american football

not being my national sport i dont understand the game but do watch it sometimes,the only thing i really understand is u have get over the in goal  area for a touch down like rugby,but i find it a game that stop starts to much and goes on for hours,whats other peoples thoughts on it

Basically it is rugby but with stratagey.  Each team huddles up, picks a play, meets on the line where the ball is currently at, one team is offense, and the other is Defense,  Then they hope their play is best.  after the player with the ball has been knocked down, they repeat untill either they fail to get 10 yards in 4 plays, or they score. (Basically)

cheers for explaining,i do find the game a bit stop start but i suppose thats the part of the game

think of American Football as being a chess match in cleats, with only 11 pieces each allowed on the field at any time!  You try to find mismatches and exploit weaknesses in your opponent..... Sound familiar?

     On offense you have your 5 biggest players on the line for protection (pawns), your quarterback distributes the ball to the rest of the team....  so he is the King and needs to be protected.....  the other 5 players will be who he is distributing the ball to.... their sizes will vary according to the matchups you wish to exploit..... Rooks, knights and bishops if you will.....  do you need breakaway speed in someone who can catch a pass or run out of the backfield?  Do you need a real tall guy that can come up with a catch in a crowd?  A big bruising runner to power out 5-8 yards?  A big guy to perform extra blocking, but also be available to catch a pass?  Maybe you want to put in 4 guys with breakaway speed because you think your opponent only has a couple guys with the speed to match them.....  it is all a chess match!     

Your different formations, plays, etc.  Not so different from the chess concepts of openings, gambits, positioning......

On the stopping and starting part, that is actually one of the things I like about the game (unlike baseball where I find the exact same thing annoying).

Like soccer, rugby and many other games there are a lot of tactics and strategies involved, but in most sports there are to many close ups on the person with the ball, that it is hard to tell when somebody who doesn't have the ball makes a move that ruins the defenders position. In american football, there is enough time to go through the plays and the importance of the other players.

 playing properley good but watching i find boring

Wayne, if you don't understand the nuances of the strategy being used.....  most any game is boring.....  I feel that way about soccer and hockey.....  but once learned it becomes very interesting.....  My wife is an example of that....  she said football was the most boring thing to watch because "all they do is run into the pile, then huddle up and do it again"!   If on occasion she would join me to watch a game, she would make comments about their uniform colors or logos, and then usually start reading her book she would bring....

A few years ago we got a DVR that allows me to record games, slow it down, freeze a frame, etc.....   I began to explain the different positions, ideal size/strength/speed that is needed and why.  After she understood that, I taught her about the different formations for offense and defense and the matchup problems they each create.....  She surprised me by how much she wanted to know about something that she used to hate.  But the thing is, she loves it now!  I think she may watch more than I do.  The most humorous thing for me is when we are watching in a public venue such as a bar, and she starts identifying the offensive or defensive formations by the personel running on the field....  The guys jaws drop!  Most of them don't know how to identify it when the team is already in it, let alone by the situation and who is entering the game as she does....  guys are buying all her drinks by the end of the 1st Q, and want to buy mine as well just for being with her....      

Her enthusiasm is such, that her sister and various friends are asking her to teach them!  It has been a very interesting development in our marriage the last few years.....  Mostly good, but sometimes odd in how it changes the social structure at times.  When we are at parties watching football with other couples, the women often go shopping or get together and talk in another room.  Now she wants to stay and watch too, and some of the women will join her.....  And it is just different.....  We can't fart and tell off color jokes like we used to.....  and now instead of just beer, and only beer...... there has to be wine and mixed drinks, plates that are not paper, and so on....  things have just changed..

lol thats cool

Ok coming from an American, football isnt the best sport, but people love the action and the tackling. @lance4635946 is right. The game is very start and stop, but they play replays in between plays so people think there's a lot more action, when there isn't. There some analysis that says like 3 minutes of a football game is the action.