While fantasy football is technically gambling, the buy ins for the leagues I'm in are pretty low. It's very addictive because of the competition and friendly rivalry. Couldn't care less about the payout, rubbing it on your buddies' face when you win is the real award.
This. I compare the entry fee to that of paying to play a sport or join a club...or hell, buying a videogame.
It's a super fun activity to do with my friends that lasts 17 weeks. It's something I look forward to every week. While potentially winning money is nice, it's not at all what I'm here for.
Now, those who are in 20 different leagues are definitely coming at this from a gambling perspective because at that point all you care about is winning money. In 1 or 2 leagues you care about watching and cheering on your players.
Redzone is the only thing that makes watching football tolerable and it makes you realize how much the sport actually does kind of suck 95% of the time when you go back to watching just a single game.
Football is a great sport to have on in the background when you have house guests. You can be chatting, snacking, doing other things, and when a play happens you watch, then while all the commercials and analysis and replays are happening you do other things and socialize with your friends. Other sports you have to watch from beginning to end otherwise you miss the action, which is fine if you're alone and you want to watch for a few hours straight. I think this is why people have football parties a lot more than they have hockey or basketball parties.
I'm a 71 y/o Baylor grad. Most of our 7 children chose Texas A&M. We love college football, especially Big 12 and SEC.
Saturdays are pretty awesome around here. I was the team doctor for a small Texas town high school football team for 14 years. Our boys were playing and a daughter cheerleading. These are fantastic memories.
If you're watching American football simply to see the ball in action you're going to have a bad time. American football is more or less a game of chess where each player has a specific job and can only perform specific actions to help their side achieve the goal of winning the game. The majority of the game is about the strategies and tactics each team uses to utilize their players the best to win the game.
Someone described it to me this same way when I complained like OP, its basically a strategy game. That's when it clicked for me I actually found it a bit more enjoyable after that.
[X] is more or less a game of chess where each player has a specific job and can only perform specific actions to help their side achieve the goal of winning the game. The majority of the game is about the strategies and tactics each team uses to utilize their players the best to win the game.
I feel you can say that about almost all sports and games.
You also get to participate. Every play you get to play prognosticator as to what you think a team should do offensively or defensively and see it come to fruition. "Based on 3rd and 7 with 4 minutes left down by 5 on the -25 and no timeouts my team on offense, based on the defense cover 2 robber look where my team is playing 2x2 the x receiver should be open on the corner route. Let's see if that happens." The play happens and you're right or it doesn't because your team is the Broncos are god awful dumpster fire lmao
Okay you're gonna have to explain cover 2 robber. I'm assuming you just mean, like, a 2 high shell pre-snap with a rotation to single high man? I've never actually seen that referred to as "cover 2 robber", but then again I had never seen 2 man under as "cover 5" before but it's apparently super common.
Same concept. Cover 3 look and the safety rolls to the middle from mfc to mfo. Benefit is it looks like cover 3 zone but can turn into cover 2 man with a hook defender or spy (depending how you play it)
I quite enjoy playing baseball. I even like watching my local semi-pro team play. But watching it on TV? I would rather watch…you know what? I keep trying think of something hyperbolic to say here, but I literally can't think of anything more boring that baseball on TV. No joke, I would rather watch paint dry for 3 hours. At least I can see things in the random shapes that the texture makes.
Baseball is awesome. Every pitch there's potential for action and that's either exciting because your team is batting, or worrying because your team is pitching.
I'm a golf professional and even I find golf boring to watch at times (I mostly only watch the majors) but, baseball is more boring and I think even curling is not only boring but annoying AF. Golf is not the worst to watch.
Still boring but it's cool to watch the best be the best from time to time. Baseball is exciting because of the potential of each pitch and it being the only game where it's truly never over til it's over.
I find it boring but If your not interested in something your going to find it boring. There's many people out there that would say the things you enjoy are boring.
Pretty sure all people outside the US know that a sport should only be called football if you play a ball with a foot, and not some leathered egg with your hands
One explanation for the common and apparently contradictory use of the word 'football', is that it's so called because it's a sport played when you're on your feet, as opposed to on a horse or something.
Also might explain why (as others have pointed out) rugby is properly called _rugby football_, and many in the game still refer to a rugby player as a 'footballer'.
Many American football fans would tell you soccer is the most boring sport to ever exist. Neither are boring. They are timeless classic sports that appeal to different demographics. If you take the time to learn one extremely well while ignoring the other, you're probably going to find the one you know less about extremely boring.
It's probably how it was originally. But the league makes more money the way things are now.
But also, taking timeouts for injuries is more about player safety than the game was originally, and sometimes reviews are necessary. I just watch passively while I do something else nowadays.
What I find fascinating about American football (D1 and NFL) is the freakish amount of athletic talent that is on the field making the game look effortless; especially at the quarterback position in the NFL. I played football from the time I was 9 years old all the way up through junior college and let me assure you it is EXTREMELY rare for someone to have the natural ability that is needed to play QB in the NFL. It is probably one of the most difficult things to do in sports. You can coach someone up on throwing mechanics and you can teach someone how to read defenses but NFL caliber QBs have so many other traits that simply cannot be coached. I think Dan Marino said in an interview that he could "feel" where to go with the ball on any given play and he had a natural reaction to that feeling to throw the ball with a certain speed and a certain amount of finesse to get it to the right spot. How could you coach someone to do that? So I guess having an appreciation of the athletic prowess that is on the field doing super human things is what makes me enjoy watching.
Oval Tracks are heavily banked. Its actually closer to a straight line race than any race with an actual turn that requires a brake point and significant slowdown.
Its basically simulated long distance drag racing.
I mean, racing has been a sport since forever. I'm no historian, but I'd wager racing was the among the first sports or games in most, if not all, cultures.
"I don't get the love of chariot races. It's horses going in circles, big woop." - guy in ancient Rome, probably
While I kind of like football, I can almost always find something to do I like more than watching football, particularly on weekends when Football is played.
Facts.
I played football so I know it well and don't have to research as much.
Baseball, basketball (I've played it in street but I don't really know about zoning or what certain plays are called, nor all the positions)
Soccer I went to a game had no idea what the rules are , positions, but I enjoyed the food!
Same with hockey.
I like Yugioh some don't.
It's because I know the rules and actually enjoy the back and forth and strategy of it.
Same with Chess.
I love watching rugby too and still can't wrap my head around the rules. Player emerges from giant mass, tosses ball, eventually another giant mass, player emerges.... fun though.
My mother-in-law LOVES football and has known tons about it since she was a kid. One night we were at her house with my husband's brothers and they decided to turn on a professional League of Legends game (eSports). I tried to quickly explain a few things that were going on to my mother-in-law and she seemed so lost. After a little while she turned to me and said "I finally understand all those wifes who don't understand football. This is totally overwhelming and I have absolutely no idea what's going on." She worded it that way partially because I am a wife who doesn't understand football haha. But it's true that the more you understand what's going on and all the intricacies of the game, then it's so much more enjoyable to watch.
As a Canadian who is not a big football fan, the one thing that is exciting about the NFL is that there are only 16 games in a season. That means every game is 5x more important than an NBA game and 10x more important than an MLB game.
The other thing that impresses me about the NFL is that there are some small cities where practically everyone you meet is a season ticket holder to their NFL team. Being a Leafs fans I was sitting thinking "how could everybody have $20k to drop on season tickets… then I realized there's only 8 home games in a season and that you can get a cheap pair of season tickets for like $1200. You add in the tailgating, etc. and what a great past time to bring a community closer together for 16-20 weeks of the year.
I don't disagree with how religious americans are about football can seem exaggerated but, as others here have said, I think the more you understand it, the more you can enjoy it. I don't think someone who doesn't enjoy it actually understands the game.
Have you ever tried to watch baseball?
Baseball is best on Radio while doing yard work.
Baseball is actually best in the stadium.
That makes total sense. I have some podcasts that are best enjoyed as background noise
I could easily agree with you, but then again i happily watch test match cricket so i don't want to be hypocritical 😅
You've clearly not watched Redzone on a Sunday afternoon.
Football crack
Redzone is about the best thing to happen to football in a long time.
Best thing since the forward pass
It's the most dopamine I've ever received in such a short period of time from anything besides drugs
But have you ever watched RedZone.. on drugs.
Yes. Yes I have.
And it's glorious.
Mountain Dew Redzone or Old Spice Redzone?
7 hours of commercial free football baby.
Also the witching hour is classic, must watch
Scott Hansen's excitement over the octobox!
When all your fantasy teams have a 50% shot of winning going into witching hour 😯
"When wins become losses and losses become wins"
Never gets old
The witching hour is magical
Once you go RedZone, you never go back.
In other words, death is the only escape from RedZone, you poor bastard.
fantasy football + red zone. could be considered a narcotic it's so powerful
Gambling addictions are very strong.
While fantasy football is technically gambling, the buy ins for the leagues I'm in are pretty low. It's very addictive because of the competition and friendly rivalry. Couldn't care less about the payout, rubbing it on your buddies' face when you win is the real award.
This. I compare the entry fee to that of paying to play a sport or join a club...or hell, buying a videogame.
It's a super fun activity to do with my friends that lasts 17 weeks. It's something I look forward to every week. While potentially winning money is nice, it's not at all what I'm here for.
Now, those who are in 20 different leagues are definitely coming at this from a gambling perspective because at that point all you care about is winning money. In 1 or 2 leagues you care about watching and cheering on your players.
Redzone is the only thing that makes watching football tolerable and it makes you realize how much the sport actually does kind of suck 95% of the time when you go back to watching just a single game.
I need to force myself to do other stuff just so I don't sit down for like 10+ hours on Sunday
He is playing video games. Doesn't know what red zone is
Wait until you watch baseball
It's fun if you can fill the downtime. Drinking, snacking, complaining about the refs.
Football is a great sport to have on in the background when you have house guests. You can be chatting, snacking, doing other things, and when a play happens you watch, then while all the commercials and analysis and replays are happening you do other things and socialize with your friends. Other sports you have to watch from beginning to end otherwise you miss the action, which is fine if you're alone and you want to watch for a few hours straight. I think this is why people have football parties a lot more than they have hockey or basketball parties.
I think I'd rather have music on more than anything But of course there's multiple options 😃
"Football is great if you don't pay attention to it"
More like: football is great if you don't pay exclusive attention to it. The person you are responding to clearly pays some attention to football.
I'm a 71 y/o Baylor grad. Most of our 7 children chose Texas A&M. We love college football, especially Big 12 and SEC.
Saturdays are pretty awesome around here. I was the team doctor for a small Texas town high school football team for 14 years. Our boys were playing and a daughter cheerleading. These are fantastic memories.
I hope you guys find a way to get rid of Jimbo. Your poor boosters lol
He is Baylor grad though. He might be loving the Texas A&M drama. Given Baylor is a part of the Hateful 8. Source: an Iowa State fan.
The problem is your clearly not watching Patrick Mahomes
Yeah I think OP would change their tune if they watched that Bills Chiefs game from last year
reading this at 3am while watching the Ravens - Bucs game haha
Do you like any sports?
Oh this one again….
Do you mean football or handegg?
You mean kickball?
I was wondering too, until I saw the game time not quite correct for football.
If you're watching American football simply to see the ball in action you're going to have a bad time. American football is more or less a game of chess where each player has a specific job and can only perform specific actions to help their side achieve the goal of winning the game. The majority of the game is about the strategies and tactics each team uses to utilize their players the best to win the game.
Someone described it to me this same way when I complained like OP, its basically a strategy game. That's when it clicked for me I actually found it a bit more enjoyable after that.
I feel you can say that about almost all sports and games.
Unless you're the Falcons and you just run the ball no matter what.
Angry Kyle Pitts owner?
NFL: has forward pass
Falcons: "I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it."
You also get to participate. Every play you get to play prognosticator as to what you think a team should do offensively or defensively and see it come to fruition. "Based on 3rd and 7 with 4 minutes left down by 5 on the -25 and no timeouts my team on offense, based on the defense cover 2 robber look where my team is playing 2x2 the x receiver should be open on the corner route. Let's see if that happens." The play happens and you're right or it doesn't because your team is the Broncos are god awful dumpster fire lmao
steelers fans feel this rn
I feel personally attacked!
Run run pass brother if you don't like that you don't like Canada-ball
... It's me I don't like Canada-ball
As a Browns fan...
Welcome to the club! We have pity parades.
They merely adopted the pain. We Browns fans were born in the misery, molded by it.
yeah exactly.. i personally don't like football. it's really very boring play and i like to watch cricket
I miss Troy :(
Bronco country, let's cry
Okay you're gonna have to explain cover 2 robber. I'm assuming you just mean, like, a 2 high shell pre-snap with a rotation to single high man? I've never actually seen that referred to as "cover 2 robber", but then again I had never seen 2 man under as "cover 5" before but it's apparently super common.
Same concept. Cover 3 look and the safety rolls to the middle from mfc to mfo. Benefit is it looks like cover 3 zone but can turn into cover 2 man with a hook defender or spy (depending how you play it)
If only most fans were this familiar with the game, you've left a high mark to match.
Better have a competent free safety to run a scheme like this or else you're susceptible to getting burned in the seam.
Where can I go to learn these things?
Broncos country… Let's ride
Golf is way more boring
Like any other sport, golf is way more interesting if you actually understand it.
Nothing is more boring than baseball
How did you forget about golf already?
NASCAR?
It's pretty exciting when somebody accidentally makes a right turn
Like all things the more you know about it the more entertaining it will be
Got into baseball recently with this Phillies run and I couldn't agree less.
I love baseball, but even many of the guys I played with in college couldn't sit through a game on TV without being bored.
I quite enjoy playing baseball. I even like watching my local semi-pro team play. But watching it on TV? I would rather watch…you know what? I keep trying think of something hyperbolic to say here, but I literally can't think of anything more boring that baseball on TV. No joke, I would rather watch paint dry for 3 hours. At least I can see things in the random shapes that the texture makes.
Baseball is awesome. Every pitch there's potential for action and that's either exciting because your team is batting, or worrying because your team is pitching.
I love baseball
Golf is great because no one cares if you drink while you play
This is 90% the reason why I used to go bowling every week. And way cheaper than either golf or a bar.
I'm a golf professional and even I find golf boring to watch at times (I mostly only watch the majors) but, baseball is more boring and I think even curling is not only boring but annoying AF. Golf is not the worst to watch.
Still boring but it's cool to watch the best be the best from time to time. Baseball is exciting because of the potential of each pitch and it being the only game where it's truly never over til it's over.
I also only watch the majors but baseball is a lot of fun to watch and curling is AWESOME to watch.
You misspelled GOLG , Happens to all of us.
I find it boring but If your not interested in something your going to find it boring. There's many people out there that would say the things you enjoy are boring.
I know people who get excited over math lol
I know people who get excited over meth lol
Does it fill a stadium
Yeah with a bunch of babes
You obviously missed the Alabama - Tennessee game
TN fan here. Still riding the emotional high.
Next time, please add the word "American" before that fake football, when you talk about this.
Pretty sure all people outside the US know that a sport should only be called football if you play a ball with a foot, and not some leathered egg with your hands
One explanation for the common and apparently contradictory use of the word 'football', is that it's so called because it's a sport played when you're on your feet, as opposed to on a horse or something.
Also might explain why (as others have pointed out) rugby is properly called _rugby football_, and many in the game still refer to a rugby player as a 'footballer'.
I really wanna see horse rugby.
DaE hAnDeGg? lol
dude. I was legit confused about all of these numbers haha
Yeah I had a stroke. Americans 🤦♂️ football and their weird measuring systems.
Millions of people around the world agree with you. Ur opinion quite popular.
Yeah that's why football is the most popular sport, not handegg
11 minutes of actual gameplay? That's not even remotely accurate.
Yeah there's at least 15 wtf.
Many American football fans would tell you soccer is the most boring sport to ever exist. Neither are boring. They are timeless classic sports that appeal to different demographics. If you take the time to learn one extremely well while ignoring the other, you're probably going to find the one you know less about extremely boring.
It's got a high activation energy to get into.
I like football. I don't like 45 minutes of commercials and 15 minutes of football.
I just watch highlights of games now on YouTube.
Highlights or game in 40
Where do you access game in 40
They have it on the NFL app, otherwise YT can put up a game in 40' recap
I have NFL gamepass there you can watch every game in 40 minutes.
That sounds like how the game was intended to be played
It's probably how it was originally. But the league makes more money the way things are now.
But also, taking timeouts for injuries is more about player safety than the game was originally, and sometimes reviews are necessary. I just watch passively while I do something else nowadays.
Red zone baby. No commercials and they show every important play.
Redzone is like football crack
What I find fascinating about American football (D1 and NFL) is the freakish amount of athletic talent that is on the field making the game look effortless; especially at the quarterback position in the NFL. I played football from the time I was 9 years old all the way up through junior college and let me assure you it is EXTREMELY rare for someone to have the natural ability that is needed to play QB in the NFL. It is probably one of the most difficult things to do in sports. You can coach someone up on throwing mechanics and you can teach someone how to read defenses but NFL caliber QBs have so many other traits that simply cannot be coached. I think Dan Marino said in an interview that he could "feel" where to go with the ball on any given play and he had a natural reaction to that feeling to throw the ball with a certain speed and a certain amount of finesse to get it to the right spot. How could you coach someone to do that? So I guess having an appreciation of the athletic prowess that is on the field doing super human things is what makes me enjoy watching.
I see your football and I raise you NASCAR.
NASCAR is one big turn
The last ten years it's been one big turn for the worse.
Oval Tracks are heavily banked. Its actually closer to a straight line race than any race with an actual turn that requires a brake point and significant slowdown.
Its basically simulated long distance drag racing.
I mean, racing has been a sport since forever. I'm no historian, but I'd wager racing was the among the first sports or games in most, if not all, cultures.
"I don't get the love of chariot races. It's horses going in circles, big woop." - guy in ancient Rome, probably
Clearly someone has never watched baseball
I don't think it's _the most boring_ but it's certainly more mid than most Americans think it is
nah when you understand what's going on and you're truly rooting for a team it's so enjoyable
Quit watching the Thursday night games, they've been a disaster
While I kind of like football, I can almost always find something to do I like more than watching football, particularly on weekends when Football is played.
I find any sport is much more enjoyable when you truly understand how it works and functions. Makes everything a lot more interesting.
I know A LOT about football, the players, defensive coverage, offensive plays which translates to a more enjoyable experience.
Facts.
I played football so I know it well and don't have to research as much.
Baseball, basketball (I've played it in street but I don't really know about zoning or what certain plays are called, nor all the positions)
Soccer I went to a game had no idea what the rules are , positions, but I enjoyed the food!
Same with hockey.
I like Yugioh some don't.
It's because I know the rules and actually enjoy the back and forth and strategy of it.
Same with Chess.
I'm a nerd
I love watching rugby too and still can't wrap my head around the rules. Player emerges from giant mass, tosses ball, eventually another giant mass, player emerges.... fun though.
My mother-in-law LOVES football and has known tons about it since she was a kid. One night we were at her house with my husband's brothers and they decided to turn on a professional League of Legends game (eSports). I tried to quickly explain a few things that were going on to my mother-in-law and she seemed so lost. After a little while she turned to me and said "I finally understand all those wifes who don't understand football. This is totally overwhelming and I have absolutely no idea what's going on." She worded it that way partially because I am a wife who doesn't understand football haha. But it's true that the more you understand what's going on and all the intricacies of the game, then it's so much more enjoyable to watch.
I've always found the front lines very interesting, especially when it's a 1 yard play at the goal line. A lot goes on in a very short time.
But you'll only really care to learn if you already have some interest in it. It's cyclic
Glad someone said it. No one's learning all that information without enjoying the game in the first place.
It's even more exciting when you have money on the game 💰
That says nothing though. Snail racing is ok to watch if you've got money riding on it.
Makes everything more exciting ha
Pretty much everything this guy said ^^
But I also record the games and watch them when I can, being able to zip through commercials
As a Canadian who is not a big football fan, the one thing that is exciting about the NFL is that there are only 16 games in a season. That means every game is 5x more important than an NBA game and 10x more important than an MLB game.
The other thing that impresses me about the NFL is that there are some small cities where practically everyone you meet is a season ticket holder to their NFL team. Being a Leafs fans I was sitting thinking "how could everybody have $20k to drop on season tickets… then I realized there's only 8 home games in a season and that you can get a cheap pair of season tickets for like $1200. You add in the tailgating, etc. and what a great past time to bring a community closer together for 16-20 weeks of the year.
That's because football is a physical game of chess and you just don't understand it
Opinion of a person that never played or learned the game of football.
RedZone my friend. No commercials
I don't disagree with how religious americans are about football can seem exaggerated but, as others here have said, I think the more you understand it, the more you can enjoy it. I don't think someone who doesn't enjoy it actually understands the game.