American Football.

[Dirk Gently]

I thought I'd start a generic thread about American Football so if anyone is interested then they can post here, but basically this is to stop me from starting a new thread every time the Super Bowl is on.

This year it's The New England Patriots Vs The New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

[Dirk Gently]

1st Quarter, Giants have a 9 minute drive to score 3 pts. Quarter ends Patriots 0-3 Giants.

2nd Quarter, right at the start, Patriots come right back with a touch down.
Patriots 7-3 Giants with 14 minutes to go.


To be honest I don't give a fig who wins so long as it's a good game.

[Milky Tears]

As usual, I've got it on in the background.


ETA: Tom Petty has been the highlight so far!

[Dirk Gently]

Patriots 7-3 Giants @Half time. But still an interesting game.

I turned over so as not to see Tom Petty.

[Milky Tears]

I only turned the volume up past five when Petty came on.

[Dirk Gently]

You've got no American spirit.

[Dirk Gently]

I can't believe that the Patriots are winning when the Giants are playing the better football.

End of the 3rd Quarter & no more score!

This could end up the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever.

[Dirk Gently]

We have a score! Giants 10 - 7 Patriots.

[Dirk Gently]

We have a winner!

Giants 17 - 14 Patriots.

Well done the New York Giants! Getting a touchdown in the last 34 seconds to get a 3pt lead which the Patriots failed to chase down.

All in all, a good game.

[Jon Masters]

I watched the first half, so I'm pleased the NYG won as they were certainly playing the better and more positive game.

I miss NFL on C4 Sunday nights

[Dirk Gently]

I miss NFL on C4 Sunday nights

Yes, I used to watch that. I loved the Ch4 grid Iron logo.

[MacNimon]

I'm glad that the Patriots didn't win this. There are other teams (such as the Raiders or Packers) that I personally would prefer to see beat the Dolphin's unbeaten 1973 record, for some reason they (the Patriots) are just a team that I've never really taken to. No real reasoning behind it, but when I started following the sport when it first aired here on Channel 4 in the early 80s I found myself rooting for both these teams (Raiders and Packers), along with the 49ers, the Dolphins and the Steelers. For no other reason than the great players of the time who made an impression on me...the Marcus Allens, Joe Montanas and Dan Marinos of the game certainly made an impact and these teams remain my favourites to this day, They've all had their highs and lows over the years, but I the game moves in cycles...and the Raiders are long overdue a return to the Superbowl. Maybe next year...

[FlyingBeastie]

I'm not into football, but Ninja Warrior was a repeat and there was 10 minutes left in the game so I watched it and became totally hooked!

With 2 minutes and a half left the Giants scored and won! it was amazing! I Eli Manning! What a man!

Plus, I'm from NY so of course I have to root for my team!

What a great and amazing last 10 minutes game!

[Dirk Gently]

The Baltimore Ravens Vs San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers started very pensive as far as I can see & the Ravens have taken more than advantage.

The first half ended Ravens 21 - 6 49ers.

Start of the 3rd quarter, Ravens return the kick off for a 109 yard return TD.

28 - 6 Ravens. But the game has been stopped because of a power outage.

[Anthony Williams]

We didn't watch it. We were still sulking over the poor refereeing decisions that led to the Falcons not going to the Super Bowl.

[MacNimon]

I haven't watched it in years. Shame, because I used to love it...I bought the First Down weekly newspaper (and its Quarterback predecessor) for a long time, along with the monthly magazines such as Quarterback (again...I know! but it was just the same company reviving the publication in a different format) and Gridiron UK. I've still got a complete set of Quarterback in their binders...

However (as I see I said earlier in this thread, about 5 years ago ) I gradually lost interest in the sport when it disappeared from our C4 screens. The final nail in the coffin for me was when the magazines, then finally First Down itself, finally disappeared from the shelves. I'd love to get back into the sport but not having Sky or ESPN I always seem to miss out on the season starting each year, and by the time I even realise it's midway through the season. I also rreally regret on missing out on the Packers return to form a while back, because way back in the 80s I really wanted to see them do well again. Then I missed it, except for seeing it in the news.

It was great to see the 49ers getting there again, though. Although again, I didn't even know that until I saw the news this morning...

So memo to Tim: Please start this thread MUCH earlier for next season, (pre-season even?) as I'd love to follow my favourite old teams all the way through a season for the first time in ages, instead of just getting snatches of news. I've got no chance of that without someone giving me a kick up the backside, though!

[Jon Masters]

I watched my usual first half, then decided the Ravens were going to win and went to bed.

Like Kenny, I was a big fan of Sunday night C4 (Vikings fan) - I've caught the odd game this season on C4 , and the highlights of the Mon night game on the red button on BBC2 (but hate all the cutting back to inane commentators just because the advert breaks have come on). I've tried to keep track f the games using the BBC sport website too.

Will make a big effort to try to get tickets for September for when the Vikings come to Wembley

ETA: Just did a bit of searching to find both Wembley games for this aututmn are already sold out : (

[Simon R]

I liked Beyonce and her big thighs.

[Dirk Gently]

I watched my usual first half, then decided the Ravens were going to win and went to bed.

You missed the best bit! 34 minutes of power cut helped the 49ers to take the 3rd quater 17 - 0!!

But the Ravens did hold out for the win in the end. This is a Superbowl that I could watch again...edited to remove the almost constant breaks in play naturally.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I'm just glad they didn't take The Sky at Night off for this like they usually do. Pity they had to wait until the first edition AFTER Patrick Moore died to make this decision.

[Jeff]

We didn't watch it. We were still sulking over the poor refereeing decisions that led to the Falcons not going to the Super Bowl.

Sorry Ant, but I think blaming the referees after you blow a 17-0 lead (I believe that was a postseason record).. I don't know. I watched that game (as well as all the other postseason games and most of the televised NFL games from week 1) and I didn't see that the officials were to blame for the loss. There are poor calls and missed calls for and against every team in every game. Really, only the really bad call by the replacement refs right before the league finalized a deal with the real refs back early in the season was the only one I would say was really determined by the refs.

For the same reason I blame Jim Harbaugh for the Niner's loss. He can cry about the officials not calling pass interference on the 4th and goal, but when you have a guy like Frank Gore who is pushing the ball 4 yards after contact and you have a 1st and goal on the 5, and then you don't run Gore one time... then that is a stupid decision and you deserve to lose. I was rooting for the Niners and enjoyed the comeback but he should have let Gore run the ball to the outside two or three times.