Football (American) vs Soccer

[IndyBrit]

"The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as a slang abbreviation of the word "association", often credited to former England captain Charles Wreford-Brown" Wikipedia FTW.

Below, Football = American football, Football* = football everywhere else, and Rugby = rugby

I like Football best, probably because that's what I'm used to. However, it's a fascinating game that moves quickly, and with the setup of plays and variety of offenses, defenses, etc. it can be quite like a physical chess match. If I grew up on Football* then I would probably like that best. Catastrophic injuries in Football are probably the biggest drawback, human joints just aren't built for the punishment delivered in Football.

Rugby players are made of iron, no doubt. However, there is no comparison between hits in Rugby and Football, so the idea that the "armor" used in Football means those players are less tough is simply misplaced. Because of the staging and way that plays are run, impacts in Football often occur at full speed by players moving in opposite directions. It is not unusual for a 200 pound safety to hit another player at speeds above 20 mph into a running back that is running the opposite direction (often not quite as fast). Upwards of 425 pounds of humanity colliding at a total closing speed of 40 mph? Rugby does not have collisions like that - no other sport in the world does for that matter. Without the "armor" there would be mass death in Football. In fact, we don't have to speculate about that because Football was almost canceled as a sport by Teddy Roosevelt when 18 players died in 1805.

[StrokeyBlofeld]

[quote=""IndyBrit""]Football was almost canceled as a sport by Teddy Roosevelt when 18 players died in 1805.[/quote]

IMO that could have been the best thing for American Soccer.

[Nighthawk22]

lol

[Sporting_Lisbon]

Lol so true, then they'd learn to play Rugby properly

[danno527]

It is not unusual for a 200 pound safety to hit another player at speeds above 20 mph into a running back that is running the opposite direction (often not quite as fast). Upwards of 425 pounds of humanity colliding at a total closing speed of 40 mph? Rugby does not have collisions like that - no other sport in the world does for that matter.

Sorry Indy but i have to point out another sport that has coliisions of "425lbs of humanity colliding at 40mph"....HOCKEY
The only diference is that hockey players hit the ice and slide whereas Football players hit the ground and stop. The extra spped of hockey makes up for it.

perfectly legal shatering(literaly)hockey hit


Pretty decent hit compilation

[Sporting_Lisbon]

That's legal? o_O That should be the new OP strat on hockey, throwing players through the glass.

[Tubruk]

indy, no comparison in tackles between american football and rugby?

Meet Brian Lima

[Sporting_Lisbon]

lmao, the green guy was trampled by a tank.

[I__CHAOS__I]

Shaolin Soccer FTW !

[Aaryn_GenD]

soccer all the way.
it is much deeper than football, even though i like football when i've been to australia. also in europe, soccer is the way to go, it's the most common and yes, BEST sport in the world.
we have football teams too, like frankfurter galaxies, but nearly nobody cares about them.

when i was in autrolia, tehy didn't like rugby which is played in the south there, when i remember right.

[danno527]

That's legal? o_O That should be the new OP strat on hockey, throwing players through the glass.

The problem is it would be all that OP cause the glass usually doesnt break, it is over an inch thick.

[Sporting_Lisbon]

Solution - start running from a bigger distance


If it still doesn't break the other dude will still get some bruises hehe

[IndyBrit]

danno527 - quite right.
I stand corrected - except the mass of hockey players is usually much lower but the collisions are at very high speeds. Plus the boxing element, plus every player comes armed...

[IndyBrit]

Tubruk -
Amazing hit unpadded, I'm guessing that guy had a concussion after that one.

I would point out that those players are small by NFL standards, and the total impact speed was rather low as one player was not even moving (though it sucks to be him). Further, this hit is so notable it is a career highlight for both of these players. Put all that together, and then consider that this hit involves about half the kinetic energy of the typical linebacker-running back hit, and I'll stand by the original post (with the hockey clause added previously).

[Kaiser_von_Nuben]

[quote=""IndyBrit""]Tubruk -
Amazing hit unpadded, I'm guessing that guy had a concussion after that one.

I would point out that those players are small by NFL standards, and the total impact speed was rather low as one player was not even moving (though it sucks to be him). Further, this hit is so notable it is a career highlight for both of these players. Put all that together, and then consider that this hit involves about half the kinetic energy of the typical linebacker-running back hit, and I'll stand by the original post (with the hockey clause added previously).[/quote]

Momentum (P) = Mass (M) X Velocity (V). According to this uncontrovertible rule of physics, American "footballers" bring untold "mass" to the equation. I have to agree with Indy that rugby players are "smaller" than your average American lineman. In America, football is a way of life for some people. They are literally bred by their parents to play, and that means having the right physique for the sport. They eat, drink and sleep football. They have to have to be BIG. Put simply, there are some monsters, ogres and trolls who make their way onto the field. These guys are freakin' huge! I'm talking over 400 lbs; and they can sprint. With that much mass, even with armor, I think the resulting momentum would exceed the force created by even unarmored hits.

Are rugby guys this big? I would like to see a 425 pound offensive lineman take down a 170 pound kicker. Now THAT would be worth a YouTube download