I am a big sports fan and I like to watch sports, especially team sports that involve a ball. I have never been a big fan of American Football but I do like to watch the highlights. However, there is a few things that simply rub me the wrong way about American Football. First of all, things can't get more artificial than in the NFL. Reviewable, non-reviewable play, eligible and ineligible receivers, two minute warning, taking a knee. All bullshit. But what always bothered me the most actually has nothing to do with the rules or any team and it's really not any team's fault. It's the NFL's fault. They call the Super Bowl winner the "World champs". But hey they are not alone, the NBA champion often refes to itself as the World champ and so does the "World Series" winner in baseball. I know, I know, many Americans believe the world revolves around their three big sports and there probably isn't a better American Football team in the entire world than those that play in NFL. But that's certainly not true anymore for the NBA and baseball. Or do I need to remind everyone of how the basketball dream team came up short repeatedly in the last few years. My problem with this is, that you should only call yourself the world champ if you even gave the rest of the world a chance to participate. Either by qualifying or by inviting teams from abroad to play. And I mean to qualify by playing the sport not by buying yourself into the league through means of an expansion team.
Anyway, as I was reading some sports news today, I came across a quote from the San Diedo Chargers coach, Marty Schottenheimer: ""It took me back to the old AFL days where you just try to find a way to have one more point than they do," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "It was the kind of game that makes the NFL the most popular sport in the world. If you couldn't enjoy this -- other than coach Lewis and his crowd -- then you might not enjoy football."
He said this after a remarkable comeback of his team which in itself was probably very exciting and one of the better moments in the NFL. But it truly shows how the three big American sports (NFL, MLB and NBA) have a self-perception problem. Yes, they are not the center of the world and there is many people in the rest of the world that don't even care about any of them. But one thing for sure, American Football is far from being the most popular sport. If you search around a little on the web you will find many top 10 of most popular sports and I have yet to find a list on which you can find American Football. The so-called big three should watch the NHL a bit. They are playing for the Stanley Cup and the winner is the Stanley CUp champ. Nothing more and nothing less. The NFL, MLB and the NBA should do the same.
So Marty, the Super Bowl may be one of the most watched sporting events in the world but to me it's not clear whether it's for the actual game or the halftime show. But football is definitely not the most popular sport in the world. Just count the number of people on a given weekend that participate in a soccer game versus an American football game.
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2 comments:
While I agree the use of "World Champions" is a bit of an overstatement. If you look at weekly TV viewership and the amount of money bet on American football, you would be hard pressed to find a sport more watched or bet on.
Also, do you even know what the AFL was?
You are a very smart man. Ive been saying this for years. And thank you for pointing out that Hockey is the shining example of not having the perception problem. While there is little doubt that the Stanley Cup champ can beat almost any other team on the planet, they STILL dont call themselves World Champions. Proper etiquette followed.
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