Football (the oval shaped version)

[meijlinder]

So we have a soccer thread (and a cricket one), but can't find a football thread (American that is, but guess Canadian will be allowed as well).

The new NFL season is just a few hours away and College FB has started already.

Perhaps strange a Swede is starting this, but I have been a football fan close to 30 years. In '88 the Bears and the Vikings played a pre-season game in Gothenburg, Sweden (my current home town). It was broadcast on Swedish National TV (only 2 channels at the time). I sat infront of the TV and was hooked. We got a short program prior to the game explaining the rules a bit and I'd gone to the library to borrow sports books to learn the rules as well. At this time my Vikings fandom started (which has given me much grief over the years...)

For the first couple of years we had no way of following the NFL, but with the emergence of satellite TV we got a highlight show every saturday with an hour of the best action from the previous week. I saw my first Super Bowl (Super Bowl XXIV) 1990, watching Montana demolish the Broncos. Since then I've watched every SB, being a wreck the following day since it normally doesn't end until 4 AM over here (gmt+1).

Started playing myself in the Swedish league (we have about 30 teams in total in a few divisions). I'm a big guy so ended up on the offensive line, playing OT all my years (couple of games doubling at DT as well).

Got into NCAA football in the late 90s when there was actually a Swiss company selling VHS tapes of taped games and sent them all over Europe. You could get the Saturday games the following Friday. Now things are a bit different and everything is streamable. Happy times.

Enough about me. What are everyone's thoughts for the upcoming season? Favorite teams, both college and the pros?

As I said, Vikings fan myself. Have no connection to any college, but have a soft spot for the Sooners having loved their team late 90s early 00 with Teddy lehman, Roy Williams and the rest.

As for this year I'm hoping Zimmer can get the Vikings defense improving a bit more. With a bit of pass rush I believe they can be pretty good. Safeties are great and Rhodes at corner, the lb corps has athletes and with coaching should be great. As for the offense it will all come down to the line. It was abysmal last season and with Loadholt missing this year it can get the ugly.

Thursday night is Steelers @ Patriots. Brady playing (not gonna get into that). Feels you write the Pats off every year and they are still there at the end. As for Steelers, the offense should be good, but the defense look very suspect. Not the Steelers of old.

[OTGabe]

Atlanta is my hometown and I have been a die-hard Falcons fan my whole life. That's certainly not the life of fandom that one would choose on purpose. Our biggest moment of glory was knocking out the aforementioned Vikings in 1998 to reach the Super Bowl. Unfortunately we had to play against the Broncos in John Elway's last game, and the script of him riding off into the sunset was too much to overcome. Thankfully we've risen into the upper tiers of the league in the last decade, though the last couple of seasons have seen some regression. Hopefully the new head coach's implementation of a more simple, aggressive style will pay dividends. My wife is from Pittsburgh, and I never cared for the Steelers prior to meeting her. But I have come around after spending time in the city and buying in the whole Steel City, working class theme, so I root for them unless they are playing the Falcons. I will be hoping for them to crush the evil empire from New England on Thursday.

I am a Georgia Bulldogs fan through and through on the college side, which has pluses and minuses. We are perennially a top 10 team that is very competitive and sends loads of high draft picks to the NFL, but somehow always finds a way to screw it up when it looks like a championship may be close at hand. Hard to know what to expect this season. I also did some schooling at the University of Central Florida, so I pull for the Golden Knights as well. They are a nice story of a program that started from the ground up in 1979 and have grown into a competitive team that has won many conference championships and finished in the Top 25 nationally a few times in recent years.

[meijlinder]

Our biggest moment of glory was knocking out the aforementioned Vikings in 1998 to reach the Super Bowl.

17th of January 99.... I'm still not over that one. Sure we would've been killed by the Broncos but still...

[OTGabe]

Morten Andersen got the better of Gary Anderson that day...

[CanadianStraps]

Have attempted countless times to comprehend and appreciate football, have never been able to do it. I'm the only one in my group of friends that feels this way. I love Rugger and played for years, but football is just not the same, by a big stretch. I go to a SB party every year and have a great time, rarely watch the game though. I am also very active with a large group of friends on DraftKings for baseball, hockey, and PGA, but the group is starting to get fired up for NFL and I won't be participating. Unfortunate, really.

[Der Amf]

I've never been too sure why the American Football season is so short. Is it because it requires a long pre-season to get the moves drilled, and a long post-season to recover physically?

[meijlinder]

I've never been too sure why the American Football season is so short. Is it because it requires a long pre-season to get the moves drilled, and a long post-season to recover physically?

It's the toll it takes physically. If the game was played the same way but with 32 instead of 16 games (regular season) I'm guessing most would be injured before it was over. It is not a sane thing to do, professional football. Heard reports it takes a good decade (if not more) off your life.

Many things about the sport are questionable, the glorification of violence, the macho attitudes, the injuries (big focus on head trauma last couple of years), the money to name a few. But still it brings me to the TV (or computer) every year. Not rational, but then again what about sports is.

[Donf]

[OTGabe]

There has been talk of expanding the season from 4 pre-season games and 16 regular season games to 2 pre-season and 18 regular. This has been met with very strong opposition from the players association due to the increased physical punishment the players would endure.

[OTGabe]

I can never look at the Dallas star without thinking of this:



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