2008 Woodie Awards
Football stays America's game through action, excitement
Point
Daniel Windle
Issue date: 9/8/06 Section: Opinion
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One of the great memories of my childhood is when my dad took me to see my beloved University of Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1993. The opponent was Oklahoma State, and I can remember Tommie Frazier being one of the best run/pass quarterbacks in the nation (the Vince Young of his time, if you will). I can remember the atmosphere when Memorial Stadium suddenly turned into the third-largest city in Nebraska. I can remember Tom Osborne's 200th win as head coach.
Now that you understand the background behind my love for football, you will understand why football is the only sport that has the true right to be called football rather than that other sport, fútbol.
Football is a sport that takes real tough people to play. It's the only sport that had a president step in to change its rules so people didn't die, hence the helmets and other pads. When a football player goes down, you know that he's not acting. If I wanted to see a bunch of grown men cry, I would go to Trinity's production of "Holiday" later this month instead of a soccer game.
The World Cup was border-line painful to watch because of all of the flopping and acting. I may have even bought that a couple of them were injured. That is if the "injured" wouldn't have always grabbed their shins, the one part of a soccer player that is shielded from potential injury. I would propose a new rule for soccer: If your injury is so bad that you need a stretcher, you are done for the game. The only disadvantage to my new rule is that you wouldn't have 11 players left to play.
The action in football is also so much greater than the action in soccer. In 10 seconds of football, you have more action than an entire game of soccer. In those 10 seconds, you will see an instant collision between the offense and defensive line, linebackers trying to tackle the quarterback or running back.
In football, if you have a score of 3-2, it's considered an extreme defensive struggle. Do you know what that same score is called in soccer? An offensive explosion.
Now that you understand the background behind my love for football, you will understand why football is the only sport that has the true right to be called football rather than that other sport, fútbol.
Football is a sport that takes real tough people to play. It's the only sport that had a president step in to change its rules so people didn't die, hence the helmets and other pads. When a football player goes down, you know that he's not acting. If I wanted to see a bunch of grown men cry, I would go to Trinity's production of "Holiday" later this month instead of a soccer game.
The World Cup was border-line painful to watch because of all of the flopping and acting. I may have even bought that a couple of them were injured. That is if the "injured" wouldn't have always grabbed their shins, the one part of a soccer player that is shielded from potential injury. I would propose a new rule for soccer: If your injury is so bad that you need a stretcher, you are done for the game. The only disadvantage to my new rule is that you wouldn't have 11 players left to play.
The action in football is also so much greater than the action in soccer. In 10 seconds of football, you have more action than an entire game of soccer. In those 10 seconds, you will see an instant collision between the offense and defensive line, linebackers trying to tackle the quarterback or running back.
In football, if you have a score of 3-2, it's considered an extreme defensive struggle. Do you know what that same score is called in soccer? An offensive explosion.
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