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104 Comments
- bigfkncee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23um...canada...HELLOOOOOOOOOOO??!!!!
- jessejoedotcom, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21@ drlha
So I guess that's why 103,467 Mexicans filled Azteca Stadium to see 2 of the worst teams in the league play in Mexico last year?
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20051003/ai_n15643344 - TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -12/+29Good...let's show the rest of the world what "football" REALLY is! ;)
- Desslok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Yeah, and the American fans must be a bunch of pussies because we don't riot and kill each other in the stands eh?
- bflfab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Just vote with your money drlha. If Europe really doesn't care the games will stop.
- lava, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13I care about Europe, I just couldn't care less about ***** like drlha
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -14/+27and we don't care about Europe
- t1t0, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18Now that was hilarious!! NHL actually started out as 5 Canadian teams.
- SlackerCSB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12The exchange rate killed the Expos and it's not helping the Blue Jays in baseball... no reason to go to Canada. Mexico is too poor to support an NFL franchise.
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11have you ever noticed how all the NFL Europe teams are in Germany? Its cause the american military stationed there are the people going to the games...
- jdotter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I'd hardly call soccer a man's sport. If two guys bump into each other one inevitably goes down acting like he just got trampled by a gorilla, very manly!
The fact is soccer is a finesse sport that will never take hold here in the US. NFL football is the perfect sport for a nation that suffers from A.D.D. Our attention span is about 30 seconds. So it's perfect You have a game that has sort spurts of action followed by exciting graphics and stupid banter followed by another short round of action mix in some 30 sec commercials, highlights of other game action during lulls, and more graphics, highlights and pointless talking during Pre-game, Half-time, and Post-game and you have a perfect recipe for the American audience. - SlackerCSB, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Digg really isn't the place to talk sports. Most of the geeks on Digg have as much knowledge as the girl at your office that roots for the yankees because Derek Jeter is cute.
- mt066, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11So I guess this is going to end up like every football related post on here where people ask "Why do they use pads?" and "Why do they call it football?" Maybe come up with some new material guys.
- brhad56, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Our highschool team had an Austrailian exchange student on it. He played kicker. When he compared rugby to football, he said football concentrates too much on hitting. Maybe we do? I played lineman, and I loved hitting the guy in front of me. Knock him on his butt, and your running back should get at least 5 yards. Linebacker's get satisfaction when they make a tackle and hear the crowd make the "ooo that's gotta hurt" sound. If there were no pads, you'd see a lot less people get back up after a big hit. It's never good to see someone get hurt, but it's going to happen, even with pads.
- shertzerj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Funny, I've never heard the Original Six (Montreal, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, New York, Chicago) referred to as the "5 Canadian teams" that started the NHL. Maybe our definitions of the "original teams" are different.
- misteral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Don't lump us Canadians in with 'other parts of the world'. I live in Toronto and travel to Buffalo usually twice a year for a game. If you're ever in buffalo, walk around the parking lots during the tailgate - LOTS of canadian license plates, and LOTS of canadian beer. When I lived in Vancouver it was the same, drive down a couple times a year for a Seahawks game, the lineups at the border were quite long with all the people going to the games.
- spyk3d, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I think it's a great idea. I'm from the UK and *hate* football (the soccer kind) except the big international matches.
I saw the American Bowl at Wembley Stadium about 15-20 years ago and everybody who attended loved it. Sure you're going to get the usual muppets banging on about how it's not "real football" and "why do they wear padding" but the majority of sport-lovers in the UK with an IQ reaching into double digits appreciate a good game.
I don't think it'll catch on over here anywhere near the same level as in the US - and that goes for baseball too. Which is a shame - both games seem far more family-friendly than the thug-filled stadiums we get here every Saturday afternoon. - TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Digg really isn't the place to talk sports. Most of the geeks on Digg have as much knowledge as the girl at your office that roots for the yankees because Derek Jeter is cute."
True, but there's no reason for them to chime in then. I don't go arguing Linux and ***** I don't care about...I simply block the categories. That's what the feature is for. - Elenkis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Not true at all. American football is played at faster speeds and involves much more impact, hence the padding. Hits in the NFL are typically much harder and more brutal than the wrap-up tackles you tend to see in rugby. You get the occasional nice hit in rugby too, but even the bigger ones tend to be weaker than the average NFL hit. Just ask England rugby union legend Martin Johnson (who like many english rugby players is also a huge NFL fan) and he will say the same thing; American football needs the padding because it's a higher impact sport.
I say all this as someone who both attends rugby union games in the english Guiness Premiership (plus a lot of rugby league too) and watches the NFL every week. I love both sports and feel qualified to compare the two.
FYI the sport didn't always have the pads, they became required in order to avoid the sport getting banned due to the number of seriously brutal injuries and even deaths on the field.
The name soccer actually comes from the UK and originated as university slang for Association Football; it's been used since the late 1800's. Just as Rugby Football was frequently shortened to rugger and rugby, Assoc. Football became known as soccer - it's just that over time the soccer nickname has become less common in the UK and the Association.code has taken the general name of football for itself. - SIDSI, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8This is ***** one of the teams is gonna have one less home game.
- sohlemac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4350lb fatasses? Some of these guys can bench a VW. They work out on rigerous schedules and would be some of the most healthy people in this country if they didn't get hit by other 350lb tanks every week.
- JacksonEMG, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Be nice to see some NFL games played outside of the US. I wish NFL was played more around the world just as much as I wish Soccer was played more in the US.
On the note of why they use so much pads... I played american football in high school and the game is a little different than Rugby. If they didn't need "so many pads" then why do they still have injuries in the sport? Because it is played different. In football, your whole goal (depending on your position, i was a lineman) is to run straight first into your opponent and take him out. Between the whistles is a straight up dog fight. Without pads no one would even play the sport because it would be too rough (except for the people who like to play street football, they're just crazy though).
I think Rugby and Football both have their places in the sporting world so I think it's fair to give both sports equal footing. - mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6actually it was the owner who ran the Expos into the ground is what killed the Expos, in combination with the 1994 baseball strike... Toronto is surviving with the exchange rate... they finished the season in 2nd place behind the Yankees but ahead of the Red Sox, which is the first year they have done that in a while... and they did sign some top free agents last offseason...
- drewpost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Then you must never have gone to the Sports Cafe in London on a Sunday night....
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5those 300lb lineman are in great shape underneath the fat... they are incredibly strong...
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6its not just like American Football... its pretty different... they guys in Football are a lot bigger (do you see 300 lb guys in Rugby) and by wearing all that padding it hurts a lot more when you get hit (those helmets hurt like hell when you get hit by one) and they way you get hit is different... plus in american football you are able to do a forward pass...
- SlackerCSB, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I think this is a poor idea. I hope my Steelers aren't playing in California on MNF and have to turn around and travel to Europe 6 days later...
- jaredseth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"'Obviously the league's going to work out the economics and if we lose a home game, we'll get compensated,' said Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos."
As a season ticket holder for the Giants, I'll get to see one less home game a year?!? Who'll speak up for the fans? - chubbymidget, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Nothing like playing a physical game like Football with jet lag.
- sohlemac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Since when is Mexico a 3rd world nation?
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it already happened... the remnants of the World League is NFL Europe...
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Man, this will suck... Nobody cares about football in other parts of the world... and its only going to make us fans in the US have to get up early to watch a game in Europe or wherever... plus the "home team" is going to lose a home game and thats going to hurt the home fans... Canada already has the Canadian Football League, Europe already has NFL Europe, if Mexico, Asia, Australia, South America, etc really wants to see football, why don't they start their own leagues... or if they really want to expand to other parts of the world, give them a preseason game, the teams fans would be more accepting to this...
- ozid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Truth.
On a mostly unrelated topic. I got to see the Steelers for the first time since I have moved last season in San Diego. I tried to go this season and the Chargers wouldn't let you buy just Steeler tickets! They said I had to buy 3 other games! F that. - chkltcow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ozid: Speak for yourself, man. I like NFL football, but I love rugby. Unfortunately, Fox in a fit of genius killed Fox Sports World that showed Rugby, Aussie Rules Football, and other great international sports... and turned it into the Fox Soccer channel. I would LOVE to be able to watch rugby any time, but alas, I'm relegated to what I can find on bittorrent. :(
- TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hmm...trip to Spain, or Cleveland. I think the players won't mind.
- drlha, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Actually Europe doesn't have NFL Europe, America does. NFL Europe has got nothing to do with Europe other than where its played, it's an American enterprise only. Most Europeans don't even know it exists.
- JackyTreehorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ghm101
Whats with all the padding?
Play our version of football and you'll find out pretty quickly why they wear padding.
Whats with all the "change the whole team" every turnover?
Again, try playing the game and find out for yourself. If you still think it's absurd, check out arena football. Each player plays both ways in arena football.
Whats with all the stoppages in play?
That's one of the problems I have with the NFL. If you want to see real (American) football, checkout a college football game. Fewer commercials, more passion and diversity, and no contract issues. See Ohio State murder ***** Nov 18th. You won't be able to walk down the street without tripping over a TV showing that game. - sohlemac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Capitalism. Expand to new markets, make more money. These games are just part of an early step to ease into the new markets without enormous amounts of risk.
- modestmouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2OK, my bad for not specifying. Although I'm a new fan, I fell in love with hockey recently through my girlfriend's mom (my girlfriend is from Vancouver, BC). What I meant was, if they haven't tried this already, maybe the NHL should try this in Europe, but not Mexico. Europeans are obviously big into hockey and many NHL players come from there, so maybe there should be some regular seas games held there.
I DO know that hockey is Canada's game which is one reason I'll move to BC eventually. I even know that the Winnipeg Jets might be come back! - Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://www.claymores.co.uk/ come on, we'll kick your asses!!! :P
- misteral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@mecole21
Splitting hairs, but Toronto's a good hour and a bit away from Buffalo, but I live outside Toronto which makes it 2-2.5 hours each way. - ShagNASTY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The point about this is money. They want money from people in other countries. I was really surprised when the game in Mexico was packed.
And I've never watched Rugby but do those guys catch the ball while jumping and then have to anticipate a defender slamming into them mid-air? Being hit while catching the ball mid field would explain a lot about wearing protective gear. - chkltcow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@mecole: Read the article, jackass.
"The plan would be set up so that teams would rotate over a 16-year period, with each team playing outside the country twice over that span, once as a visitor, the other as a home team. That means a team would lose one game team during that span." - Zique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Considering 98% of the people who watch Superbowl are from the US, I really want to see how they get any viewers for this.
- chkltcow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You'll lose one home game every 16 years.
"The plan would be set up so that teams would rotate over a 16-year period, with each team playing outside the country twice over that span, once as a visitor, the other as a home team. That means a team would lose one game team during that span."
Reading is tough!!! - marcushellberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1NFL International -- the National Football League International? Doesn't make any sense at all.
- Rethcir, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They're regular season games, wiith record/playoff/stat consequences, so they'll probably get the same 18 million+ viewers they always get.
- mecole21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd rather just see more leagues like NFL Europe formed... I remember a year or 2 ago the did a comparison in Sports Illustrated of NFL Europe and MLS... and they showed how similar the 2 leagues are... they both average about the same attendance and local tv ratings and interest in their respective country...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3there are plenty of 300lb guys in rugby.
- ajifans, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Can't really see a great market for it. In the UK there are several major professional sports; Football, two different types of Rugby (League & Union) and Cricket.
I'd probably watch it if a game was near me (I used to watch the exhibition match that came to Wembley every year in the 80's) but only if I had nothing else to do, and even then I probably couldn't be arsed.
It'd be like selling sand to the arabs. -
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