It seems a little strange that I would start this thread, but hey.

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Note in particular the yawning gap between Stevenage and Woking.

I realise that this post will go out of date quite quickly and that there is a good chance that I will end up looking stupid.

Stevenage are beneath my notice...

What I do note is we are playing to our strengths and drawing every game possible; I mean 8 points from 7 games is impressive. Not as impressive as 9 draws on the trot but we're evidently leading up to a new record attempt...

NY Giants at Miami Dolphins (Wembley Stadium, London, UK)

Long version:

It was a monumental, historical occasion; the first time a regular season NFL match was to be played outside North America, it's just a bit of a shame the teams chosen made it the equivalent of Everton vs Derby...

Miami's dire form (0-7 going into this match) pretty much precluded a titanic struggle and some good old English rain put paid to any hopes for the spectacle of a high-scoring game. It ended 13-10 to the Giants, a surprisingly close score given the Phins' 1st half performance, the stadium ringing to good-natured boos as the Giants kneeled out the last 2 minutes. Fortunately for all involved the game itself wasn't the real draw; the occasion was the thing.

The NFL obviously worked hard to bring some dazzle to town: In an impressive display of regimented entertainment the crowd was treated to a display from 50 smiling Dolphins cheerleaders (they only brought 53 players), two songs from The Feeling and the introduction of the team through dry ice and flames you could feel across the pitch. This was followed by the national anthems and then the coin toss. The latter attended by honoury captains Martin Johnson (huge cheer) and John Terry (roundly booed - perhaps a proper foottie fan could tell me why) and the coin tossed by Lewis Hamilton (another huge cheer).

So the game kicked-off to a shower of flashbulbs from the crowd, the majority being neutral but vocal in their support of the 'home' team of Miami. With pretty much every NFL jersey on show, the willingness of the crowd to join in with the announcer in cheering on the team ("That's another Miami Dolphins..." "FIRST DOWN!") may have surprised some, but the prevalence of shirts with 'Marino' on the back perhaps indicated why the Dolphins were chosen to 'host' the game. The crowd weren't quite as raucous in defence as one expects a home crowd to be (at times it sounded more like a dining hall than a sporting occasion), but they more than made up for it whenever a long pass homed in on a free receiver, or a running back broke free of the scrum; a load roar reverberating around the steep banks of the new Wembley in very satisfactory manner. The stadium, by the way, is quite impressive - the views are uniformly excellent - it's just a shame it's in Wembley...

The game itself was marked mainly by screw-ups: Every time the Dolphins got in sight of the goal-line their quarterback (Lemon) bobbled the snap and was sacked, or they were penalised for holding and ended up with nothing or a field goal. The Giants weren't much better but they were better; Laurence Tynes (born in Scotland you know) scoring the first points in Europe with a 20 yard field goal, and the quarterback Eli Manning running the ball in himself for a 12 yard TD. Then, to pile upon his misery, Lemon dropped the ball as he pulled back to throw and the Giants recovered to another field goal. The rain meant both sides relied mainly on rushing (I think the giants had something stupid like 29 completed passing yards) and the pitch, more suited to the smooth passing of a football than the pounding of 200 pound men, cut up almost immediately into a muddy slick; twisting, cutting runs were made unlikely due to fear of injury.

After a half time show from a marching band, and serial streaker Mark Roberts (dressed as an umpire to reveal a football-shaped thong to the amusement of all - the US papers all mention it as a traditional English touch, the UK papers all ignored it), the play continued in much the same way until the final 2 minutes; an 80 yard Dolphin drive was capped off with a perfect 29 yard TD throw that got everyone, including the Giants fans in front of me, on their feet and roaring their approval: The game had finally come to life - the Dolphins had a chance (albeit a slim one) of taking something from the game; if they could perform an off-side kick (a short kick-off that bobbles along the ground giving the kicking team a chance of recovering it) they could have a chance...but, reverting to form, the ball was kicked out of touch, skidding over the slick ground without even travelling the requisite 10 yards. This gave the game to the Giants as they could run the clock down without doing anything; a tactic that is commonplace in the NFL and treated with equanimity. The Wembley crowd, more used to seeing play continue with more and more doggedness (from at least one side) until a final whistle, booed the tactic enthusiastically - something not really done in the US but understood none-the-less.

So the game ended and we trooped back down Wembley high street to queue in an orderly fashion for the train reflecting on an enjoyable and successful outing, even if the game couldn't quite rise to the occasion. Everyone generally seems to think it a success. Roll on the Superbowl. Roll on the next international game. Roll on the Carling Cup final...anyone want to go?

NY Giants at Miami Dolphins (Wembley Stadium, London, UK)

Short version:

Dolphins lost 13-10. Not a great game but a fantastic day out. Worth every penny.

Er... because he's a twat?


Get you with your fancy lingo! Surely you mean he dropped the ball and got mullered?

I saw the highlights - the pitch was a joke. How long must they have argued with the NFL to assure them it would be ok? All the players looked pretty cheesed off with it. Also I could imagine the usual (football) head groundsman crying into his pint looking at all the huge divots ruining the pristine turf.

I have a similar issue with NFL as I do with basketball, its so stop-start how can that be interesting? You're dealing with about 100 5 second chunks of play. Booooring. Ice hockey on the other hand... genius.

On the topic of american football:

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Otherwise known as Rugby

"THIS FOOTBALL GAME IS OVER" Brilliant.

My fancy lingo, as you put it, is merely the easiest way to say it: 'Lemon didn't quite catch the ball cleanly when the guy infront of him shoved it through his legs and then ran away screaming until some 7 foot monster jumped on him,' doesn't quite have the same ring to it...

Just think of the excuses we have if we lose to Croatia: 'It was all the fault of those damn Americans!'

I can't explain why I enjoy NFL; people claim it showcases all facets of athleticism and all the rest but I just enjoyed chatting and getting excited when somehting spectacular happens...much like cricket which, let's face it, is also pretty stop start and goes on one hell of a lot longer.

PS Is john Terry a twat? I've never met him. I just know he's a very good defender.

King you were there! I was there! With my brothers. Had to get rather pricey tickets - £125 a pop. How much were yours?

Agree with your review. Was an excellent day out - really enjoyed it. It was my first football I've been to - and in fact the first one I'd sat through ever. Probably watched about 15 mins of it previously.

I agree with the cricket reference - you go for a chat and a drink. From all reports it is usually the last quarter when things get really exciting.

I'd certainly go see another game. Would love to see an NBA game in London too =)

I should have posted beforehand; we could've met up.

Our tickets were £75; we were in the third tier (so quite high, level above corporate boxes) on the side, nearest the corner from which the Dolphins were introduced. Where were you?

If you (or anyone else for that matter) are interested I usually stay up to watch the Superbowl in February (on the BBC this year). It's usually just me and my brother but if we could get more people we could make a proper party of it. Unfortunately it's on a Sunday night but all are welcome.

Seeing NBA (or NHL) would also be very cool.

we were in the 2nd tier - 'club wembley'. looks like we were opposite you - right behind the goal posts on the East side. got our tickets through a friend of an uncle who works for a legal firm that represents wembley. was quite lucky - but of course they only had the 'posh' expensive seats.

superbowl is like from midnight till 5 isn't it? so monday is a write off - might be convinced. depends on how my slightly piqued interest in american football develops.

by the way - I didn't get the Terry booing either.

It certainly starts late and goes on into the wee small hours. The exact times depend on which coast it's being played. As it's in Arizona this year the hours are likely to be quite wee. I'll take at least Monday morning off.

If you are interested Dan, Five US have highlights of two games every Tuesday 7-8 pm and I think they show a whole match late night sometime which you can record and watch later. And if you want to know the rules I'd reccommend playing John Madden '98 on the Sega Megadrive.

What? You mean Blitz isn't accurate?

That's basically what I was mental-mapping over the wembley pitch last Sunday =)

Cheers Mikey,
Dan

What gave it away?

The fact that there were fewer people on fire?

We should take a moment to celebrate Tottenham Hotspur's recent escape from the relegation zone. After 12 games, Spurs are in 17^th place and ahead of Wigan on goal difference.
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Good work.

Yeah, that always disappoints me when I'm watching the real thing, along with the distinct lack of an all purpose 'mincing' move to dodge tackles.

Same with NBA Jam (with cheats) - why can't real players play with a ball that's on fire and do a triple somersault dunk from the halfway line?

Until these features are introduced into the real games, they are unlikely to grab my attention.

Hey they're trying: You obviously don't remember my post about Slamball.

Check this out

I would like to address a couple of points.


Quite the Hollywood CV he's racked up there.


When I need the opinion of a useless cretin who knows nothing about sport I will ask for it.

Good night.

It's all relative. Compared to anyone else we could have got that's an amazing CV. Also, missed out from that list is England U21s and England (okay, one match). That's not bad. What were you expecting to see on the CV of the new Stevenage manager? Chelsea? Real Madrid?

I think you'll find also that Leicester were in the premiership when he managed them and they finished 13th that season (which Spurs would probably take now if offered it - even the cretins like me and Pete who know nothing about footie-football can see that).

So ner.

(I'm still not convinced he'll be any good by the way.)

you can all sh!t off...

spurs will finish top 6... you mark my words...

Care to make a prediction for this year's football season?

Spurs relegated.

Pete haven't you got anything better to do? Like writing a thesis maybe? We are a very easy target at the moment.

Anyway we're concentrating on our defence of the Carling Cup. So ner.

Haven't we all got something better to do? Like not talking about football?

And before you all say it, I'm aware that I started this topic and I'm as mystified as the rest of you by that fact.

I'm so disgruntled by my beloved spurs' inept performances of late, that I am thinking of taking up golf and not tuning in to BBC1 at 4.30 on a saturday as Manish and Lee Dixon or Martin Keown (god help us) sift through another abysmal performance.

On a side note, I have never read this thread and was busy reading Kingoloramusses wonderful report on the NFL game at Wembley, before realising that it was from last year!!

I also love the Hut Hut of an NFL game and recently was in the US of A (Malibu in fact, snarf, snarf) and spent a whole monday night watching the Eagles (the philly ones) and the Broncos (from Denver) going bananas and putting up a score of 32-36 or something. It was interesting to hear the American fans in the bar, they were all like spurs fans, just lots of held in breath, interspersed with yelps of annoyance or gasps of relief and occasionally absolutely filthy language. Also for no apparent reason, everyone was against Denver as they have been successful in the past (kind of like an Man u or Chelsea hatred in England).

Anyways, if anyone is ever interested in hosting a Superbowl party, i would like to pencil my name in for a bud and a pretzel. I would volunteer my gaff, but my current TV wouldn't do the Superbowl justice, you need an HD 50'' mother of a plasma deal.

I'd forgotten I'd written that...unfortunately I can't go to this year's Wembley game (New Orleans Saints 'at' San Diego Chargers) because someone selfishly organised their wedding for the same day...in San Diego of all places. Honestly; I go all the way there and the Chargers aren't home: not only that; they're in my home with their feet up on the sofa! My brother's going again though so I'll get a report from him. The BBC are also showing it live...If I'm not anywhere to be seen come wedding time perhaps you should try the local sports bar...

Anyway I'm always up for watching the Superbowl so we'll have to bear it in mind.

I actually got tickets for this year's wembley match. Before double booking myself to go to same said wedding. How silly of me. =)