Saints and sinners

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

... somebody must say it ... the only game so slow and boring that they needed to decorate it ...

[Hardy Heinlin]

yeah, my mistake ... sorry  :roll:

Why sorry? I find this thread (sitcom?) highly funny :-)

[Hardy Heinlin]

... somebody must say it ... the only game so slow and boring that they needed to decorate it ...

Last time I zapped into the Superbowl, they were actually playing indeed, at least for three seconds. But this time I couldn't see the ball as my telescope wasn't set up.

[Shiv Mathur]

But this time I couldn't see the ball as my telescope wasn't set up.

This is one of the features of American Football that I actually like.
There is often admirable mis-direction about where the ball is and
who has actually got it, and you see several people running
simultaneously, all pretending they have the ball.

Shiv

[Hardy Heinlin]

Then I guess it's of advantage if one has eye-balls like Marty Feldman.

(.) (.)

[Shiv Mathur]

(.) (.)

That was Marty Feldman?  Reminded me more of Donna Feldman  

[Zinger]

Ever tried to watch a (3 day) test cricket? baseball? Each American football team comprises 44 players, some with unique specialties, others as replacement. This "boring and slow" game exhausts very fit athletes, who use quite a bit of energy for short periods. The time between plays is 30 seconds, about the same time it takes a soccer team to get the ball back into play after it stopped. The very fast American football play takes an average human spectator a few seconds to comprehend and anticipate the next. He is unlikely to see everything which happened due to speed and multiple moves made in this short time by 22 defense and offense players, all engaged in each play.
One thing I like about American football is its fairness and penalty system. There is utter respect to umpires, the like you will not see in most sports. Punishment is given to the whole offending team, by yardage, down and or ball. The first one to take an offending player out would be his coach. The umpires have video replay at their disposal when needed. Soccer I find to be largely unfair, even ladies pull hair and clothes to get a slight advantage. Many deliberate fouls, and too many arbitrary or unfair judgment calls. Just don't bother the referee with facts. Where a hand goal kicks a country out of the world championship and the appeal is unfairly handled, I stay away. For me this is no sport at all.

... somebody must say it ... the only game so slow and boring that they needed to decorate it ...

[Will]

American football has 11 players per team, 22 athletes on the field... One of the things I like best is the combination of athleticism and strategy.  Each team (offense and defense) can set up an infinite number of ways before the snap, and each formation has strengths and weaknesses.  If you send all your pass receivers downfield to increase your chance of having one open to make a catch, well, it's that many fewer people wo can block on the line to protect the quarterback from being sacked.  The strategy comes in reading the strengths and weaknesses of the oponent's formation, knowing what the opposing coach is likely to call, understanding your individual athletes' talents and weaknesses, etc.  It can be a surprisingly cerebral game.  Then after the snap: athleticism and action!

[Shiv Mathur]

Soccer I find to be largely unfair, even ladies pull hair and clothes to get a slight advantage. Many deliberate fouls, and too many arbitrary or unfair judgment calls.

Have to agree with you there, Zinger, having seen so much footage
of Pele and Maradonna being hacked mercilessly with no retribution,
not to mention the infamous body-slam by Schumacher on Battiston
in the 1980 (?) world cup.