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Football is better than Rugby - FACT

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Oddly in Canadian gridiron you can still advance the ball by kicking even beyond the line of scrimmage, as long as like rugby players who recover the kick were behind the kicker(or the kicker himself) when he kicked the ball. In fact you can actually get a reset of downs if your punter kicks the ball at lest 20 yards and either he or a player who was behind him when he kicked recovers it(note that this is quite rare, I've seen it a few times).

Drop goals still technically exist as well, though in NFL I beleive you have to be behind the line of scrimmage, while in CFL they can be from open play, it's effectively a moot point since there has been only one extra point even kicked in this fashion in about 60 years +.


Drop Goals used to be more common, but fell out of favour due to the shape of the ball being progressively optimised from throwing over the last60 or so years

Have you ever tried to drop kick a gridiron ball? I have; it is a lot more difficult that drop kicking a rugby ball. The pointy ends make it hard to get the ball to bounce-up accurately, however, it can be done....



watch from 1:10

 
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Was just reading a VERY interesting topic on Rugby league..and what it (and Union) can do to attract more interest and become a major sport. Not sure they can, but this is what works;

Skills pay the bills...and "the beautiful game" garners most attention because of it. Skill is what leaves folk open mouthed and attracts most interest..this is why when such moments of genius occur and are uploaded they get millions of views...and with football it's a regular occurance. With football requiring more talent with using your feet being a lot harder than the easier task of using your hands, skill is the prime requirement. Your size, how many protein shakes you can down...all irrelevant. A rare moment of skill in Rugby was a dummy pass by O'Driscoll which got over a million hits on YouTube...imagine if Rugby had endless moments such as this it would become a major sport (either code). Running into folk which anyone can do, while having some admirers, doesn't generate much interest.

Breathtaking moments are seen on a regular basis in football from the very best players...Luis Suarez for the whole of last season for example. Wasn't a game I watched that he didn't do something ridiculous with the ball and players like him leave folk on the edge if their seats..bit like when he came on for Liverpool at the MCG in front of 95,000 screaming Aussies last summer. It's about the x factor...Lomu being the last in Union.

Then there's the method of scoring...a goal in football is the most visually pleasing in sport. Running with the ball tucked in your arm and then crossing a line the width of the field...how many vids are there on YouTube of this? Not many. Any those that are on there don't get many views...and It's not because it's a much easier method of scoring, it's because it's visually much less aesthetic pleasing. A quality goal in football gets uploaded and quickly accumulates a huge number of hits. My point again is that if Rugby (either code) was less running into folk and had more moments of skill the interest in the sport would increase.

In terms of image, football is far far worse than Rugby league for example..largely as a result of being so big...primadonna players, huge wages and egos, cheating....biting...but people who watch don't care about all of this. It's trivial..infact if anything more scandal is only a good thing (bad publicity is good publicity). Luis Suarez bites someone and it makes headline news all over the world...and you have the likes of Mike Tyson and Bruce Springsteen chiming in on it. It just makes the story bigger..and this is a celebrity world we are living in. Good behaviour wont make the sport more enticing. Rugby league players come across as down to earth, approachable, there doesnt appear to be much (if any) cheating..the lack of foreign influence helps on this score.

The issue of class....Rugby league, like football, is rooted in the working classes, but unlike football, Rugby league has retained its working class identity to this day (largely because money hasnt exploded as it has in football). This is probably a handicap as middle class folk wont be able to identify with it...similar to working classes and Rugby Union. That there are two codes is the biggest handicap of all...theres an obvious division...us and them. I dont think that can be bridged, certainly in England...unless the two codes combine and become one again (unlikely obviously).

The biggest sports in the world are...football, basketball, golf, tennis, boxing...while motor racing, cycling and athletics are global. None of which are collision based. Each variation of a collision based games are played in their own pockets...American football in America, Aussie Rules in Australia, while the two Rugby codes are almost entirely played within the British commonwealth (save southwest France)...they aren't as appealing for most people. There is a glass ceiling for these sports in terms of growth but they will have their niche following.
 
Was just reading a VERY interesting topic on Rugby league..and what it (and Union) can do to attract more interest and become a major sport. Not sure they can, but this is what works;

Skills pay the bills...and "the beautiful game" garners most attention because of it. Skill is what leaves folk open mouthed and attracts most interest..this is why when such moments of genius occur and are uploaded they get millions of views...and with football it's a regular occurance. With football requiring more talent with using your feet being a lot harder than the easier task of using your hands, skill is the prime requirement. Your size, how many protein shakes you can down...all irrelevant. A rare moment of skill in Rugby was a dummy pass by O'Driscoll which got over a million hits on YouTube...imagine if Rugby had endless moments such as this it would become a major sport (either code). Running into folk which anyone can do, while having some admirers, doesn't generate much interest.

Breathtaking moments are seen on a regular basis in football from the very best players...Luis Suarez for the whole of last season for example. Wasn't a game I watched that he didn't do something ridiculous with the ball and players like him leave folk on the edge if their seats..bit like when he came on for Liverpool at the MCG in front of 95,000 screaming Aussies last summer. It's about the x factor...Lomu being the last in Union.

Then there's the method of scoring...a goal in football is the most visually pleasing in sport. Running with the ball tucked in your arm and then crossing a line the width of the field...how many vids are there on YouTube of this? Not many. Any those that are on there don't get many views...and It's not because it's a much easier method of scoring, it's because it's visually much less aesthetic pleasing. A quality goal in football gets uploaded and quickly accumulates a huge number of hits. My point again is that if Rugby (either code) was less running into folk and had more moments of skill the interest in the sport would increase.

In terms of image, football is far far worse than Rugby league for example..largely as a result of being so big...primadonna players, huge wages and egos, cheating....biting...but people who watch don't care about all of this. It's trivial..infact if anything more scandal is only a good thing (bad publicity is good publicity). Luis Suarez bites someone and it makes headline news all over the world...and you have the likes of Mike Tyson and Bruce Springsteen chiming in on it. It just makes the story bigger..and this is a celebrity world we are living in. Good behaviour wont make the sport more enticing. Rugby league players come across as down to earth, approachable, there doesnt appear to be much (if any) cheating..the lack of foreign influence helps on this score.

The issue of class....Rugby league, like football, is rooted in the working classes, but unlike football, Rugby league has retained its working class identity to this day (largely because money hasnt exploded as it has in football). This is probably a handicap as middle class folk wont be able to identify with it...similar to working classes and Rugby Union. That there are two codes is the biggest handicap of all...theres an obvious division...us and them. I dont think that can be bridged, certainly in England...unless the two codes combine and become one again (unlikely obviously).

The biggest sports in the world are...football, basketball, golf, tennis, boxing...while motor racing, cycling and athletics are global. None of which are collision based. Each variation of a collision based games are played in their own pockets...American football in America, Aussie Rules in Australia, while the two Rugby codes are almost entirely played within the British commonwealth (save southwest France)...they aren't as appealing for most people. There is a glass ceiling for these sports in terms of growth but they will have their niche following.


I struggle to see your point, I really do. Are you trying to prove that football is more popular? Well I think that got proved quite a while ago by being fairly bloody obvious! I mean I respect your opinion that you obviously prefer other sports to either code of Rugby, but why do you feel the need to come on here and point and prod at it, barely hiding your disdain for the sport?

Also, I'd definitely argue against the idea that Rugby is not global. Even just counting the British Commonwealth, I'd say it's pretty global considering how big the damn thing is! Anyway, considering that the top 10 teams in the IRB rankings currently has a representative from every continent bar the two Americas (Argentina at 12th and Canada at 17th), I'd say it's doing alright as a global sport.

I don't know how many times I've had to say this, Rugby Union isn't just a Middle/Upper class sport everywhere. It's a working class sport here in Wales, which is why it became popular and why it remains our national sport.
 
Ugh, I thought this was a new thread and was looking forward to some fun! It's been a really boring off season on here so far, not even a "Northern Hemisphere vs Southern Hemisphere" thread yet!
 
I love how SimonG has listed that Boxing isn't collision based.....I guess those gloved fists knock people out by air compression.
 
He's probably getting confused with the WWE, which is fake, just like Cmac's mom's ***ties...

Apparently it hurts like hell to be dropped on a WWE ring, Kurt Angle who'd won a Gold medal in real wrestling at the Olympics took his first "bump" in a WWE ring in training and nearly walked out after it.
 
I don't know the 'typer' in real life, but I do get the feeling that he's lonely, and not very bright.

However, I do prefer people to kick his arguments where it hurts, thereby destroying any attempt at trolling, rather than giving him (personally) too much attention (which is what he so obviously craves).

(Oh, and in reference to LittleGuy). I don't think anyone doubts the actual athletic ability of the WWE guys. They're pretty incredible, and I'm shocked there are not more serious injuries. The results are obviously fixed though, and the brilliant minds behind the franchising have uncovered a commercial golden goose.
 
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I haven't bothered to read his comments... partly because I'm still laughing at his high and mighty BS rant to CS after thinking he was the guy in that picture of SBW :D :D , but also partly because I decided that it's hard to take a man seriously when he talks about "crimes" of rugby in relation to its supposed exclusiveness, but is completely comfortable with a game like soccer effectively signing the death warrants of 4000 people in virtual slavery. Just gives you a sense that the man has some very warped views on life.
 
I haven't bothered to read his comments... partly because I'm still laughing at his high and mighty BS rant to CS after thinking he was the guy in that picture of SBW :D :D , but also partly because I decided that it's hard to take a man seriously when he talks about "crimes" of rugby in relation to its supposed exclusiveness, but is completely comfortable with a game like soccer effectively signing the death warrants of 4000 people in virtual slavery. Just gives you a sense that the man has some very warped views on life.

Yeah it was bizarre, I loved the Imperialism angle, as if the British governors were going out and holding satraps at gunpoint forcing them to play Cricket and Rugby. And apparently they still do, since those countreis that were forced to play are still doing so with great fervour.

He also neglected a pile of non-Imperial countries that play rugby he only mentioned Argentina and France but that left out a pile like Georgia, Romania, Japan, Belgium, Uruguay, Italy, United States(left the Imperial sphere long before rugby got close to codified rules), Portugal and Spain et. al.
 
The bizarrest thing is that in his post above it, he actually pointed out it's not entirely a Commonwealth sport. Then he decided to forget about Argentina and jam his head far up his posterior because he had another post to write about the inferiority of rugby based on its classist roots and couldn't acknowledge inconvenient truths against his argument. The game is spreading and has spread beyond that wake of British settlers. It feels like we're ten years max away from expanding the current Tier 1 teams to take account of the burgeoning Tier 2 competitions.

It's sorta a shame he's gone, as he had some interesting points, but I feel like I've seen them all now and gods knows he wasn't interested in listening..
 
Yeah it was bizarre, I loved the Imperialism angle, as if the British governors were going out and holding satraps at gunpoint forcing them to play Cricket and Rugby. And apparently they still do, since those countreis that were forced to play are still doing so with great fervour.

He also neglected a pile of non-Imperial countries that play rugby he only mentioned Argentina and France but that left out a pile like Georgia, Romania, Japan, Belgium, Uruguay, Italy, United States(left the Imperial sphere long before rugby got close to codified rules), Portugal and Spain et. al.

In truth his points weren't all that interesting. It never really went beyond the rather superficial criticism of Rugby = Private Schools (or "Public Schools" as you strangely term them in the UK) = Bad.

Apart from the fact that he couldn't recognise SBW in sunnies and an Argentina soccer shirt (maybe those Superman writers had a point with Clarke Kent's "disguise"), the most telling thing for me was how he couldn't even bring himself respond to the avalanche of points raised showing the inequality, oppression and slaughter that has been brought on the weakest in the world by his beloved soccer.

Got to laugh though don't you; he had such a massive toss on all this class stuff and somehow forgot that FIFA's helping Qatar kill hundreds of "slave workers" to prepare for his "game".

But I'll let John Oliver sum up just why it's a game run by the most evil f###ing people outside of the Gomorrah:

 
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The bizarrest thing is that in his post above it, he actually pointed out it's not entirely a Commonwealth sport. Then he decided to forget about Argentina and jam his head far up his posterior because he had another post to write about the inferiority of rugby based on its classist roots and couldn't acknowledge inconvenient truths against his argument. The game is spreading and has spread beyond that wake of British settlers. It feels like we're ten years max away from expanding the current Tier 1 teams to take account of the burgeoning Tier 2 competitions.

It's sorta a shame he's gone, as he had some interesting points, but I feel like I've seen them all now and gods knows he wasn't interested in listening..

He'll be back in a couple of days. We are just cracking the whip a little bit on staff now, some of the membership have been a little out of order in the last few weeks to a month and we have given plenty of warnings and chances. It was getting ugly on here(as I'm sure many of our posters like yourself Peat who keep things respectful have noticed), we aren't getting Draconian just letting everyone know it's not a free for all here.
 
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