O/T:- Super Bowl

[queenslandpie]

It's the FA Trophy we're in, rather than the FA Vase. Things haven't got quite that bad just yet.

Well I was enjoying being the harbinger of doom for just a moment Swale.

[lunaspie]

It's the FA Trophy we're in, rather than the FA Vase. Things haven't got quite that bad just yet.

Playing in the vase would be Minging - not.

[wiseoldmagpie]

Trust me. I’ve heard all the put downs over the years.
Some people love nfl. Others don’t. Easy as that.

I love it! In fact I managed to see the Rams host the Cardinals in their first post-season game a few weeks ago, and I can tell you that I have never been anywhere louder than the SoFi stadium.

A bit like cricket, when you start to understand it you might just like it!

[laddo]

Very jealous wiseoldmagpie can only imagine how loud a playoff game is with so much on the line. What the American sports fans seriously lack in humour and originality when it comes to chants they sure do make up for it on volume, unsurprisingly

I went to the Superdome in 2014 and when my Vikings had the ball on 3rd down it was stupidly loud aided by the roof no doubt and the party loving locals looking to disrupt matters#deafening

As the hissingdwarf says some people like some sports, others don't. The only difference is some people feel the need to tell everyone they don't like a certain sport, they don't watch it, and have absolutely no interest in it.

Yay! Lol

[ncfcog]

My only experience of American football came whilst in a bar in downtown Chicago. The bar was absolutely packed but there was a mixture of men and women of all ages and even whole families watching a game on the big screens. I'm assuming they were watching the Chicago Bears(?) because as I was trying to order a beer from the bar this noise started to build until it was quite literally deafening. It seems a Bears player literally ran the length of the pitch for a touchdown. It was quite something to see everyone celebrating it and have to say at one point I had to do a bit of ducking and diving just to avoid getting soaked and to avoid the odd flying bottle. I have to admit that middle age common sense kicked in, I finished my drink and left to find a quieter bar.

[forwardmagpie]

Very jealous wiseoldmagpie can only imagine how loud a playoff game is with so much on the line. What the American sports fans seriously lack in humour and originality when it comes to chants they sure do make up for it on volume, unsurprisingly

I went to the Superdome in 2014 and when my Vikings had the ball on 3rd down it was stupidly loud aided by the roof no doubt and the party loving locals looking to disrupt matters#deafening

As the hissingdwarf says some people like some sports, others don't. The only difference is some people feel the need to tell everyone they don't like a certain sport, they don't watch it, and have absolutely no interest in it.

Yay! Lol

I was lucky enough to go to Superbowl XXX in Tempe, Arizona, Dallas Cowboys v Pittsburgh Steelers.
It was without doubt the best sporting event I have ever been to.

With relatives in Pittsburgh it was a shame the Steelers lost but the pre match and post match parties and the game itself were spectactular.

[laddo]

Well I can't get anywhere near a playoff game let alone a Super Bowl, lucky indeed!! Not surprised to hear how good pre and post game were, I can only imagine.

What I can offer is monster attendances having been in attendance at games with over 80,000 more than once in South Carolina, over 90,000 in Georgia and Louisiana and over 100,000 in Texas. They all make the 69,000 in Philly and 73,000 in NOLA at pro level look positively average.

The tailgating pre game outside some of those college stadiums were so much fun whether you were with American friends or just your mate from Nottingham.

Not sure when my next game will be but can't wait.

[Elite_Pie]

As the hissingdwarf says some people like some sports, others don't. The only difference is some people feel the need to tell everyone they don't like a certain sport, they don't watch it, and have absolutely no interest in it.

Not in my case. I fully agree that you either like it or you don't, my issue was you (and today) wiseoldmagpie hinting that the reason you don't like it could be that you don't understand the rules. I like football, horse racing, and cricket and have a good understanding of the offside rule, the interference rule, and the LBW rule. That's because the sport appeals to me, so I've gone a bit deeper. I could spend hours studying American Football or Formula One rules, but it wouldn't make me like them because they're just not my thing. I am fully on board with the "you like it or you don't" mantra, but the theory that "you would like it if you understood it" is utter bollox.

[laddo]

That's a great story but try looking beyond "your case". Could there be examples where more complicated sports to pick up and understand put certain people off before giving it a change. Certainly more than an easier sport to get the hang of not just the rules but the intercracies. For example Rugby League relatively simple set of rules versus Rugby Union with a relatively complex set of rules, same shaped ball very different games.

American football, and the type of game it is (war like/territory based, stop/start nature) is alien to most British sports fans again so doesn't lend itself to mass appeal. Naturally some will be drawn to it, others will give it a proper go and like it others won't. I imagine cricket is similar for those over the Atlantic. Totally lost.

Tbh the reason why someone likes or doesn't like the sport doesn't matter IMO.

The big difference is people who don't like a sport such as Horse Racing feel the need to tell people who do that they don't like it, won't watch it, find it boring etc. Then there are others who don't.

I'm very happy to be in the second grouping.

As some of the posts clearly illustrate on here the overall experience of not only seeing a game live in the States but everything that goes with it both during, after and most importantly before makes it a very special experience. It won't compare with an afternoon down Ireland Avenue watching Nottingham Rugby in front of a couple of thousand 1990s but it's a close second

If anyone else has any US live sporting event memories and accounts would be great to hear them whatever the sport...... even baseball

[Elite_Pie]

As some of the posts clearly illustrate on here the overall experience of not only seeing a game live in the States but everything that goes with it both during, after and most importantly before makes it a very special experience. It won't compare with an afternoon down Ireland Avenue watching Nottingham Rugby in front of a couple of thousand 1990s but it's a close second

It's obviously a very special experience to those who like the sport, but to those who don't like it an afternoon down Ireland Avenue watching Nottingham Rugby in front of a couple of thousand in the 1990s might be preferable. Your post just reinforces what I've said all along, it's down to liking or not liking the sport rather than understanding the finer points of the rules.

If it was that simple, anyone who studied the rules in detail would like any sport, which is clearly ludicrous.