Support the Jags!

I'm writing this the week after another highly successful International Series game at Wembley.  The quality and closeness of the game helped, but the whole atmosphere in and around the stadium felt better than it ever has. NFL games at Wembley feel normal now - knowledgeable fans having a great day out and watching the sport they love.  Better still, after a few years of "will they won't they" over the future of the game, we are now guaranteed at least one game here for the next 3 seasons, and a strong chance of there being even more match-ups heading our way.

A fundamental reason for the success of the Series is the willingness of teams to come over here and sacrifice a "home" game.  Miami, New Orleans et al have made that sacrifice and helped make the IS what it is today. However, it is the Jacksonville Jaguars that have gone that step further and committed to playing here for 4 consecutive years, thus ensuring more days like Sunday.  I'm not going to be one eyed and say that the Jags are doing it out of an overpowering love for the UK, it's a hard nosed business decision that has a multitude of strands to it, but the bottom line is that are coming over here for 4 "home" games. Like them or not, that's a big commitment and one that, in my opinion, merits our support for those games.  I think it'd be fantastic if as many people as possible adopted the Jags as their second team and helped create a "home" atmosphere.

Even the most ardent Jags fan would admit that their team isn't in a great place right now.  They are going to lose plenty of games this season, and some of them will be pretty ugly.  They are not the easiest team to get behind at present, but it'd be brilliant if fans looked beyond that and gave them their full support in a few weeks time. After all, everyone loves an underdog.  Think how big a story it would be if the Jags did actually pull off a shock victory, it would rank as one of the biggest upsets of the season.  For that to occur in front of a frenzied, partisan crowd would send a fantastic message to other franchises.  Come to the UK and it can do wonders for your franchise.

I'm not suggesting that fans should ditch their teams and become Jags fans.  The majority of UK fans already support teams and have deep rooted loyalties that aren't going to change, and that's great!  It shows that we UK fans are passionate about our teams and care about the game.  However, unless the Jags come up against our favourite team, we can still cheer them on.  Sunday demonstrated how great it is to have the majority of the stadium behind one team.

Furthermore, the sport is growing in the UK.  New fans are jumping on board every year and it'd be great if plenty of them took on the Jags as their team.  After all, they'd be able to watch their team live multiple times without crossing the Atlantic.  What better way to start your NFL supporting life.  Of course, the previously mentioned quality issues may put off potential Jags fans, but look how some franchises have turned around their fortunes in recent years.  The last 2 recipients of the 1st overall Draft pick - the Chiefs and the Colts are currently flourishing.  Under an ambitious new owner in Shahid Khan, it's not a great stretch to think that the Jags could follow in these footprints. Get the Draft right and anything can happen.  Besides, everyone hates a glory hunter - start supporting the Jags now and nobody will accuse you of that!

The Jags also have the best mascot in the NFL - Jaxon De Ville.   Jaxon has been involved in numerous on and off field incidents. He has been known to bungee jump into stadiums and often rides a motorised scooter around the field.  Unfortunately Jaxon sometimes takes things a bit too far and has been reprimanded by the NFL for  - among other things - stamping on a life size doll of a Steelers Quarterback and shaking the goalposts before an opposition field goal.  In fact, it was after Jaxon had spent too much time on the pitch during a match, that the Colts filled a complaint with the league and Jaxon appeared at the next Jags home game locked in a steel cage!  Expect similar antics at Wembley later this month.

So there you go, you may disagree, but I genuinely think we should all get behind Jacksonville when they play at Wembley.  Show the other franchises how the UK treats a home team, create an atmosphere similar to last Sunday and thank the Jags for giving us more NFL games in London. Who knows, we may end up witnessing one of the biggest shocks in this, or any other, season.

NFL Twitter Cliche Bingo

With the NFL season fast approaching, we can once again look forward to endless Sunday nights in front of the TV and laptop, watching an unhealthy amount of American Football.  For many of us, it also means countless hours of refreshing our twitter feeds and checking out what our fellow fans think of the action, as well as offering our own views on proceedings.

In the main, this is a good laugh and full of humorous, intelligent comments from lovers of the sport. It also means a glut of NFL cliches - the Sunday Night version of business bollocks.  Of course, Twitter cliches extend far beyond the world of NFL.  Every major sporting victory is followed swiftly by a tweeted photo of John Terry joining in with the victor(s) and a reminder of how long it has been since Arsenal have won a trophy.

It's common knowledge that the worst Twitter cliche of all is "#justsayin",  a phrase that means absolutely nothing!  In reality, all tweets involve somebody "just saying" something, but whilst we're unlikely to read "BBC News: 27 dead in Middle East terrorist attack. #justsayin", we do have to put up with twaddle such as "Arsenal are crap #justsayin".  Of course you're just saying it you utter cretin!  Unless you're sat at home acting it out or interpreting Arsenal being crap through the medium of dance.

But this is about NFL cliches, the words, phrases and hashtags we have to endure every Sunday night during the season.  Some of them highlight a limited vocabulary, some are Americanisms that have crept into our language, whilst some are just lame insults.

Allow me to elaborate by the medium of bingo.  By the way, I also hate bingo. I went to a Gala Bingo once "for a laugh" and found it the most soul destroying place I've ever been to (and I've been to Kidderminster!). Nobody spoke, nobody drank, it was just full of hardcore bingo players concentrating fully on getting their dabbers on the paper before the next number was called out.  Even the outside smoking area had a PA system so players didn't miss a game whilst having a fag!  Anyway, I digress.  I'll assume you all know how bingo works, if not I suggest you visit my sister site www.howbingoworks.com for full details.



In this version of the game you have to mark off each cliche whenever one of your Twitter friends uses it on a Sunday night during the season. Below is a handy "Bingo Card" for you to print off and use.  Hardcore NTCB players can use multiple cards and assign individuals users to each card, in order to find out who the ultimate Lazy NFL Twitter Cliche Merchant is!

Anyway without further ado, here is a glossary of the terms on the card:

Beast - Use of this term is acceptable when describing Marshawn Lynch's famous touchdown against the Saints or any other TD that involves an entire team being flattened.  However, since Lynch's moment, the term beast has been used on Twitter pretty much every time a running back gains double digit yards .  12 yard gain from Mark Ingram? "Ingram's a beast".  It even gets used for players in other positions, Brandon Marshall grabs a high ball - "Marshall's a beast".  No, he's not! He's a very tall man who is very good at catching footballs!  Move on.

Statement - As in "Great statement from the Defence" and the like.  Essentially, it means "they're doing their job".  When Tom Brady throws a 10 yard pass, people don't say "great statement from the Pat's offence", but when a three and out is forced the word statement comes out in force.   Change the record!

Stud - Next time one of your friends does something impressive (eg eats a very hot curry, that type of thing) call them a stud. Or next time you're watching another sport and something great happens give it a whirl - "Wayne Rooney is a stud"!

Let's Go (insert team name) - I know, I know. It's what fans chant in the stadiums, but seriously it's a woeful chant. Embarrassing, cringy, pathetic and many other adjectives.

Saidnobodyever - I'm sure it started as a decent joke, but now it's just a lazy # added to people's opinions.  "Phil Rivers is a great QB #saidnobodyever".  No No No. What you mean is "I don't think Rivers is a great QB", you can't just claim that nobody has ever thought that.  I'm sure even the worst players in the league have their fans. Think of something different!

Monster - Enough with the Eric Hall impressions.  The word monster can refer be massive beasts such as Godzilla and King Kong, however it is also used to describe paedophiles! So next time you call (eg) Jared Allen a monster, you're essentially putting him on a par with Roy Whiting!

Elite - A favourite of the NFL Network.  Who cares which Quarterbacks belong in a purely subjective bracket? Boring!

FACT - Not an NFL exclusive #, but a favourite of LNTCMs everywhere.  If your best way of justifying your viewpoint is to write FACT at the end of a tweet, then I suggest a career in public speaking isn't for you!

Banter - Another abomination that stretches way beyond the NFL.  I recently had a tweet that suggested I follow a chap "if you enjoy top NFL banter".  Suffice to say he wasn't followed.  I refer to the excellent Urban Dictionary for the true definition of the word:  

"A term now applied to what was previously known as "Conversation" (if explicitly referred to at all) by a generation whose aspirations have been systematically lowered (due to endless hours of social networking and reality TV) to the point that events which occur naturally, everyday, everywhere are now praised and honoured as achievements"

Legend - Legendary status used to be nigh on impossible to achieve   Now you just have to throw 3 Touchdown passes in a game and the Twittersphere pronounces you a legend. "304 yards and 3 TDs.  Chad Henne is a legend!"  All meaning of the word has been destroyed.  Mainly by people who "enjoy banter".

Trolling - I'm not talking about the practice of winding up people online or Tweets that identify culprits of it.  I'm talking about the completely inappropriate misuse of the word in reference to activity that is never a)online or b)aimed at winding people up.  For example, it's week one and a player released at the end of the last season scores for his new franchise.  you get bet your life that within 3 seconds at least one LNTCM will post "x is trolling the (insert previous franchise)".  No, he's not...he's scored a touchdown for his team. Have a think!

Buttfumble  - It happened.  It was very funny.  And there were some amusing tweets at the time. But #buttfumble when talking about Mark Sanchez a year later is classic LNTCM behaviour. 

Cowgirls - I don't like the Dallas Cowboys one bit.  But should I wish to insult them, I use words such as *****,  **** or *******.  Calling them Cowgirls, actually makes the writer seem more pathetic than the intended target.  While we're at it, "G-Men" must be the lamest nickname in the whole of sport!

Crads - See above, although this is arguably even more pathetic.

Epic Fail - This is a phrase that should be reserved for monumental mistakes and errors. However, log on to twitter during the NFL season and you'll discover that throwing an interception is apparently an Epic Fail! Get a dictionary!

Ballgame - As in, "This is the ballgame" before a key play.  Another classic example of UK NFL fans thinking they're American.  No doubt these people indulge in blue sky thinking during the work and like to think outside of the box.

Bring Back (insert name of departed Quarterback) - Eg Matt Flynn throws a Week 1 interception, cue "Bring Back Alex Smith."  Lazy, lazy, lazy.

London Bound - Hello Sky Sports!  Yes, we know that 4 teams are playing at Wembley this season, we don't need you to mention it in every tweet.  I even saw this phrase being used by Twitter users not employed by Rupert Murdoch last season.

Money - "Blair Walsh is money from 50 yards". No, he isn't. He is very good from 50 yards. Another phrase that British people never use in the real world, but put them in front of a screen on a Sunday night and it becomes a staple of the vocabulary.

Inane Factual Tweets - I'm talking about "Touchdown", "Wide right", "Interception" and the like. I'm not professing to be the world's greatest NFL expert, but I can see when a touchdown has been scored without some goon on Twitter confirming it!

No doubt, there are many more examples of lazy NFL twitter cliches, but these are some of my favourites. 

NFL Twitter Bingo
Beast	Statement	Stud	Let's Go
Saidnobodyever	Monster	Elite	FACT
Legend	Money	Trolling	Banter
Buttfumble	Cowgirls	Crads	Epic Fail
Ballgame	Bring Back x	London Bound	Inane Factual Tweets

Good Luck!

The 2 sides of Depression

2 Champions, 1 Sport.
One is the most naturally gifted player his sport has ever scene and regularly has crowds gasping at the quality of his play.  The other is one of the hardest workers in the sport, but rarely pulls in the crowds or receives public adoration 
Despite their lack of common ground.  They've both won world titles, they've both made millions of pounds out of the sport.  They've also both suffered from depression and, at various times, had to stop playing the sport at which they excel.
If you've haven't guessed, I'm talking about the sport of snooker and the two men in question are Ronnie O'Sullivan and Greame Dott.

O'Sullivan is the most famous player in the world.  He has entertained crowds for the last 20 years and won 5 world titles, the last of which came after he'd taken a year out of the sport.  Fans know him as the Rocket, in honour of his high speed style of play.  For the majority of the time, he makes the sport look ridiculously easy, but occasionally you get a glimpse into the mind of the man.  Sometimes it's just an annoyed punch of the table, occasionally it's something more extreme.  There was the famous occasion where he walked out of a UK Championship semi final in the middle of a frame.  He later said that he just couldn't cope with being in the arena and needed to leave.
The reality is that he suffers from elongated bouts of depression and self doubt. "I lie there some mornings and think what's the point of even getting out of bed? I end up lying there until one in the afternoon.  I'll struggle up, have a cup of tea and that's pretty much it. Those are the days you just lose." One of the root causes of O'Sullivan's condition was the murder conviction handed out to his father when O'Sullivan was just 16, not surprisingly it had a massive impact on him.  However, depression is a complicated illness and it would be wrong to sorely put his condition solely down to that event.

Greame Dott has also won the world snooker title (as well as being the runner up on 2 occasions).  However, he doesn't share anywhere near the same levels of fame and public support as O'Sullivan.  Ask any snooker fan to describe Dott and you'll hear adjectives such as gritty, brave, hard-working and determined.  It all sounds vaguely patronising, but in truth Dott has done a wonderful job of making the most of his ability.  Every shot is given such a high level of care and attention, you think his whole career depends upon its outcome.  Whilst Dott is a highly skilled and successful performer, his style isn't exactly "box office" and few non snooker fans have heard of him.  
Like O'Sullivan, Dott has suffered from depression.  Again, there have been tragic events in his life that have had a profound effect on him and again it has led to the player having time away from the game.

Dott and O'Sullivan are vastly different performers and when you watch them play, it's hard to believe they have so much in common away from the sport.  But that's the thing with depression, there's no template for who it affects and there's often no way of spotting somebody who suffers from it.  The flamboyant woman who talks all day in the office, the quiet chap who just gets on with his job, the middle manager who works long hours.  Depression could hit any of them and, in many ways, that's the most worrying thing of all about the illness.
   

Unfair Dismissal?

When i'm not wasting my evenings watching sport, I work as a Business Manager for a stress management company (Aum Consultancy).  As part of my role, I write blogs and articles for our website. Below is a recent article on a football story that didn't really get the attention it merited...)

Imagine this:
You're a manger who is performing reasonably well in your job, you've established a decent reputation among your peers and have a bright future in the role.  Unfortunately, you then suffer an illness and are off work for 3 months, during this time your employer finds a suitable standing, but remains in touch and assures you you're job is safe.  3 months later you are feeling better and ready to resume your duties, you arrange a meeting with your employer and everything is in place. Then just before the meeting, she rings you up and tells you you're sacked.
I'm guessing you'd be more than a bit miffed. However, the above scenario was one that happened to the now ex Torquay United manager Martin Ling.  Non football fans (and indeed some football fans) will not be familiar with Ling, but he is a well respected lower league manager and was in the hot seat at Torquay until he was diagnosed with a stress related illness in January.  At the time, Torquay were occupying a comfortable mid table position. 

Torquay allowed Ling time off to recover and appointed an interim manager (Alan Knill) to look after the team for the final three months of the season   During that time, the team, and Knill, understandably struggled to adapt to the change and only just avoided relegation on the last day of the season.  Meanwhile, Ling had fully recovered and had been in contact with Torquay.  Indeed the Torquay hierarchy had gone public in confirming that Ling was coming back to the club.

Then a couple of days before Ling was due to return, he received an out of the blue phone call from the club chairwoman telling him he was being sacked!  The official line from the club was that Ling had been dismissed for "footballing reasons", although given the club's performance over the course of the season this seems quite a flimsy reason.  There is also the issue of why the club chose to dismiss him just before he was due to return to work.  

Perceptions towards stress and well-being are improving, but as the above case demonstrates, there is still a lot of work that can be done.  Ling himself, best summed up the situation: "If I had had a heart attack or cancer and this had happened there'd be uproar, but because it's a stress-related illness it seems they can get away with it"

Prologue to History

After one of the Eagles numerous defeats over the past season, I wrote about how I was going to spend the off season researching and writing about the history of the NFL in the UK.  Well, since then I've got more and more interested in the project and have already started researching the topic and getting some ideas down.  In fact, I haven't got this caught up in my blog since my initial Search for a Team, there are a rich array of fascinating stories about American Football in this country and I've really enjoyed discovering them.

The history of the NFL in the UK has been written about before - there is the excellent Britball website, as well as numerous other articles that can be found with a quick trawl around the net, but I want to tell the whole story.  I want to chart all of the links between American Football and this country - going all the way back to very beginning, right through to the recent International Series games at Wembley.

History was never my strong point at school (my strong points were euchre and common room cricket!).  I didn't really care about how the Tudors lived, or the political situation in Rome two thousand years ago.  What made it particularly dull was the dry and matter of fact way in which the material was delivered.  A load of facts are all well and good, but I want something with a bit more character and humour.  

Clearly, this represents something of a challenge for me.  It's a bit more in depth then writing about why I hate the Steelers or why Sourdough Sam is the worst mascot in the NFL.  There's also the tricky task of adding some meat to the bones of some pretty vague and thin tales.  Events from recent years are relatively easy to cover, but the task of making a 1910 game between the crews of 2 US battleships sound interesting is all together more taxing.  

It's taken a while but, I've finally managed to cobble together some words that I'm happy with and seeing as the NFL season ends on Sunday I'm going to start to tell my story from next week.

As I've previously discussed, American Football's relationship with the UK can broadly be categorized as follows:

* The Origins of the Sport - Like most US sports, American Football derives from an English sport  - in this case rugby.  How did the sport evolve from the time that William Webb Ellis supposedly pick up a ball during a game of football?

* The Early Days - Before Channel 4 got involved in the early 80's, the NFL was a mystery to the vast majority of the UK.  However, there were a few connections, aside from the previously mentioned Smith.  I am also trying to track down a story that I'm sure I read in the guardian a while ago, it concerns a kicker from the UK who ended up in the NFL after a franchise decided to run kicking trials over here.  If anybody has a link to that story or more information on what happened then please can you let me know, as I seem to recall it was a great tale.

* The 80's Boom - Everyone of a certain age (older than me I hasten to add) remember Channel 4's coverage of the NFL, it led to a massive growth of the NFL in the UK and exhibition games being played at Wembley stadium.  Ultimately, Channel 4's coverage was the catalyst for the League becoming what it has in this country.  They are plenty of interesting facts and anecdotes surrounding the sport and it's presence in the UK during this period.

* The London Monarchs and the World League - With all due respect the likes of the London Blitz and co, it seems ludicrous to think that an American Football team from the UK played and Wembley stadium and regularly attracted crowds of other 40,000.  It was a weird time for the sport in the UK, highlighted by the fact that my geography teacher used to put on Monarchs videos when he had time to kill at the end of a lesson!


*  Finally, after a late nineties dip, we have the "Second Boom" that exists to this day and is underlined by the playing of regular season NFL games at Wembley.  I still get amazed when people complain about aspects of the International Series - Team x are crap, the queues at the Tailgate are too long, tickets are too expensive etc - we shouldn't ever get complacent about the NFL playing in this country.  It is an incredible privilege that the overwhelming majority of sports fans never experience.  It is also growing year upon year -the Tailgates, the Fan Rallies etc and next year we have 2 games to look forward to.  What's more, they are also events such as the Super Bash and the Thanksgiving Party that help to raise the profile of the sport here, as well as more and more games being televised.  It's a fantastic time to be a UK based fan of the NFL, but what does the future hold and how can the sport continue to grow?


So, next week I'll be starting off the story with the first part of how rugby made its way across the Atlantic and slowly morphed into American Football.  It'd be great if you could forward this on to friends and anyone you know who follows the NFL.  Also, if you have any stories from the early years of the NFL in the UK then please let me know.  Hope you enjoy it!

Live With your Vision

When I'm not watching sport, I somehow find the time to hold down a job with a company called Aum Consultancy.  We deal with stress, depression, anger management, well-being and many many other areas of mental health.  We do 121 counselling, as well as group training for business customers.  I really enjoy working for the company, as (cliche alert) it really feels like we are making a massive difference to people going through troubled times and educating people on mental health issues.

So what's this got to do with the NFL?  Well for a start, there have been numerous cases of mental health issues affecting players.  Ultimately, this can lead to tragedy, and this situation has raised it's head this very season.  I will shortly be writing about this and the issue of mental health in sport.

However, my first dabble at combining my working life with my NFL watching life concerns the amazing story of the Indianapolis Colts and Chuck Pagano.  In our line of work, we are always looking for ways to inspire people and make people think about things in a different way.  The Pagano story certainly inspired me  and his speech to the Colts players after they beat Green Bay was particularly memorable. The below is a short article that I wrote for our company website :

"Aum Business Development Manager Simon Day shares a story that has recently inspired him:

We all want to be inspired.  Some of us are lucky to have a boss who can inspire us.  Others are inspired by friends, family members or even celebrities.  However, it is often difficult to find inspiration.  When we experience stress, it seems impossible to be inspired to overcome situations.One of my guilty pleasures is the sport of American Football.  I have a strong (bordering on unhealthy) passion for the sport and recently I drew inspiration from a story within the NFL.  In September, Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukaemia   He is currently undergoing a 4-6 month recovery programme, and is spending the majority of his time in hospital.  A few weeks after being diagnosed Pagano was allowed to leave hospital to visit his team on a matchday.  His team were widely expected to be one of the worst in the league, but they pulled off a shock victory, with Pagano looking on.  After the game, Pagano went into the changing room and delivered a speech that I found truly inspirational.

Pagano talked about how we all have circumstances, but we shouldn't live with those circumstances. -  We should live with our vision.  “I got circumstances. You guys understand it.  I understand it.  It's already beat.  It's already beat.  My vision that I'm living, see two more daughters getting married, dancing at their weddings”.  I found his quote regarding circumstances particularly poignant.  If a man facing a life threatening illness can think so positively, then surely we can all overcome whatever obstacles are in our way. We all need to have a vision of where we want to be, we may need help getting there but we should all have that vision.

Subsequently, the Colts have gone on a winning run and have played at a level beyond everyone’s expectations.  Pagano meanwhile is on the road to recovery.  It’s a touching story of how inspiration can be a 2 way concept.  Pagano inspired his team, and in turn they are inspiring him.  Furthermore, it's a story that has inspired a great many people all over the world - including me!

Pagano's full speech can be seen here"

Pagano's story is one of the reasons I love sport - it can be uplifting, thought provoking, emotional and memorable all at the same time.  The NFL seems to provide more than it's fair share of such stories, but few are as memorable as that of Pagano.   His message of "living with your vision" is one that we can all take on board, and no matter what is going on in life it's important to have a vision of where we want to be.  

My First Season as an Eagles Fan - End of Term Report

It wasn't supposed to end like this.  It was supposed to end in New Orleans next month with Andy Reid hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.  It was supposed to be the culmination of my dream first season as an Eagles fan, a triumphant justification of my absurd process for picking my NFL team.

Then the season kicked off and it all went downhill rapidly.  In fact, looking back, it's hard to think of a game where I genuinely thought the Eagles looked like a good team.  Perhaps the Giants at home, but even that game would have ended in defeat were it not for a last minute missed Field Goal.  4-12 could so easily have been 0-16, in fact the Eagles 4 wins were by a combined total of 6 points!

Fumbles, injuries, interceptions and just rank bad play were visible throughout the year.  With hindsight, I shouldn't have been surprised.  My preseason optimism was naively based around the fact that we hadn't garnered the same media attention as in 2011 and the pressure was off. Our star players would be able to perform, Michael Vick would be fit and raring to go and we'd quietly make our way to the Play Offs.  In reality, the Eagles were full of overpaid, overrated and under performing "stars" and whilst there were encouraging signs from some of the younger players, this was a team at the bottom of the NFL cycle.

Luckily, the key word here is cycle.  Teams very rarely stay at the top or bottom of the pile for too long, and the Eagles failure gives them an easier schedule and higher Draft picks for next season.  What's more, we'll have a new coach, probably a new quarterback, a bolstered line and hopefully some additions to the secondary.  Perhaps one year wasn't enough to scar me for life, but I'm quietly optimistic about the Eagles future.

So how did I find my first season as an Eagle?

First things first, I am still delighted that I picked the Eagles.  The franchise has a strong fan base in the UK and I am glad to be a part of it.  The British Eagles are a great supporters club and have made me feel very welcome.

One thing that genuinely surprised was that atmosphere at Eagles home games.  Whilst the crowd were behind the team at the start of every game, it didn't take much for them to turn on the Eagles players. A bad play call, a turnover or an opposition score were all it took for the boos to start.  And when I say boo, I mean BOOOOOOOO!!!!  In this country, talk show phone lines go berserk when a footballer gets a bit of abuse from the crowd.  There was outrage when Rafael Benitez was given a hostile welcome by Chelsea fans recently.  Compared to what the players and coaches have to put up with in Philly, Benitez had a stroll in the park. Personally, I'm not entirely sure what it achieves, but equally you pay your money so you have the right to express your opinion.  I think booing at the end or when the game is over as a contest is fine, but whilst the team still has a chance it seems pretty counterproductive.  It certainly didn't seem to inspire the Eagles players this term!

Another interesting aspect of the season was watching one team's games closely.  Previously, I'd just watched the live Sky games on a Sunday evening and highlights of any other action.  This year I got Gamepass and tried to watch all of the Eagles games in their entirety.  Aside from the weekend of the Wembley game and the irrelevant Week 17 defeat to the Giants I succeeded in this aim.  It gave me a very different perspective of the game.  I'd previously just noticed the big plays and who the star players were.  Now I was taking a much more detailed look at proceedings and the performance of the Eagles players.  For example, I could see that Evan Mathis was a shining light in an otherwise woeful O line, and that Demetress Bell was the worst member of said O line.  I could see that Demeco Ryans was a leader and the key player in Defence, whilst our much hyped Cornerback pairing were pretty dismal.

As my knowledge of the team grew, then so did my emotional involvement in the games.  So much so that Jeremy Maclin's last second TD in Tampa was greeted by some enthusiastic leaping around my living room, whilst the numerous defeats left me in a bad mood most Mondays!

What's Next?

The Eagles season is over, but there's still plenty of NFL Play Off action to enjoy.  I'm going to try and take more of an interest to the Draft and it's build up this year.  It's an aspect of the NFL that I've not really embraced before, so that should be fun.
In addition, I've started research on my next NFL writing project - The History of the NFL in the UK.  I've already found plenty of fascinating stories on the subject and I'm going to start writing up some of those stories very soon so watch this space!