Gingers not NFL material, according to Coach

I was neatly reminded today that gingerism isn't dead, even in the United States.

Proof came in how the biggest question surrounding the drafting of talented freshman quarterback Andy Dalton for the 2011 NFL season hasn't been his speed, strength or endurance on the field - but rather his hair color.

At a recent event in Dalton's home of Fort Worth, a coach was reported to have ignored Dalton's performance record, stats and the fact that the talented kid has had no less than 49 starts at TCU [whatever the hell that means - Editorial Bear] and instead focused on something a little more... subjective:

"Has there ever been a red-headed quarterback in the NFL who's really done well?" the coach quizzed one reporter last week. "Is there any way that could be a factor? We've wondered."

I don't have the stats on ginger quarterbacks to hand, so I can't answer that question. Fortunately, it's not one more informed coaches seem to be asking, anyway.

Despite his red hair, Dalton's been scouted by both the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys - and it looks like he'll be starting the 2011 season playing for a pretty high profile team no wonder what his hair color is.

If nothing else, that'll give him the opportunity to answer the boneheaded coach's question.

The next time some ill-informed lug demands: "Has there ever been a red-headed quarterback in the NFL who's really done well?" the correct answer well be: "Well, sure there has! Just look at Andy Dalton!"

Go get 'em, ginger!

History in the Making...

Tonight is the 42nd Superbowl - ending the NFL season and pitching undefeated favourites the New England Patriots against tough, but tempered rivals the New York Giants.

It's an enormously important game - and here in New Jersey we're all rooting for our home team (New Jersey doesn't have it's own NFL team, so we root for next-door's Jets and Giants.)

The reason why this game is so important is because the Patriot's astounding success this season. They are undefeated after 18 games. If they win the Superbowl, they'll not only capture football's most sought-after prize - they'll also have achieved a straight-run of success not seen since the 1972 Miami Dolphins took the cup after an undefeated season.

It's hardly a David and Goliath story, since the Giants haven't had too disappointing a season themselves, winning thirteen of their eighteen games. However, calculating the odds based on the team's performance this season, it's clear that defeating the Patriots will be a challenge.

I'm off to watch the match with my brothers-in-law. I'm no great football fan, but I'm quite excited to see our home-team in the running. The NFL is a much more entertaining championship to watch than, say, the soccer World Cup. In 'European football' (as I've been reduced to calling it) the ninety minute kickaround generally ends with a penalty shootout - thereby eliminating all the strategy and competition and reducing the match to a random game of chance.

At least with American football, the outcome is never predetermined, the scores can always change and when victory is decided, it's normally decisive.

If the Americans know anything, it's spectator sports - and tonight's Superbowl XLII promises to be the ultimate example of that.

Giants come to London...

The good people of London were shocked this weekend.

"Giants?" They asked. "Battling Dolphins?"

Expecting something from a Godzilla movie (or possibly an episode of The Goodies) they dutifully lined up at the new Wembley Stadium and watched NFL legends the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants battle it out for... Well, I'm not quite sure.

What the American Football match was FOR was not important. What was important was that two legendary National Football League teams had crossed the Atlantic for a groundbreaking grudge-match on British soil.

It was a trial run, to see if the NFL could successfully make the transition from an American institution to a global phenomenon. Two of the greatest football teams in American history were matched against each other (both the Giants and the Dolphins have won two Superbowls) and the reaction was carefully gauged, to see if a future European transition might be successful.

And what was the reaction?

Curiosity. Confusion. A certain amount of ridicule.

American Football is such a spectacle in comparison to British sports. The armour and uniforms. The cheerleaders and half-time shows. You really do get your money's worth at an NFL game, but I suspect the British mentality will never quite gel with the concept.

Soccer (what we Brits call football, because you play it with your feet) dominates the sports scene. It'll take more than a few burly Americans to knock that institution off it's pedestal. And rugby? The closest comparison to American football?

Well, in Europe we joke that American Football players get modelling contracts, while rugby players wind up with cauliflower ears and broken noses. While the games themselves are quite similar, the way they're played is very different.

American footballers are larger, stronger and more powerful - able to perform astounding feats of speed and strength during the very short 'plays' of the game.

Rugby players, on the other hand, are tough and fast, but those attributes are tempered by stamina and grit. An American football game gets stopped and started many times, giving their athletes a chance to catch their breath. Rugby players just keep on going.

Rugby is a brutal, but unpretentious game. There are no cheerleaders or fancy costumes. It's toned down and much more in keeping with the British mentality. Like very small children, we Brits are overstimulated when confronted with the pomp, ceremony and showmanship of the National Football League of America.

So while I admire the American sport and the incredible athletes who play it, I don't think it will ever catch on in England. On the surface of it, we're too reserved and self conscious to enjoy the spectacle of an NFL game - and if we secretly did, we'd all be far too snobbish to admit it.

The Giants won 13-10 against the Dolphins in yesterday's game.

Channing Crowder, defensive back for the Miami Dolphins, admitted he wasn't aware that people spoke English in London - proving conclusively that a football scholarship from the University of Miami isn't really all that academically impressive.