Anybody else who doesn't care about the World Cup?

No, there's no need. Whenever we say "American", there's an implied "pffft" anyway.

Actually, it's more compassionate than condescending.
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Lol. Thank you for that honest statement lol. I feel so sorry for us now! At least you have compassion for us, so hopefully we're not entirely revolting.
 
We do use our feet. Kick offs, punts, extra points, and field goals. It wasn't until later in the history of the game that we started forward passes. As in Soccer(football) the hands are sometimes used. Throw-ins and throws by goalies. And because in Rugby no matter how tough the guys they do not run any where near the speed of American footballers, nor do they have downfield blocking or forward passes where defensive players will try and take your head off.

And I really don't see where "dumb" fits into the equation. Last I heard when the NFL brought American Football to London during the last two years pre-season the stadiums were sold out. Must be some interest there. Our commsioner is trying his best to get at least one NFL team there permanently. Must not be too dumb.
I have learned to embrace all sports and tried to understand them because I like being entertained. We'll see how well the NFL does in Old London Town then you can call us dumb.
 
Yes Grunt, to be fair, although it is a minority sport over here, American football is very popular indeed.

I'm not convinced that your footballers run significantly faster than our rugby players, but my opinion is based on no evidence whatsoever!
 
Trust me you may have a few players that can run but our guys would smoke any rugby team
 
Oh OK. You preface it with American.

It is simple.

But do you guys put a condescending inflection to it, like an American pffft football?

Like do you Europeans look at American football in a "less than" light at all? I mean I don't care one way or the other, I'm just interested in how the rest of the world sees the U.S. I'm sure there are plenty of Yanks who look at European football as "less than".

Which is kind of limiting. It's just different cultures. We scream and cry about preserving freedom but at the same time we look down on things different than us. Why is that?

Rodney King said it best.

No condescending tones from me, I'm just not a fan of the game. It's very stop-start and lacks excitement, continuity and flow in my opinion. Though, another U.S game, Basketball, I find very entertaining.

As for the football, yeah I'm glued to the world cup at the moment. Have watched every game so far. Have some money on Spain and Brazil to win the tournament. Bit worried at the moment as the Netherlands are 3-1 up against Spain currently!

Outside of the World Cup I support Tottenham in the English Premier League.
 
Just so there's never any question on this in the future:

I have no interest whatsoever in major televised sports of any kind, including soccer, football, baseball, tennis, NASCAR, horse racing or any endeavor that involves people chasing after or striking an object in some manner of "us versus them" adversarial construct.

While I am a strong proponent of individual athleticism, it is my observation that many televised sports appeal to all the wrong instincts in people. Second, I see these as little more than profit making schemes that distract people and leverage off of their in-group biases.

I see nothing wrong with a bunch of friends getting together to play baseball or soccer or whatever on a nice afternoon. It's good, solid, healthy fun. But sitting on a couch and watching other very highly paid people play that game while screaming at the TV, not so much.
 
An American Footballer might outrun a Rugby player but mainly because they've only been on the pitch three minutes and run ten yards in total...

You would be surprised at how fit these guys are. My reference to speed was mainly made to accentuate the need for equipment when these world class sprinters, and many are college track stars, collide running different directions and meet head on. I have watched rugby and most of the flow is in one direction. There are no 30 yard sprints and then get slammed by an opponent running into them from the other direction.
 
Now that was a good old Dutch spanking! We have a little something against the Spanish that dates back to the 16th century. Possibly the most exciting match of the 2014 world cup.
The haircuts were underwhelming though.
 
Just so there's never any question on this in the future:

I have no interest whatsoever in major televised sports of any kind, including soccer, football, baseball, tennis, NASCAR, horse racing or any endeavor that involves people chasing after or striking an object in some manner of "us versus them" adversarial construct.

While I am a strong proponent of individual athleticism, it is my observation that many televised sports appeal to all the wrong instincts in people.

Yeah it's wrong but it's so right.... try it with a beer :)
 
In the US we call discussions like these "Armchair Quarterbacks"

Not a soccer fan, my dad was born in Mexico so he and my brother are big fans. I suppose I might end up watching a game but Soccer is just too slow for my goldfish attention span. Not really a sports guy, I follow basketball if the AZ team ends up in the playoffs and my wife and I enjoy watching boxing.
 
You would be surprised at how fit these guys are. My reference to speed was mainly made to accentuate the need for equipment when these world class sprinters, and many are college track stars, collide running different directions and meet head on. I have watched rugby and most of the flow is in one direction. There are no 30 yard sprints and then get slammed by an opponent running into them from the other direction.

There's no questioning the fitness of most American Footballers (with the exception of a few linebackers I've seen). There are certainly very big hits at high speed. Having played Rugby for thirteen years (started at five, stopped playing regularly at 18) I have been involved in a fair few big hits. Most of the hits aren't at speed but the ground work and scrummaging is where a lot of the impacts are.

This is a very old video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t62oLlhp0m8

But it says everything about what Rugby has now become. Twenty years ago, Rugby was not a professional sport in the Northern Hemisphere. Players were sized based on their position. Somebody like me (6'2", 210Ibs when I was fit) would have been considered a decent-sized second-row or blind-side flanker (large players in the scrum, particularly second row). Nowadays, a lot of the backs (as in, running players) are that size and the forwards are bigger. The fitness has improved enormously, as has the speed and impact of players in the running game.

Any modern, professional international team would absolutely destroy the finest sides of thirty years ago in terms of skill, size, speed and fitness.

I have seen big hits in Rugby, I've seen big hits in American Football. The major difference as far as I'm concerned is that in Rugby, you are on the pitch for forty minutes at a time (unless you get substituted, obviously - of which there are a limited number available) and in that time, the majority of it will be in open play. In American Football, you might be on the pitch for ten minutes, although you're only actually playing a 'live' ball for seconds at a time.

Don't let the breakdown in Rugby Union (after tackles) fool you - that isn't players stopping, it's players essentially wrestling with each other.
 
I have watched rugby and most of the flow is in one direction. There are no 30 yard sprints and then get slammed by an opponent running into them from the other direction.

That's very possible in Rugby too. A fullback (often the last line of defence) can come across and nail someone running for the try line.
 
My favourite was taking out a winger in full flight down the touch line with a twenty yard run-up.

I was a winger for a time when I played Union for Halifax. Got taken out a few times by a fast(er) running full back. It wasn't you was it?!
I eventually went to full back & got to do the same to others. Much more fun tackling than being tackled!

I have watched rugby and most of the flow is in one direction. There are no 30 yard sprints and then get slammed by an opponent running into them from the other direction.

I would hazard a guess that if NFL players weren't wearing padding & helmets they wouldn't be tackling with quite so much abandon.
 
Dodeska - that was the funny thing. That particular game I was playing blind-side flanker (usually played second row but blind-side was my favourite) and they'd won the scrummage and run it down the line deep from a central scrum.

That same game I splattered their scrum half who attempted a blind-side manoeuvre. He was all arms and legs as I jumped on him (he was about a 8" shorter than me). Very satisfying.

The good old days.
 
Just watched the second half of Oz being downed 3-1 by Chile. Who knows, maybe I give more of a toss than I thought.

Still think the Aussie Rules Football (or "the footy" as it's affectionately known here) is the greatest of all the "football" codes in the world though. Requires skills above the head, skills below the knees, play coming from all directions, tackles coming from all directions, speed, agility, the ability to be able to run in all directions for around 2 hours, the ability to hand pass with left and right hand and kick the ball on your left and right feet, the aerial skills are spectacular and above all, you don't need to be 6'5" and 130kgs just to play it. No other 'foot to ball' sport shows off such an all round skill set. What more could you want.
 
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