Football rules

Sports is simply a part of everyday life in the US. Some American sports are increasing in popularity in Germany as well. We will now give you the (rather simplified) rules of some of these typical sports so that you don't have to keep guessing when watching a game on TV. We would like to begin with the US sport that might be the most popular in our country - football.

American football was originally developed from the English rugby, but now it has nothing in common with that anymore. English trainers brought rugby to the American colleges toward the end of the 19th century, soon the sport had become very popular. The field is 53 yards wide and 100 yards long, with a 10-yard end zone. Every team has 11 players on the field. Players can be exchanged for an unlimited number of times. The game starts with the kickoff to the attacking team, which then has to move the ball down the field to make a touchdown in the end zone (6 points), while the defensive team tries to prevent this. Whenever an attacker who has the ball is being thrown down, the players put their heads together to discuss their next move. The teams will then assume their positions on both sides of the ball and the game starts over, when the center of the attacking team throws the ball through his legs to the quarterback. The quarterback, who attacks, can either run himself with the ball or throw it to the receiver. Now, a lot of things will happen, since the attacking team will use a series of practiced tactical moves plus brutal strength in order to get past the defensive team and get the ball to the end of the field. The defensive team, in turn, will do everything to prevent this. Whenever the attack is over (usually within a matter of seconds), the game is stopped and the entire process starts over. Whenever the attacking team looses the ball or doesn't get it further than 10 yards in 4 downs, the other team will get the ball.

The fascination of this game are the many attack and defense strategies that are often compared to chess. In addition, people are fascinated by the breathtaking athleticism of the players, who seem huge but are still acting very fast. Many people find football a rather brutal kind of sport, even though the games are very well ordered usually. Even though there is some rather frightening body contact, there are usually no fistfights or fouls as there are in ice hockey, for example. (Also, fights off the field as we know from German soccer are not common in American football. The same applies to baseball. Many people take their children there, because the entire fuss before, during and after the game is quite a spectacle, similar to a fair or something.)

National Football League:
The National Football League (NFL) is divided into the National Conference and the American Conference with 15 teams each. Professional season is between August and December. The teams have one game a week. Games are always on Sunday and Monday night, there are 16 games in total. If the teams are very popular, and especially if they have a home game, it is very hard to get tickets. They cost about $25 or $35. The Superbowl will be in January. On the black market, tickets cost hundreds of Dollars.

College football

Almost as popular and professional as the NFL is College football. The NCAA college games are between September until mid-December. The highlight are the bowl games between the best teams of the college leagues. The Rose bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Eve is the biggest, followed by the Sugar bowl in New Orleans, the Orange bowl (Miami), and the Cotton bowl (Dallas).

In the next newsletter: baseball.