NFL Game Pass

[Brian Shanahan]

Watch the GAA instead, it's better.

I like Donegal in the football, and Limerick in the hurling (not because I'm from Limerick, I genuinely think they've the best chance of all of them of toppling Kilkenny, just need a better bench).

[Bigger]

Watch the GAA instead, it's better.

I like Donegal in the football, and Limerick in the hurling (not because I'm from Limerick, I genuinely think they've the best chance of all of them of toppling Kilkenny, just need a better bench).

umm, no.


TT, congrats on evolving past soccer <G>

[Twinkletoes89]

TT, congrats on evolving past soccer <G>

I evolved past soccer a long time ago.

My 'priorities' for sport interest is Cricket, NFL, Rugby Union, F1 then Soccer if they were all on at the same time.

[NobleHelium]

I think it's more interesting that you said soccer in that sentence.

[Gaspar]

How anyone can find the NFL more compelling than proper football is beyond me. I enjoy both, but one features short bursts of play interrupting non-stop commercials only briefly and the other features 90 minutes of drama-filled action.

And auto racing in all of its forms is quite possibly the most boring waste of time I can conceive of. No comment on cricket because I don't remotely understand it.

[Injera]

How anyone can find the NFL more compelling than proper football is beyond me. I enjoy both, but one features short bursts of play interrupting non-stop commercials only briefly and the other features 90 minutes of drama-filled action.

I don't think they're really comparable, they're very different sports that happen to have the same name. Take it a step back, though: turn-based vs. real-time? I think some here would prefer the former. Does "proper football" devolve into boredom when there's a corner or free kick going on?

Of course we can be cynical about it. Having discrete states- as all of the "big 3" sports in the United States have- means you can flood them with commercials, which means more money flowing in which can be turned around into marketing, promotion, and lobbyists to fleece local municipalities for stadium money.

That said, I think a lot of the fun of the state-based games occurs in between. It's fun going to a baseball game and seeing the defenders shift around for each batter, or seeing NFL teams swap in tight ends, or a defense choosing to safety blitz at just the right time.

[darrelljs]

Futbol has much to offer...I didn't grow up on it, but it has risen to my second favorite sport. I'm sure if I lived in England or Spain or Brazil it would be my favorite. The intensity of a goal score its unmatched, and the lack of commercials is easy to get used to .

Darrell

[Twinkletoes89]

How anyone can find the NFL more compelling than proper football is beyond me. I enjoy both, but one features short bursts of play interrupting non-stop commercials only briefly and the other features 90 minutes of drama-filled action.

You are lucky to have never watched any of the hundreds of 0-0 games I have witnessed.

I think its probably because NFL is quite new, shiny and different to me, and we get massively oversaturated on soccer in England, plus people care much too much about it. With the exception of Euro 2012, there weren't many games last season that I was glad I watched or wish I had.

[scooter]

How anyone can find the NFL more compelling than proper football is beyond me. I enjoy both, but one features short bursts of play interrupting non-stop commercials only briefly and the other features 90 minutes of drama-filled action.

Full disclosure: I played soccer a lot growing up and I do enjoy watching soccer. However, the turn-off for me is the flopping and general culture. I love watching hockey for example, and it's really hard for me to go from watching hockey where a guy takes a puck to the face, steps off, gets 15 stitches, and is back in time for the 3rd period... Then I flip over to two European teams where guys are rolling around on the ground at the slightest contact and obviously spent at least 45 minutes doing their hair before the game. The culture surrounding soccer is the least desirable part of it to me by far. That's probably a bit of an American complaint as we probably care more than most about an athlete's perceieved "toughness" - but that's a big part of it for me.

The other thing is NFL (and even moreso college football) is just a more complex game than soccer. I don't mean that to demean soccer - but you can spend literally hours just learning about different variations and subtleties of a zone blitz. Soccer certainly has formations and strategies, but it's much more of a "Jack and Joes" game than an X's and O's game. I greatly enjoy the strategic and tactical aspect of football - and no other sport can quite match that.

And auto racing in all of its forms is quite possibly the most boring waste of time I can conceive of. No comment on cricket because I don't remotely understand it.

Watch some F1 racing and not NASCAR. It really is phenomenal and often quite exciting. I'm not going to completely condone piracy, but if you want some exposure, look up a torrent of the previous race - European Grand Prix in Valencia. Really thrilling and intense stuff. It's not for everyone, but it's worth giving it a shot.

[ad hoc]

How anyone can find the NFL more compelling than proper football is beyond me. I enjoy both, but one features short bursts of play interrupting non-stop commercials only briefly and the other features 90 minutes of drama-filled action.

And auto racing in all of its forms is quite possibly the most boring waste of time I can conceive of. No comment on cricket because I don't remotely understand it.

If only you got 90 minutes of drama filled action, the average time the ball is in play is about 65 minutes.

I started watching American Football in the 80's and have been hooked ever since ( Go Cowboys!!)