American Football vs Real Football

[NM]

Someone tell me how you can call it American Football? The ball spends 90% of the time in someone's hands!

Joking aside, my main problem with American Football is that stopping and starting every 2 second's just breaks up the game making it dull to watch. I can't watch NFL game's i've tried but I just get bored and change channel. And vise versa i'm sure for people who arn't used to Football/Soccer.

As for there being more tactics in American Football that's just rubbish imo. There are alot of tactics to Football. For a start you've got different formation's 442, 451, 433, 532, I could go on but won't. You have team's playing counter attacking football when playing away from home. Teams going all out attack, manager's are shiffting players about mid game to increase width or conjest the midfield, I really could go on, but too anyone who dosn't follow Football it's not going to make a blind bit of sense.

The problem with Ameican Sports (All of them not just American Football.) for me is there's no promotion or relegation from league's. Your team does crap, ah well, better luck next season. In Football if you team's bottom of the pile come the end of the season. Your going down a division. This add's alot of passion for supporter's as no one want's to see there team relagated and add's meaning to every single game a team has when there at the wrong end of the table same for a team fighting at the top of the table. In English football there's 4 professional divisions, That means alot of up's and down's come the end of the season and alot of joy and heartbreak as well.

I could keep going but everyone's probley stopped reading by now, so ill just shut up.

[Strider]

Hell, hockey is way more exciting than soccer. At least you can deck someone in hockey.

You all know my answer.

[Raistlin]

I cannot watch a full game of soccer. Don't get me wrong, I love playing it, and did so all throughout high school. But watching it is so bloody dreadful.

American football is the best sport in the world to watch.

[JunotDe]

Hell, hockey is way more exciting than soccer. At least you can deck someone in hockey.

You all know my answer.

Nobody cares we're not talking about Hockey but all aside I love hockey too and I very much miss the NHL and playing street hockey on hot summer days. All this argument is is being based on peoples personal feeling and opinions about other sports there will NEVER be an answer on to which is better just wether you like it more or not. I get REALLY pumped up for Both Soccer and NFL games especially when my favourites the broncos play I usually dont watch other teams but for soccer i'll watch any team even english(gross) just cause its such a beautiful sport

I suck at spelling, grammer and knowing intelligent words


( in other stupid news My soccer team lost today )

[Kirobaito]

As for there being more tactics in American Football that's just rubbish imo. There are alot of tactics to Football. For a start you've got different formation's 442, 451, 433, 532, I could go on but won't. You have team's playing counter attacking football when playing away from home. Teams going all out attack, manager's are shiffting players about mid game to increase width or conjest the midfield, I really could go on, but too anyone who dosn't follow Football it's not going to make a blind bit of sense.

I can and will double that bit of "tactics."

Here is the average defense:

-------SS-------------FS----------
CB------------------------------CB
---ROLB--------MLB---------LOLB--
-----DE-----DT-----DT-----DE-----

Defenses can run a 4-3-4 defense, with 4 down lineman, 3 linebackers, and 4 defensive backs, as most teams do. However, about 7 or 8 teams run a 3-4-4 most of the time, with only 3 lineman and 4 linebackers, and for the most part that works out better for teams that can run it, because the offensive lineman don't know where the 4th rusher is coming from. When offenses play 3 wide receivers, teams switch to the nickel - 4 lineman, 2 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs (3 cornerbacks and 2 safeties). Some teams, however, run a 4-2-5, which is different from the nickel. In this formation, instead of 3 CBs and 2 Ss, you have 2 CBs and 3 safeties (Strong, Weak, Free). You can also find dime defenses (4-1-6), and Quarter/Prevent (3-1-7). These are often used at the end of games, where the opposing team's quarterback is going to throw the ball up in the air hoping for miracle. You'll also find goalline defenses (6-3-2), designed to stop plays at the line of scrimmage, and 5-2-4 defenses, used in running situations.

On defense, there are about a billion different play options. The average defense is called Cover 2, where the cornerbacks cover the wide receivers, the linebackers cover the backs/tight ends, and the two safeties play zone 10+ yards from the line of scrimmage. Some teams will play zone defense straight across, in which players are assigned areas on the field instead of men to cover. This defenses can be manipulated by a blitz by one of the linebackers, safeties, or cornerbacks. A blitz is where the player runs into the offensive backfield to sack the quarterback and disrupt a play.

You can also find what's called "Zone Blitz." That is where the defensive ends (look on the diagram above) drop back into coverage where the LOLB and ROLB are, and the LOLB and ROLB blitz in their place. This is used with young quarterbacks who don't know how to handle it (like Brady Smith, a DE, intercepting Eli Manning this past season).

On goalline situations, the 3 linebackers have to play the "gaps' (A gap, B gap, C gap) to prevent running backs from scoring touchdowns. This is all done on the spot.

That's just the defense.

[Del Murder]

Yeah, what KB said. There is no doubt that soccer has its share of tactics.

Soccer, hockey, and basketball all have the same basic premise. Get the ball/puck from one side of the field to the other and into some net. In soccer you can't use your hands. In hockey you have to use a stick, you play it on ice, and the net is smaller. In basketball you have to dribble the ball, you play it on a court, and the net is elevated. They are just variations of the same principle. The reason I like basketball and not the other two is that the elevated net allows for less defense and therefore more scoring. A good defensive play is nice, but I can't take a game that goes 1-1 into the last period. To me that's boring cause it means not much is happening. Without scoring the plays lose their meaning and purpose.

Football shares the same 'get it to the other side' premise, but instead of continuous back and forth action, which I think gets repetitve, there are set plays and limits to how you can get down there. Field position is only important in football. Stopping every two minutes would get boring, yes, but it is more like every 30 seconds, and each stop allows the coaches to try to come up with something to outsmart each other. I love the 'let's try this, ok, now let's try this, ok now let's try this' aspect of the game. Running a play takes some of the decision making out of the player's hands, but not much. Quarterbakcs and running backs still have to make quick decisions, and the defense still has to read what the other team is trying to do. I'd say they are equal in that respect.

Baseball is great because it is nothing like the others. There's nothing like it, really. Maybe cricket is like it, I don't know the rules, but as far as exposure in this country there is no game remotley similar. That is why it is awesome, even though sometimes gets a little slow for my tastes. Plus there are too many games in the season. The NFL is great because every game means something.

[TasteyPies]

Tennis sucks

[tomamar04]

I'm not sure of many of the rules of American football, but last week when my Dad and me watched NFL highlights while flicking through sports channels, we laughed when we saw how bloody repetitive it got.

And even though I'm sure rivalries do exist in American football, in football (soccer) when England play in a competition the whole country supports England, even those who hate football, and the buzz I got when Lampard scored the equaliser against Portugal in the dying minutes of extra time in Euro 2004, or when Owen scored against Brazil in 2002, and when Owen ran round the Argentian defence and buried the ball in the back of the net.

Club football is just as great, picture this;

Only a minute left of normal time; Bayern Munich 1-0 Manchester United. Beckham steps up to take a corner in front of 100,000 fans in the Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona and a world-wide audience of millions. He swings in a high flying corner, falls eventually to Ryan Giggs, who launches it at goal, seeing the shot going wide, vetran striker Teddy Sheringham directs the ball into the net; Bayern Munich 1-1 Manchester United.

In a desperate attempt to get a late winner, both teams push forward, Bayern Munich have a half-chance, before the Man United defence clears, after some attacking pressure from United, they win a corner. Beckham swings in the what must be the last attacking ball of the game, after a flick on, Ole Gunner Solksjaer scores for Manchester United; Bayern Munich 1-2 Manchester United, and with doing that Manchester United becoame the first, and only team to win the Premiership, The FA Cup and the Champions League. The three most prized possesions any club could have.

[Del Murder]

I agree that that would be pretty exciting, but the whole rest of the 1-0 game would be pretty boring unless you were really into the sport. The sports I like have constant scoring, making the whole game as exciting as the last few plays you described.

I guess the repetitveness would exist in both if you weren't a follower of the games.

[Dingo Jellybean]

This question is pretty useless because we're all going to be biased. Unless one of us has never watched a game of either football and all of the sudden watches both sports to get an opinion of it, the answers will always be US for the NFL fans and Soccer for the Soccer fans.

However, after watching a lot of Rugby matches(like, 20...which is a lot for an American), there isn't nearly as much strategy as their is in the NFL. Soccer doesn't even have many plays, like basketball. The number of plays used in one NFL game is probably equal to the number of plays in a whole soccer season.

However, Chess matches doesn't neccessarily make things good. I like basketball most because of it's fast paced, high-flying, acrobatic, jaw-dropping moves that you can only see in a basketball court. Anyone can deck opponents, how many people can do a 360-Windmill while launching 10 feet away and 50"(127cm) into the air? Not many people. Michael Vick is as close to the NFL being "NBA" like as it is with his high flying play-making.

The NFL gets boring at times though, I use to think I could watch any game...but all I care about are the teams I like(Redskins, Ravens) and the teams I hate(Green Bay, Dallas, Pittsburgh).

[Resha]

Football football....(soccer). I think American football is violent and suspiciously rugby-like, but feel free to correct me as I've never watched it.

Arsenal. Die, Chelsea, die. :rolleyes2

[Cz]

As good as many of your points are, this argument really can't go anywhere simply because of the limited exposure Soccer gets in the US, and American Football gets in the UK.

American Football is clearly a very tactical game, but that's not to say Soccer isn't. The tactics may not be as immediately obvious as they are Stateside, where each play is clearly defined, but they have just as drastic an effect.

Taking an example from my own side, Arsenal. If you compare our match against Everton at the start of the season to our game against Bolton two weeks ago, you'll see a startling difference. We swarmed all over Everton because they were poorly organised, but got nowhere against Bolton because their defence was so well-planned. I won't go in to the details, since every player on the pitch had a well-defined role in the Bolton side. Nonetheless, it was their superb strategy, without a doubt, that won them the game.

Another common misconception might be American Football's stop-start nature. However, Soccer is interrupted nearly as often by niggling fouls, offside calls, or throw-ins. Plus, even with the repeated breaks, American Football still exhibits moments of speed and skill, where a chain of passes set off a free-flowing movement that gets the pulse racing.

The fact is, it's all a matter of perspective. To your average Brit, American Football might simply be Rugby with pads, when in reality it's far more tactical than our game could ever be. Likewise, an American might think Soccer's lack of scoring is dull, when in actual fact it is the low ratio of opportunities to goals that makes the sport so thrilling for many of us.

I prefer Soccer because I've grown up with it, not because it's a better game. I've followed Arsenal since the age of five, and been kicking a ball against a chalk-marked wall since even earlier than that. It's no surprise, then, that it's my favourite game in the world. Therefore, it also doesn't surprise me to think that a small boy growing up watching NFL on the TV might become an American Football fan. Once again, it's all about persepctive.

P.S. Shut up, Psy.

[Skogs]

At a first glance, American football is closer to rugby league than rugby union, as play stops/pauses after each tackle and there is a limited number of tackles/downs allowed before a turnover is enforced (although in American football, the count resets if the attacking team advances over ten yards).

However, American football is similar to rugby union in that different positions require different kinds of athletes (big fatties at hooker/prop, speedsters at wing, quicking-thinking agile guy at scrum half etc.).

But then American football is closer to cricket when it comes to tactics and the amount of time required between plays.

In the end, though, I find Australian football the best game to watch. It's flowing, the players are incredible athletes and it's pretty high scoring. Also, because of the draft and salary cap, you don't get the Manchester Uniteds, Arsenals and Liverpools who almost always finish near the top of the table. Every team has its day.

[tomamar04]

This is another reason I love football, there's no other sport like it.
American Football, Australian Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union are all too similar, and Baseball, Cricket and Rounders are all too similar.

And that brings me too Basketball, it's the only Americanised team sport I have any time for, I don't know any of the players or anything, but watching Basketball at the Olympics was great (But football is still a million times better ).

[Rusty]

I really can't stand American football. To me it's a bit dull in a way. Not very exciting. Because I watch so much AFL and Rugby Union, I'm more used to the rough stuff of those games, I find them more exciting, fast paced and more fun to watch. Where as in American Football they have all this padding on. Compared to AFL and Rugby Union it's a bit timid.

Soccer is more fun to play than it is to sit and watch a game. I think it's because of the low scoring in Soccer. I could sit and watch a whole game with only one goal kicked. That to me is a bit boring. But like I said, when you play it, it's much more fun and exciting.

Thats just my opinion