Still Can’t Get My Head Round Superbowl!

So Superbowl Sunday was the big news yesterday in the sports world. Well if you are a Manchester United fan like me, the big news is that we drubbed the league champions and moved within a few points of the top four, but that’s another story……..#mufcforlife

There was no way I was staying up for the whole match but I watched a little bit of it and caught some of the highlights this morning.

Now in the US, the Superbowl is essentially the biggest event in the whole sporting calender, it’s estimated the about 100 million people tuned in to watch the New England Patriots stage one of the greatest come backs in all of sports history, as they turn around a 25 point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the game. So what does that mean? No idea, quite frankly……

What I love about football, that’s the real football – or soccer to you Americans,  is the simplicity of it. You play two halves, to score you put a ball in a net, and if you score a goal, it’s one point. Easy. The best sport in the world.

American football on the other hand is about the most complicated sport on earth. Various lines all over the field, no idea how many players, a stupid looking ball, and what the hell is going on with the scoring? Field goals, touchdowns etc all worth different points – my head was spinning!

Stupid Egg Ball

In fairness to the Americans, they know how to put on a show I’ll give them that, and perhaps that’s why it’s so engaging for people. I think I read as much about Lady Gaga’s performance as I did about the match itself!

It was a real feast on the eyes, and probably something we should learn, to attract all walks of like to our sport, football/soccer.

I heard a wonderful quote recently from a film,

‘The NFL is so big in America that it owns a day of the week’

Not many sports worldwide can claim that right! Right!

So in terms of a show, it’s massive, impressive and a real spectacle. But as a sport, it’s laughable from where I was sitting. Bear in mind that Superbowl Sunday coincided this year with the start of the Six Nations Rugby, another sport I don’t really understand for similar reasons. But I couldn’t help watching a little of both and thinking, ‘hang on, those Americans are just playing rugby with helmets and padding on’

I’m sure there are many differences, but to me there is a reason why the NFL can’t seem to break into other countries, and that’s because it’s simply just a bit weird. It’s a bit like baseball to be honest, to me that is just a colourful version of cricket, which for the record, I also don’t understand. Very much a football man.

So why is American football so aweome? Please tell me because I am lost!

How does a sport end up owning a whole day of the week?

Thanks for reading and as always, until next time…………