I had an American colleague in town this weekend, so I reluctantly abandoned West Ham vs Arsenal, and went to Wembley for the annual NFL game there. I'd never been to an American Football game before (although I'd done hockey and baseball before), so was interested to see what it was like. Although, probably the reason I'd never been before was that it doesn't really interest me that much - so I was more of a curious observer than anything else. In Central London during the day, and later on the approach to Wembley, I saw plenty of people wearing NFL clothes, split pretty evenly between Americans and Brits. The Brits in particular were wearing shirts from any and all teams, not just the 2 that were playing this game.
After the pre match warm up, sponsored by Visa (which I was really grateful for - how else would it have happened, without Visa's amazing support?!), the players buggered off, and the "pre game show" began. This featured Stereophonics playing a couple of songs (not very loudly) from a stage which was wheeled onto the pitch just beforehand. The whole thing was supposed to by hyping up the excitement levels, but it all just seemed more than a bit fake. Whilst Stereophonics were playing their songs, the Saints cheerleaders were doing their stuff, people were moving big inflatables around, and some soldiers brought British and American flags onto the pitch. There was lots going on on the field, but I struggled to see the point of it all. Then, they had the national anthems sung - Ne-Yo singing the US anthem, and Joss Stone singing God Save The Queen. When Joss Stone was introduced, she was roundly booed, and deservedly so! Finally, we had the "coin toss", which Rebecca Adlington "helped" with - strange to introduce a British swimmer that won 2 Olympic gold medals, when this just seemed to give the Americans there an excuse to talk about how Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals. Anyway, after all of this completely over the top buildup, the game finally started!
The game itself was a decent enough game actually - fairly open and high scoring, with a few touchdowns, and some good "glory" passes and runs. One thing I noticed was that it seems to take forever and a day to do anything - for example, the last 5 minutes or so of the second quarter took about half an hour! Kick the ball, take 6 seconds off the clock, stop the clock, go for an advert break! It all just seems to drag out far more when you are in the stadium (which to be fair is also true for televised football matches, especially the break after the players come out) - which of course reminds you that this sport is made for TV. All those breaks are great when you are at home watching on TV - go to the loo, grab a drink, etc - but they drag the whole thing out absurdly when you are in the stadium, and it actually makes it pretty boring. Of course, the OTT stuff carries on through the game, with a very excitable announcer with a ridiculously deep voice talking shit throughout.Other than all this, I noticed a few strange things apart from the game. Firstly, the sheer number of people hanging around the pitch during the game - to be expected when you have 50 players on each team, I suppose. At most points, there were just dozens and dozens of people milling around the edges of the pitch, making it all seem much more important and involved than it probably is - being just a glorified game of rugby. The other thing I noticed were the heat pipes, which spray hot air at the players on the bench, to keep them warm. Stupid, and further proof (as well as the pads and crash helmets) that NFL players are sissies. I know it can get pretty cold in the US, but you wouldn't catch football and rugby players standing by a heater, oh no!
An interesting experience all in all, quite funny to laugh at some of the ridiculously excitable and hyped up parts of what goes on. The BBC showed the game, and got into the spirit of things too. I was really glad I went in the end, but I'm not sure I'd rush back to an NFL game - the fluff around it is more interesting and exciting than the game itself at times, which is never a good sign for a sports match!
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