: Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:05 pm  

Prince of Denmark wrote:

Another factor that annoys me is people over here getting all excited about the Superbowl Final, but they won't watch English teams playing the same sport.

Possibly because the standard is a lot lower, so the game is not as entertaining or as fluid to watch?

Personally I always enjoyed British Ice Hockey more than the NHL - that might have been because I watched more of it, and also the emotional attachment you get to the teams and rivalries.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:45 pm  

t-r-i-n-i-t-y wrote:

Possibly because the standard is a lot lower, so the game is not as entertaining or as fluid to watch?

Personally I always enjoyed British Ice Hockey more than the NHL - that might have been because I watched more of it, and also the emotional attachment you get to the teams and rivalries.

Same here. I watched Streatham Redskins and London Knights, but a few years back I recall someone on a message board getting really stroppy with me because I had no interest in NHL and knew nothing about who played for which teams etc. I've never even crossed the Atlantic and have never seen any of these teams live, that sprt doesn't translate very well to television, therefore I've got little interest in them regardless of how high the standard is.

I prefer to watch sport live (even at a relatively low standard) than on television.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:14 pm  

Its great to watch on Sky+ so you can FF the stoppages, whilst keeping the replays etc. I do undertsnad the game but it drags on for far too long (I was at Wembley this year) and has not much excitement unless you are supporting one team or the other.
I bet alot of the people that complain about the stoppages also will watch a full days cricket, which can't have much more action than an NFL game.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:25 pm  

Widnes fans complaining about not being in Super League for one.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:33 pm  

I love the sport. I think when you take time out to learn the rules and understand the game you appreciate it more. The fact is, alot of people do not have the attention span to enjoy a game of American Football.

Being an English fan of the sport, you get the stick everytime someone finds out you like it. If you don't like it, don't watch it. I do not like fishing, aussie rules or ten pin bowling, so I don't watch it, nor do I start a thread saying that I don't.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:26 pm  

spooky wrote:

Baseball is fantastic. Anyone who thinks otherwise can ballacks.

Seriously though, you do need to understand a bit about the sport before you can really appreciate it. There's a lot of srategy to it. Plus when a baseball game gets tense, it's agonising because an at bat can last for quite some time. It's like the last minute of injury time when you're screaming for the ref to blow the whistle only for the 4th official to add another minute and another minute and another minute..... you get the picture. Many a time I've had to leave the room because I can't take it anymore.

Or when Eric Hinske is up....Swing, Swing, Swing and game over!!

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:28 pm  

kim-or-lee wrote:

Baseball.

One of the better sports for action i think.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:40 pm  

Sammy Stripes wrote:

Or when Eric Hinske is up....Swing, Swing, Swing and game over!!

Except when he's playing against us.

Spring trianing starts 3 weeks tomorrow.

Still another 7 weeks til I go down to Dunedin though. Can't remember the last time I was this excited about a holiday. I know, I'm sad!

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:01 pm  

If you find American Football boring then don't watch it and don't make crap posts about it. People will always find a sport boring, i find football, club rugby union and more importantly cricket boring.

As for American Football it's a fantastic sport. One of the most entertaining IMO and is my second favourite sport after Rugby League.

I agree at first American Football can be confusing but i was still interested in it, once i took the time out to learn the rules/jargon etc properly it became completely enthralling to me. The breaks then become ok to deal with as most of the time they go through the previous drive and disect the plays and you constantly learn more about the different systems of offence and defence etc.

It's a great sport to watch live as i found out when i got to watch my team play in Jacksonville.

: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:21 pm  

Chris Dalton wrote:

There's only one world champions of football, and they'll not likely be american in my lifetime!

But surely the fact that the "World Champions of Football" in your eyes being owned by Americans goes someway to suggest that they are already?

Possession being 9/10ths of the law and all that.