Hello motha, hello qatar, I managed not to steal Paul Barman's genius line, "What the Dili, East Timor?" There's your obscure reference.
TommyTrump, ever since you and i was born football has been played in the U.S.A. so spare us the history lesson.Football is(now) an American sport.And it was'nt played like we know it now. If i were a terrorist i would definetly kill me some football players who are loved and looked up to by millions of Americans.I also don't think the N.F.L will be playing in Iraq,Iran,or Syria anytime soon, when they go to Canada or Mexico be rest assured there will be plenty of security around the whole city. Sigh, never let the truth get in the way of some good jingoism i guess. Football (gridiron) has been played in Canada longer than in the U.S.A., so, I'm thinking football is a Canadian sport exported to the States. Not many sports are played as they were 130 years ago. I'm thinking for sure that the T.V. timeouts are longer now than they were then. If I were a terrorist, I'd prefer to be referred to as a freedom fighter. Lastly, Canada and Mexico are countries, not cities, both which have hosted many sporting events, including Olympics, World Championships....in many different sports, Canada a World Series, Formula One races, I could go on, and yet I've never seen reports of terrorists attacking anyone, let alone Americans at any of these events. I'm thinking any security concerns will be dealt by Canadian/Mexican authorities, last I checked, both were still soveriegn nations. Hell, at least Canadians know which end of a flag is up and which down, which apparently the U.S. Marine Corps occasionally has some difficulty figuring out.
Football (gridiron) has been played in Canada longer than in the U.S.A., so, I'm thinking football is a Canadian sport exported to the States. From the Wikipedia article regarding football- Modern American football grew out of a match between McGill University of Montreal, and Harvard University in 1874. At the time, Harvard students are reported to have played the Boston Game a running code rather than the FA-based kicking games favored by US universities. From the entry regarding the invention of "American Football" on about.com- Derived from the English game of rugby, American football was started in 1879 with rules instituted by Walter Camp, player and coach at Yale University. I guess all I'm trying to say is that "American Football" is a North American sport in origin. Whether it originated in Canada or USA is up for debate in my mind. Regardless, it actually derived from rugby, so I guess we have the Brits to thank for it.
From the Canadian Football League website, "the first written account of a football game, was 1868, October 10." The game was between British officers of a garrison in Montreal and civilians from McGill University. McGill students created rules for the game in 1874, and those rules were first used in the McGill-Harvard game. Obviously there have continued to be further adjustments and rule changes through the years, but it's safe to say football is a Canadian invention, and we've been more than happy to share it with our southern neighbours.
Canadians are waaaaaaaaayyyy to caught up in getting credit for inventing shit that Americans do well. I can't help but feel it comes across as insincere smugness - we're desparate for you to acknowledge that we're here and contributing (because we are, but it's needy and annoying). While it's factually accurate, in that it happened and the dude who did it is Canadian (football, basketball, but probably not hockey amazingly enough), it's actually relatively meaningless. I mean, it's not like football isn't as American as apple pie. It totally is. The Canadian thing is at best a footnote.
Americans are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too caught up in getting credit for have invented things that were actually started in other nations. I am neither needy or overly smug, I just like learning things, and when I have some facts to pass along, I try to do that too. For that matter, Canadians do play the game of gridiron football quite well. The C.F.L. game is more exciting to watch for many people than the N.F.L. They are two different versions of one great game, and many players that star in the N.F.L. would not be so dominant in the Canadian game, and the opposite is true as well. Just an aside, but apple pie is a British invention.
The terrorist threat is real. I once shouted something rude at Bernie Kosar at Wembley. He looked quite hurt and has never been back. Clearly he fears for his safety.
