Super Bowl XLI

[Slipperduke]

Was anyone else silly enough to stay up and watch it last night? I got to bed at 3.30am. I can't help thinking that my current inability to type or concentrate is entirely my own fault.

Still, good game. Colts totally ripped them a new triple burger in the third trimester. Bears just couldn't cope with their relentless powerforce, especially when it came to the longviews and the mighty Zep.

 

[TrueBlue]

You what??????????????

 

[* ORM *]

Rugby for wimps :D

 

[Uncle Leo]

First quarter apart, I thought it was a bit of a disappointing game to be honest. That's not just because I'm a Chicago fan either!

Still, the Colts definitely deserved the win, fair play to them.

 

[Winkle]

That game is just to loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong!!!

 

[canveyshrimper]

Rugby for wimps :D

I have to agree with that.

Why the heck does it take 3 hours to play a game that is of only 60 minutes duration?

I would like to see some of those crash helmeted clowns up against a few hairy ****d Rugby League types (or Union for that matter).

 

[Slipperduke]

Ah, but you're all forgetting the sheer beauty of unadulterated Americana. Fireworks, hotdogs, cheerleaders, ad-breaks, high fives. If you open your heart to it all, it's actually quite entertaining. If you open a can of lager to it, it's pretty good too.

The game did tail off eventually, but how do you follow scoring from the kick-off? The poor old Bears just fell apart. I haven't seen that many dropped catches since the England cricket team's last game.

And Prince was ****ing great at half-time.

See? That's the difference. When America wants a bit of music with the game they get Prince. We get some former male stripper bloke called Chica.

 

[sufcintheprem]

See? That's the difference. When America wants a bit of music with the game they get Prince. We get some former male stripper bloke called Chica.

I love that you've compared Southend vs Southampton (wasn't it?) in the second tier of English football with the culmination of the an event that supposedly has a billion fans. Of course, we might have had a billion fans, must have just hid them well.

As for the game, I enjoyed the first quarter a lot. Not least because, in my naivety, I bet on there being more than 12.5 points and the bet was paid off with about half the quarter remianing.

Did anyone find Indy reminiscent of Chelsea in the way that they just wore Chicago down? It seemed that they decided the best way of winning the game was to keep the ball for as long as possible. That said, there was some fantastic play by their running backs. Who actually got MVP? In my tiredness I barely remember leaving the living room and going to bed....

 

[canveyshrimper]

Ah, but you're all forgetting the sheer beauty of unadulterated Americana. Fireworks, hotdogs, cheerleaders, ad-breaks, high fives. If you open your heart to it all, it's actually quite entertaining. If you open a can of lager to it, it's pretty good too.

The game did tail off eventually, but how do you follow scoring from the kick-off? The poor old Bears just fell apart. I haven't seen that many dropped catches since the England cricket team's last game.

And Prince was ****ing great at half-time.

See? That's the difference. When America wants a bit of music with the game they get Prince. We get some former male stripper bloke called Chica.

I can't disagree about the glitz of the or the sheer Americana, definitely not forgetting the cheerleaders of course. Why is that they always have more than the requisite 32 teeth that the rest of the world have??

I do enjoy American Football, but it is the sheer tedium of the stat fest that comes with it and the likes of Baseball, NBA & NHL that seriously annoys me. We are starting to catch this here with all the relentless stats fired at us now for completed or uncompleted passes and such like in foot ball here. Stop it I say. Plus I would seriously like to see these guys competing at Rugby or Aussie Rules for that matter without the body armour they all wear. I am sure that the weight of the "hits" cannot be any worse that being hit at pace in NFL, RL, RU or AFL.

 

[sufcintheprem]

They might wear a lot of padding but at the same time, you are allowed the luxury of smashing someone regardless of whether or not they have the ball.

It did make me laugh when i saw that they had a penalty for 'excessive roughness' on what looked to be a fairly standard (but unnecessary) tackle!

 

[Uncle Leo]

Who actually got MVP? In my tiredness I barely remember leaving the living room and going to bed....

Manning of course (sigh)

I voted for the Indy RB Addai, he was excellent.

 

[canveyshrimper]

They might wear a lot of padding but at the same time, you are allowed the luxury of smashing someone regardless of whether or not they have the ball.

It did make me laugh when i saw that they had a penalty for 'excessive roughness' on what looked to be a fairly standard (but unnecessary) tackle!

You should watch Aussie Rules, that is completely indiscriminate.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Rugby for wimps :D

Right on the money. Dullest "sport" in Christendom. I'd rather watch synchronised swimming or curling.

 

[Mad Cyril]

The thing I find odd about American football is that depite the game being absolutely huge in the states very few people outside of school or college play the game.

You do see people in parks playing touch football but unlike soccer the game just doesn't seem to exist at grass roots level.

 

[Slipperduke]

I love that you've compared Southend vs Southampton (wasn't it?) in the second tier of English football with the culmination of the an event that supposedly has a billion fans. Of course, we might have had a billion fans, must have just hid them well.

I blame the club. They should start at the top and work their way down to Chicky only when everyone else says 'no'. We could have at least got Then Jericho or Stiltskin or something. They'd have been well up for it.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

America does sport better than anyone.

They start with a number of disadvantages: their sports aren't as good as ours, their clubs and indeed sports don't go as far back as ours do, they have franchises rather than community clubs etc, etc but they manage to overcome these and put on a great show.

American football may lack the long distinguished history of football, but they make the most of what they've got. I love the fact that the Superbowl is numbered: what a great way to acknowledge the tradition of what has gone before you. Someone appearing in Superbowl XLI will know exactly where they stand in history. The exclusivity of the Hall of Fame is another fantastic way to acknowledge the greats of the game, as is the way they retire numbers to honour a franchise great. The pro-bowl is a superb way to celebrate the stars of the game and again acknowledge success. A superbowl ring is way better than a medal to store away in a cupboard and leave for the grandchildren to auction on e-bay. In Britain we don't know how to celebrate people who are a success.

Sure, the game takes a long time but so does cricket, the greatest sport of all. Don't fret about the time taken between plays, instead soak up the atmosphere, chat with your mates, use it to get another beer, watch replays on the big screen or generally savour the moment. The game is not just a game, its an event with the Superbowl being the biggest event of all American sport. But its not just the Superbowl, I love the way Monday Night Football (sic) has become a tradition. Sky tried it with proper football, but its a half-hearted effort and its normally Blackburn v Wigan they show rather than the centre-piece of Man U v ****nal. Everyone plays on Sunday except the big game (although they've actually ruined this by selling out to an obscure cable company and introducing Thursday games). Some rivals always play each other on Thanksgiving day, which is far better than getting sent to Preston or Barnsley on Easter Monday.

I'm not saying I want all their traditions, but I love the way they have developed their own ones.

 

[Uncle Leo]

The best thing about American sports is the egalitarian nature of them. Let's face it, Southend are never going to be Prem'ship or European Champions, but in the NBA, NFL etc, the draft, salary cap and merchandising agreements mean that every team could have their day.

Take the Bears - they had a 5-11 record as recently as 2004, but in 2006/07 won their division 13-3 and contested the Super Bowl. With the possible and rather sad exception of the Arizona Cardinals, there are no perpetual no-hopers in the NFL.

 

[Stats]

What is it with egg shaped balls and you Ux? :p

 

[Slipperduke]

The best thing about American sports is the egalitarian nature of them. Let's face it, Southend are never going to be Prem'ship or European Champions, but in the NBA, NFL etc, the draft, salary cap and merchandising agreements mean that every team could have their day.

Take the Bears - they had a 5-11 record as recently as 2004, but in 2006/07 won their division 13-3 and contested the Super Bowl. With the possible and rather sad exception of the Arizona Cardinals, there are no perpetual no-hopers in the NFL.

Strange how the most capitalist country in the world has the most communist sporting structure, isn't it?

 

[Uncle Leo]

Strange how the most capitalist country in the world has the most communist sporting structure, isn't it?

I think I once read the NFL owners being referred to as "the world's most socialist group of biilionaires"!