You also have to remember, the games are different. I will state now that I don't know much about either Aussie Rules (which I have watched hours of, but still can't see a structured game - it just seems like and official version of the playground game "Smear the Queer", which, of course, is not PC, but that is what we called it when we were kids) or rugby, but I have never seen the type of tackling that goes on in the NFL. It seems to be more of a "running grab, pull down, try to get the ball", where the NFL is "stick your helmet in his chest, wrap up his legs and drive him into the ground."
[edited to add]
Oh, and once the player passes the line of scrimmage with the ball, there is very little he can do to get rid of it. He is getting tackled, without the luxury of getting rid of the ball when it looks like he is going to get hit.
[edited to add]
Oh, and once the player passes the line of scrimmage with the ball, there is very little he can do to get rid of it. He is getting tackled, without the luxury of getting rid of the ball when it looks like he is going to get hit.
Drooper said:
Yes. But from the middle of the field, this isn't easy. And often, it is undesirable to do so. If you are leading and have the ball, you want to run down the clock. If a player goes out of bounds, the clock stops, so you don't want that. You run up the middle of the field and hope to get tackled, just getting short gains to keep possesion.
Now, if you are losing and time is running out, you want to get to the sidelines and stop the clock every play. Well, the defense isn't going to like this and isn't going to make it easy.
It's all part of the game. The only players you will see that will purposely try to avoid getting hit (well, they all try, but I mean when it is inevitable) are the quarterbacks. They are usually not very big guys (comparatively speaking) and take a pounding all day anyway, so they will throw the ball away (only when they are behind the line of scrimmage), run out of bounds or slide before getting tackled. But, the quarterbacks these days are getting big too, so they are starting to run the ball like running backs.
and you can still pass the ball can't you? (as long as you pass it backwards)
So beoyond the line of scrimmage, it is very much like rugby league, except you (as ball carrier) are allowed to have anyone protect you by blocking, can run off the field of play and retain possession, get to run in (rugby parlance) broken field.
So there seems to be ample luxury there.
So beoyond the line of scrimmage, it is very much like rugby league, except you (as ball carrier) are allowed to have anyone protect you by blocking, can run off the field of play and retain possession, get to run in (rugby parlance) broken field.
So there seems to be ample luxury there.
I guess it was to highlight that there is a little more room for error in (American) Football and thus by extrapolation that every person that ever played it, watched it or thought about doing either is a big flowery girls blouse (i.e. a big flowery blouse for a girl not a blouse for a big flowery girl).
Rugby on the other hand (either version) if you lose the ball and it travels forward, you lose posession, you don't have a chance for a fumble recovery (so long as there was no preceding infringement)
On a disappointing note, professional rugby players are starting to wear padding and scrum caps (which look rather like old fashioned (American) Football helmets). This in turn is encouraging irresponsible play IMHO
Rugby on the other hand (either version) if you lose the ball and it travels forward, you lose posession, you don't have a chance for a fumble recovery (so long as there was no preceding infringement)
On a disappointing note, professional rugby players are starting to wear padding and scrum caps (which look rather like old fashioned (American) Football helmets). This in turn is encouraging irresponsible play IMHO
Drooper said:
Watch a game and tell me how often that happens. I couldn't tell you the last time I have seen a lateral pass (well, it sometimes happens on kick-offs, because the kicker will kick the ball away from the best kick returner, so the person that catches the ball might pass or hand-off that ball to the better returner.)
In practice, if you have the ball, you are getting tackled. Turn-overs are a major concern in football and you do everything you can to minimize that threat. So you don't lateral pass. And the defence doesn't want you to get out of bounds.
Drooper said:Does anybondy know how we came to be debating the realtive merits of football codes on a thread about "Thrutth about Denmark" in the Political forum???
Because the country is so boring, it could only hold our interest for three pages.
Diezel said:
Yea, American football players are girly...
Now what was that about sticking thumbs up each others as*es in the scrums? Nothing but good ole male bonding, right?
Let's share some "our footballers or sooo tough..." anecdotes.
I remember Keith Harris playing 40 minutes with a broken arm strapped to his body while playing for Eastern Subburbs(?) in the 1970s.
Now THAT was tough.
Wednesday, 29 January, 2003, 11:38 GMT
Do you back Budge Pountney?
Former Scotland rugby union captain Budge Pountney is set to announce his retirement, blaming the SRU's "unprofessionalism".
Is Pountney's decision justified?
Budge Pountney walked out of a Scotland training session on Monday, in protest at poor organisation at Murrayfield.
The decision comes just two weeks after Pountney underwent an operation to remove a testicle.
The 29-year-old suffered a kick to the groin while playing for Northampton against London Irish on 4 January, and the injury is thought to be a contributory factor in his decision.
But still he played on... That's a real man !
Do you back Budge Pountney?
Former Scotland rugby union captain Budge Pountney is set to announce his retirement, blaming the SRU's "unprofessionalism".
Is Pountney's decision justified?
Budge Pountney walked out of a Scotland training session on Monday, in protest at poor organisation at Murrayfield.
The decision comes just two weeks after Pountney underwent an operation to remove a testicle.
The 29-year-old suffered a kick to the groin while playing for Northampton against London Irish on 4 January, and the injury is thought to be a contributory factor in his decision.
But still he played on... That's a real man !
Drooper said:
American football players routinely play with broken hands, arms, noses, fingers, even ankles. Acutally, a casted hand for a lineman is a good thing, keeping them from "holding", which is a penalty.
Many (and I mean many) football players become cripples after their playing career, after playing hurt for so many years, their bodies just give up.
And yet the thread stayed mostly on topic until you arrived.Diezel said:
Must be a coincidence
They routinely play with broken ankles? No way. I broke my ankle once, and I couldn't have taken a single step with that injury. Not because I'm a whimp (although I am). It just wouldn't have been possible.
Except perhaps with a very loose definition of "broken".