Football in the World

I think we all know that what the world calls "Football" is a much different game than what we play here in America. Well, I had the chance to find out last Sunday. We went to the "Czech Bowl," the championship game for all the teams playing football in the Czech Republic.

Let's start with some givens.
...The world is not allowed to use their hands
...Kicking is everything
...And small, quick guys have an advantage over the big bulky guy.

Nope, it isn't so. The football game I saw was not like that at all. Everything people had told me about how football was different in Europe and the rest of the world was wrong. It was not so different from what is played every fall here in the United States.

In the first place, the weather was late November weather, just like at home. It was cold and blustery, about fifty five or so degrees (F!!!) with big puffy clouds scuttling through. Sure, it was June, but the weather did not know that. It was football weather.

The tailgating before the game was not quite the same as at home. As a matter of fact, the grilled spiced mackerel smelled little like the ribs and stuff you'd find in the parking lot at home. And since nearly everybody walked to the game or took the bus, there weren't any tailgates, just vendors.

And inside, the eight piece chamber orchestra, full of strings like the big bass, a couple of violins, a viola, and all, were hardly what one might expect, even though it was fully electrified and playing Abba and Pink Floyd.

Before the game, the teams lined up for the National Anthem, which was quite nice, the red, white, and blue in proud display. Of course the Anthem was a different song, and the red, white, and blue had different shapes. But, hey......

We did have our cheerleaders, and they put on a respectable halftime show. In fact, there seemed to be three groups of cheerleaders. Two of the groups appeared to be not "Cheerleaders" but "Throw the girl up in the air and try to catch her" fans. Really, try hard to catch her if you can. They were certainly enthusiastic and had lots of fun (you know, the kind of "....Oh sure, lots of fun till somebody gets hurt!!!" fun.) Each of these teams were three or four girls and two or three guys and each spent the first half just repeatedly throwing the girls in the air. Did not seem to have much to do with the game, but it was fun.

But the third group was really together. They danced, put on a big halftime show, and looked very coordinated. At one point they even cheered at the right time. That was the only time they actually led a cheer in the entire half. But it was real well done. And they had fun dancing the rest of the half.

As for the game, it was quite entertaining for the more than 1000 visitors that had come to watch. (Okay, talking in the pub afterward, I was told it was just a bunch of people running around and then somebody falling over with a bunch of guys on top, and then everything stopped again until it was time to go.)

The Prague Black Panthers were playing the Prague Lions. Both teams were completely uniformed very professionally in their respective black and white or Orange and Blue Uniforms. Very complete, all matching, very professional. To see the forty or more of them line up on opposite sides of the field, with a set of six zebra refs in the middle was real, well, normal looking.

The game was competently played, and all that stuff about kicking being the be-all-end-all was simply bunk. There were two missed field goals, and a missed PAT. The punts only went some thirty yards, and none of the kickoffs went past the opposition 20 yard line. And the stuff about not using hands was simply not true. There was lots of passing. There were, to be true, a few dropped passes, and no interceptions. But only one fumble--and it was more of a bad snap.

And the big burly guys were very much in evidence.  They pushed and shoved on the line as much as any lineman in America!

The game, although well played, got a little lopsided. It was 40-9, with the Black Panthers beating the Lions.

A few other notes before I post this blog:

....Our Super Bowl costs more. I don't know what a ticket goes for in in the Super Bowl USA, but in the Czech Bowl it was 100 crowns, about $5.

....The names of the Czech players are harder to say.....although the announcer was doing well with them.

....The announcer does a lot more explaining in Czech than he does in the United States.

........US Announcer: "First Down."

       Czech Announcer: "They have gotten the ten yards they needed, so now they will get another four tries to go another ten yards."

........US Announcer: "Touchdown."

        Czech Announcer: "The runner with the ball has passed the goal line without being brought to the ground. That scores six points for his team. Now his team will have an opportunity to try to get another point, called an 'extra point' by kicking the ball through the tall posts you see on the end of the field." 

and

....The beer in the Czech Bowl is a lot better. Much better.