American Football vs Rugby. what is the better sport?

Coming from a person who has played rugby in England and American football in America, I would say both sports have their respective good and bad points. Rugby is great beause of the constant game play, but the hits do not even equal those of a American football game. Make fun of the pads all you want, but remember they are used as weapons by good players. When it comes to social, rugby is number one easily! The "third-half" was always my favorite half. (It was also what I was best at... )

Quote:

Originally posted by buckeye

without a doubt american football. the super bowl is the most watched event in the world, i can can assure rugby would not be watched by half as many people

ummmmmm, nope! as usual the yanks think anything thats biggest in their country automatically means the world

a quick check online....Largest TV Audience In American Football
The greatest ever TV audience for an American football match was 138.5 million viewers watching the NBC transmission of Super Bowl XXX on January 28, 1996.

whereas in the real game of football
The World Cup final (of 1998) alone was watched by 1.7 billion viewers world-wide, the biggest global "shared" experience in human history.

I went over the Basic rules of "Aussie Rules" or "footy" and think its a even better and exciting to watch then Rugby.I did see a footage on Google videos and it was Amazing and looks really Hard to play but a great game to Watch

Bunch of peanut huggers, the lot of 'em !!

Quote:

Originally posted by Frizzle

Coming from a person who has played rugby in England and American football in America, I would say both sports have their respective good and bad points. Rugby is great beause of the constant game play, but the hits do not even equal those of a American football game. Make fun of the pads all you want, but remember they are used as weapons by good players. When it comes to social, rugby is number one easily! The "third-half" was always my favorite half. (It was also what I was best at... )

probably the truest comment yet!1

if american football players didnt wear "protective" shit, people would die every game, idiots.

People used to die or get crippled constantly in American Football. Originally there were no helmets or pads. This slowly developed into cotton padding sewn into the pants and shirts and leather hats, and then to the ones we have today. Deriding American footbal due to the pads and helmets shows ignorance of the facts of the two games. Rugby players are smaller and leaner and therefore have less force when they hit. They also normally don't get a monstrous run up to the hit like American footballers do. At the same time, rugby requires more stamina than American football. American football requires strength and speed. Rugby requires stamina and the ability to improvise. The two really complement each other well and I don't get the whole which is better thing.

One thing to note is that as the pads have gotten bigger, so have the players. It is a constant war between the continuing increase in player size and strength and the ability to protect the players from that size and strength.

Quote:

Originally posted by Tugga

[reply=DocBrewskie]
oh and i think this is like the 10th thread of this kind

Hello Everyone,
I have been following both the Games for quite some time now and I think Rugby is way ahead of American football.I have been to a lot of countries and hardly anyone watches or plays American football outside the US.Infact the Australians make fun of the Game a Lot.One Guy had even remarked on a website that"Pads are for Pussies" and rightly so.In terms of watching I would go for Rugby anyday since football is boring and most of the players are downright unfit plus the breaks in the game to fit commercials sucks.Rugby is a Mans game and the Guy with the lowest Hospital Bill wins!!!
[/reply]

there are no professional football players who are unfit. You see some big fat guys but they're fit perfectly for the position they play. Rugby is different as everyone is in soccer player shape because they all run around constantly. Football's not set up that way, it's a planned out game and you have big guys for blocking and crushing people, you have small quick guys for receiving, medium sized quick guys for running and so on, you have specicialized talent. Which also is why football requires pads and rugby doesn't. Because when your getting hit by a guy who weighs over 300 lbs for 4 quarters straight, your gonna have a really bad night without the pads. The hits are harder in football due to the size of the players and the way the game is set up where you line up opposite each other simply to full on charge another guy after the snap. It's not like rugby where only the guy with the ball is gonna be get hit hard, everytime the ball snaps in a football game everyone you see on the line collides with another guy of equal size and that shit doesn't feel too good. Football is leaps and bounds better because of the strategy involved and especially because they don't wear those incredibly gay ass little shorts, lol.

Quote:

Originally posted by dt3k

if american football players didnt wear "protective" shit, people would die every game, idiots.

and if they dont make a break after every move , some of those healthy looking, full of steroids,fat guys would get a coronary or an cerebral apoplexy.

There is NO ONE in rugby that weighs 320 pounds and there are at least 5 on every football team, and thats the reason for pads. As for the rest of the comparison........rugby is like watching the "option" over and over and over and over. Its boring.

Quote:

Originally posted by lankey

[reply=buckeye]
without a doubt american football. the super bowl is the most watched event in the world, i can can assure rugby would not be watched by half as many people

ummmmmm, nope! as usual the yanks think anything thats biggest in their country automatically means the world

a quick check online....Largest TV Audience In American Football
The greatest ever TV audience for an American football match was 138.5 million viewers watching the NBC transmission of Super Bowl XXX on January 28, 1996.

whereas in the real game of football
The World Cup final (of 1998) alone was watched by 1.7 billion viewers world-wide, the biggest global "shared" experience in human history.
[/reply]


I'm American and fully aware that more people in the world watch soccer then American football. But the thing is we're Americans and we just don't give a flying fuck what other countries like. Since the beginning of this country we've made it a point to do everything opposite of the rest of the world, to like our own things and to tell all of you to go fuck yourselves cause we're American, we even drive on the opposite side of the road and run races backwards just to be different. We're the least concerned country on earth when it comes to a global society, simply because we don't give a fuck about any of you, if your not planning on attacking us or need your ass kicked for some other reason then in all honesty you and your opinions couldn't matter any less to us. I'm not tryin to be a dick here, just let you know why we can be arrogant and sometimes ignorant like that guy you quoted, it's not because we're too stupid to know the real answer it's because we simply don't care enough about any of you to find out the real facts. Our stuff is better cause we're better, that's the American mind set, always has been and always will be. lol.

Ummmm Swiss keep your mouth shut, that was about the most ridiculous response to an honest subject i have ever heard. I am American and I could give 2 craps about you or your opinion. Besides....if we are talking toughness, then watch hockey. If you want to watch something exciting or entertaining..then its womens beach volleyball. End of discussion lol.

It was valid, in America we don't give a shit period, that's why we don't like soccer and we don't like rugby, sorry my response wasn't PC enough for you. And you can't possibly be American, you just told me to watch hockey. Nobody in America watches hockey, that's why they had to cancel a season, you couldn't give away tickets to a hockey game and get anyone to show up in America. Let me see some ID. lol. Ohhh, you must be from Wisconsin where we keep all the Americans who act more like Canadians or in California I guess where everyone thinks they're European.

Quote:

Originally posted by Swiss407

[reply=Tugga]
[reply=DocBrewskie]
oh and i think this is like the 10th thread of this kind

Hello Everyone,
I have been following both the Games for quite some time now and I think Rugby is way ahead of American football.I have been to a lot of countries and hardly anyone watches or plays American football outside the US.Infact the Australians make fun of the Game a Lot.One Guy had even remarked on a website that"Pads are for Pussies" and rightly so.In terms of watching I would go for Rugby anyday since football is boring and most of the players are downright unfit plus the breaks in the game to fit commercials sucks.Rugby is a Mans game and the Guy with the lowest Hospital Bill wins!!!
[/reply]

there are no professional football players who are unfit. You see some big fat guys but they're fit perfectly for the position they play. Rugby is different as everyone is in soccer player shape because they all run around constantly. Football's not set up that way, it's a planned out game and you have big guys for blocking and crushing people, you have small quick guys for receiving, medium sized quick guys for running and so on, you have specicialized talent. Which also is why football requires pads and rugby doesn't. Because when your getting hit by a guy who weighs over 300 lbs for 4 quarters straight, your gonna have a really bad night without the pads. The hits are harder in football due to the size of the players and the way the game is set up where you line up opposite each other simply to full on charge another guy after the snap. It's not like rugby where only the guy with the ball is gonna be get hit hard, everytime the ball snaps in a football game everyone you see on the line collides with another guy of equal size and that shit doesn't feel too good. Football is leaps and bounds better because of the strategy involved and especially because they don't wear those incredibly gay ass little shorts, lol.
[/reply]

u were doing quite well til the last comment

i used to follow gridiron, did so for about 8 or 9 years, even went to a bears v cowboys game at wembley (that was one looooooooooooooong game), in '87 i think it was, just after the bears won the superbowl. i think we were there for about 4 hours in total, for a game that has actual play for an hour. by the end i lost interest in the actual result and was just waiting for the final whistle.

the thing that gets me about gridiron is that its way too regimental. i dislike the fact that the play is totally controlled by a set number of plays called by the offensive co-ordinator. this is what bores me. what about individual skill that can turn a game with one piece of genius (and i dont mean the ability to throw a ball 60 yards or catch it), or a great flow of play that completely does the opposition? i'd much rather spend my time watching a rugby (union or league) game or football game than any US sport (and dont get me started on baseball, cricket is boring, but baseball is 100 x worse!!).

the stop-start aspect of gridiron is also a serious turn-off. this is also an issue with other US sports, the number of times the flow of the game is interrupted by a time-out, or by a need to go to commercials to keep the sponsors happy.

to answer the original question, its all a matter of individual taste, and upbringing, and there is no definitive answer, just opinion.

oh yeah, and the US players, in all sports, are obscenely overpaid

Quote:

Originally posted by Swiss407

It was valid, in America we don't give a shit period, that's why we don't like soccer and we don't like rugby, sorry my response wasn't PC enough for you. And you can't possibly be American, you just told me to watch hockey. Nobody in America watches hockey, that's why they had to cancel a season, you couldn't give away tickets to a hockey game and get anyone to show up in America. Let me see some ID. lol. Ohhh, you must be from Wisconsin where we keep all the Americans who act more like Canadians or in California I guess where everyone thinks they're European.

you do realise that you and your ilk are the reason why americans have such a bad reputation round the globe? which is a pity as i've met some really nice guys n gals over there.

basically u act like u just dont give a shit about anyone but yourself, you're dumb, plus u have a nick that refers to a european country

rugby for sure

The nick doesn't refer to a European country, you can take it that way but it has no base in that whatsoever. And all you did was repeat my point. You ask me why do I think we have such a bad reputation, but I explained why we have such a bad reputation in my first post and I also explained that we could care less about that reputation. It makes no difference in our lives whatsoever what you think about us. And we're not "acting" like we just don't give a fuck about anyone but ourselves, that's just how it is. I'm just explaining why we don't like any of the world popular sports. We're Americans, we're cocky as hell, we have every reason to be and that's the end of it. lol

Ok people keep it civil, we like a good debate here, but lets not get personal and take things too far. I can see a flame war starting

Im watching you all










PS Rugby rules!!!

Quote:

Originally posted by D4rkKnight

[reply=mongolia]
[reply=2Knight]
the difference between American football and rugby you ask


NFL



Rugby rugby for sure! women may play alright, but not if there tits are as big as the 2 nfl players above





this is why American (NFL) Football is better

so what you're saying is that women rugby players are tougher than male american football players, cause they don't need all that protective shit
[/reply]



wait, that was a girl?
[/reply]

Quote:

Originally posted by Watty

Ok people keep it civil, we like a good debate here, but lets not get personal and take things too far. I can see a flame war starting

Im watching you all

there's no debate. It's just a dumb conversation with people trying to compare 2 things that couldn't possibly be more different for the sake of smearing their own opinions all over the place. Just because the balls are shaped the same doesn't mean the games are even similar. Let's start a thread about how soccer is exactly like track and field simply because there's a lot of running. I have followed suit and smeared my opinion all over this thread and dumb threads deserve dumb rants, and so I think I've done my job on this one. lol