You're nitpicking now. 19,000 is statistically significant and there may well have been other polls which had the Fins as No.1. This is just one poll I found that had the Fins very highly ranked. It is not gospel and it does not mean the original poster was wrong. There was also no claim that the fans knew what they were talking about - just that they support the Fins. And you might very well be surprised by the level of knowledge in the UK. We've had football on TV for over 20 years now and we get three or more live games every week on satellite.
I'll bet you of those 19k half of them wouldn't even know who Jason and Zach were , but aquamarine is such a lovely colour:wink:
Which Uni did you play for? Did you play any senior league as well? I played for 13 years starting with Crawley Raiders and Finishing with Sussex Thunder.
i don't think there can be much doubt that the Niners, Dolphins and Redskins are the most popular teams in the UK with the Patriots fast gaining - each a bandwagon phenomenon from it's own time.
Yes, so it would be a Dolphins home game - that's what I'm saying - you can't call it an away game for both teams.
PLayed for the Leeds Celtics for 3 years, never played senior but new quite a few guys who played and coached at Gateshead Senators in the last few years
Nice post UK, nice informative work. Champ 69 you are one pain in the ass, always questioning everything about everything. The Dolphins have a good fan base for the reasons my UK colleague explains coupled with the fact that Florida is one of the top destinations for vacation in the UK- work it out. I have a number of good friends from New York who are amazed at the coverage we receive in the UK, 'sunday countdown' prior to the game, 4 games live and interactive between 6pm,(1pm, US eastern) and 9.15,(4.15, US eastern) plus the late CBS game. Add the Monday game live, over here in the small hours and all Thanksgiving and holiday games- all live - you might get the picture how big this game is over here. The level of commitment from coaches and players to progress the game they love over here will astound you! My local team, Dundee Hurricanes charge their players to play, and also each player has to provide their own kit!
i think this is great for fans of the game over here in ireland we have 13 teams including team ireland its a sport that is coming along in a big way and a game like this will just draw more people in not just for nfl but for small clubs like ours ( dublin dragons ) like the uk we only get to see 3 games a week
The only way the NFL could realistically help the sport grow is to start a league that isn't full up of North-American players. NFL Europe is a big waste of time, the London Monarchs showed that people have no interest of going and watching a bunch of imported players that aren't good enough for the NFL(the majority of them). The only way to draw people in, is to use local players and try to create stars that people from that actual country can associate with. It would be nice to see a real NFL Europe. btw - nice quote on the Nasty Boys and the strange little creature that was Gary Imlach. Thank god for Sky Sports and the internet, watched nearly every Jets game live this year.
I suspect that a better model would be to have an NFL "minor league" over here - a 16 team league with each team assigned an AFC and an NFC team to be the affiliate for - e.g. the Berlin Thunder could be affiliated to NYJ and NYG, Amsterdam Admirals to NEP and WAS, Rhein Fire to OAK and SF - the rosters can be made up of developmental players contracted to the parent team and a certain number of "nationals" - obviously the NFL would have to tweak roster rules to allow this, and training camp rules (exemptions for 10 players or something). This allows for some level of continuity (hopefully - need rules along the lines of 75% of players not signed to the active NFL roster to be signed to a "Europe" deal and sent back, problem then is convincing the players, though if they see guys doing this and making it on to the big league team that'll be easier) and builds support - it was frustrating following the Claymores to basically have a 90% roster turnover each year. Your favourite guys were gone in a flash, which is OK if they're now in the NFL, but not if they're in the CFL or delivering parcels for DHL or something.
I would like to add Kevin Cadle to that list. The guy talks with a full stop at the end.of every.word......Nick.what.have.you.got?
Is Cadle not a former coach, I think basketball is his primary interest. I quite like him. Halling I can hardly bear.
It's Halling's voice I can't stand. The Americanisms he drops in just sound daft with that British accent. He knows his stuff though and it must be incredibly difficult to sit there for seven hours and keep thinking of things to say. That said, I prefer to have ad breaks when I'm watching on the internet than go back to the studio on Sky Sports for another "6-3 in our ballgame..." from Cadle. That man really hacks me off, and I try not to get worked up about things. He has zero interest in the game, zero charisma and, as Gus pointed out, he speaks with full stops dotted throughout his sentences! It's even worse on the highlights show... "Trailing. 17-10. The Patriots. Went. To the air." Get him some training, Sky! BTW, I played two years for the University of Hull Sharks back in the 1980s. I must have some sort of record, because I never lost a college game, but never won a title.
Cadle is a lot better than he was, which isn't saying much. On his first couple of seasons, he managed to get all the facts that were being directly fed to him wrong. Now he's better at reading them off, full-stops and all. I'm told he's a legend in British Basketball. In my opinion, Halling's the best full-time commentator we've ever had. Again that's not the greatest compliment, when Mick 'Me talk like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins' Luckhurst is probably the second best. Shame Tony Siragusa is now commentating in America, thought he was better over here.(Not to mention he's just the kind of Fatass NT we could use right now on the Jets) I haven't been to a Brit-League game in a while but followed the Knights for a long time, actually enjoyed messing around playing more than watching the actual game. I have no doubt I was more accurate and threw for more yardage than both QB's on the pitch combined. Saying that we did actually have a QB that could throw the ball(he had that great Peyton Manning choking ability though), I think that made him the 3rd British QB at the time that could throw and who was that rare breed that wasn't a glorified running-back.
A lot of the guys I played flag with at the (presumably now definct) Glasgow Sabres went off to be part of the West Coast Titans, who lost their bowl game this year, I think.
Great feedback guys. I am dissapointed that there seems to be an apathy from our US cousins about the impact this will have on the game generally, NFL is now a global game. How long before we have a serious international contender to the game in the US? Okay maybe 20 years, but this can only go forward. Think about where the US soccer team is in the International pecking order, about 15 I think, who would have believed that 20 years ago? I played for the "Jack Daniel Tumblers" for 10 years at QB and was outstanding, no interceptions and passed for 10,000 yards, 2 rotar cuff injuries in succesive years put paid to a promising NFL carreer. Bah!
it's only a 5 hr plane flight. They can pretend they are taking a long nap. You'll be surprised the fan base in uk, the us military and hooligans, they love there football regardless if you use your hands or feet.
the teams that have to play overseas is going to have the buy week. so its not that big of a deal. i personally think its great.
