The Ashes

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!Will you come back if I edit my post to say 1 instead of 0? Please.I need you......

I am rehabilitated!

I can only deeply apologise for that thoughtless and unwarranted oversight. In my bid for dramatic effect I neglected to consider the feelings of "my public". It is inexcusable and I stand here thoroughly chastised. But let it never be said that I let the truth get in the way of a good story.England are currently building a steady and hopefully unassailable lead. But they will still need to bowl out the Aussies for the second time to actually win the game, the series and (yes - dare I even think it) the ashes. But bowling out the Aussies is never an easy task. Even at the best of times.It is bowlers not batsmen who actually win cricket matches. But I am starting to dare to hope.................

This is the ashes 2009 decider but as if that were not enough there are a number of subtexts to also consider. One of the beauties of cricket is the fact that two sides, two sets of characters, face each other repeatedly over a prolonged period. Thus exposing weaknesses and strengths of individual, as well as team, character. Here are a few of those characters:"Freddie" Flintoff: England's inspirational and charismatic all-rounder. Capable at times of winning a match almost single handedly. He is the sort of once in a generation player every team craves for. Alas this is his final swansong having announced his retirement from test cricket after this ashes series due to relentless injury problems. No great performance in this match as yet but his presence alone lifts the rest of the team and if England do win the ashes nobody will begrudge him his celebrations (Last time he paraded through central London on an open top red double decker bus quite evidently about as drunk as it is possible to be. He followed this up by allegedly taking a slash in the garden of ten Downing street whilst on a prime ministerial post celebration visit. Hillarious).Andrew Strauss: England captain. Described as either determined and unflappable or boring and uninspiring. Depending on whether England are winning or not. I am not a great fan of his often negative tactics but he has been a level headed totem of consistency in this series. And Englands best player.Ricky Ponting: Aus captain. Pugnacious little bastard who the poms (and everyone else) loves to hate. The fact he is the Aus captain often leads to the fact that he is one of the best cricketers in the history of the game being overlooked. There is something about his smug little face that just pisses people off. But even taking that into account the fact is that he is not shy of a bit of gamesmanship and the first to complain about it in others. He looks like a wind up merchant and is quite blatantly seeking to disrupt the opposition players with his relentless "banter". But I am biased. Obviously.Enough. I am waffling pointlessly as usual. Update at the end of the day.

New boy Jonathan Trott has made a century for England!!!!! INGERLAAAND INGERLAAAAAND INGERLAAAAAND. The crowd go wild. The ashes are in sight and a new hero is born!!!!!!!!!Being brought into a deciding ashes test as his debut is something of a baptism of fire. One that I must admit I was pessimistic about. But the debutant has demonstrated his character and confidence in extreme circumstances to be potential match winner by scoring a century in his first test!!He joins a small band of players who have achieved this feat upon debut. Arguably none have done so in a more pressured situation.Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A new national hero.To anyone bored of reading my cricket ramblings - Well... Just stop reading and go elsewhere!!! EvC is a big place. And the internet is an even bigger one.Aus need 546 to win. England have two whole days to bowl the Aussies out for less than that total. England should win.(Straggler goes off to dance naked in the street)Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

Woohoo!Job done.

I say, good show chaps!!Pip, pip.WK

Yah jolly spiffing!Anyhow toodlepip chappies and chappettes. I am off to celebrate.PAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the funniest things about winning the ashes is the photos of the winning captain raising aloft the most teeny weeny isy bitsy little trophy in world sport. It does look highly ridiculous given the importance and relevance placed on the win. See here:http://topics.treehugger.com/photo/01Kl49g1BS8uiAnyway we won!!!!!Sore headed but happy hearted I can say that the seven weeks I have spent following this ashes series has been time well spent and to be remembered. My wife will no doubt dispute this. But that is usually a sign of me having had a good time Some relatively irrelevant one day games between England and Oz to come. But even a cricket enthusiast like me finds those hard to get too excited about. Sort of a cricket version of junk food for the masses. Fine while in front of you but probably regretted later on.So is anyone gonna explain the intricacies of Gridiron to me? A drastic change of topic on that front is fine by me now that the king of sports is over until England play South Africa in SA come November.

I can definitely give it a shot, and I'm sure there are others who will be happy to jump in and offer their take on things.Do you want me to just give an overview of the game, or do you have specific questions?

American football is very similar to rugby. The main difference is that you only get four tackles before losing possession rather than six (?), but you only have to advance a total of 10 yards, but the defensive (and offensive) line get to reposition themselves at the end of every play AND you get to throw the ball forwards.Also, you don't have to ground the ball in a touchdown (making it a ridiculous name). A touchdown is worth six points, it can be converted with a field goal to seven points (or a second touchdown for two points (but you only get one play to get the touchdown)). If you don't manage to get a field goal and you are close enough you can shoot for a field goal anyway for three points. Therefore, two field goals isn't really as good as one touchdown since the vast majority of touchdowns get converted to seven points.Obviously, given these changes there are some technical differences between rugby and American football such as 'live balls' and 'timeouts' - I think I got the essence down there. I may be British I'd rather watch a game of American Football than cricket (or Association football or rugby for that matter) -A half-hearted Saints supporter since 1997

You've pretty much got the basics there, Mod. IIRC, American football comes from the same roots as rugby (they share a common ancestor ). I'm a Packer fan, but being from Wisconsin, that's almost a law. The Saints are definitely one of those teams lately that seem to exist only to break hearts. Their offense is so potent, but their defense gives away the game.

Hello Perdition and Modulus. Thanks for the responses. Tut tut tut. Well your blasphemy aside that was a decent potted account of Gridiron as far as I understand it. I think I have it down to about the level you have described as a result of playing computer game versions of the sport in my geekish youth.The things I don't understand are:1) How does the time work (not in a cosmological sense - lets avoid ICANTs T=0 protestations in this thread)? A 1 hour game takes several hours. Is it only "ball in play" time that actualy counts?2) What can and cannot be done to stop an opponent? Can you kick and punch? Can you headbuttt? I presume not but am not sure what you can do. Is it much like rugby in terms of the definition of tackling?3) Why all the body armour? Rugby seems no less physical but has no helmets or pads at all. Are gridiron players just wimps? 4) Was the game dervied from rugby historically or did it develop independently? Also why is it called "football" when kicking seems like a relative afterthought to throwing?5) Where are field goals taken from? Is it always the centre of the pitch with just the distance changing or are some field goals taken from near the sidelines because of where play ended?6) What is a "steal"?7) Why are there two teams? One defensive and one offensive. Why not one set of players to play the entire game? Do some players take part in both? This side of the game seems very odd to me as I cannot think of any other sport where you have a completely different set of players entering the field depending on who has the ball. Imagine cricket where you had one part of the team full of bowlers and fielders and a completely different set of players to do the batting but for the same "team". Balancing a team between offense and defence is half the strategic point of of most other team sports (e.g. soccer). But gridiron avoids considering this by just having two seperate sets of players. Bizzarre.7) Who plays in the superbowl? Is there a national league or a national elimination competetion. How is it decided which two teams get to meet in the "final" (i.e. the superbowl)?That'll do for now.

In basic terms, the clock ticks continuously unlessa) a pass was incomplete (thrown but not caught).
b) the ball carrier runs or is pushed out of the side lines.
c) a time out is called.
d) a ruling is challenged and the refs check the tapes.
e) a score.
f) When there is only two minutes left in either half.
g) Injured playerMaybe it would be simpler to say that the clock does not get stopped if a legal tackle is performed, otherwise it gets stopped. Very little, actually. Even grabbing hold of a helmet is penalty worthy. It's basically a case of wrapping your arms around their legs and tripping them or around their body and dragging them down. Shoulder barges and pushing are fine - but using your head is more likely to cause yourself serious neck injury than stop a professional player. So yeah - I think it is largely the same as rugby. Kicks and punches are out. I'm not entirely sure. It is my view that because American Football has a lot of stops, and sections of the team can be sat on the bench for long periods of time - the players have more energy. Also - the money is greater so the players might get a little...more enthusiastic (like in Assoc. Football perfectly nice players might still fall over if they think it'll increase their value to do so), the greater money probably also accounts for the bosses wanting their assets players to be protected.Having seen someone break their fingers when they didn't catch a ball properly - I see why they might want it.And besides - have you seen rugby players? They specialise in missing teeth and horrific scars! I suspect it might also be something of a cultural thing. Derived from rugby. I had to look the name up - Walter Camp - altered some of the rules to rugby (line of scrimmage, scoring system, the number of 'downs' etc) and it thereafter took on its own life.Rugby is also known as football, aka rugby football. So the American game is technically American rugby football. I don't know why rugby football is also sometimes called rugby football but I believe it developed from a form of football that allowed handling of the ball but no travelling with the ball, as the story goes, played at Rugby School. If it is a conversion then it is from the centre of the field at (I think) the three yard line or thereabouts.Otherwise, yes, it depends where play ended. I think there are set positions: left, centre and right, marked with lines running down the field from where field goals are taken from (so if the play ended in the left you'd take it at the same distance but from a set distance from the sidelines (I think this is to avoid the tactic of setting up a play near the sidelines which would essentially block defence on one side - this is true of all plays I believe.) You got me - I don't know. Agreed. The upshot is that there are always specialists on the field (there is also a 'specials team' that deal with field kicks, punts etc) which adds a dimension to the game not often seen in other games...this isn't a bad thing ). There can be overlap - though not usually between defence and offence. There is both a national league and an elimination competition!I am no expert but basically the large size of the US means it would require a lot of travelling to complete a season. Though modern transport nullifies this somewhat - the structure is in place now so there it is.It is confusing as hell, but basically the teams are split between two conferences and each conference has different areas (eg North, South, East, West) who compete against each other. Basically the best six teams in each conference leagues get to the 'playoffs' which is an elimination based tournament. At the end of that there is one team from each of the two conferences and they play one another in the Superbowl.It's a bit like the World Cup - only the teams that play each other at the start are basically always the same. I hate tea, clotted cream and scones.My father and two of my brothers are American citizens so that's my excuse.Edited by Modulous, : No reason given.

I'll try and answer you as well as I can, others can jump in with answers, of course. Yes, time is essentially "Ball in play" time, but not exactly. Time starts as soon as the center snaps the ball to the quarterback. From that point on, the time will only stop for a few reasons.
1) If either side calls a "time-out" to stop the clock. Each side gets 3 of these per half, and they can only be called when a play is not being run.
2) If the quarterback passes the ball and it is not caught by anyone on the offense or defense. (I think this is to make sure the referees have time to get the ball from where ever it may have landed without wasting time.)
3) If a penalty is committed by either side. Though in some cases, a penalty may result in time being removed from the clock, and as soon as the referee explains the infraction and doles out the penalty, he may have the clock start running again.
4) After a play that resulted in the ball changing posession.
5) If the referees decide a play is too close to call and want to view an instant replay in a little booth off the side of the field. (The coaches can also request this, if they feel the call is wrong. If the challenge, as it is called, is denied, meaning the call on the field is not changed, the team that called the challenge loses a time-out. Each team gets two of these per half, unless one team uses and wins both challenges, in which case they earn a third.)
6) After each quarter of play.{ABE} As Mod says above, running out of bounds with the ball also stops the clock.{/ABE} Rules are very strict regarding the quarterback, and what you can or can't do to an opponent who does not have the ball. Once an opponent has the ball, however, the rules are very lax until the play is over, at which time they get strict again. I can explain more if you desire. Well, American football started with little more than leather jackets as protection. The pads have evolved as the game has gotten faster, the hits have gotten harder, and more money has been invested. There have been cases of people getting killed on a football field, and considering the potential loss of life, not to mention the time and money invested in training and paying a football player, required protection rules have been increasing. (As have rules designed to protect the safety of players who must put themselves in vulnerable positions to do their jobs, ie the quarterback and the kickers.) But yeah, you could say football players are just wimps...I just wouldn't do so to their faces. The way I remember it, rugby and football (and soccer, for that matter) share a common ancestor, but I don't think American football grew out of rugby, per se. Someone else can jump in here if I'm wrong, or I can jump over to Wiki after I post and double check. First, a technical misconception. There is no "pitch", it's called a "field." At the end of any play, the ball is placed at the dead ball spot for the next play, unless the dead ball spot is "outside the hashes." The hashes are those short horizontal lines running down either side of the center of the field. So, for the field goal, the position of the snap would follow those rules. Then, egenerally, the ball is snapped back seven yards to the place holder, who turns the ball so the laces face out, and holds the tip of the ball so the place kicker can try and kick it through the uprights.In some situations where the game is almost over and the offense needs less than 3 points to win, they may sacrifice a play to try and get a better position for the kicker by having the quarterback take the snap and lunge to either side, trying to get closer to the center of the field (or perhaps away from a muddy area if the field is an outdoor one and there has been rain or snow). I'm assuming you mean a take-away. There are a couple ways a defense can gain posession from the offense. One is by intercepting a pass. Another is by stripping the ball out of the hands of a player trying to advance the ball by running. If the offensive player drops the ball, either by having it stripped, or by their own mistake, the ball is free on the ground for whoever can pick it up. Most players will just try and drop on the ball, rather than attempt to pick it up and run with it, in which cases you can get a pile of players all vying for the ball. Ok, football started with just 13 players on each team who played both offense and defense. It quickly became apparent, however, that a player could get hurt and the team with the hurt player would be at a decided disadvantage. They began allowing replacement players who could take the place of an injured player, or perhaps replace a player in certain situations strategically. Once this door was opened, it became possible for players to begin to specialize in certain positions, for example, a player might be very good at running a ball, but not be very useful on defense, so the coach would only put them on the field when they had the ball. This lead to two (or three) different groups of players depending on who has the ball.The third group is "special teams" and these are usually made up of players who are nominally on either offense or defense, and may even be very low on the depth chart for their usual position because they are very good at the special teams plays.There are some players who can play both offense and defense, but not usually. Players like the chance to rest while the other team is on the field, and you increase your chance of injury if you're out there on both sides of the ball. This may seem like a simple question, but the simple answer assumes knowledge I don't want to assume, so this could get long.There are 32 teams in the NFL. These 32 teams are divided into two conferences of 16 teams, the NFC and the AFC. In each conference, there are 4 divisions of 4 teams, North, South, East and West. Each team plays 16 games with a bye week randomly chosen for them between weeks 3 and 15, I think.From Wiki:

quote:

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Each team plays the other three teams in its division twice: once at home, and once on the road (six games).

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Each team plays the four teams from another division within its own conference once on a rotating three-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).

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Each team plays the four teams from a division in the other conference once on a rotating four-year cycle: two at home, and two on the road (four games).

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Each team plays once against the other teams in its conference that finished in the same place in their own divisions as themselves the previous season, not counting the division they were already scheduled to play: one at home, one on the road (two games).

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After the regular season, the top teams in each division, plus two wild card teams chosen from the rest of the conference advance to the playoffs. The teams are ranked by record, so the team with the most wins is first, and so on, except the wildcard teams are always ranked 5th and 6th, even if they may have a better record than one of the top teams in a different division.The first week of the playoffs is the wildcard week. The two wild card teams and the 3rd and 4th ranked teams play a game with ranks 6 and 3 playing each other and ranks 4 and 5 playing each other at the home stadiums of ranks 3 and 4 respectively.After that, we have the divisional playoff round where the winners of the first two games go on to play ranks 1 and 2 (who had a week off during wildcard week) with the highest ranked team playing rank2 and the lowest playing rank 1 at the home stadiums of ranks 1 and 2 respectively.Finally, we have the conference championship where the winner of each of those two games play each other at the home stadium of which ever team is ranked higer than the other one. It is possible, though unlikely, to have the two wild card teams advance all the way through, so the game would be held at rank 4's stadium. (Two years ago, the New York Giants were a wild card team heading in to the playoffs, but ended up winning the Super Bowl.)After that, the winning team form each conference championship play each other in the media extravaganza we call the Super Bowl to be crowned world champion (though all teams are in the US).I have a feeling this has only given you more questions, but feel free to ask them and I'll try to give you answers that aren't too detailed...unless you want details.Edited by Perdition, : Listed aboveEdited by Perdition, : No reason given.