What is the more complete sport?

[All-Blacks]

I know I should of posted in the sports post, but as not many people go there i'd thought as this is a general chat it fits into the category.

 

Anyways, i'd like to hear your comments & reasons of what sport do you think is the more complete sport, Rugby or American Football. When I say complete, I mean all the skills & physicallity required for the sports eg-endurance, ball skills, tackling, strength etc.

I admit that American Football probably just pips Rugby in the physical aspect, but what about the other skills & attributes? Is fitness important in Football? Why? Why do need different players to do different skills in Football? Every rugby player needs a basic knowledge of everything eg-passing, tackling, kicking etc. while each player in Football has one task (practically).

 

So what is more complete sport to play, Football or Rugby?

 

PS-Please only comment if you know a basic knowledge of BOTH sports.

 

[TheGuyFromThere]

The answers depend on what you like.. everyone is favourtist to their own.. naturally I would say rugby because I love the sport, but anyone with a titter of whit knows it takes a lot more physical endurance; IE; no stopping between plays, no padding (apart from some foam on the shoulders and a skull cap made with foam if chosen by the player)

[Moonshield]

There's obviously a lot more contact going on in American Football during every play, but you can compare the necessity of endurance for rugby with that of 'euro' football (soccer) - extremely important. Of course endurance is extremely important in American Football, but not to the extent of rugby or soccer.

[Mafia Drive Gunner]

Hmmm, well Rugby and football require much more endurance then American Football because every 4 seconds they get a 30 second break in American Football, whilst in Rugby and football you are constantly on the move.

 

I wouldn't neccessarily say that there is more contact going on at a time in American Football, because every 5-10 seconds half the team in a rugby match has to go into a ruck or maul to fight for the ball, which involves basically trying to bash the other team off the ball. Then, at every breakdown in play, instead of having a sausage sizzle, they have scrums to fight for the ball back.

 

In American Football, people tailor their skills specific to one position, whilst in rugby and football, while you may have different roles and stuff on the field, the same basic principles and things need to be known and practiced, such as (in rugby) kicking, passing, positional skills, scrummaging, rucking, mauling, and basic offense and defense. simply because every player needs to be able to do these things. As players, you need to be complete in all of these skills (possibly bar kicking) to be a great player.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not criticising American Football, I love the sport, and I realise that many players possess the skills to play more than one position (Michael Vick, Reggie Bush, Ladainian Tomlinson), but to make it in the NFL you need just to be able to demostrate immense skill in one facet of the game, whilst in football and rugby you need to demonstrate skills at everything there is to be done in the game.

[Moonshield]

To say plays in football are only 4 seconds is ridiculous (and nobody gets 30 seconds in between plays, it's on more like 20 if that). And nearly every player is hitting somebody else every play, the majority of which happens at the line of scrimmage (by the way, would you rather get laid out by a 240 lb. linebacker or somebody 60 lbs less?). And speaking of the different roles, the larger the team you have, the less people get to play, so not very many players go both ways in college, and hell, players are recruited by NFL teams just for special teams plays. However, I played on a division two football team for four years, and playing both ways even with terrific physical fitness is as much as a bitch as playing soccer or rugby, but then again, this is rarely the case once you get into even the top division high school teams.

[darthYENIK]

The majority of the people on this forum will say rugby, solely because American football is just that, American.

 

But as an American that doesn't really like either sport, I'd say I like American football, no other sport is so chalk full of criminals and poor sportsmen. Though it wasn't always the case.

[kingzing]

I don't know why, but I've recently developed an affinity for American sports... and I'm Australian. I've really gotten into ice hockey, but I'm also a follower of the NFL and NBA. And baseball just sucks.

 

Sorry, on topic now. I'd have to say American football (or "gridiron" as it's known) is more complete. I really like the strategic and tactical aspects of the game. It's similar to the military, where many people have very specialised roles, and each play is like a tactical plan for a skirmish campaign. It's true that specialised roles mean a narrower range of skills, but that's just part of the game.

 

On that note, in terms of skills and physicality, I'd have to say that they're both more less even. It's hard to argue one way or another, seeing as lovers of their respective sport will put up good reasons.

 

Just my two cents.

[S-Trajik]

well, american football is much more to be popular than rugby.....so I don't know..

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_football

[All-Blacks]

well, american football is much more to be popular than rugby.....so I don't know..

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_football

How so? Rugby is a global game, a popular sport in NZ, Australia, Wales, Samoa, England, Ireland, Fiji, South Africa, France, Argentina, Canada to a certain extent etc. The Rugby World Cup 2003 has been so far the 2nd most watched sports event in the world, after the olympics, apparently by the IRB collected a total of 3.1 billion viwers. I don't think the NFL has ever achieved 1 billion in one season?

[Bartleby]

I don't think the NFL has ever achieved 1 billion in one season?

Probably not, considering there are only some 3 million souls living in the US. Even if every person in the nation was an avid fan of american football, we still wouldn't come close to those numbers.

 

I prefer american football, though, but that's not to say I wouldn't watch rugby (I might if it wasn't usually on at ungodly hours due to time zones, i.e. 3 in the morning). Dunno about rugby salaries, but it's a crime how much some of these NFL players are paid; though that's really nothing compared to the NBA contracts, without factoring in endorsement deals for the more promninent atheletes...

[All-Blacks]

I don't think the NFL has ever achieved 1 billion in one season?

Probably not, considering there are only some 3 million souls living in the US. Even if every person in the nation was an avid fan of american football, we still wouldn't come close to those numbers.

 

I prefer american football, though, but that's not to say I wouldn't watch rugby (I might if it wasn't usually on at ungodly hours due to time zones, i.e. 3 in the morning). Dunno about rugby salaries, but it's a crime how much some of these NFL players are paid; though that's really nothing compared to the NBA contracts, without factoring in endorsement deals for the more promninent atheletes...

I know, sports salaries are ridiculous, especially soccer who get millions for one season! I think rugby has nearly the same as NFL, i'm not too sure, but they still get paid a lot of money. Baseball players get the most in USA don't they, I heard the Yankees players have a total salary of $500 million? The Yankees are probably richer than most countries governments!