SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!!!

[grizzley]

Back in my high school days, we held the championship in both football (American style) and rugby for five years straight. In was a custom at the end of each season for the football team to play the rugby team in rugby game. Not once did the football team ever lose. Padding is both offensive and defensive. In my last championship game, our coach gave us all hockey shin pads to wear around our arms (wrist to elbow) during that game, a full back defending his quarterback tried to tackle me. I split his helmet. The Super bowl was absolutely fantastic down to the last second. Someday you chaps over there should learn to put down you beer, quit brawling in the stands and learn to appreciate a real game.

[vania]

Feb 3, 2009 0:03:17 GMT Marshall said:

The rules are actually pretty basic. Move the ball to the other end of the field. You do this in series of "downs", the offense gets 4 downs to get 10 yards. If they get 10 yards it's back to 1st down and you have a new series of downs to start with. If you gain 4 yards on 1st down, it then becomes 2nd down and 6 (yards to go for a 1st down). Usually teams will punt the ball to the other team on 4th down, unless they think thay can get to a first down. If they don't get a first down when trying on 4th down, the other team takes over the ball at that spot.

In English por favor?

Let me get this straight you have to go from one end of the field to the other. The field is split into 'ten yard' lengths. You ahve four attempts to get 10 yards. If you go 4 yards then it's your second attempt (down), and you have three attempts left and 6 yards to go.

Once you get to ten yards your 4 attempts (downs) restart. If you don't manage it's the other teams turn?

Close? Or antartic?

[Marshall]

Very close vania, except the field isn't split into 10 yard sections. The 10 yards start from wherever the ball is on 1st down.
If you don't get 10 yards in 3 tries (downs) you have one more offensive play - unless very close to the 10 yards you would use 4th down to kick the ball to the other team. (Because if you go for it on 4th down and don't make it the other team gets the ball where you were stopped, instead of 40+ yards away from it being kicked to them instead.)

[vania]

But if I kick it to the other team doesn't this help them?

[Marshall]

They get it back but you back them up to their end of the field more.

Here's the last play of the Super Bowl - the quarterback (the guy throwing the ball) laid it right in the very corner of the end zone and the receiver made a fantastic catch - he had to keep both feet in bounds while maintaining possession of the ball.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qD4mytNpt4&fmt=18

[vania]

Good Lord now I am confused all over again by that last bit. Well have to watch your vid...and many more like it then it may just start to sink in.

[Marshall]

Example: 4th down and 1 yard to go and I'm 30 yards from your end zone (if I reach youe end zone I score). I will try for the first down because it's only one yard and I'm already in your end of the field so if I don't get the 1st yuo get the ball back but still have a long way to go (70 yards in the opposite direction).

4th down and 5 yards to go on my 30 yard line - I won't try for the 1st, I'll punt the ball to you so you get the ball back at your end of the field. If I went for a 1st down here and didn't make it you'd only have to go 30 yards to score.

Oh, actually that wasn't the last play of the game, it was the winning play with time almost expired.

[KrispyKoala]

The biggest ever thrill (If you could call it that, more like a sad attention seeking stunt) from the superbowl, was when Janet Jackson showed the world her left tit and nipple, (with some huge grotesque metal pastie attached) but even that was ruined when she got all bloody puritannical on us and refused to reveal the right tit as well.

[KrispyKoala]

NY'er's Left??? FFS!

Well that's just bloody great

Not much point sticking round here is there.