Anywhere to watch the Superbowl? (Lounged)

[Applespider]

The 4th quarter was amazing. I really thought Fitzgerald had done enough although I did point out that they'd left a lot of time on the clock. Big Ben did a great job of avoiding the sack though throughout the game. If the Cards had managed to bring him down after hitting him at one of various points, the game would have been a different story. But didn't like the Steelers win overall, how any unsportsmanlike penalties did they draw at the end? No class.

Had more fun trying to get home at 4am since there were no buses and no cabs. Had thought it might end up being an 8 mile skid in the snow but luckily a friend came through for me who likes driving in snow being from snowy US state originally!

[Mick Mac]

If I knew noone was expected to go to work today I might have stayed up.

Now can we force the whole of America to watch the FA Cup Final? thought not, guess what, they are not interested in our sports - so why does anyone think we are interested in theirs?

TLS - very funny posts above btw.

[Applespider]

I know some Yanks who watch the FA Cup final and some Brits who watch the Super Bowl - both are considered slightly mad by their respective countrymen but are happy.

At least the Brits have the advantage that the game starts late so they can at least have a few socially acceptable beers. The Californians I know end up watching the game at 7am which doesn't work quite so well for having a party around. Coffee and muffin anyone? ;-)

[Horsebox]

Mick Mac and TLS, I'm interested to know where you get the feeling from that the sport is being 'forced' upon people or 'rammed down your throat'?

How very queer indeed.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Somebody please satisfy my curiousity: just heard the phrase "eggs over easy" - always wondered what it meant.

[dc]

A fried egg flipped over but where the yolk is still runny

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

cheers

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Horsebox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Mick Mac and TLS, I'm interested to know where you

> get the feeling from that the sport is being

> 'forced' upon people or 'rammed down your

> throat'?>

> How very queer indeed.

This is all just crap marketing nonsense. I do recall that the NFL have already tried to impose this body-armoured, steroid-fuelled, waste-of-three-hours-even-though-it?s supposed-to-take-one pointless sport on Europe and got precisely nowhere. And the reason? People here watch sport to see people compete, not to see cheerleaders and $15m running backs do little celebration dances because ?they are the man? and certainly not to see drugged up thirty stone idiots shoving each other for three seconds at a time. This will have the same impact NFL Europe had.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

What irritates me is that The NFL Bigwigs just assumed that we were going to be led like sheep to watch their game, even though Britain is the Home of The most popular World Sport:-$

This is what they are desperately driven to do in the name of Marketing their "Product"..

Possibly the weirdest morning ever - the truth about NFL marketing in England

21-Oct-2008

Last night (20 October) I was sent a rather mysterious email from a marketing agency called Balance-Live acting on behalf of the NFLUK website, inviting me to a hotel in my home town of Birmingham at 8.15am on 21 October (today).

This is the relevant extract from the email - which of course left me curious?.

Date: Tuesday 21 October Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Bar Area, Smallbrook Queensway, B5 4EW Please ask for Ross Noble Time: 0815am - 930am

You need to bring: A bag to conceal a ball You need to wear: Your normal work clothes, or casual clothes - we are aiming to blend in. What?s happening: Playing a game of catch with commemorative balls, and being filmed Questions: Speak to Ross 07793755278.

Of course being curious that the NFL were finally conducting some sort of event outside London (a similar set of instructions for a Manchester event was also included in the email sent yesterday) I rung up Ross yesterday and asked him what was planned.

Now Ross was a polite young man who was very pleased that I had rung him, but he confessed to knowing little to nothing about American football, and that this email was a ploy to get NFL fans in England to participate in an NFL ?flash mob? exercise.

To those who are not aware ?flash mobing? is an event where you get people to go to a public place and do something stupid like have a pillow fight - see here - and then just disperse before getting arrested.

The intention Ross told me was that we would collect a commemorative NFL Chargers v Saints game ball from the Holiday Inn and then in pairs throw these balls around Birmingham New Street train station, the largest train station in Birmingham.

I got my local train around 7.20am this morning to Birmingham New Street, and as I walked through the train station towards the hotel I noticed the West Midlands Transport police had four uniformed officers patrolling the area where commuters travel trough on their way to offices and shops.

I arrived at the Holiday Inn this morning at around 8.00am and found Ross standing in the hotel lobby (not the upstairs bar) next to a store cupboard blowing up about 30commemorative balls.

Again Ross was a nice young man, but he was woefully unbriefed about the NFL and asked me what day the Chargers v Saints game at Wembley was being played. This made me nervous.

He also confessed that he did not know how to correctly throw an American football, nor could he name more than one NFL team - the Dolphins.

He did not even know the Dolphins played at Wembley in 2007.

By about 8.15am another four people had arrived in the lobby, three aged in their early to mid 20?s and one gent in a suit. I was in my work suit too but I had a coat over it.

We had a short chat about the fact Reggie Bush was not going to be playing on Sunday, and that Pierre Thomas will have to step up for the Saints. One guy even had Deuce Mc Allister in his fantasy team, so he wasn?t too upset to see Bush not making the flight.

With about 30 balls blown up Ross explained he wanted us to take the balls and pass them around Birmingham New Street train station at 9.10am. I explained to all that there were a number of police officers patrolling the station, but Ross did not make much of a comment about it.

At that point it flashed through my mind that I could be arrested for throwing a ball at the train station and my ?flash mob? partner missing the catch and it hitting someone in the head. I could also potentially be mocked by local journalists, if they had been tipped off to be at a ?flah mob? event taking place this morning.

It was then, at about 8.16am that I pretended to look for a toilet in the Holiday Inn before dashing out of the hotel and unglamourously jogging all the way back to the train station alone, with my commemorative ball in my bag.

By the time I walked back into the train station the police had actually set up a stand to promote travel security, so i dread to think about the four people who were still with Ross and the remainder of the balls.

If this ill thought through idea to promote the NFL to a new English audience is the best the NFL marketing gurus can come up with then please call me.

I have 10 years experience in public relations and can suggest some fun ideas that do not involve risking hitting commuters in the head with a full size American football who are walking through a city train station late for work on a cold Tuesday morning.

I would love to hear from the loyal NFL fans who did stay with Ross this morning.

Did you throw balls around Birmingham New Street train station and get arrested?

PS - Its a sweet looking ball that is now sitting on top of my tv set - To view a picture of the ball please see my blog - link below.

[Horsebox]

You've typed an awful lot yet, somewhat amazingly, you've managed to say nothing.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

I'll be admirably succinct then.

The NFL WRONGLY ASSumed that European Sports fans would take to their "Product" in significant numbers.

The demise of the unlamented "NFL Europe" shows how much the overwhelming majority of fans care about their "Product".

The NFL coverage has been dropped from many Channels due to lack of interest and yet their Marketing People STILL insist that if they continue to push it by showing the sport on mainstrean tv here that eventually it will "take off" and be more than a Minority Sport in Britain.

They have underestimated the tremendous interest and enthusiasm that we possess for our own Sports and also, underestimated the fact that no amount of "USA Razzamatazz and Hype" will make British Sports fans follow their game "sheep-like" just because they want us to.

Others will have to buy their merchandise:)

However, there IS one thing that we can learn from them, which is that they control their teams very well and stop a monopoly of the real talent just going to the teams that can pay the most under the system that you are well aware of.

Also its a good idea to cap all wages, again giving a level playing field.

They enjoy their game and good luck to them, equally we enjoy The Beautiful Game here.

[Mick Mac]

Horsebox

I can't understand why this event if even televised in the UK at all, never mind being encouraged to watch it - no other minority sport, played by only one foreign country, is televised by the UK media.

Its not just the Superbowl, I'm slighly irked that we cover the whole US presidential race from start to finish - just tell us who won and his policies.

Back on topic: I like real sports where decisions are made on the field and real captains make decisions to change a game that is going against them, rather than endless timeouts which break the flow of the game. This is the test of a real team.

Bring on the six nations rugby...

[Tony.London Suburbs]

I meant to say, the biggest laugh of all last night was Joe Namath coming on and greeting The WORLD Champions!..THe WORLD Champions!! where the only teams to compete for the Trophy are American.:))

Similar to "The WORLD Series of Baseball" featuring North American Teams only!

Notice a pattern forming?...Thats the utter contempt that they regard the rest of the "irrelevant" Sporting Nations, around 175 of them! yet they want "us" to lap up their game and buy their merchandise:)

At which point we say $?$$off!

[matthew123]

I like my football and rugby BUT have enjoyed the American Football this season when Sky Sports has broadcast in Widescreen HD. Hopefully Sky Sports can soon get the NBA back on screen.

Maybe there is an argument for us being force fed the NFL back in the eighties on Channel 4 when we had just four TV channels to watch, but these days with hundreds to select I disagree. I reckon the coverage of American Sports in this country is about 2% of cricket.. which is perhaps the 2nd most boring sport on TV behind horse racing!

When the American presenters bounce on stage and say 'World Champions' it is a bit OTT but all part of the entertainment - I guess it's a bit like saying Phil Taylor is the World Champion when Darts is only played in the UK and the Netherlands..

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Tsk, tsk, M123 - neither racing nor cricket are boring. And TLS, even I know that "World" refers to a newspaper title not a real world event.

[Horsebox]

Mick Mac, I agree with you regarding the US presidential election - the coverage on TV and in the papers made it impossible to avoid but there are no similarities between that and the coverage given to the NFL.

Skysports shows a lot of games, 5US shows a Sunday night game and and the Monday night game, BBC1 shows the international series and the superbowl.

That's hardly forcing it down your throat or even encouraging you to watch it. It's easily avoidable if you don't like it.

There is a demand for it though, and I struggle to see why people get annoyed over the fact that it's shown. There are plenty of televised sports I don't particularly like(not a huge rugby or tennis fan, for example)so I chose not to switch on.

I'm not about to challenge your assumptions that NFL is not a 'real' sport or that decisions are not made to change a game going against a team, etc etc. I like the game, you don't and I feel that trying to convert you would actually be forcing it down your throat.;-)

TLS, I still don't get your point and I've just noticed a sign next to this thread that says "Don't feed the Trolls"...

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Peckhamgatecrasher Wrote:

And TLS, even I know that "World" refers to a newspaper title not a real world event.

Nevertheless in Baseball they say "The reigning World Series Champions are the Philadelphia Phillies. ... include 29 clubs based in the United States and one club from Canada."....to all intents and purposes the Victors regard themselves as "World" Champions and in NFL they definitely do, which has got nothing to do with a newspaper title.

The great Joe Namath mentioned The Steelers were "World" Champions twice alone...

[alla]

Online

[alla]

Try American diners/bars

[snorky]

American cultural imperialists

the only people who like Merican football in the UK are Expat septics, British dweebs, public schoolboys & pro free market fascists

[SeanMacGabhann]

but, but, but.. snorks. I am none of those things!

Ok I don't like it as much as I used to (I used to go to Wembley to see the London Monarchs) but a well orchestrated throw and catch is a thing of beauty

[Applespider]

Nor am I.

What's with all the haters? It's on at 11.30 on a Sunday night so unlikely to be stopping live coverage of anything interesting and not exactly primetime family viewing. It's not being forced down your throat and given that the BBC showed it last year, they must have got sufficient viewers to make it worthwhile them showing it this year.

If you don't like the game, don't watch it and don't buy any merchandise. But allow those of us who do, to enjoy it peacefully and without name calling or assumptions about what kind of people we are. There's a lot on TV that isn't to my taste and that I'd rather my licence fee/advertising cash didn't go towards but live and let live - there are obviously enough people who do like it to make it worthwhile.

[lozzyloz]

But Snorks, didn't we invent the game? They only added the armour and tweaked the rules.

[Horsebox]

Ditto that, Applespider.

snorky Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> American cultural imperialists

>

> the only people who like Merican football in the

> UK are Expat septics, British dweebs, public

> schoolboys & pro free market fascists

:X

What is your source for this, this...tripe?

Where do pull your facts from?

Justify yourself or feel my rage.(6)

It's definitely not a game for grumpy old (wo)men so I can understand you not liking it, Snorky, but you're so very far off the mark with your silly generalisations.

I usually appreciate what you have to say but I fear that you have lost your touch on this occasion.

[snorky]

I neither like or dislike it - its up there with Wimbledon, horse racing & cricket as a sporting event for me.

I have been to see the Seahawks & it was marginally less dull than watching the Houston Oilers ( or whatever they were called ) play baseball for about 9 hours without, it seemed, a clear winner.

With rgard to its fans in the UK, I can only comment on what I have seen & experienced.

If you are not a dweeb/Septic/fascist/public schoolboy. then tell me aht youa re & I will amend my original post to include it

Tsk - its only a game, its not like its real or anything