s24su in new england

[Jon Bon]

What position did you play? I would love to have played the game but with cricket and footie had not the time or the method of getting into it. Never quick enough for RB but WR would have sorted me out as good catcher.

I played at Corner Back initially BP. I’d got a bit of speed and I’d played full back at proper football enough times so it was a synch really. I didn’t see much game time for GBS to be honest but I did play in the infamous Arena Ball game against (FOR ) Frankfurt at Sheffield Arena. When GBS morphed into the Sheffield Cyclones, I played a lot more downs but we had two excellent CB’s so I ended up playing at Strong Safety which I hated. Not really big enough and dumped on my arse too many times by goliath Tight Ends coming out of the backfield . I still have the neck ache to show for it but I’m really glad that I actually got to suit up and play the game that I love. If nothing else, the training made me fitter and stronger. I even played for England against Ireland in Dublin believe it or not.

 

[Kenilworth]

Heh Heh. American Football?
What a feckin waste of space.
Not a sport it's a testosterone competition akin to body building.
Odd shaped ball so they can chuck it like a girl.
Padding so it don't hurt so much when they bump into each other.
Skill? Bollocks!
Running and catching is not a skilled exercise.
Threw it like a bullet - well the yanks are good with bullets, aren't they? Even a 2 year old has been getting some trigger action recently.

 

[Bladepicker]

Heh Heh. American Football?
What a feckin waste of space.
Not a sport it's a testosterone competition akin to body building.
Odd shaped ball so they can chuck it like a girl.
Padding so it don't hurt so much when they bump into each other.
Skill? Bollocks!
Running and catching is not a skilled exercise.
Threw it like a bullet - well the yanks are good with bullets, aren't they? Even a 2 year old has been getting some trigger action recently.

What?

If you don't like the sport fair enough , but do not open the thread and contribute a load of bile, ignorance and idiotic comments just because you don't like a certain sport.

Put some of that girly padding on and tell Rob Gronkowski he is a girl who only wears padding so it doesn't hurt and then let him charge into you at full pelt.

Running and catching is not a skilled excercise? Might as well cancel the Olympics then.

And bringing up an unfortunate (but admittedly stupidand avaoidable) tragic incident involving a poor 2 year old just because Sitwell made a bullet analogy - what the hell is that all about?

 

[Jon Bon]

Heh Heh. American Football?
What a feckin waste of space.
Not a sport it's a testosterone competition akin to body building.
Odd shaped ball so they can chuck it like a girl.
Padding so it don't hurt so much when they bump into each other.
Skill? Bollocks!
Running and catching is not a skilled exercise.
Threw it like a bullet - well the yanks are good with bullets, aren't they? Even a 2 year old has been getting some trigger action recently.

Calm down girlfriend. It's only a game.

 

[Guesty]

What?

If you don't like the sport fair enough , but do not open the thread and contribute a load of bile, ignorance and idiotic comments just because you don't like a certain sport.

Put some of that girly padding on and tell Rob Gronkowski he is a girl who only wears padding so it doesn't hurt and then let him charge into you at full pelt.

Running and catching is not a skilled excercise? Might as well cancel the Olympics then.

And bringing up an unfortunate (but admittedly stupidand avaoidable) tragic incident involving a poor 2 year old just because Sitwell made a bullet analogy - what the hell is that all about?

There's always a lot of twaddle whenever Gridiron gets brought up.

Those who say American Football is a softer version of Rugby because the participants wear protective gear clearly knows nothing about American Football and I suspect not much about Rugby either. Here's the thing - in Rugby, a tackle can hurt the tackler as much as the recipient. In American Football, the tackler is wearing padding so they can hit as hard as they want, and they do. Imagine all 289lb of JJ Watt (plus whatever his gear weighs) running into you at 20 mph. A little padding isn't going to do much. In fact, I do think I could stand up to that if I was wearing a Sherman tank.

 

[Bladepicker]

There's always a lot of twaddle whenever Gridiron gets brought up.

Those who say American Football is a softer version of Rugby because the participants wear protective gear clearly knows nothing about American Football and I suspect not much about Rugby either. Here's the thing - in Rugby, a tackle can hurt the tackler as much as the recipient. In American Football, the tackler is wearing padding so they can hit as hard as they want, and they do. Imagine all 289lb of JJ Watt (plus whatever his gear weighs) running into you at 20 mph. A little padding isn't going to do much. In fact, I do think I could stand up to that if I was wearing a Sherman tank.

Agree, the level of ignorance around the sport is comical at times. I get that some people do not like certain sports. I personally have never got basketball and never see the appeal either in watching or playing. Similarly I love test cricket but can understand people who don't fancy watching a sport that lasts 5 days, has breaks for meals and can still end in a draw.

What I never get is when people go all guns blazing (que xenophobic American caricature) and totally lay into a sport that they don't like for reasons that are nonesensical and ignorant at best. Fair enough if people don't like American football becuase they find it boring and don't like the concept. But do not say it involves no skill and doesn't hurt because that is just fucking stupid and wrong.

 

[Kenilworth]

Touched a few nerves there I feel
Still not a sport when the best bit is that some one wearing padding can hit like a tank. Lots of skill there, clearly.
Not keen on egg chasing either but at least I can appreciate its a sport. If gridiron was so good why is it only played professionally in the American continent whereas football is global.

Agree about the disciplines in the Olympics, though. You could watch the Jevelin and the Shot all day couldn't you? I wouldn't want to catch the items thrown, mind.

 

[sitwell]

Touched a few nerves there I feel
Still not a sport when the best bit is that some one wearing padding can hit like a tank. Lots of skill there, clearly.
Not keen on egg chasing either but at least I can appreciate its a sport. If gridiron was so good why is it only played professionally in the American continent whereas football is global.

Agree about the disciplines in the Olympics, though. You could watch the Jevelin and the Shot all day couldn't you? I wouldn't want to catch the items thrown, mind.

Have you ever tried to throw an American football ? Seriously try it and I guarantee you will not be able to.

 

[Kenilworth]

Have you ever tried to throw an American football ? Seriously try it and I guarantee you will not be able to.

So the quarterback is the only one who has to adopt a skill?

I'll be able to throw it - but not as far as the pros can, obviously. Used to be able to rocket in a cricket ball from the boundary over the stumps until my shoulder bolloxed. Appreciate an American Football is a different proposition and it takes years of practice but it's the one element of skill I'll concede in that game - the rest is running and beefing one another up.

Now basketball is a different proposition, entirely. Enjoyed a Celtics vs Nicks game last time I was in Boston. That said its still a sport I might go to once a year, if that - not follow for a season. Good experience at American Sports events for the way they put them on and treat you like a customer. Stark contrast to the shite we have to put up with.

Baseball may be a form of rounders but at least there is a lot of skill in pitching and that round bat is very difficult to weild and get a good connection with. Never been to a Baseball game but I can appreciate there is a lot of skill involved in the sport.

 

[judge]

I remember trying really hard to like American football in the 80's or 90's I spent a few quid on the gear and started staying up late watching the programmes

Trouble was the actual games go on longer than an Indian wedding and are as boring as shit turning mouldy

I now have no interest in the Americans and their stupid made up games

 

[sitwell]

I remember trying really hard to like American football in the 80's or 90's I spent a few quid on the gear and started staying up late watching the programmes

Trouble was the actual games go on longer than an Indian wedding and are as boring as shit turning mouldy

I now have no interest in the Americans and their stupid made up games

and you like cricket ?

 

[Kenilworth]

Cricket is a fantastic game that covers all the eccentricities and sophistication of Englishness as well as encapsulating Summer and it has a very high degree of skill involved with it. It's a pain in the arse when England are doing badly but it is a terrific sport that probably, only the English could have come up with.

American football is merely Britsih Bulldogs with a funny shaped ball lobbed in to add some level of civility

 

[Kenilworth]

..... And another thing. When they started screening the Super Bowl in the 80s it was the lads that were shit at football, or not that bothered about football, that creamed themselves over the non event as it gave them something to be "different" about and attempt to be elitist about over football - much as the Rugby following crew did at the time as well.

 

[Kenilworth]

$135 for one seat?
'Kin 'ell
Ouch

 

[itsinyerblood]

..... And another thing. When they started screening the Super Bowl in the 80s it was the lads that were shit at football, or not that bothered about football, that creamed themselves over the non event as it gave them something to be "different" about and attempt to be elitist about over football - much as the Rugby following crew did at the time as well.

Agree with your comments Ken, but I do like rugby league, got turned onto it when Eddie whatsisname was alive, can't beat a decent boxing match either.....but you're correct of course, first and foremost we're a football nation with a variety of sporting interests attached.

 

[Trigger Blade]

I can't say I care much for any of the big American games. My own reason for that is that they seem to rely unduly on physical attributes, basketball player need to be very tall, football players need to be physically big. Not sure that baseball players need to be abnormally anything, though they must have a fantastic throwing arm.

Our games on the other hand, football, rugby and cricket, all allow different physical sizes to flourish in the same game.

 

[Kenilworth]

Agree with your comments Ken, but I do like rugby league, got turned onto it when Eddie whatsisname was alive, can't beat a decent boxing match either.....but you're correct of course, first and foremost we're a football nation with a variety of sporting interests attached.

I meant Union. The League guys are as fit as a butchers dog and not snobby about their sport.
Boxing is a class apart.

 

[sitwell]

..... And another thing. When they started screening the Super Bowl in the 80s it was the lads that were shit at football, or not that bothered about football, that creamed themselves over the non event as it gave them something to be "different" about and attempt to be elitist about over football - much as the Rugby following crew did at the time as well.

I see so you are only allowed to enjoy one sport then ?
and as for 'Cricket is a fantastic game that covers all the eccentricities and sophistication of Englishness as well as encapsulating Summer' you have just described Henley Regatta or croquet on a lawn. while describing Gridiron as British bulldogs with a ball thrown in shows incredible ignorance and xenophobia.
You could claim 'soccer' too ,just a shame the USA are better than us though.

 

[Kenilworth]

I see so you are only allowed to enjoy one sport then ?
and as for 'Cricket is a fantastic game that covers all the eccentricities and sophistication of Englishness as well as encapsulating Summer' you have just described Henley Regatta or croquet on a lawn. while describing Gridiron as British bulldogs with a ball thrown in shows incredible ignorance and xenophobia.
You could claim 'soccer' too ,just a shame the USA are better than us though.

Not xenophobic though am I Sitters? Already said that I like Basketball and Baseball and ice hockey is a terrific game - so just cos I don't like gridiron I am ignorant and xenophobic? Didn't insult you, either - just pointed out my opinions on the game. Didn't call people that have a different opinion ignorant or Yankophiles.

Henley Regatta is an event not a sport per se. It's rowing (which is not my cup of tea either but it is a competition between athletes to see who can travel the quickest over a body of water).

Croquet is not really a sport - more of a pastime and I suspect it has French origins - the clue may be in the name

 

[Kenilworth]

And my thoughts on the England football team?
Best reserved for the Twats thread

 

[JohnDenver]

I enjoyed American footy when I spent a bit of time over there and was surrounded by Americans who could explain it all. Saw an all time classic of a game too.

But what I'll never understand is those folk who proclaim an intense fandom of a given team when they've no connections with the given place or people. I guess they like the - ahem - color of the kit? That's where Kenilworth 's point about the willfully different brigade rings very true. Stop trying so hard lads...

Anyway, if we're putting the boot in on various sports, then I'll chose darts. An embarrassment of a sport involving the appallingly obese, the alcohol-dependent, and latterly a bunch of class tourists. Don't they ever get bored of that frigging tune?

*steps back*

 

[wizadry]

 

[wizadry]

Sorry JohnDenver ,i couldn't help it

 

[JohnDenver]

Sorry JohnDenver ,i couldn't help it

Not sure I've ever heard it beyond the chorus or without the "OY! OY! OY!".

 

[Bladepicker]

Threw it like a bullet - well the yanks are good with bullets, aren't they? Even a 2 year old has been getting some trigger action recently.

Cricket is a fantastic game that covers all the eccentricities and sophistication of Englishness as well as encapsulating Summer and it has a very high degree of skill involved with it. It's a pain in the arse when England are doing badly but it is a terrific sport that probably, only the English could have come up with.

American football is merely Britsih Bulldogs with a funny shaped ball lobbed in to add some level of civility

Yeah no ignorance or anti American sentiment there at all is there?

If England invent a sport which has many quirks and faubles and is not played outside what was the empire at the time then it is a quintessential bit of Englishness.

If the Americans invent a quirky tactical sport which is not played at top level outside of North America then it is just British Bulldog with a ball.

What a tool.

And FYI so the kickers and special teams have no skill? Or the receivers? Watch Odell Beckhams catch against the Cowboys this year and tell me that is not impressive?

The ends and the tackles who are the defence big guys at the front have to have the power, strength and technique of a Sumo Wrestler, the tackling ability of a Rugby player while also being able to stick to a game plan, read offensive plays and have quick reactions when a RB gets going.

There is so much sporting prowess, tecnique, skill and involved. To not like it is one thing. To say no skill is involved and it's nothing more than British Bulldog shows you to be an ignorant fool.

 

[wizadry]

Not sure I've ever heard it beyond the chorus or without the "OY! OY! OY!".

You only ever get the full version off me,thought it might make you think twice about liking darts

 

[Kenilworth]

Yeah no ignorance or anti American sentiment there at all is there?

If England invent a sport which has many quirks and faubles and is not played outside what was the empire at the time then it is a quintessential bit of Englishness.

If the Americans invent a quirky tactical sport which is not played at top level outside of North America then it is just British Bulldog with a ball.

What a tool.

And FYI so the kickers and special teams have no skill? Or the receivers? Watch Odell Beckhams catch against the Cowboys this year and tell me that is not impressive?

The ends and the tackles who are the defence big guys at the front have to have the power, strength and technique of a Sumo Wrestler, the tackling ability of a Rugby player while also being able to stick to a game plan, read offensive plays and have quick reactions when a RB gets going.

There is so much sporting prowess, tecnique, skill and involved. To not like it is one thing. To say no skill is involved and it's nothing more than British Bulldog shows you to be an ignorant fool.

Anti gun more than anti American but if their society allows a woman with a 2 year old to carry a gun in her purse then am I more fool than they?

Big beefy guys following orders. Could be outside a nightclub instead.

I like Whisky though

 

[Bladepicker]

Anti gun more than anti American but if their society allows a woman with a 2 year old to carry a gun in her purse then am I more fool than they?

Big beefy guys following orders. Could be outside a nightclub instead.

I like Whisky though

And test cricket I would guess which will always be my favourite sporting spectacle.

Just do not see the need to try to belittle a sport you obviously don't have the first idea about.

 

[Kenilworth]

And test cricket I would guess which will always be my favourite sporting spectacle.

Just do not see the need to try to belittle a sport you obviously don't have the first idea about.

I have plenty of ideas about it and none of them are particularly positive. 'Suppose it keeps the guys out of mischief.

I've watched it a few times and seen some progs on analysis and find it as exciting as bowls and as skilful as bombing off the low board in a pool.

There are too many breaks and tactical interference instances for it to flow properly. It's my opinion and you are welcome not to share it.

 

[Mustela Putorius Furo]

American football was initially based on a Canadian version of the rules of Rugby (almost exactly the same as the RFU's 1862 rulebook)

Its own first rules were recorded at the Massasoit convention in 1876 which established the common ground for 4 Ivy league clubs initially and then the Ohio based clubs that had been formed to play the early local variants of "Americanised" Canadian Rugby. So, it wasn't really an American invention at all.

It then developed and adapted according to the interests of American clubs and spectators to effectively become an American only sport (what interest would they have of other nation's versions of the original game?). American football was the first variant of all ball carrying games to make crossing the goal line the primary and highest value score - something Rugby later directly copied (in the early Rugby rules, a try scored nothing but gave the team crossing the goal line the opportunity to kick for a goal). The single forward pass that forms the basis one of the 2 most significant attacking tactical options was introduced in 1906... something Rugby never adopted - it's at that point it effectively became a different sport.