Galt's Gulch

Why Europe Can't Play American Football

Posted by overmanwarrior 10 years, 2 months ago to Entertainment
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The rest of the world cannot play American Football. Rugby is a pretty close adaption and the players are tough in that they don’t use padding, but the concept of the game is still a version of Europe’s addiction to collectivism instead of an individual quarterback standing behind a battle line and delivering the ball down the field to ultimately score. In American football the quarterback is the CEO of an offense. He is a celebrated hero from Atlas Shrugged in every circumstance and his job is to rally his team to victory as an “individual.” In rugby the closest thing they have is a “fly-half position.” So there is no coordinated effort to get the ball down the field to score a goal—but like soccer it is a kind of chaos where the ball bounces back and forth between offense and defense with no plan or formation on how to execute a task. Soccer and rugby are European games that reflect their cultures, and they cannot grasp the ideal of a Football playbook where offensive and defensive schemes drive the ball down the field toward the promised land of scoring.
SOURCE URL: http://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/the-world-cannot-play-american-football-why-rugby-soccer-and-speed-skating-are-inferior/

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  • Posted by $ Abaco 10 years, 2 months ago
    Whatever. I went on to play college football while my brother played rugby in college. I'm just about cripple from football now (in my 40s) as my body ages with the residual damage. I loved playing the game, and still love the sport. But, we only have one body. Rugby, in my opinion, is a great sport. But, Americans tend to play it like football (more high-speed impact). To watch the South Africans or Kiwis play it is a beautiful sight, indeed.

    Just realized as I am typing this that I am standing at my raised desk (had to limit my sitting due to spinal problems). I have a roller under my feet to alleviate pain. A year ago I had titanium and a dead guy's tendon installed in my knee (hence, I can't stand for too long). Yeah...

    Oh, and overmanwarrior...I like your description.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 2 months ago
    You may be on to something there. Hockey, basketball, soccer, heck even curling are all team oriented rather than individual oriented. Baseball and football while played by a team are heavily influenced by individual action. Interesting.
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  • Posted by freedomforall 10 years, 2 months ago
    I was a football fan for decades and I loved it. Every weekend my Dad and I sat in front of the tube for college and pro games. I attended games of my alma mater with great joy and winning the national championship was a wonderful experience. Then I bought season tickets at the 50 yard line and attended pro games for 4 years. Although the team had a winning record every year, what a complete disappointment! I have never been so bored. My disallusionment was completed by the NFL deciding that it had no use for video review of referee decisions, an obvious decision that fairness had no place in football (at that time.)
    There is on average between 15 and 20 minutes of actual play in a 3 hour game of NFL football.
    The rest is a lot of talking by near-brainless idiots to entertain tv viewers with (mostly irrelevant) statistics, and to distract from the lack of action for 2 hours and 15 minutes of every 3 hours time elapsed in a game.
    This is not to say that soccer is any better to watch, but at least there is something happening on the field.
    Rugby and Aussie Rules are much more watchable and better entertainment for the fans.
    No comment on your observations regarding capitalism vs socialism in the games except that NFL certainly does waste a lot of time on commercials for products, and for other idiotic cable programs that no rational person would want to watch unless brain-addled by their drugs of choice.
    Bread and circuses in Amerika.
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    • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 10 years, 2 months ago
      I agree with your points regarding the NFL and actual time played, vs the idiotic commentary and commercials. I find that I have less time for that drivel and less patience as well. My hometown team will have my appreciation, but they are the only team I will watch, and not even regularly. I find a rundown of events is all I can tolerate. College football is going down this same path in its pandering to sponsor dollars. Yes, that defrays costs, but still it's schilling. Hockey is my sport of passion.
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    • Posted by $ Abaco 10 years, 2 months ago
      Interesting. I have taken a couple hiatuses (sp?) from the NFL, often lasting at least a year or two. Often, it's obviously corrupt refs, and occassionally it is an NFL team hiring a total thug (dog torturer or woman beater) that turns me off enough to tune out for a long time. Football is a terrific sport but it seems to have been tuned down for a lower-intelligence fan base than when I was a kid. It's hard to explain. Often...I'll watch it on mute because the announcers are so damned idiotic. Haha....
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