I was sitting here in Sydney in a bar with a mate yesterday and the super bowl was on TV. Suddenly, a guy behind us yelled out "can someone please turn that sceptic tank crap off" (sceptic tank is slang for yank...re American) So...I turned to him and said some of us are watching etc etc, so STF up please. It was about then that the commentator said something about "the world championship is at stake" at which point the same bloke said "world championship...no one else plays the f##ing sport! typical arrogant pr#cks!. who'd call their OWN sport a WORLD championship". Anyway...he left and we continued watching. I thought it was a good game. At work I was talking about it today and someone said "yeah...why do they call it a world championship when no else could care less about it". So...my question is, why is it called a world championship? It does seem pretty arrogant. I mean, our Australian rules guys are obviously the best in the world at that game but you'd never hear any of them proclaim themselves world champions as hardly anyone else plays the game. It would be embarresing to do so. It got me to thinking also about the NBA and how they proclaim them the "world champion" Lakers etc. Seems bizarre given that the USA isn't ranked number one in the world. (Yes, I know the USA is the best...but you have to earn it...and besides, no DOMESTIC team should be named 'world champs'.) I am not having a go here and I'd love to hear a reasonable explanation...but 'world champions' is ridiculous. It would be like me calling myself a world champion because I walk to my work faster than anyone else from my place to work... because I am the only one in the world who actually takes my route to work, ie my own place to work. No one else plays the game. Just seems bizarre to call it a world championship?
i can't see anything wrong with the nba champ being world champs considering lots of people play bball and whoever wins is the best team in the world. it's not like only US players get to play here so the fact it's in the US is irrelevant. the nba champ is the best basketball team in the world, plain and simple, no one in any part of the world plays a higher level of ball than the nba and they are the best there so it's applicable. about the nfl, that's too bad if no one else plays football like we do, they are technically the world champ. plus the whole freakin world watches the game so people definitely care. it's not as if there is anyplace in the world that could play football (even if those countries played american football) and do it as well as us. and yes, i guess you are the world champ at taking your route.
I’ve heard similar conversation about the “World Champions” thing here in Canada too. It is odd and definitely somewhat arrogant sounding. They do it in MLB too. But the championship game in MLB used to be sponsored by a newspaper call The World, didn’t it? So “World Champions” had a different meaning in that context. I wonder if the meaning changed over the years and other sports just picked up the habit from baseball? Anyway, we decided to call the Montreal Alouettes the World Champions of Canadian Football, so I think it may be contagious.
1. Ummmmm...there is a world championship. Yugoslavia won it. 2. how are they world champs? we play football here...rugby and league which is MUCH faster and tougher. how are your guys world champs? 3. sorry...the whole world doesn't watch. it rates about 1/2 a per cent down here...that's 1 tv in every 200 has it on at a time nothing else except old soap opera's on tv. i have plenty of english and asian friends who follow all sport...but have never watched NFL. In world terms, soccer, cricket, rugby...are light years ahead of NFL in popularity.
Exactly. It does make you wonder when a bloke like francis 4 pres says "hey we are the best" and no one else plays it we have football here that is ten times faster and tougher...no pads, no soft helmets...just blokes smashing the crap out of each other. i'd fancy their chances to beat the US at any 'combined game'. I always remember the one aussie who played in the NFL (someone scott?) being asked how tough it was and he said "we have padding and helmets...I am the only australian to wear padding and helmets on a football field, so I can't honestly say it's a tough game" Pretty funny
Australian rules football is a man’s game. No doubt about that. I enjoy watching it whenever I can. Canadian football is closer to American football, but it’s played on a significantly bigger field and with some quite different rules. It’s more of a speed and agility game, (with high speed collisions), than the American size and power game. Btw, there is currently an Aussie in the NFL. He’s a punter for San Diego, named Bennett, IIRC.
I'm sure it surprises precisely no one that I have spent years b****ing about this very issue. (I also think it's kind of r****ded to play the national anthem during *internal* matches. If both teams are from the US, why bother playing 'The Star Spangled Banner'? National pride isn't at stake!)
And they had a Canadian who lives in Montreal singing “God bless America my home sweet home” !? (David Foster, another Canadian, did the arrangement for the song.) Oh well, she performs there more than she does here, and she sells many more CDs there, so why not? Maybe you even have to give Americans credit on this point. I don’t remember a non-Canadian ever performing at the Grey Cup and yet Dion and Twain, both Canadians, were feature performers at the Super Bowl. I’m sure that was a pretty good gig even for them.
whoop de do. what relevance does that have to calling yourselves the world champion of your sport. can only one team in all of sports be the world champ. is brazil the only world champ b/c their sport is the most popular?
Rugby and league are most certainly not faster and tougher. There are 350 pound lineman in the NFL who can run faster and who are better athletes than many of your rugby players. Not only is american football a physical sport, it is also one of the most interesting in terms of complexity. It can be related to chess all most. Each player has an assignment on hundreds of different set plays. Coaches have as much influence on outcomes as players in some cases. If Jon Gruden can put a two tight end jumbo package, which forces an opponent to use bigger, run support linebackers, that provides Gruden's team with a strategic advantage. He can now shift the receiver from wide left, to slot right; the tail back to wide left; a tight end to wide right. Then the receiver in the slot is matched up with a slower linebacker. Football goes much deeper than what the average viewer can garner from watching a game.
I've never liked or understood why they do that either. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do to change it.
Although the speeds are quite similar at a sprint, the skillset is very different - if you had any idea what you were talking about you might have acknowledged that. Try watching a rugby or league game sometime, then get back to us. Oh, and Nomar, if you don't think rugby is a fast, tough game... well, obviously you've never watched it. As for 'honouring your flag': um, I think we've all gathered by now that you guys are very very proud of yourselves for existing. And hey, that's great. But does every podunk high school football game need to hear the national anthem? Are you guys suddenly going to forget that the USA exists without it? I found this page of letters which is quite a good read, about a UK player possibly moving to the US to play gridiron. Some of it is just snotty or idiotic but a few people make some interesting points, particularly about relative speed measurements and skills. http://www.rugbyrugby.com/COUNTRY_BY_COUNTRY/USA/Country_News/story_25225.shtml
I think the skillset argument is the crucial one. Ben Cohen (the player mentioned in dimsie's link) is a large, fast winger, who would most likely make an NFL roster. There may, however, be more suitable rugby players to make the transition. A large number of Cohen's talents would go unused in the NFL. He a good tackler (not a required skill in the NFL) and reads the flow of a game extremely well, coming in from his wing at opportune moments. I can't see how this would be utilised in the NFL. Vice versa, not many NFL players would be successful to a high level of rugby. As many people have already pointed out, aerobic fitness is crucial to rugby. I don't care if you're 300lbs and can run 40 yards in X secs, you're going to have to run around and make tackles for 80 minutes with very little respite. Which leads on to another point. NFL players would have to learn how to tackle, and recycle the ball. I could see some of the wide receivers, or even running backs having skills that would translate to rugby, but the defensive side of the game would be a big challenge for those guys. Finally, the way that rugby and American football are played is very different. You have a large number of set plays that the players need to be aware of. The difference in rugby is that the coach sets patterns of play, ways to play in certain situations and positions on the field. The players need to constantly react to the game, and decide for themselves their defensive positioning, and which offensive option to take. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this degree of decision-making just isn't required in the NFL. Interesting point, but in the end, the games are too different to make simplistic comparisons. Give me a good game of rugby to watch any day!
OK, unbiased American opinion coming: 1. The "World Chamionship" label is a status label. It makes the whole thing seem more important than it is. Also, it is an arrogance thing, as it is implying that Americans are the best at whatever they do. Even if the US was the only country that had a particular sport, it could never truly be called a "World Championship" since it would have no participation. I don't see why "National Championship" as we have in college would not be enough (although that could also be part of it - to distinguish from college, since we are too stupid to do so on our own). 2. Surprised you don't know this, dimsie, but the "Star Spangled Banner" began to be played at baseball games during WWII - since it was a time when so many young men were gone, baseball was struggling, etc...it was a little morale and patriotism booster. Once the war ended, the song remained because, yes, we have to continually prove to each other how much we love our country. Since 9-11, they now often include "God Bless America" at sporting events (especially at big ones like the Super Bowl) so we are even more loving and patriotic. I think it is funny when players put their hands over their heart for "God Bless America," especially, but also for "SSB."
It is marketing Who would listen to the 10 SUGGESTIONS . . . naaaa. .. it is the 10 COMMANDMENTS better to the WORLD CHAMPS than the US CHAMPS Rocket River " aaahhh the Rules of Acquisition . . .it was marketing . .. . would you buy the Suggestions of Acquisition" - the Old Ferengi
Talk about getting your panties in a wad over nothing. If you're pissed off that we call the winners the World Champions, make your own teams and beat us. That, or realize it's a ****ing sport. Jeez.
Dang, who cares. Oh, and why are ALL Americans arrogant just because NBC or ABC or the athletes or whoever uses the term "world champions?" Not ALL Americans watch football. And not ALL use the term "world champs". I just say "NFL Champs" personally, cuz it sounds better and it is specifies the sport. It's all about the media hyping it. Not about Americans being arrogant. If being "American" was a race, this dislike for Americans might be a little racist.
