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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 DAMP SQUIB I'm sure you know the situation: a relative from abroad drops in for a short stop-over before jetting off somewhere else. You look forward to them visiting, to all the good times you're going to have. Then, when they turn up, jet-lag and the strain of traveling leaves them either asleep or zombified. You wave them off at the airport, tell them it was great to see them, and they must pop back sometime - maybe when they've got more time. 
Let's not pretend that the Dolphins-Giants game wasn't an anticlimax. In fact, let's call it what it
was: bad conditions and terrible football. Can we stop with the 'London Superbowl' talk now? I don't
want to be a nay-sayer, but the rain will be remembered longer than any play from the game. Must have
looked lovely in High Def. It seemed like the British weather was saving it all up especially for this
game. It wasn't raining before, and it had stopped straight after, but from 5pm to 8pm the weather
put the 'mean' in Greenwich Meantime.
Most of the offense in the game came from NY's Brandon Jacobs, gaining a career-high 131 yards on 23 carries, while Miami's Jesse Chatman managed 79 yards from 16 rushes in the absence of the broken Ronnie Brown. Their efforts were impressive, but running hard in muddy conditions isn't what the predominantly British fans wanted to see (we have that already - it's called 'rugby'). What they wanted to see was high, looping passes falling perfectly into the breadbasket of big dangerous receivers. Okay, so that probably would mean Plaxico Burress destroying the Dolphins secondary, but I'm not sure that wouldn't have been less cruel than being within an onside kick of an overtime bid, only to see the squib skitter swiftly into the Giants sideline. As the Giants took their final kneel-downs, the crowd booed, and the American press falsely suggested that the Brits didn't understand. Yes, they did. They just felt that something needed booing, and they didn't want to seem ungracious for the visit. So was it worth it? Yes - for historical reasons. We can say we were there. We were there the day the NFL gave London a game that counted in the win-loss column. We were there the day Ted Ginn Jr scored a touchdown. And we might yet be able to say we witnessed the team that went 0-16. I'd like to be able to say that I was there the day the NFL started something big in London. Despite all the PR, hype and flannel, I'm not convinced that happened. But it was 80,000 paying fans out of around 800,000 applicants. The NFL will be back for a second look ...sometime. Like, when the rain stops. Other London Notes: - I feel sorry for Cleo Lemon. 17 of 30 for 149 yards and a touchdown doesn't sound much, but he outplayed Eli Manning by a mile, ran for first downs, and never gave up. But that's probably the end for him as a regular starter. With the Dolphins half-way to the imperfect season, they'll spend the next fortnight preparing John Beck for the intermural against Buffalo. - A special mention to South West trains. I suspect the lack of enthusiasm in my game review has as much to do with the ordeal of getting from the Wiltshire border to Wembley Stadium by public transport (four and a quarter hours) as it has to do with Eli Mannings' floating passes. - A few days before the event, ticket purchasers received emailed encouragement to wear their NFL merchandise to show NFL officials our dedication. Our dedication, it would seem, is not entirely up to date. Seated near me: a Kordell Stewart Steelers jersey; a red Patriots sweater that was less a 'throw-back' than 'thrown-to-the-back-of-the-wardrobe-and-recently-rediscovered'; and a Culpepper Dolphins jersey (which admittedly might have been chosen with more than a hint of irony). If, like me, many of the fans arrived at Wembley expecting the full and varied range of NFL merchandise to suit all teams, and an opportunity to update their wardrobe, they were disappointed. A Dolphins cap for the equivalent of a mere $40? What a bargain! Our £150 merchandise budget remains unspent. - Seated relatively near the field, Mrs Football used her commemorative Dolphins towel to wipe the swirling rain from her glasses during the third quarter. Then fell asleep briefly during the fourth. - British super-streaker Mark Roberts made his almost obligatory appearance before the start of the second half. Roberts, who gate-crashed Superbowl XXXVIII in 2004, hadn't even removed his fake official's outfit before thousands of the crowd were cheering his appearance, so renowned is he now becoming. Sadly for security, they were slower to identify the thong-wearing Roberts, whose mid-field dance met with such a belated response that I had to convince Mrs Football that honestly, this wasn't a planned part of the half-time entertainment. At least I think it wasn't. |
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