RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted September 9, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 9, 2018 Obviously doesn't apply to everyone, but by and large they're much more adult about the NFL at least than you get with soccer fans. They're actually allowed to mix in the stands, and most of the time that doesn't cause any serious issues. Eagles fans don't have a good reputation though, but that goes for all Philadelphia fans. I saw a shot of a section of the crowd during the game, with two guys wearing Falcons shirts surrounded by rather a lot of green and silver... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 I get the impression the American viewing public see their top level sports more as entertainment than anything else. However, I think the players don't feel that way. Most NFL players want a Super Bowl ring, and are very competitive about it. The college game is much more partisan from what I can gather, with supporters far more vocal and defensive of their community sides. What's interesting is that NFL comes from a college background, where the likes of Yale and Harvard started playing rugby, and slowly changed the rules more to their liking, and the name coming from that - 'Rugby Football' became 'American Football' (and consequently just 'Football'), rather than 'American Rugby', which might be a more suitable description of the game played. Regarding players being competitive, naturally; they are professionals, or aspiring professionals. They have a great deal to gain and lose, and are invariably highly competitive personalities. However when teams transfer from state to state because they are bought and sold as commodities, local support tends to suffer. College teams are different. There is the whole “alma mater” thing, and they are defined by their location. The same goes for high school sport. Actually, Rugby Union is correctly titled “rugby football” and players are sometimes referred to as “footballers”; soccer is usually do described, or simply dismissed as “the round ball game”. I don’t know if that is true of Rugby League, which many Union followers don’t really regard as rugby anyway. Whether American Football (NEVER so titled in its homeland, by the by) is derived from rugby, I don’t think so. It would be more correct to describe the various handling codes as derived from a common root, which emerged from the old “mass football” around the time that soccer did. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted September 9, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 9, 2018 ...Whether American Football (NEVER so titled in its homeland, by the by) is derived from rugby, I don’t think so. It would be more correct to describe the various handling codes as derived from a common root, which emerged from the old “mass football” around the time that soccer did. I have read a bit about the history, albeit only on wikipedia, and my impression is the structure of the game was influenced early on by a preference for rugby's system (wiki suggests around 1875 with Harvard liking rugby as against kicking the ball, which then got picked up by Walter Camp in the early days of a more defined set of rules.) Of course, wikipedia could be wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 I’ve just been doing some background reading! It appears that William Webb Ellis was quite justified in CATCHING the ball, as the rules of the game then stood. This would have been analogous to the modern “fair catch” in gridiron, or “calling for the mark” in Union. The “proper” options would then have been to either (a) retire, place the ball on the ground and take a placekick at goal, the opposing side being prevented from advancing past the point of the catch until he should kick the ball, or (b) kick the ball from a placekick BUT NOT at goal, at which time his team-mates might attempt to contest the retrieval (akin to the modern “onside kick”) or © punt the ball up the field and run after it, the ball being “in play” from the kick, something akin to a modern “garryowen”. The key point would appear to be that it was actually quite difficult to score at all, in most early codes of football. The heavy leather ball of the day could not be kicked any great distance, and no team would concede the advantage of kicking the ball away within kicking range if it could possibly be avoided. Dropkicks existed but were rare, and even more rarely successful; punting the ball at goal from open play, seems to have been universally disallowed. So William Webb Ellis (or the various other pretenders to whom it is variously attributed) appear to have been innovating, by running FORWARDS and then placing the ball for a kick at goal, in the context of an evolving game in which rules varied considerably, and were frequently negotiated before specific matches. The purpose of running the ball forwards would be to gain a “try at goal”, for which the actual point was awarded. This in turn, made it feasible to limit the length of play with a reasonable expectation of the game being decided within the allowed time. Blocking or interference seems to have been common, if not necessarily legal, in conjunction with “defined possession” and survives as a key element of the Transatlantic game, and in the various set-pieces of rugby union such as the lineout, scrummage, ruck and maul (League seems to have lost the plot rather, on most of these features although it DOES retain “play-the-ball” to restart after a tackle) This, then, is the game from which American Football was developed in the 1880s - a game based upon various more-or-less standardised rules developed in the mid-1840s, not modern rugby but recognisable as its direct predecessor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Well Jimmy is no longer undefeated. Not really sure what to make of that - not being blown out by a contender at their house is not disgraceful, especially with the 4 turn overs. But on the other hand, turning the ball over 4 times is not clever. Next week will tell us more... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 (edited) When I get up tomorrow morning, either the falcons or eagles will be 1-0, and the other will be 0-1... About time. Unless it's a draw... Unlikely, but possible... Ironically the case for the Browns and Steelers. So far the Cleveland Browns are undefeated. Not that they have a win either mind you. Edited September 10, 2018 by Ozexpatriate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted September 11, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 11, 2018 A friend managed to get a couple of tickets at Wembley for the Raiders/Seahawks game. Hopefully better than the last Raiders London visit back in 2014 (the first NFL game I ever saw). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted September 16, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2018 A win! A palpable win! Not so good for Washington though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Is it also raining frogs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 So far the Cleveland Browns are undefeated. Not that they have a win either mind you. They do now! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 They do now! It will be interesting to see if Baker Mayfield gets to start as quarterback next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Well... That couldn't have gone much worse. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 What an intriguing round of matches week 3 proved to be. Lots of the better fancied teams struggled, whilst many of the less fancied teams seem to excel. Never expected my Redskins to thump the Packers, and then there is the Lions beating the Patriots, amongst others. But my favourite was Baker Mayfield leading the Browns to victory. Chapeau to a future star. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted September 25, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 25, 2018 Some significant injuries on our defense is starting to make life difficult. I'll be surprised if we manage a .5 season now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 With Jimmy's ACL tear confirmed, we'll be doing well too have a 0.25 season. It puts the whole thing back a year, as he'll have to take some of this years lumps next year. Oh well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted October 7, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 7, 2018 Now a .5 season looks decidedly optimistic Defense is a mess, and offense seems to have had a bad hair day today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 It would be nice if we could manage one week without picking up an injury to a key player. Though it was the turnovers that did it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 As if to prove what a crazy season this is, my team were the least fancied in the NFC East. However, with the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys now all having played 5 games, and the Redskins after a bye week having only played 3 with the Monday night game against the Saints to come, we find ourselves clear at the top of the division. Long may it last (said with no great degree of conviction!). Also chapeau to the Browns, now having won more games in 5 weeks of 2018, than in 2016 and 2017 combined. I was impressed with Baker Mayfield grinding out a very hard fought victory this week over the Ravens. Although not pretty, it should prove to be a good character builder for the young quarterback going into the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Also chapeau to the Browns, now having won more games in 5 weeks of 2018, than in 2016 and 2017 combined. I was impressed with Baker Mayfield grinding out a very hard fought victory this week over the Ravens. Although not pretty, it should prove to be a good character builder for the young quarterback going into the future. Their loss to the Raiders last week was close too. They've had three overtime games in their first five - which apparently is a record. In each game they've been in serious contention with no game won/lost by more than four points - four of them by a field goal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted November 5, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 5, 2018 With apologies to 87029, but that was an emphatic win for us, and on the road too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 With apologies to 87029, but that was an emphatic win for us, and on the road too No apology needed. We may be top of our division, but that is deceptive as the NFC East must be the weakest division of the lot, even with the current Superbowl champions therein. Plenty of good action elsewhere to enjoy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 How about Nick Mullens? Jimmy who? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 How about Nick Mullens? Jimmy who? His statistics are impressive for a debut. What they don't show is the 'don't care' attitude on the field by the Raiders. Sports pundits are openly saying that Gruden is tanking the Raiders season for better draft picks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Yeah, I saw the game. It doesn't take much to beat the Raiders. Even so, they're a professional NFL team playing a competitive game. You've got to play well to put up the numbers he did. I expect he'll get the start against the giants, but if he plays more than a few games reality will bite. Still, I'm really happy for him, no matter what happens next he handed the raiders their backsides in his first regular season game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted November 11, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 11, 2018 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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