dekedangle_rpfanon | #23 — Brown Goes Down

#23 — Brown Goes Down

This is the twenty-third post of Deke Dangle RPF Anon, a community for all your ice hockey anon meme needs.

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You get to the end zone (the zone at each end of the field) with the ball, either through throwing or carrying (6 points plus either one or two more points depending on the follow up, but generally one more), or through kicking the ball through the field goal (big U-shaped goal) (3 points).

Offense and defense from the same team don't occupy the field at the same time, so generally one side is on attack while the other is on defense. There are a lot of position names, but generally you just need to know quarterback (guy generally throwing or carrying the ball on offense), running back (guy carrying the ball on offense) or wide receiver (guy catching the ball on offense).

The rest of the guys are mostly 'line' guys, so involved in hitting the other team, either on offense or on defense. There are other positions (tight end, kicker, strong safety, etc.) but mostly it's gonna be quarterbacks, running backs, or wide receivers handling the ball.

Like hockey and baseball (and most other sports), it gets complicated quickly, and American football isn't continuous play the way hockey and soccer are, but also not as modular as baseball.

It amuses me that football is so complicated that no one can understand the rules, and yet has the reputation for being "dumb" and not intellectual and not a sport that smart, cultured people like.

(I say this as someone who was extremely loudmouthed in high school about my sports being ~superior to football, then later in life actually learned how football works and found it extremely rewarding, in the same way being able to see and understand hockey plays is rewarding.)

It's really really not any more confusing than hockey. I think it's just about observation and effort. Like, it gets complicated if you're talking about strategy, but the rules aren't that hard.

ayrt

In hockey, it's easy to understand that the object of the game is just to hit the puck into the net more times than the other team. The particulars are where it can get confusing. With football, even if you understand how scoring is achieved (which a lot of people don't), there's a lot more on the surface that can make it seem confusing. I agree that it's just observation and effort, but with hockey I feel that there's a little more you can enjoy without making much effort at all.

Da

The object is to get the ball over the white goal line on the end of the field. Things can be simplified to that, even.

Get ball to end zone. The rest is commentary. This thread is the kind of learned helplessness that I got into sports fandom to avoid.

Not sure what part of "I watch these two sports but one was easier for me to understand before I had actually learned the rules" is learned helplessness, but ok.

Na

The trend of "I don't know anything about scoring?" that can be rectified by watching when the score changes on the board is really indicative of a general learned helplessness. Sure, it may not catch every single way a point can be scored right away, but you'll catch that a touchdown and field goal earns points.

Being confused about how many points it earns is another thing.

I like watching lots of sports and am the type to get over invested in random stuff I run across on TV (cricket all-stars is on sure I'll try it), but I just find American football kind of confusing despite that and repeat exposures.

NA

Football is just getting the ball over a line (a long, long goal) by throwing and running (and the occasional kick) while the other team tries to get the ball back by hitting people to keep them from running or throwing. Like, I hate football, I'm not going to argue that it's enjoyable or how much energy is needed to find it enjoyable/understandable, but I don't think the basics are much harder to pick up for either sport. How much patience you have for the execution of plays, that's another matter.

DA who doesn't know anything about American football wants to know what the kicking is about. I learned from Ace Ventura that there's a point in football where kicking the ball is really important.

Also I feel like there's got to be more about getting the ball past the line. Doesn't it have to go with a person? Like, you can't just hurl it from the other end of the field?

What does a quarterback do and why are they so important?

SA

Okay, I found and read the explanation up thread and now I have more facts but I feel no better informed.

I have more facts but I feel no better informed.

I think that summarizes learning in general, tbh. You're probably fine. No one's asking anyone to be an expert.

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My stance is that I still think all sports are weird but I have a strange soft spot for hockey, like it's a particularly dumb cat that runs into walls a lot.

DA

Thanks, nonny, but even that short explanation was confusing. I guess I'm destined not to know much about American football.

Maybe if they put them in skates and put them on ice, I'll be a bit more interested.

I've tried to understand this comment, but it went right over my head. I would probably have to go to games with someone who understands it a few times to actually get it (if they're willing to explain things to me constantly).

Thank you though, nonny!

DA It's a lot easier to get if you're watching a game. I think that's the case with most sports. Easier to understand things like icing (although sometimes I doubt if even the refs truly understand icing...) or offside if you're actually watching them play.

Yeah, I gotta say, people are confusing disinterest and lack of exposure with it being complicated. It's not - you just have to actually watch and have someone explain a few times.

I would say that (at least to me) it is complicated than other popular sports. Like, I have been exposed to more football than pretty much any other sport aside from hockey, and my understanding of it is still fuzzier than my understanding of basketball or golf or baseball or soccer/football.

sa

I will also freely admit that some of my ignorance is willful because of my aggressive not-giving-a-shit that sprung from growing up around people who fixated on it to an alarming degree. But the fact remains that if it were a simpler sport I would probably be able to explain it better just by osmosis, the way I can with the other sports mentioned above.

I actually had the opposite experience! I played baseball and American football in high school (mandatory, PE) and I came away with a much greater understanding of football than baseball. Football, you have your peoples and one of you has to get the ball across the line. If you get tackled or drop the ball, you lose a chance. Lose all your chances and possession changes. If an opposing player gets the ball in his hands, possession changes.

Baseball is weirder. You need a conception of the strike zone and also when runners can and cannot advance without 'tagging up,' and also fouls, otherwise very common events don't make any sense. But I did kinda float through baseball by always sneaking to the end of the batting order whenever an inning changed, so.

da

I casually watched and PE-played baseball for years and it wasn't until I started seriously watching that I realized I was missing a ton of key nuances, like how sac flies work or starting pitchers v relief pitchers. It's very simple on the surface but takes a lot longer to master.

I gather it's the same in football, because I have a simple Sunday afternoon understanding of the game, but stopped watching because I was constantly getting confused. However, that's because there are NINE MILLION SECRET FOULS that get totally randomly and arbitrarily called, so basically no play ever feels safe because "holding" or whatever.

I understand most of the rules of baseball, but none of its strategy, and I couldn't distinguish a curveball from a slider with a gun to my head. I've also spent a very small amount of time watching football to the point where I understand the general rules of gameplay and scoring (but again, none of the strategy).

I think we tend to overestimate how much the average sports fan actually understands about their sport, and I think it comes from a bit of imposter syndrome.

Yep, agreed on that last sentence. I also have to say that the 'omg, it's all so complicated' hits a very gendered note for me, as a female sports fan, because I can tell a curveball from a slider, but get to experience dudes next to me trying to explain them (incorrectly, often) anyway. So like, American football, like all sports, is hard to understand if you don't watch it, but there's a certain amount of 'oh, gosh, it's just so complicated' that grinds my gears.

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na It's funny, but the reason offsides in hockey was so easy for me to understand is because to my mind it's exactly like tagging up in baseball.

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