I was rather hoping you'd say Italian football, for old times' sake

I've tried with American Football, really I have, but I can't cope with the constant stoppages, the adverts and the jargon. Whenever a commentator starts going through a play I just seem to lose track of what he's saying, like he's speaking Arabic or something.

But its still not as bad as Bowls or Equestrian.

What gets me is when some people complain about the stoppages, yet they'll happily sit for 5 days and watch pretty much every ball of a cricket match.

I agree about the World Champions thing but then again it's only a bit more of a joke than when we call the winners of the World Club Challenge - "World Champions", when essentially a team from one of two countries is going to win it.

It's a difficult sport to learn the ins and outs of, but once you know it's intricacies and nuances it's a great watch.

How many countries are eligable for the superbowl?

The 32 teams that are in the league - at the moment they're American but that will be possibly extended to Canada, Mexico and the UK. Like I said, I agree it's a bit stupid, but surely it's a minor hangup. I mean, some people would probably take issue with the whole 'Greatest Game' label that's so often bandied around to describe rugby league.

Goal Attack.

rlComparing American Football to Rugby League!?rl

Baseball is fantastic. Anyone who thinks otherwise can ballacks.

Seriously though, you do need to understand a bit about the sport before you can really appreciate it. There's a lot of srategy to it. Plus when a baseball game gets tense, it's agonising because an at bat can last for quite some time. It's like the last minute of injury time when you're screaming for the ref to blow the whistle only for the 4th official to add another minute and another minute and another minute..... you get the picture. Many a time I've had to leave the room because I can't take it anymore.

These are some of the aspects that annoy me. It's also just too ostensibly "American" for me.

Another factor that annoys me is people over here getting all excited about the Superbowl Final, but they won't watch English teams playing the same sport. They can sell out Wembley for exhibition games involving NFL teams, but a few years ago a European Cup semi final involving a London team and a Belgian (?) team was staged at the National Sportcentre at Crystal Palace; I happened to be strolling through Crystal Palace Park that day and could see right into the stadium from a raised footpath - there can't have been more than 100 spectators present.

I watched one game live almost twenty years ago. I think it was London Olympians versus Birmingham Bandits (who were predictably known as "the Brum Bandits"icon_wink.gif. It seemed to drag on endlessly for about three hours or more and the stoppages were more frequent than in rugby union.

I suppose the fact that I haven't really got a clue what's happening or why doesn't help, but I've never had the inclination for find out.

By contrast I saw a live Aussie Rules game at The Oval a couple of years ago between Geelong and Port Adelaide (an exhibition match between two of the top Aussie teams) and really enjoyed it and found it very easy to pick up the rudiments of the games's laws and tactics.

This is why I don't get when people on here moan about not knowing the rules

I found it very interesting from a tactical point of view. The enforcers must shield the QB so he can pick out the best pass etc.

Fair play to whoever wrote the Wiki article. They seem quite knowledgeable about both sports and it doesn't seem to show bias one way or another.

Possibly because the standard is a lot lower, so the game is not as entertaining or as fluid to watch?

Personally I always enjoyed British Ice Hockey more than the NHL - that might have been because I watched more of it, and also the emotional attachment you get to the teams and rivalries.

Same here. I watched Streatham Redskins and London Knights, but a few years back I recall someone on a message board getting really stroppy with me because I had no interest in NHL and knew nothing about who played for which teams etc. I've never even crossed the Atlantic and have never seen any of these teams live, that sprt doesn't translate very well to television, therefore I've got little interest in them regardless of how high the standard is.

I prefer to watch sport live (even at a relatively low standard) than on television.

Its great to watch on Sky+ so you can FF the stoppages, whilst keeping the replays etc. I do undertsnad the game but it drags on for far too long (I was at Wembley this year) and has not much excitement unless you are supporting one team or the other.
I bet alot of the people that complain about the stoppages also will watch a full days cricket, which can't have much more action than an NFL game.

Widnes fans complaining about not being in Super League for one.

I love the sport. I think when you take time out to learn the rules and understand the game you appreciate it more. The fact is, alot of people do not have the attention span to enjoy a game of American Football.

Being an English fan of the sport, you get the stick everytime someone finds out you like it. If you don't like it, don't watch it. I do not like fishing, aussie rules or ten pin bowling, so I don't watch it, nor do I start a thread saying that I don't.