am getting pretty damn tired of all the pink hats - both Patriots and Red Sox - who think "long suffering" means we haven't won a championship in 3 years. They have no idea how difficult and rare it is for the Patriots (and Red Sox) to do the things they have done.

Oh, and these will be the first ones gone when the times get tough... which will happen sooner or later.

 

[gomezcat]

I have no problem with smart, loyal football fans who happen to be women. But I am getting pretty damn tired of all the pink hats - both Patriots and Red Sox - who think "long suffering" means we haven't won a championship in 3 years. They have no idea how difficult and rare it is for the Patriots (and Red Sox) to do the things they have done.

Oh, and these will be the first ones gone when the times get tough... which will happen sooner or later.

Very true. To be honest, one of the few compensations of bad times will be seeing those people jump off the bandwagon.

 

[MightyFooda]

I actually think I know more women that like football than baseball. Most women I know find baseball boring. I suppose it also has alot to do with where you live. Sox are a way of life in Boston. But the Patriots are more popular in New Hampshire. Another reason why some women might like baseball more, is that they can play it. Once you get into high school, finding any women on a team is few and far between, where as Softball is very popular.

 

[AVrabel50Fan]

I'm a woman and I learned football by watching it with my Dad! I have been watching the Pats since I was 7 years old! Love the game, love to talk about it. My sister is a "fan", but doesn't talk to me about "the game", only the players...

I love to watch and rewatch games and see why things happen. It is a passion and I hope I can pass it on to my kids! I have and 8 and 10 year old who love the Pats as well!

 

[Boston Jay]

Woman

Love football, easily my number 1 (followed by Red Sox, but I will choose the Pats over them every day of the week and twice on Sundays!). My mom and I are the diehards in the family and my dad/brothers don't even watch the games!

I agree that men should do the commentating. I would cringe if a woman was doing it.

 

[FrontSeven]

Mistake #1: Announcing that one sport is more exciting than the other when excitement is triggered by subjective evaluations.

Mistake #2: Football is more complex than baseball? If that's true than you can easily get somebody to understand the infield fly rule and what happens when the ball is dropped, or how a third strike isn't always the final strike, but then it is if the catcher catches it.


Mistake #3: Questioning whether women should be "encouraged" to like football reminds me of "encouraging" little children who can't be trusted to navigate in the world without adult help. That is a pathetic kind of way to see women, but maybe if you hang around with air heads then you have your own problems to solve.

I know women that die for the sport and find baseball to be incomprehensible, and that is strictly because they grew up in football households.

One thing I'll give you: For the football-impaired it's damned hard to explain what a first down is.

I still haven't figured out how to see offsides in soccer. In hockey I can see it clearly, but any new sport will present fans with vision problems because they can't see the field (like some QBs we know.)

 

[FrontSeven]

I have no problem with smart, loyal football fans who happen to be women. But I am getting pretty damn tired of all the pink hats - both Patriots and Red Sox - who think "long suffering" means we haven't won a championship in 3 years. They have no idea how difficult and rare it is for the Patriots (and Red Sox) to do the things they have done.

This is true, but it has nothing to do with gender. Believe me, my brother's sense of NFL history goes back only to 2001. It stops there. Nothing that happened before that is of any interest to him. Nothing that happens when Brady retires will interest him. Success breeds band wagons, and fans that are going to bail the first time the team hits 8-8.

My brother claims that the Patriots' success is due to him becoming a fan. He didn't notice that he didn't become a fan until the Patriots became a success though. He has it backward, but calls it his way. He's the lucky charm, and when he withdraws his attention the team will fail. Of course, the team will fail first, then he'll bail, and then he'll announce that the team sucks because he bailed.

He'll keep his eye on the sport from a distance until some future date when a new hero sweeps onto the scene, and then he'll come back as a fan and announce that once again his attention has brought us success.

Face it: Success happens when my brother watches the games.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I'm fortunate that my wife and daughter both follow the Patriots, but somewhat more casually than I do. The daughter also watches some Red Sox baseball. Chris gave a good analysis offering one possible explanation why most women tend to watch baseball. I'd guess that many male football fans are not into the strategy aspect of football. Were they astute, there'd be a wider, even greater appreciation of the Brady-Belichick magic.

 

[nhpatsfan]

I have no problem with smart, loyal football fans who happen to be women. But I am getting pretty damn tired of all the pink hats -

Again - I agree. I think 3/4 of them do it because they think it makes them look hot to men. Perhaps I need female sensitivity training....oh wait, I'm a woman .

I do have a jersey - my home Bruschi that he signed at TC. And assorted t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, jewelry - even a damn scrunchie. I don't own anything (football related!) that is pink. I agree with the earlier poster who said the violence is part of the draw - though I'd rephrase it to the adrenaline. I don't want to feminize the sport. The touchy-feely sideline stories drive me ape$hit.

And I have to say, I'm loving this thread. I do feel very much in a minority at times, not in terms of my passion, but in terms of my knowlege. I'll still knock the socks off the unsuspecting men who strike of a football conversation with me, but compared to many on this board I'm a damn rookie~!