Palu has a busted knee at the moment though :P

Man you come with a lot of excuses

Thanks for the reporting on the AC.

Just in case this was actually gonna happen, I might as well put the * by it.
:P

Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira is his name. He is a little smaller than Ray Lewis, but is a real beast! Some NFL folks checked out and say his speed in order of 5.0-5.4 sec for 40 yds. Too slow....for the NFL.

Some initial considered him as a "possible project" as a linebacker. He is a head above the competition in Rugby, but would struggle to make any NFL team, according to those who know.....

Haha, thanks Mike. I was very bummed that i couldn't talk my GF out of the game, and crew for my friend in a race in BIG Air, but she is from Europe, never seen a real game, and 0-5 made it easy to get 10th row tickets! it actually was a good game despite loosing in the end.

You have a very large gene pool, and rich availability on nutrition (just choose the right sources). The only (ex) A football player I know about is Bob Sapp and while he is strong as an ox he has the stamina of a crocodile on land. Huge bodies and endurance dont usually mix well. In fact, endurance training will produce catabolic hormones like cortisol that actually breaks down muscle mass.

Genetics will take you far. Just look at russian Alexander Karelin during his height. 6'4" (193cm) and 130kgs. As an olympic wrestler he was able to lift and throw 130kgs heavy opponents like they weighted 80kgs. A line of such guys would not be broken and there would be some stamina/endurance as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfDDXpjFtP0



285lbs is about 130kgs. That is achievable for a lot of guys if they work strength and power. A football is definately a power sport as I know it.


There are a couple of A football teams here at the north pole as well, but the sport is not catching on. Regular football is huge..

I can press 225 now. I bet I could press 285 once if I really amped myself up for it.

Yeah but like I said, he is just a skinny little running back, only 5'11" and 220 or so. I saw a lineman benching 400 when I was in college, but that was back in 1981, way before they all started on the Roids.

At the NFL trials, football players have benched 225lbs as more than 60 reps! Power and endurance!

Yup, and there is a big difference between benching 285
-once- and benching 285, 3 sets of 10 while also doing curls, lats, etc. at your daily workout.

To be clear, the NFL test is for the most reps at 225lbs in a single set. NO stopping! Amazing!

One of the guys on our A-side in college benched 225lbs 8 reps and he was THE MAN. He was our DESTROYER. Same year, our A-side went unbeaten until Norfolk Blues beat us in the islands. We had good players for a US college. I know that it does not compare with the International guys, no more that college football (American) does with the NFL.

Stength is onlyu part of what makes NFL players fascinating. The brutality of their hits is ridiculous. They don't make pads big enough for me to let them hit me.

A football guys aren't all that tough. I once blew through the Superbowl winning 49ers offensive line without being touched. Of course, it was in an aisle in the Redwood City, CA Costco and I was pushing a large cart.

OK.........43-17 New England.

The two games are VERY different.

A football is, as stated a very "stop-go" game. Rugby is a go game whith short breaks when the ball goes out of play.

A Football had off the ball blocking/tackels and so this becomes the dominiant part of the game and so people who fit that profie excel and so form the basis for the teams; you also have vast "teams" for A-footy where as the whole rugby squad will be 22 to play and maybe 30ish to pick from.

THe only real skills that instantly trransfer is the kickers and there have been many rumours of some of the top trugby kickers being offered large amounts to join the special teams of the big clubs in the US.

they are two games that look similar in the fact the ball is of similar shpae, but they are very ver different.

And American Football is all about strategy, that's why they stop and think about each play before they send it in from the "play calling coach". They agonize for days over which plays to call, they watch hours of films of the other team to find their weak spots, then design plays to exploit them, then they go out and attempt to execute them. They even have special players who they put in for certain situations. But it doesn't always work out, obviously, we usually just tune in to see who makes the most mistakes!

I know the Rugby guys have designed plays too, and they are certainly in great shape, what with all that non-stop action, and they have to think on the fly as their coach can't send in a special play or player for each situation.

But my original thought in posting was, is there any interest at all over there in American Football? I've never heard anyone over there say, "Gee, I wish we could watch more of your football..." So why is the NFL spending the money and time to put on an American Football game in wEmbly stadium anyway? Is it just because Glaser wants to make some money on a freak show? Or is he trying to grow the sport internationally?

Will anyone -other than expat Americans- even show up to watch it?

We have been going to London for 25+ years... the Glaser have only owned the bucs for 10 or so years.. (maybe 15 now).

I seem to recall a pretty good turn out at the game i went to (20 years ago or so).. but have no idea how many "locals" there were. I had gone with a bunch of Navy guys i was stationed with in Scotland.

What I'm curious about is whether or not they'll be cheering or booing the "Patriots" :P

Well that might be why they go, to "Support the Troops", which makes sense.

Now, for you history buffs, shall we discuss how the "Boston Patriots" will be recieved by the "Losing Team"? ;^)

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=97865

Hijack.

Will they have to worry about snow in the UK? Pats played in a nice little blizzard last week and managed to put up a beat down on a hapless team that I can't even remember :P