Football, better than Rugby?
Philadelphia Fight Rugby News and Press
You can't deny the popularity of a game like American football.
It's violent, marketed beautifully and filled with a luscious history that is as decorated as it is celebrated.
American football is also one of the highest generators of action in any sportsbook as well.
From AmericanRugbyNews.com
Football Better Than Rugby?
By Tim Furious (guest contributor)
Aug 6, 2010 - 6:29:22 AM
Rugby is perhaps the most brutal sport played on the planet. It is known as a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen, and is renowned throughout the world as one of the most popular sports in the world. That is, of course, unless you live in America where rugby is treated like some redheaded, basterdized cousin.
Which is kind of odd because, as you sports historians might know, rugby is the predecessor to what became – wait for it – American Football. Yes, that’s right. The most popular game in the good, ol’ fashioned U-S-of-A was born out of rugby.
It shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise. Rugby is a game that is largely based on tossing the ball backwards, running forward, with continuous play that is only impinged when there’s a knocked forward or on a penalty.
Honestly, I don’t know what’s so confusing about the sport. You pass backward, you run forward and at any point of contact a ruck or a maul is formed to retain possession and recycle the ball back in to open play. Sounds simple enough, right?
Apparently, Americans couldn’t get their heads around not passing the ball forward which is why only a minor faction of those living in the States even bothers to bet on rugby games in a sportsbook.
So that’s what they changed, and American Football was born. As a “last ditch” effort on a possession, players were allowed to toss the ball forward (which is illegal in rugby) and this eventually became more fun to watch. Maybe they just didn’t want to admit that the game of rugby was actually an elegant form of sport and wanted to create their own brand of full-contact violence instead.
The thing is that the basics of rugby are actually a little bit more complicated then you’d expect. The intricacies of the game, however, are pretty basic once you figure out the duties of each player on the pitch. Rugby’s a game that relies on natural instinct and quick thinking.
You can’t exactly say that about football. What people love about football is the strategy and the complexities of the play calling. Hidden within those details are why American Football is also the most popular North American betting sport there is.
Of all things sacred in football, they love the big plays and the hard hits. We cheer vehemently for American footballers to spear each other in the chest, at the knees and knock his opponent clear off his feet with no regard for human safety.
“But they wear pads!” Oh right. I forgot. If you think that the equipment in American Football isn’t designed to inflict pain as much it is meant to protect, then you’re blind.
And yet rugby is the sport of barbarians somehow? Ruggers don’t even wear pads and aren’t allowed to spear. If you think that rugby players don’t hit hard, go watch some highlights on Youtube or something.
These boys hammer each other with nothing but muscle, bone and sinew. Just like our ancestors.
Debate amongst yourselves as to which one is better. All I know for sure is that American Football wouldn’t even exist if rugby hadn’t been invented in the first place. It’s not that I don’t appreciate, or love, American Football. It’s just that the rest of the world isn’t as frenzied about it as the USA.
It’s like driving a 1965 Shelby Mustang versus a 2010 Ford Mustang. The new one is flashier, maybe even faster and sleeker. The newer model is certainly much more complicated.
It’s just not as cool as the vintage model that came before it.
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