Ta in presumption...

Also the urban working class as an entity.

I'd like to know why in these tough economic times you want to get so many people out of work. Have you no heart?

Yes, we should all be concerned for professional footballers and their multi-million dollar contracts in these difficult times ;)

Why would we want to change American…

Fewer long term health problems, I should imagine.

Which is actually a good reason to go back to 15-odd player teams in the NFL — less bone-crunching.

By the way, it isn't particularly true that's baseball's pre-industrial; baseball as we know it is as…

Of course there is. They're not playing international rugby because tackling is all they do and that ain't good enough, but why would you think it impossible?

I don't think it's impossible. Indeed, there's sufficient breaks in rugby that it would be possible. If the rules changed, you could have…

HG;

You're getting a bit sensitive there.

More I was aiming at a ridiculous argument by countering with ridiculous one.

I wasn't sure how many times I could write: "If you want to watch rugby, watch rugby"

The beautiful, beautiful bit by George Carlin about the language of football versus the language of baseball immediately springs to mind.

Hee. I was reading Jake's post, and I was all 'I'm going to have to pipe in with that George Carlin bit here', but you did it for me!…

Should we let baseball fans rewrite the rules of cricket to conform to their expectations of what a sport should and shouldn't be?

Oh yeah. We did, and it's called Twenty20, and it sucks.

This level of organisation exists throughout the chain of command. A similar mentality pervades American Football.

The beautiful, beautiful bit by George Carlin about the language of football versus the language of baseball immediately springs to mind. It ends thusly:

In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known…

would the game be any worse?

Would the game be any better? Should we let baseball fans rewrite the rules of cricket to conform to their expectations of what a sport should and shouldn't be?

Football is a sport of the industrial age. There is a strict division of time,…

I can't think of another sport where players normally only play offense or defense, not both.

Netball.

But not to the same degree, It's not like the goal keep runs off at the end of every play, and the wing defence and goal defence are pretty integral to getting the…

You're getting a bit sensitive there.

That's 1 player out of 11 in football and hockey. The rest do both (to varying degrees)

I can't think of another sport where players normally only play offense or defense, not both.

Netball.

or football (aka soccer), unless you think it's a good idea for Christiano Ronaldo to play in goal

He'd probably do the non goal-kicking stuff, rather than the goal-kicking, and he might be an awesome goal-kicker, but does it really strike you as that unlikely that there is no-one out there who ain't great at the rest of rugby, but is better than DC at goal-kicking?

Of course…

That's like saying Daniel Carter should only kick goals, he should never tackle or run the ball, or kick in open play.

It sounds stupid, but is it? He'd probably do the non goal-kicking stuff, rather than the goal-kicking, and he might be an awesome goal-kicker, but does it really…

I can't think of another sport where players normally only play offense or defense, not both.

Netball.

Or Beckham should only take free kicks, never play the other 99% of the game.

Which is pretty much what happens when he plays in the US.

We might be onto something here…

If you have players on both sides they lose their specialisation.

Not necessarily.

That's like saying Daniel Carter should only kick goals, he should never tackle or run the ball, or kick in open play.

Or Beckham should only take free kicks, never play the other 99% of the game.…

You deserve an invitation though.

Ha! yeah I should by now :)

This just in security at Raymond James Stadium being run through supercool Microsoft Surface:

It's seriously slick — maps are integrated with planning and voice communications software so the field commanders can immediately assess incident responses and personnel…

You deserve an invitation though.

Guards and Tackles often play both sides of the ball?

Not "often", "sometimes" and they are usually injury replacements.

Linebackers occasionally swap sides too, but if they do it's mostly a play designed specifically to use their skill set somehow (i.e. "hit that guy hard")

In my limited experience of the game, it wouldn't lose very much if you had 15 – 20 starters to cover all the specialist positions, and then a reserve bench, but once you replace a player they can't come back in (like rugby).

But then you'd be watching rugby.

It's…

Also yes they could play both sides of the ball

There just doesn't seem to be any point to having completely different offense/defense

I'm being pedantic here, but don't Guards and Tackles often play both sides of the ball?

@Kyle: The quarterback isn't doing a drawing to "remind" the other players what they're doing. They may be using a different set up every single time.

Ah yup. Do I need irony tags now?

Also yes they could play both sides of the ball (and they used to when it…

I'll be at the Sports Cafe on Courtenay Place with the rest of the NFL tipping league that I belong to. We do our own in-house gambling (purely for entertainment purposes obviously). So if y'all get bored at…

a set of Houston Texans tumblers

I imagine that Texans fans do an awful lot of drinking. Then again, you should've seen me this year when the Jets beat the Pats in overtime.

the other part comes from a simply lack of familiarity

Trust me: I am familiar with this game. I am married to someone who owns a set of Houston Texans tumblers. I'm afraid I just don't like it that much. (Apart from TD celebrations, big brass bands, and announcers losing…

There was a…

then barks out some string of words that tells each player what they need to do (that's all the "zulu 25 break zoom 3 texas" stuff).

Or if you're Peyton Manning you do this from the time the play ends, all through the huddle, then again at the line until…

@Jake was that your am-cam footage? Either way should the Steelers win we'll want coverage of the ensuing carnage

I can't help but keep drawing the analogy to cricket. Gaps between deliveries and overs, setting the field etc. While all of that is terrible viewing you don't mind it…

There is nothing better on earth than a sports commentator freaking out and losing his mind like that. Nothing.

You said it all.

And here's the reason that Twenty20 mic'ed up stuff doesn't work, it's all just PR [even on the beach cricket!]. Get some egos and personality's in the…

Here's what happens when NFL turns into rugby

There is nothing better on earth than a sports commentator freaking out and losing his mind like that. Nothing.

@Alan: Terry Tate is selling Reebok.

Are we actually going to get the American commentators this year, or the godawful "international" "now rugby fans…

I'm also here to treat this site like a nightclub carpark and link whore: here's that David Lloyd tribute. Best one's here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=e16FDIb0in8

And I, for one, look forward to rioting should Haydyn's prediction come true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FThqh3xmcfw

Skip to around the 5.30 mark if you don't wanna get all the intense buildup.

Ooo now hold on there. You're comparing sprints to marathons.

Well true.

I'm just saying I think it'd be a better sport if there was a 10 second break between plays, and the quarterback didn't have to do a drawing to remind half the team what they're supposed to be…

Rose Bowl = Held during the Festival of Roses.

The Rose Bowl stadium is where the "bowl" name originated. The game was previously part of the Tournament of Roses, and when the bowl-shaped stadium was built, it got the name Rose Bowl. This in turn became the name of the…

Part of rugby and rugby league is the very high level of fitness you require to sustain that for 80 minutes, which only occasional breaks. American football doesn't seem to have that – there's a break after every play.

Whoa. Gonna disagree with that.
You've got Wide Receivers who constantly…

But the New Zealand equivalent of the sport, called bullrush, is much better.

Apparently in the UK it's called "bulldog", weird

The fitness requirements aren't as high due to the breaks.

Ooo now hold on there. You're comparing sprints to marathons.

Put an American footballer intop game of rugby and they'll knacked before halftime. Put a rugby player into American football and they won't be able to keep up with the…

But the New Zealand equivalent of the sport, called bullrush, is much better.

You mean like at the end of each over in cricket?

Comparing cricket to american football is like comparing kickboxing to bowls. You don't watch cricket for the constant action, high intensity etc.

Rugby, rugby league, american football etc, are very physical, high energy games in which players throw themselves…

Are they also called Rose, Oranage Sugar, Feista, Bud, Banjo or Heidi for a reason?

It's called the Heidi Game (Raiders v Jets if I recall) because NBC cut away from the exciting comeback finale to show the movie Heidi. Thousands of people roared in complaint and it became very…

Hear hear. I get the basic concepts of the game, I just think the way it's played is designed around the need to insert frequent ad breaks, rather than play a game of sport.

You mean like at the end of each over in cricket?

There are 40 seconds from…

oh but related, hopefully all those bowls won't matter soon when Superman fixes it all.

From that story:

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would say if the NCAA declares any game a "championship" game without a playoff system, that would constitute fraud under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

I kept…

And then you spend four plus hours getting peeved because they could be doing these basic things so very, very much faster.

Hear hear. I get the basic concepts of the game, I just think the way it's played is designed around the need to insert frequent ad breaks, rather…

It's not that hard, you can pick up the basics in a couple of minutes.

And then you spend four plus hours getting peeved because they could be doing these basic things so very, very much faster.

(Yet I like cricket. Hrm. 'Very well then I contradict myself'. )

Are they also called Rose, Oranage Sugar, Feista, Bud, Banjo or Heidi for a reason?

Yup! That's college football though.
Rose Bowl = Held during the Festival of Roses.
Sugar Bowl = Not sure on name origins, but held around New Year's.
Orange Bowl = Named after Florida's version of…

It's called Super for a reason

Are they also called Rose, Oranage Sugar, Feista, Bud, Banjo or Heidi for a reason?

And don't believe the New Zealand sports reporters, it is not mainly watched for the ads... Then during the sports news the game will be given a once-over occasionally good, but usually bad and smug like "what a silly and complicated game"

Exactly. Same response I get from co-workers. It's…