Rugby.... with more rules

We had friends round last night to watch the New England Patriots v. the Colts, over pizza and some beers.

This was the emotional equivalent, for them, of watching England play in a World Cup semi-final, as the winner went through to the Superbowl. (They even have their own equivalent of a David Beckham, this guy, Tom Brady).








British colonists originally brought rugby to America, but gradually they changed it, adding so many rules (our friends guessed there are about 500!) that it turned into American football.

These rules get broken a lot, causing lots of tiny stoppages, plus there are lots of normal little stoppages.... and when you combine that with an abundance of ad breaks.... the game now lasts nearly four hours.

Imagine watching England v Germany for four hours! Our poor friends were total nervous wrecks by the end. And the Patriots lost :-(

All this means the Superbowl is in a fortnight's time. Everyone goes round to each other's houses for Superbowl parties, supermarkets sell out of chips and dips, liquor stores sell out of beer ..... and the police make the most drink-related arrests of the year on a single night, in which respect, it is not that different from Britain after all.