The Reality of American Football
Okay. So you've figured out that I don't understand American Football. Having grown up on a diet of real football where the players actually use their feet (imagine that?), I prefer a game that flows and is played for the amount of time it should be played (90 minutes, in two halves).
Americans are being duped into thinking that when they watch football on television, they're actually watching football. Not so. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, what viewers actually get is 11 minutes. Yup! That's not a typo. In a three hour broadcast all you get to see is 10 minutes 43 seconds of play.
The Wall Street Journal analyzed four National Football League (NFL) games and the results are quite surprising. A staggeringly low 9.4% of the the broadcast is playing time--almost 60 percent more time is devoted to replays than actual coverage. For those who love to watch football for the scantily clad cheerleaders, I am sorry to disappoint. In a three hour broadcast you are only going to see those lovely legs for about seven seconds, if you watch CBS. Fox and ESPN showed no cheerleaders at all.
What do these highly paid football stars do for their money? Basically, stand around.
Do I care? Not really. I enjoy it for the whole spectacle and the true American experience. So grab me a beer and a hot dog because the game's about to start. Ignorance is bliss.
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Mark, you are right on in your comments here! Even my household has looked for (and found) alternatives to this problem:
ReplyDelete1. NFL Replay on the NFL Channel replays the four best games of the week in a time compressed fashion on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Three and a half hours down to ninety minutes.
2. NFL Red Zone is its own channel that is only on the air from 1 to 730 on Sundays and it shifts you between all the games to the one where the action is at the moment...and no commercials, not one. This has really changed the way we watch in my house.
On the other hand, you may be right...is there any more room on the couch?
Bob. Thanks for your comment. I guess it is inevitable for someone to find a way to compress the action. In the world of instant gratification, we want it all and want it now. Thanks for reading Tales from the Teapot.
ReplyDeleteEnglish Football? ("Soccer" as our good friends over the pond call it.) You mean that game where the players earn in one game what I do in 2 or 3 years??!! And for what? One eye on the ball and one on the referee to make sure he sees the fantastic dive in the oppositions goal area. Take the England team - a fine collection of superb individual ... See Moreplayers, and a fine collection of Ferraris, Lambos, Aston Martins etc to go with them - but when the crunch comes why do they seem incapable of playing as a team? Apparently it's the "Beautiful Game", they want to make it the national sport - PAAH!!
ReplyDeleteCricket is our national sport. No, I don't understand the game either, but it is SO English. It takes days to reach a conclusion, but who cares when the sun is shining and the beer is flowing? They stop when it gets dark, they stop when it rains - they stop for TEA!! So so English - three cheers - hoorah!!
Thanks for your comment jonners. I'm with you on the beer and tea. What other sports stop for tea? Can you imagine..."there goes Schumacher...oh I see the course judge coming out...oh and yes he's waving the flag for the drivers to come in for tea." Just wouldn't happen would it?
ReplyDeleteWait a minute...I take exception with that comment about pro football players just "standing around"...
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that when they retire, many of them go into broadcasting/game analysis. So they SIT around as well.
Some people think they have it all figured out!
LOL
Steve
Steve. You got me on that one. Your comments certainly gave me a chuckle this morning. I maintain, "Ignorance is Bliss." Thanks for your comments.
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