Soccer

[Mal Shot First]

With that many teams, you'd think the Germans would be better at soccer.

The catch is that not all the players on the field have to be German citizens.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Well, there's your problem.

They should kick all the non-Germans off the team. They could regain some of their former glory. Send a message.

[Adam54]

Not even close. Minor sports on minor TV channels that were flash in the pan spectacles, a curiosity at best. Few people watch them and fewer play them.

Baseball is quite popular in South America and the Caribbean. Plus I know teams in the league have players from Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, etc. The NFL definitely has appeal and popularity in other parts of the world. There were...what...three sold out regular season games in London last year? Two? More than the year before, I know that much.

I fully grant you that neither has the global appeal of soccer, but (especially with baseball) neither can accurately be called a minor sport.

[Dalty]

No relegation either. So what's the point in playing after the half way point of the season for half the teams?

[Adam54]

Getting young players playing time at the highest level. Though I'm with you, I'd love for there to be relegation, even though it means my beloved Minnesota Twins would be a AAA team right now.

I'd also love for pretty much any major sport to have some variation of the WWE Money in the Bank briefcase, but that's a whole other matter.

[neglet]

The NFL has 32 teams - that's the number of soccer teams that play in the first and second German leagues. There are at least five more leagues below that with about 1,000 teams. According to Wikipedia, about 33,000 teams competed in the German league system in the 2012/13 season. Sure, only the first three levels are considered professional, but that's still 52 professional teams in a country with about 85 million inhabitants.

I'm pretty sure the NFL could handle more than 32 teams if the league were structured differently.

I just read "League of Denial" and I don't think they can afford the lawsuits.

[Dalty]

Can you give us a quick overview Negs? Sounds interesting!

[neglet]

Essentially the NFL knew about the possibility of chronic brain damage in players as early as the late-1990s or early 2000s, but chose to ignore it and counterattack researchers, much as the tobacco industry did 40 years ago.

Whole Frontline website with doc and articles here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... of-denial/

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Brits maintain that American football is for pussies and that rugby is much more violent, but I've never completely bought it. From what I've experienced, having the protection makes people play more ruthlessly than they play without it.

[Mal Shot First]

Dalty, I read the other day that Felix Magath took over as manager at Fulham. Interesting choice. As far as I know, he's the only active German coach who has actually fulfilled the English-style double role as coach and manager (first at Wolfsburg, later at Schalke). It seemed to me that his success with Wolfsburg was in large part owed to the massive financial possibilities granted to the club by Volkswagen. He had a comparably limited budget when he managed Schalke and wasn't quite able to recreate the type of success he enjoyed in his championship-winning season at Wolfsburg. His strategy seems to be throwing money at the problem, so I'm not sure how he's going to handle Fulham.

[neglet]

Brits maintain that American football is for pussies and that rugby is much more violent, but I've never completely bought it. From what I've experienced, having the protection makes people play more ruthlessly than they play without it.

Apparently it's not the QBs and RBs who get he worst of it, as you would think, but the offensive linemen, who use their heads a lot in trying to maneuver, and the DBs, who often led with their heads when tackling at full speed.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I was an offensive and defensive lineman. I don't have any real stats on it, but it did seem like we got hurt a lot more often than the rest of the players. Linemen even got hurt during practice. I don't remember a quarterback ever getting hurt during practice.

[Dalty]

Fulham seem to be in trouble this season. They had a good spell under Roy Hodgson, current England manager, but I think their days in the Premiership may be over at the end of this season.

[Dalty]

I think the Rugby / US Football pussies argument is mostly, mostly good natured joshing. I think anyone who has played full on Rugby at any half decent level sees those Gridiron players hit each other full-on leading with their heads and understands it isn't quite as straightforward as a bunch of nancy poofters cocooned in body armour.

That said, after these hits in Gridiron play stops. There is not so much like the ruck, the maul and the digging. And scrums are fucking brutal. Actually the TV doesn't do it justice.

I played front row of scrum (hooker) at school but had to switch as I am not massive and as we moved through the years and the props and the entire rest of the scrum behind me tripled in height and mass, the front row was no longer a safe place for me. A broken neck or brain damage could have occurred.

Shame, as I was not fast enough (or skilful enough) to play on the wing or as centre.

[Adam54]

And the 2014 award for "Most British Post On A Message Board" goes to......

I think the Rugby / US Football pussies argument is mostly, mostly good natured joshing. I think anyone who has played full on Rugby at any half decent level sees those Gridiron players hit each other full-on leading with their heads and understands it isn't quite as straightforward as a bunch of nancy poofters cocooned in body armour.

That said, after these hits in Gridiron play stops. There is not so much like the ruck, the maul and the digging. And scrums are fucking brutal. Actually the TV doesn't do it justice.

I played front row of scrum (hooker) at school but had to switch as I am not massive and as we moved through the years and the props and the entire rest of the scrum behind me tripled in height and mass, the front row was no longer a safe place for me. A broken neck or brain damage could have occurred.

Shame, as I was not fast enough (or skilful enough) to play on the wing or as centre.

[Dalty]

Rather!

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Dalty's played hooker. I have proof.

[Dalty]

Yes. Yes I have. I used to hook good.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Did you ever hook on a feelin'?

[Dalty]

Sometimes.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

Just not while watching the GotG trailer.

[Dalty]

Look, me being nonplussed is a good thing. Cast your mind back....

I decided Thor was undoable as a movie character and that was pretty damn funky.

I said The Avengers couldn't work due to too many characters all vying for screen time, too many egos, not being able to mesh it and just not being able to pull it off. That was one of the most fun times I have ever had in a movie theatre.

Me saying I was all "Meh, John Carter vibe." about this, being a Marvel offering, is a good omen.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I'm just pulling your chain, Dalty. I figured I'd get a few tugs in before your Singaporean friends rip it off.

[Dalty]

Chance would be a fine thing...... until, you know, the actual ripping.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I guess this is the place this should go:

If NFL Teams Were British

It's BuzzFeed, so it's obnoxious and unfunny to me. You guys aren't necessarily like me, though, so maybe you will enjoy it.

I guess there are some clever ones in there. It may require some knowledge of the logos being spoofed.

Lots of monocles.