"The starting quarterback, and other vital starters never p[l]ay the whole game."

Um, no one plays the whole game. The offense and defense are entirely different squads. No one has played an entire game, on both sides for (guessing here) 80 years or so.

The chance of injury is not just high; it is virtually certain. Almost all NFL players, aside from kickers, retire with at least a partial disability. It's very unusual to find a former NFLer who can comfortably climb stairs, even in their 30s or 40s. When a 300-pound man who runs as fast as a sprinter and is covered with armor hits your knees at full throttle, bad things happen.

The NFL has seem the growing worldwide popularity of basketball (that answers the "minority" question) and is drooling.
If they could sell out just 10-12 games a year, they'd be happy. I think it could be done.

waring, LOL! When I first moved over here, I used to think that - until my son actually played the game. Then I learned what was going on and now I'm a fanatic! Conversely, even when I lived in the UK, I never liked football. I though it was boring. Nothing ever happens! I did like rugby.

I admit i have not watched or cared to watch a professional football (American) game in decades. boring to me but i love college football - same game of course as per rules but vastly different.

i just don't care to watch overpaid spoiled pro athletes in any sport though i may watch an important basketball game even those players are the most spoiled of all it seems.

that said when i was in Italy during Super Bowl week i was amazed at some younger folks i talked to on a night train knew much more about NFL than i did and they said they had SuperBowl parties even at the odd time the game came on.

Maybe the new Whole Foods can supply tailgaters at Wembley and garner some pub out of it.

A major difference between American Football and Football (Soccer) is that in American Football when people fall down it is because they are actually hit.

<<< when will the 'new' Wembley Stadium open >>>

It opened a few weeks ago

That would be Football in Southern Europe and Latin America.

If you hit an Emile Heskey, for example, it's the the person who hits who ends up on the floor.

Is there more than one Emile Heskey? ;-)

200 pounds 6'2", moves like a runaway rhinocerous......

Emile Heskey's nickname is [Frank] Bruno - 'cos he's a big black bloke who goes down easily.

Who? I couldn't name a single American football player.>>>>>

I can - OJ Simpson.

I won't be here for the NFL game but I'm in London as we speak to witness the FA Cup final tomorrow at the <b>new Wembley</b> :-D

Reporting from the Hilton Metropole Lounge Bar.

Prediction: ManU 2 - Chelsea 1

I think the ticket demand has a lot to do with novelty. Perhaps a more telling indication is the number of American's you see investing in EPL teams. You don't see foreigners buying NFL teams (even though from a money standpoint, a team like Tampa Bay may be a richer investment than some of the &quot;big&quot; EPL clubs).

I'll be interested to see if the EPL ever decides to do something to court the largely untapped American market. The EPL is the best soccer league in the world, and with the common language, they've got such a built in advantage that I'm really surprised they haven't made more of an effort to tap into the richest underserved market.

Weird that i would be a whole lot of American kids, from near toddlers on up to late teens play soccer more than Brits or Europeans do - raw numbers and percentages - it's said to be the most popular participatory sport in the U.S. right now among school kids.

But this soccer mania, which was reflecting in the 'soccer mom' phrase in Presidential campaign not long ago, never has translated into any great viewership or interest in professional soccer. Boggles my mind.

Go ManU - spurned former Spurs supporter.

The Premier League doesn't, but the top English (and other European) clubs do. Every summer for the past few years they've toured the US with a series of games between, say, Chelsea, Man Utd, Barcelona, AC Milan, etc. At the two games in Seattle I've gone to the sold-out crowd has been about half Americans, half foreign visitors or expatriates.

It's not the same, of course, since the games count for nothing, the stars play one half if that much, and everything moves at half speed. But it's fun. It's not really &quot;tapping the market&quot; or anything like that; there will never be a real first-class market for soccer in the US.

English footballl (not bloody &quot;soccer&quot;) does suprisingly well on the TV over there - despite the time difference.

Are they all ex-pat brits watching?

'surprisingly well' means what - two viewers?

it's never been brought to my attention though it i searched enough on the 200 channels or so i guess it's on.

Soccer is just not on the sports radar of the average American, even if they played it for years now as school kids.

talk about watching paint dry - watching soccer is like watching paint peel - maybe could market as a sleep aid.

&gt;&gt;But this soccer mania, which was reflecting in the 'soccer mom' phrase in Presidential campaign not long ago, never has translated into any great viewership or interest in professional soccer. Boggles my mind.&lt;&lt;

Soccer is clearly firmly established in the US as a game for children (and those of the female persuasion), not something blokey blokes could or should be interested in. Quite the reverse of the situation in the UK (though there are some American players in the English Premiership, I believe, so some obviously make it through to the most lucrative level).

Twas ever thus. Rounders was about the only game I was ever any good at in primary school. Baseball just doesn't interest me now.

Indeed soccer is considered a rather sissy sport here - 150 pound kids play soccer while the real men, more brutish play football.

I realize this stereotype is bunk but that's the perception. Slim largely white kids are allowed to play soccer or encouraged but mommie doesn't want him banged up on the grid iron. Also a reason for the huge popularity of girls soccer and of course they have no real football to turn to.

The &quot;real&quot; football is shown and greatly watched on FoxSportsWorld channel (613 on DirecTV). EPL, the Italian, Spanish and German leaugue matches are shown live. One can actually see ALL EPL matches if one does not mind recorded games as FSW does show all the weekly matches through the week.

The main match, the match of the week is also shown live on pay-per-view.

FSW does pretty well with the games, so it's more than just 2 viewers.

Murdoch is not stupid.


Getting ready for tomorrow's match. Go ManU!