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Friday TIME: US | UK WEATHER: US | UK HOME THE NEIGHBORHOOD "Life in the UK" American Groups Essential Contacts Money Education Driving WHAT'S ON US Group Events Diary Dates Music Live FEATURES Politics blog SPORTS Features Sideline blog NFL Draft THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE ONLINE |
SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale LOOK OUT COUCH, HERE I COME Finally, it’s football season ...in every conceivable way. NFL, NCAA, English Premier League, Rugby Football. Heck, even fantasy football. I’ve consoled myself with Wimbledon, with Carnoustie, with the exploits of F1’s Lewis Hamilton, but there’s nothing that says ‘fall’ like football. I love football. Raised on soccer and rugby, I will take a professional interest in the progress of the Premier League, and will even be momentarily English during the Rugby World Cup this month, but nothing stirs me into potato–like inactivity as surely as the gridiron. This is an obsession just a little alien to most Brits I meet. They stare at me as if running the concept through the computer a second time: "likes NFL... more than... soccer". When I explain that it’s college American football I really love, I might as well have declared that I’ve abandoned British citizenship entirely. Some years ago, one man was so insensed by my unrelenting preference of American football to soccer that he finally spluttered ‘We’ll why don’t you go and ... live there then, if you like it so much!’ (expletive omitted – and I pity the LDS church missionaries who call at his door.) For those of us who have already stayed up to 5am on an August morning just to witness the Steelers and Saints contest a preseason game, this year promises more TV football than the UK has ever had before. Over 78 live college games, a slew of bowl and BCS games, plus NFL triple–headers every Sunday, MNF, ‘red button’ games, Saturday games, Thanksgiving games, and all of the NFL playoffs. There was once a time when one of my excuses for not religiously following English soccer was that it took up too much time: too many games, too many months. But American football is up there now. Sky Sports will be showing more than twice as many NFL games this fall as English Premier League games. We’ve even got College Gameday back on our screens. This is the gridiron rush we all dreamed of. So why do I feel a little trepidation? Could it be that even I, notorious football obsessive, can see a day coming when this reaches saturation point? Could it be that I’m fearing the 8 lbs I’m going to put on while I indulge my football dependency for another year? Could it be that... that... there might be too much football? Am I going to sit there in Wembley Stadium October 28, frustrated that I can’t ‘red button’ Eli Manning and see what’s happening in the Steelers–Bengals game (and check how Carson Palmer is doing for my fantasy team). Nope. Because this year is a special year. This year the real thing is not only on our screens, it’s in our country of residence. This year, we’ll leave the couches. We’ll get on trains and we’ll go to the game. We’ll drink beer, we’ll tailgate until they catch us, and yes, we’ll probably boo Cam Cameron. We might even pay far too much for slow fast food and a lukewarm drink on the way home (we have to make some concessions to British culture, after all). And we’ll smile, because this year, we’re part of it. The taint’s on you, Bud When Bonds hit no. 755, Bud Selig stood (eventually) with his hands in his pockets. When Barry Bonds slugged no. 756, Bud Selig wasn’t there. Thankfully, former record-holder Hank Aaron was – at least via JumboTron – offering congraulations and adding, "it is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity, and determination". That acknowledgment went a long way to hiding an asterisk Selig seemed keen to highlight. When the moment came, Bonds and Aaron stepped up. I don’t think the same can be said of the Commissioner. |
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