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!

Bengals 31 Eagles 13 AKA - Who I want to win the Superbowl

It wasn't meant to be like this.  This is the "business end" (as opposed to the pleasure end...ohhh pardon) of the NFL regular season, I was meant to be watching the Eagles secure their Play Off berth and planning their route to the SuperBowl.  Instead, they sit at a pathetic 4-10, are in disarray and the only thing left to play for is Draft position.  A situation that essentially means defeat is preferable to victory!  It all means that the final 2 games of the season aren't exactly going to be nerve janglers!
Don't get me wrong, I'm still delighted that I picked the Eagles as my team, it's just that I'll have to wait until the 2013 season at least, before I can experience some glory.  Luckily, there is still plenty going on in the NFL and the last 2 weeks of the regular season are full of key games that will decide the Play Off places.

Many moons ago, the first franchise I eliminated from my search for a team were the Pittsburgh Steelers.  My reason?  I don't like them.

I worked on the principle that we always want a certain outcome when we watch a sporting event.  It may not be a strong urge and it may not have us jumping out of our seats, but to some degree we will want a certain team to win.  So if I pick 2 random NFL teams....in this case, Carolina and Cleveland - I'd say that I'd rather the Browns won a match up between the two.  Why? No strong reasons, just that I quite like the way Cleveland are building a young team and I find Cam Newton a bit too arrogant.  Naturally, this inclination can change pretty quickly - a couple of years ago I wanted to see the Chargers do well, now I'm completely nonplussed by them

I could apply the same "logic" to any NFL match-up, and to take that principle to it's extreme, it dictates who I want to win the Superbowl this season.

Looking at the remaining contenders, there aren't many that I'd place near the top of my personal "want to win" table.  Indeed, teams like the Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots, Ravens and Giants are at the bottom of my table.  Nothing personal, just a subconscious and fairly inexplicable dislike of these teams.  I find Cowboys and Pats fans can often be arrogant, the Giants won last year so automatically lose a bit of appeal in my weird head, whilst the Ravens just don't float my boat.  Maybe it's the bang average QB, or maybe it's just the stupid purple uniforms!

Of course, there are inevitably teams who I am pretty apathetic towards - I like to see them beat the teams I don't like, but equally I want them to lost to the ones I do like.  Franchises such as the Colts, Broncos, Bears, Packers and Vikings leave me nonplussed.  Although it would be hilarious if Christian Ponder was a SuperBowl winner Quarterback, so I could be persuaded to route for the Vikings.

That leaves me with the franchises I like to see do well - the Texans, 49ers, Redskins, Seahawks, Falcons and Bengals.  I can't see myself cheering for the Falcons or Texans as they will probably be favourites for at least their first play off game.  The same can probably be said of the the Niners, I like watching them play, think their Defence are very exciting and I'm a fan of what Kaepernick is doing at QB.  However, I can see play off heartbreak for San Francisco in the form of a David Akers miss.  He's having a terrible season and it could see them come unstuck in a tight Post Season game.  I enjoy watching RGIII, Alfred Morris and co, but you can't escape the fact that Washington are Divisional rivals of the Eagles, so they have to be eliminated

Which means I'm left with a choice between the Bengals and Seahawks.  Realistically I just can't see the Bengals going all the way, they may not even reach the play offs for a start!  They can be fun to watch, the Dalton-Green link up is just about the best in the whole NFL. They just don't seem to beat the big teams, something they are clearly going to have to do pretty soon if they want to progress.

What about the Seahawks?  Again, I think it's a stretch to see them as SuperBowl winners, despite putting up over 100 pints in their last 2 games, there are questions makers over their offence up against elite teams.  The Defence is strong, but again are they elite?  Possibly, but I'm not convinced they're are SuperBowl winners.  However, I'm loving what Russell Wilson is doing, Marshawn Lynch is great to watch and they've got some great young players on both sides of the ball.

Hmm, it's a tough call, but I'm officially declaring that (following the Eagles elimination) the team I want to win the Superbowl are the.......Seattle Seahawks.


Beat that for logic!

Eagles 23 Bucs 21 Foles Gold

In one of my first blog articles I wrote about our desire to have heroes in sport, the need to have individuals to cheer for and inspire us.  I identified the Quarterback as being the most likely source of a hero in an NFL side, and whilst there are a few exceptions (Ray Lewis, Adrian Peterson) I stand by that assertion.  Based on that principle  I eliminated the Jaguars from my search for a team as based on his stats Blaine Gabbert was the QB least likely to fill the "hero" role.  Nothing that has occurred this season has made me think I made the wrong decision on that front!

However, I've been waiting all season for the Eagles to do something heroic.  Quarterback Michael Vick has been erratic at best, and eventually succumbed to an inevitable injury.  Sure there have been some good performers - DeMeco Ryans, Alex Henery, Fletcher Cox have all performed well, but there hadn't being any truly stand out moments or inspiring plays.  Step forward rookie QB Nick Foles...

Truth be told, I hadn't been entirely convinced by Foles during his first few starts.  He looked like a leader, but his throwing wasn't great and last week it appeared that Andy Reid had put a harness on him.  What's more, and call me judgemental here, he reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite.  He looks more like a Chess Club member then an NFL starter.  Luckily, looks can be deceptive (After all, I'm not actually a male model!).  My perception of Mr Foles changed dramatically on Sunday evening, and it may prove to be a defining moment in my Eagles supporting life.

Overall, Foles had a decent game, but it was his play in the 4th quarter that would be truly memorable.  With the Eagles trailing by 2 scores, Foles engineered 2 drive in the final 4 minutes that turned the game on it's head.  The most impressive aspect was the leadership qualities that Foles displayed. He improvised a terrific pass to Jason Avant, and then had the bravery to tell Andy Reid that he wanted the final play on his shoulders.  Reid let him loose, and Foles delivered a lovely touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin as time expired. Ultimately  the victory won't mean a great deal in the context of the season, but it could a moment Eagles fans look back at for years to come.  It was a period of play that I'd been waiting for all season,  an Eagles player stepping up and delivering a memorable, game winning moment.  Foles has been named as starter for the rest of the season, it's a great chance for him to show the franchise that he can be the starting Quarterback.  Maybe he won't grasp the opportunity and the Eagles will have to look at acquiring a new QB in the off season.  But maybe, just maybe, Foles can nail down the starting spot and be the Eagles QB for the next few years.  If he does, then perhaps I've found my next sporting hero!

Eagles 33 Cowboys 38: How Did it Come to This?

Another Eagles defeat, but this time I've got something to celebrate!
Forgive the shameless self indulgence, but this week marks the first birthday of this blog.  More importantly, it's marks the first anniversary of my journey to becoming an Eagles fan.  It actually seems as like I've been supporting Philadelphia for an entirety - I guess that's what 8 defeats in a row does to you!

If you're late to this, then I've been following the NFL for around 6 years, but for the first 5 of those I was a complete neutral.  Last year I decided to change that and have some fun whilst doing so.  I became an Eagles fan by starting with all 32 NFL teams as my potential franchise, then eliminating 31 teams 1 at a time for a wide variety of football and non-football related reasons.  It lead to some very strange evenings at home - including a pretty dull couple of hours spent working out which NFL ground would take the longest to get to from my house and a soul destroying episode of coin tossing in order to eliminate a team through blind luck.  My initial plan was to eliminate one team every week, but as I started getting into the project I upped my work rate, and ended up finding my team in about 3 months.  It all ended with a scintillating game of Madden 07 between the Eagles and Lions.  If, you've not read about that game (Reuters didn't seem interested for some reason) then just watch a compilation of bad punts and you'd get the general idea.

It all left me as an Eagles fan, but it also gave me a thirst for discovering more about the NFL and writing more about it.  As such, I've been regularly contributing to the excellent 1amsports.com and have also written articles for the equally excellent Second City Fanatics and the British Eagles website.

Supporting a team with a fan base in the UK has been beneficial in building up my support, and the British Eagles has been great in this regard. Whilst I don't have the same depth of Eagles knowledge or experience as some of the members, I like to think I can support the team just as much.  I've certainly built up my knowledge of the team and the league as a whole over the last few months.

Having dabbled with a couple of over writing projects, I've now decided to write a History of the NFL in the UK and look at the various connections this country has had with the League and American Football in general.  I'm aiming for this to be a somewhat more substantial piece of work, so there's plenty of research going on at present.

As for my Eagles supporting life?  Hmm, well it all started well enough, I was pretty optimistic heading into the season, on paper we had one of the strongest squads in the NFL, with playmakers all over the pitch. A 3-1 start justified my optimism and the Eagles were set to crown my opening season in glorious fashion.

2 months on, the victory column still sits at 3 and the Eagles are one of the worst sides in the League.  They are definitely the most disappointing side in football.  This latest defeat in Dallas came as a surprise to absolutely nobody.  Injuries, poor form, worse coaching and numerous botches have led to a highly frustrating period for fans.  In truth, this display was an improvement and young players like Bryce Brown and Nick Foles are showing signs of maturity and being NFL calibre players.  This campaign is clearly over so I agree with giving the rookies a go for the last 4 games.  I also agree wit releasing Jason Babin, and hopefully a few more will be joining him in the departure lounge soon (Kurt Coleman!).

In a way, this season has been good for my development as an Eagles fan.  Let's face it, I'm not likely to encounter many worse years during my supporting life!  The only way is up, and a massive rebuild is surely going to take place in the off season.  The odds are that it won't bring positive results overnight - the NFL is cyclical and the Eagles are pretty much at the bottom of that cycle currently.  But I just want a team full of young, hungry players who are playing with passion and not just dialing it in so they can take home their paychecks.  There were signs of that on Sunday night, and after a miserable few months, there may be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.  It just might take a long time to get out of said tunnel!

Overall, I've loved my first year of writing about the NFL.  My appreciation of the sport has grown immensely, I regularly bore friends by crowbarring it into conversations and I watch far too much of the sport on TV.  Supporting a team has been a big part of this, and if you don't already support an NFL team then I'd highly recommend you start doing so...just maybe not the Eagles!

Eagles 22 Panthers 30 Your Covers Blown

So much for trying to be optimistic!

The Eagles once again slumped to a well deserved defeat, this time against the less than formidable Carolina Panthers.  Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson and most of the offensive line are all out injured, Jason Babin has been released and the secondary appear to have broken up early for Christmas.

It was a difficult watch, and I found it tough to be too harsh on the young players on offensive.  Rookie QB Nick Foles was ineffective and not asked to do a great deal.  There was nothing to suggest he is the answer for the Eagles, there were a few nice, short throws early on, but the play calling was very conservative.  The jury remains out on the young passer.  However, working behind the Eagles dire O line is a thankless task and one that even the best QBs would find difficult.  This is an area that the Eagles need to address in the off season and get some significant upgrades in place.

If Folks failed to impress, the same couldn't be said for fellow rookie Bryce Brown.  Stepping into the considerable void left by McCoy, Brown showcased his speed, instinct and agility in running for a whopping 178 yards.  This included a storming 65 yard TD run that got the crowd on it's feet and a short TD run to the outside that showed his impressive acceleration.  Of course, this is the Eagles 2012, so Brown also had to cough up a couple of fumbles that stalled promising drives. But there was enough to suggest that next season a Brown-McCoy double act could give the Eagles a potent running game.

On the other side of the ball, Demeco Ryans once again showed what a great signing he has been.  Fletcher Cox is proving to be a shrewd Draft signing, and Vinny Curry played with a passion that has been lacking from the Eagles D for much of the season.  However, they still found it hard to contain Cam Newton and the Carolina QB had his best outing of a difficult rookie season.  He continually escaped the pressure and found running room or time to fire downfield and it was downfield that the Panthers won the game.

The Eagles secondary were once again an embarrassment.  The time and space that Brandon LeFells had for his TD was scandalous and signing/Drafting a couple of safeties must also be high up on the Eagles priority list for 2013.  Kurt Coleman and Nate Allen look lost at times, and it's the second week in a row that our coverage has spectacularly failed.  In fact, since Juan Castillo was harshly fired, the secondary has been a shambles.  It's certainly not helping Todd Bowles prospects of getting a head coaching job anytime soon!

Despite the Eagles being competitive for much of the game, I never truly felt that we'd emerge victorious.  Alex Henery kept us close with some efficient kicking (one of the few successes of the season), but we couldn't make big plays of defence or stop Newton having his way.  The final straw was a Boykin kick off fumble, ironically after he'd reached midfield and looked to be setting us up for a final drive.  There was a crushing inevitability about the fumble, it was the Eagles season in microcosm...hope, destroyed by ineptitude.

There are 5 games left of this soul crushing season, and given the recent displays it's hard to see the Eagles winning any of them.  The important thing for the franchise is to take a look at some of the younger players (Curry, Brown etc) and decide which of the old guard need to be shipped out.  Jason Babin has already been shown the door after a poor season, but if Babin is deemed surplus to requirements then surely the likes of Coleman and Allen need to be following him pretty sharpish.  Andy "Need to do better" Reid is surely on his way out too, and the choice of the next Head Coach will be crucial.  I'd like to see a college coach like Chip Kelly get a chance.  It's clearly going to be a long term rebuild so why not give somebody a a chance to find their feet in the NFL and build the team up.


Quarterback Michael Vick looks to be a spent force and the 2013 Draft class isn't exactly stellar   A solid Free Agency signing may be in order to provide some stability to the offence.  Alex Smith could be an astute acquisition should the Niners let him leave in the New Year, it certainly seems as if Colin Kaeperick is the future in San Francisco, so Smith could well become available.  Failing that, then there are a few decent QBs struggling to get gametime at present.  The likes of Matt Flynn, Matt Hasselbeck or Kyle Orton may not get the pulses racing, but they are solid, safe options.  After a couple of years of erratic QB, a steady hand may be just what the Eagles need.  As for the O line and secondary, these areas need to be addressed in the Draft.  Hopefully, players like Ryans, Mathis, and Peters can help these young players establish themselves in the team.
Whatever the Eagles decide to do, a big operation is needed in Philadelphia to get the franchise back to the top of the NFC East.  I've certainly not picked the easy option when it comes to supporting an NFL team!

Eagles 6 Redskins 31 A History Project

My mother taught me that if I didn't have anything good to say then to not say anything at all.  This means I've got absolutely nothing to say regarding the Eagles latest  - and worst - defeat of the season.  Suffice to say that, the season is now over, wholesale changes are needed, Andy Reid must go, various players must go and new Co-ordinators are needed.  Aside from that, everything is looking good.

So instead of banging on about the Eagles and their deficiencies, I'm going to talk about something I'm currently working on and will forming the basis for this blog after the NFL season has concluded. I'm talking about the History of the NFL in the UK.  It started as a little bit of Internet research on a slow night in (aka girlfriend watching the soaps!) after reading an article about John Smith.  Smith was the kicker for the New England Patriots for 10 years from 1974 and is most famous for being the kicker during the infamous Snow Plough game against the Dolphins.  I found it interesting that Smith had been brought up in England and was offered a contract as a soccer* player.  He turned it down, moved to the US shortly after and the rest is history.

Me being me, I decided to look up other players from the UK who have appeared in the NFL.  It's not exactly a long list, but it does provide some great stories.  It certainly provided enough to intrigue me and set me off on a long train of thought. So long was the train, that it ended with me deciding to look into the entire history of the NFL in terms of it's connections to the UK.  Cue lots of research and more fascinating stories.

Broadly speaking, I categorised my findings into 5 categories:

* 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?  How did it get across the Atlantic and evolve into the sport we now watch and enjoy?

* 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 story.

Possibly the greatest
TV logo ever!

* 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?

I'm still hunting around for stories and information about the NFL/UK connections, but after the end of the NFL season I'm going to start putting the stories together.  I've yet yet decided whether to use this blog to publish my work or to look at other avenues (websites, etc) or even to put it all together in one place.  Either way, I'm excited about working on a more substantial writing project and to find out more about the NFLs connections with the UK.

It's certainly better then writing about the Eagles every week!




(* Like most people in the UK I hate the word Soccer, but it's the simplest way to differentiate between football and American Football...so tough!)

Cowboys 38 Eagles 23: 5 Reasons to be Cheerful

Another week, another dismal defeat for the Eagles.  This time at home, against one of our Divisional rivals.  Yup, the hits keep coming for the 2012 Eagles.  To add to the woes, this latest debacle saw Michael Vick knocked out of the game, the concession of 2 Defensive TDs and some classic Andy Reid clock management to end the first half.

But I've had enough of whinging about the Eagles and there many many flaws, instead I'm going to focus on the positives.  I've got plenty of experience of watching a struggling sports team after much thought (and some creative thinking) here are 5 reasons to be cheerful for Eagles fans:

1. 2013 Will Be a Clean Slate

Andy Reid's tenure is surely coming to an end.  His overall body (and it's a large body) of work has been impressive, but the last two years have been a bit of a sham.  In recent weeks, Reid has had the look of a man going through the motions it's clear that he needs a change of scenery.
In addition to Reid, it seems likely that a lot of the "Dream Team" signings will be moving on before next season, or at least playing in reduced roles.  Once again, Nmandi Asomugha was at fault for a TD on Sunday, and there has been more bad than good from the ex Raider this season.  The same could be said for DRC after an excellent Week 1 performance.  Whilst Babin and Jenkins look shadows of their former selves.  The odds of Michael Vick being the Eagles QB next season also appear to be lengthening by the day.
New coach, new QB and some young and hungry new players may be just what the franchise needs.

2.  The Defence (Well, some of it)

Demeco Ryans has been an inspired signing, once again on Sunday he was all over the field making tackles, disrupting passes and generally making it hard for Dallas to make gains.  It typified his season and Ryans looks like a shoe in for Eagles Player of the Year.
Alongside Ryans, Fletcher Cox and Michael Kendricks have had impressive starts to their NFL career.  Both look strong in the tackle and mobile.  We even saw them record a pair of sacks on Sunday, which bodes well for the future.
In fact, throughout the 2012 season the Defence hasn't been much of a problem and with a few tweaks it can be elite in 2013.

3.  Nick Foles Will Now Get a Chance

Vote Pedro!

I'm not going to anoint Foles as the next Tom Brady, but he did enough in his first outing to deserve an extended look.  He looked comfortable marshaling the troops in the huddle, he displayed a strong arm on a 50 yard TD pass and he wasn't afraid to try and make plays.  Yes, there was a pick 6 and an End Zone fumble, but that's par for the course for rookies, especially coming into the game midway through.
Foles deserves the rest of the season to see if he can nail down the starter's spot.  If he can then great.  If not, then it seems likely the Eagles will have a very high Draft pick with which to address the situation.  There's certainly more to be gained by playing Foles, then there is by going back to Michael Vick.


4.  You Can Enjoy the Rest of the Season

With the Eagles out of the Play Off picture, fans can kick back and enjoy the rest of the season.  Sure, we still want the Eagles to win and will watch the games, but it doesn't matter too much.  Instead we can relax and enjoy seeing some good teams compete for Divisional honours and a place at the SuperBowl.
There are some fascinating stories developing this season - Peyton Manning's return, Andrew Luck's progress, The Bears defence, Adrian Peterson's miraculous recovery etc,  I've been too hung up on the Eagles to fully enjoy the action.  Now all Eagles fans can soak up the rest of the NFL year without worrying about another Philadelphia disaster.

5.  It's Character Building

Honestly, going through seasons like this (and 2011) just makes the good times even better.  Look at the Colts, there were a train wreck last season, won only 2 games and had to endure Curtis Painter's QB play for much of the year.  Now they are sitting in a great spot in the Play Off race, have their QB of the future and have become the darlings of the league thanks to the amazing story of Chuck Pagano.
Last season's misery, will only have made this season's success sweeter.  Colts fans will look back at the dark days and it will make them appreciate what they have now.  Think how much Niners fans have enjoyed the last 2 seasons, after some horrendous years of bad management. Or how much Texan fans are wallowing in their success after a very slow start to NFL life.

When the Eagles have a successful 2013 (No laughing at the back!) we can all look back at this campaign and realise how lucky we are.  Now there's optimism for you!

Eagles 13 Saints 28 A New Low

According to the NFL schedule, there are 8 games left of the 2012 Regular Season, but try telling that to Philadelphia Eagles fans.  Even the most widely optimistic supporter would have to conceded that this team is finished for the year.  This latest defeat on Monday night, was arguably the worst so far.  Which is a pretty bold statement given some of the other losses this term.

I've got plenty of experience of supporting a losing team and defeat doesn't hit me hard anymore, but it's the hope that kills you, and heading into this season I had plenty of hope. I even wrote an article about it for the British Eagles website, I was optimistic that our big name players would step up and win us the big games.  Maybe it was my lack of battle scars, but I genuinely thought my first season as an Eagles fan was going to be a triumphant one.  Well, I certainly won't be making that mistake next year.  Pessimism will be the order of the day before the 2013 season.

This game was like the season in microcosm.  A promising start, followed by a ridiculously poor turnover, a period of awfulness, a hint at improvement, but ultimately a dreadful performance.  If you want a specific example of how the season has gone then look no further than the first quarter drive to the Saints Red Zone that ended with a 98 yard interception return for a touchdown.  That doesn't happen to the best teams, and if it does they respond to it.  The Eagles looked resigned to their fate from a very early stage.

I'd spent a lot of the off season reading about the great play makers the Eagles had on Defence - Cole, Babin, DRC, Asomugha, Ryans, plus 2 high end Draft picks.  Well, after a reasonable start to the season the Defence have turned in a couple of dreadful displays. New Co-ordinator Todd Bowles is proving to be about as much use as Todd Carty and teams are marching down the field on us pretty easily.

It's not all bad.......(paragraph scrapped due to lack of content)

I'm well used to losing and bad runs.  A couple of season's ago, Gillingham went a whopping 18 months without winning away.  A run that included a relegation and some truly abysmal defeats.  A 5-4 at Bury, a 4-0 walloping to local rivals Millwall and a scarcely believable 7-4 loss at Accrington bloody Stanley!
This difference between Gillingham being rubbish and the Eagles being rubbish is that I've not grown to expect it from the Eagles. The NFL is built to give everyone a chance, parity is the order of the day, it's all about coaches and players performing.  And quite simply, this hasn't happened enough this year in Philadelphia.  What's more, the organization has made some strange decisions concerning staff - firing Castillo, continuing to hire Reid etc.

Is it denting my faith in the Eagles?  Not at all, I wouldn't be a sports fan if I couldn't cope with defeat.  It makes the victories all the sweeter.  In many ways, this season has been a perfect introduction to the Eagles and the failings that I'd previously read about have.  Maybe I'd have felt a fraud if I'd experienced the glory at my first attempt.

Apologies for the negative nature of this week's post, but if you'd have got up at 6am to watch that debacle before work, you'd be struggling to come up with another positive.  At least, we're playing Dallas this week - one of the few franchises that having an equally shambolic season.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news, I've got a rough idea for a series of longer articles on the history of the NFL, in terms of it's connections with the UK - starting from the way American Football evolved, going through the early Brits to play in the NFL, Channel 4 and the 80's boom, the London Monarchs etc, right up to the International Series and the ongoing second boom.  Doing some research at present, so the current plan is to use the next off season to write it all out.
Watch this Space!

International Series 2012 - Better than Watching the Eagles!

Not many great days out start at 830am on a Sunday morning at Birmingham Moor Street, but the 28th October 2012 was an exception.  Not that I was feeling particularly joyous as I boarded the Chiltern (aka cheap but slow) train to Marylebone.  2 hours, 3 coffees, a few chapters of Scott Mariani's new book and a Frank Turner playlist later, I was in London and meeting up with my friend.

About half of Marylebone station appeared to be NFL fans and I clocked over 20 different team's jerseys whilst getting our tube tickets.  It seem strange to see so many different team colours at a one off sporting event, by the time we'd reached Wembley on the tube I'd completed a full set of 32 team jerseys and it was clear that the Patriots were going to have more fans then the "home team".  I've previously written about how it'd be great to really make the IS seem like a home game for the Rams (or whoever), but this year was always going to be difficult given the popularity of the Patriots in this country and the recent history of the sides.

The Pats popularity was in further evidence as we made our way to the Green Man, which was home to plenty of fans, a large marquee and a heavily populated UK Patriots tent.  I think it's fair to say that the "UK Jags" tent next year will be a bit more sparse!  As usual, the Green Man was an excellent host for the Great British Tailgate Party and full of friendly faces.  It also had beer at only £2.50 a bottle which seemed rather cheap for a Wembley game day.  After a couple of drinks and the first half of the Merseyside Derby, it was time to make our way to the official Tailgate to meet up with some British Eagles.

For a change, there wasn't a massive queue to get into the Tailgate, there were plenty of lanes and the security checks were brief and efficient.  Inside the Tailgate was another matter, the queues were so long it was making it difficult to walk around the site. It was a shame, because the range of food on offer was excellent.  The same couldn't be said for the beer, and one pint of overpriced, flat, Budweiser was enough for me.  By some miracle we managed to find a bench in the beer tent and met up with some of the British Eagles.  It was great to put some faces to names, although I was left feeling rather jealous as Matty had a sideline and changing room pass, whilst Ali had Club Wembley tickets.  Meanwhile, we had seats up in the rafters...grr.

Soon to was time to make our way to the seats in the aforementioned rafters.  Thankfully Wembley has plenty of escalators, otherwise we may have missed the first half!  One of the great aspects of Wembley is that you've got a great view from pretty much any seat.  We were about 10 rows from the back, but the view was still excellent.  Pre match band Train aren't exactly my cup of tea (Nor was the Wembley tea at £2.50!) but I have to admit they sounded good live.  Not having the onfield visual extravaganza of flags and cheerleaders (presumably due to the wet field) actually helped the band connect with the audience.

Welcome to the Cheap Seats

Sitting behind the EndZone means you can't be 100% certain if a short run has gained 2 or 3 yards, but the sideline markings make it pretty easy to guess.  Plus the PA was always quick to announce the result of the play.  The opening Rams drive ended with a spectacular 50 yard touchdown pass from Bradford to Givens and it genuinely felt like a Rams home game at that point.  We were out of our seats and the atmosphere was superb.  Sadly, that was as good as it got, and for the rest of the first half we were treated to a Tom Brady masterclass.  The scoreboard was keeping everyone informed of the Eagles latest disaster, although it sounded as if the Dolphins hammering of the Jets was the most popular score of the evening - not sure if that's a sign of the Fins popularity or evidence of how much people dislike the Jets at present!

NFL thrashings are never much fun, but at least we got to see an NFL all time great performing somewhere near his peak.  Brady was greatly aided by a strong offensive line, a lively running display from Steven Ridley and some unplayable receivers.  Rob Gronkowski in particular was looking unstoppable and even from the cheap seats, he looked like a cross between a lineman and a basketball player.  Despite the one sided nature of the game, I thoroughly enjoyed the first half.  It was my 4th IS game and comfortably the best standard of play I'd seen.

Unfortunately, the Rams weren't matching their rivals and their defence was getting a mauling.  It all meant that the second half was a bit of a non event. Sure, we got a couple more Pats TDs, but they were merely icing on the cake.  The Pats defence also stepped up in the second half and made a number of big plays.  Poor Sam Bradford was getting swamped on a regular basis and his O line was disintegrating in front of him.

By the start of the 4th quarter, the crowd was thinning out.  This is a common occurrence at NFL games and is in no way a poor reflection of UK fans.  The truth is that one sided NFL games fizzle out at an early stage - we get back up QBs, conservative plays and a plethora of punts. The plus side was that it meant that 84,000 people weren't leaving at the same time so getting away from the stadium was pretty easy.  We had time to catch some of the Cowboys-Giants game back at the Green Man before heading off into the night.

I'd rank the 6th IS game as my second favourite.  The Chargers-Saints epic will take some serious beating and the fact it was my first ever NFL game means it was a special occasion for me.  But this was up there, we met some great people, saw some brilliant play and generally had a really fun time. If you've never been to the Is then make sure you get to Wembley next year.  I'm hoping to get tickets for both games - I just hope that they end up being close contests!

Next year will certainly be a big test of how far the NFL has come in the UK.  2 games is going to be a challenge, particularly with the perennially poor Jaguars being one of the teams coming over. The Vikings Steelers clash will be the easier to sell, it looks like being a tough game to call, it will be played in September, so should be decent weather, plus both teams are well supported in the UK.  Ideally, all NFL games in the UK would feature match ups like this, but obviously getting 2 big sides to come over is a difficult task.  After all, if you sell out in the US why move a game to the UK?

It'd be great if the game could have more of a "home" feel for Jacksonville and it's important that NFLUK and Sky hype the Jags over the next 12 months.  It's great that they have committed to playing here for the next 4 years and they deserve our support in return.  Unfortunately, they are up against one of the best supported teams in the 49ers and will probably be big underdogs. A lot can change in the NFL so maybe it'll end up being a close contest, but as it stands it's not the most appealing of fixtures.  Of course, the die hard fans will go whoever is playing, but for the sake of converting more new fans it's vital that the game is well marketed and that the Jags put on a good show.

Personally, I'd be surprised if there was ever a franchise in the UK, but for the sake of teams wanting to come over here for fixtures we need to promote Wembley (or whenever) as being a strong home venue.  Somewhere where they will have an advantage and get strong support. I'd like to see the Jags name written in both the EndZones, only Jacksonville banners on the side of the stadium and for the franchise themselves to make every effort to connect with the UK audience.  Gestures to get the crowd going, spending some time in the UK, lots of PR activity etc.  The Rams did a reasonable job on this front, but more can be done.

We are really lucky to have NFL games in the UK, and to have 2 here next year is fantastic.  Now it's time to make the most of it and make sure it continues and gets even bigger!