American football seems to have grown out a college football game (which is probably why we see it so often in relation to high schools) - it's a mixture of rugby and soccer, with lots of new rules thrown in. The team which is playing in offense needs to advance the ball into the opposing team (or defense)'s end zone, where they can score points, depending on how they've managed to get the ball there. The best way seems to be by running really fast and crossing the line before anyone from the defense can catch you (a touchdown).
Football sticker from WHS archives |
There are 32 teams which currently compete in the National Football League. In a combination of matches with rivals in their (more or less) geographical groupings, they finish the football season in early February with a final match called the Super Bowl, probably the largest televised sports event in the entire world! The Green Bay Packers are grouped with the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings and this year, at the Super Bowl, they faced off the Pittsburg Steelers 31/25 to claim the 2011 trophy. Each Super Bowl is given a Latin number, rather than a year (which I guess adds a sense of drama) and this year was the Super Bowl XLV.
It seems to be a massive event for most Americans and this year attracted a TV audience of more than 100 million and a physical audience of more than 100,000 spectators. The game itself doesn't seem to last very long (not compared to cricket anyway!) and the mid-game entertainment at the Super Bowl has become a phenomenon in its own right - whether it's Gloria Estefan with Olympic Figure skaters or Justin Timberlake with Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction', the entertainment never fails to surprise, shock or, well, entertain! This year it was the turn of the Black Eyed Peas to entertain the masses at the interval and the national anthem was sung by Christina Aguilera!
Packer fans by drsethery |
All of this is completely new to me and, when the Super Bowl XLV took place last month on the 6th of February, I was blissfully unaware that it was even happening! I promise to pay more attention next year, now I know the background of this league final. It's also surprised me to learn how popular (American) football is in other countries. There are 14 teams playing in the Irish American Football League, including the Belfast Trojans and the Dublin Dragons. The British American Football Association (BAFA) has no less than 70 teams grouped into three divisions. It's definitely a sport which is catching on here in Britain and Ireland, as well as many other countries in Europe, Asia and beyond!
Image credits:
The image of the Green Bay Packers sticker has been provided copyright-free by the Wisconsin Historical Society in their Visual Materials Archive, which is also available on their flickr photostream. It's a fascinating archive and I think it's great when historical societies preserve images in this way and make them available online to educate future generations!
The image of the football fans celebrating the Packers win at Super Bowl XLV was provided by flickr user drsethery aka Seth Carlson, a freelance multimedia designer who is originally from Park Falls in Wisconsin. You can see more of drsethery's photos on his photostream.
The sheer joy on the faces of the fans is surely worth all the hard work that a team like the Packers puts into the game? Thanks Seth for sharing this image with us, using the Creative Commons license.
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