^^ haha, this response quoted the tail end of a conversation about Debs hiking socks up to her knees, but to address your question, I could probably best sum up your concern with the following quote: "I don't have time to explain the universe in 5 minutes."
I will admit that's a pretty sorry quote, but it gets the point across.
Originally posted by chillmeistergen
Why? all they do is run into each other while wearing a shed load of padding. You may aswell watch a duck pond.-AC
I enjoy watching duck ponds (but only if there is ducks on them at the time.)
And to be honest I can't remember the last time I saw ducks ponds (or ducks for that matter) running into each other while wearing a "shed load of padding" so the comparison leaves me lost and scared.
Originally posted by chillmeistergen
Why? all they do is run into each other while wearing a shed load of padding. You may aswell watch a duck pond.-AC
Two weekends ago, I saw my first rugby match. My friend plays for the Raleigh Vipers, a team where half their roster are transplants from the UK. It was fun and I had a good time watching it.
I'll be straight with the rugby/american football comparison. Both require participants to be hard-nosed, ready to hit and receive a hit, aggressive, and fearless. Rugby is probably more exciting for a non-fan to watch.
However, I've been tackled by my brother before. Without padding. He's about 5 foot 11 and 185 pounds. I got up with no problem, and probably could've been tackled by him a dozen more times and still carried on my day.
If I were to strap on a helmet and shoulder and thigh pads, and Ray Lewis or Joey Porter were to slam into me, I'd be in the hospital. My helmet isn't going to help much from a guy with 4.5 speed and 250 lbs of muscle ramming his head into my ribcage. These guys can bench press 225 lbs. 30 times. I remember one time in high school I got 225 lbs. up once.
That's just one play:
If a 320 lb. offensive lineman chop blocks me on the next, my knees would be shattered.
Catching a ball and getting speared in the gut...not a lot of good shoulder pads would do there.
These are world-class athletes with world-class strength. It's literally like a train wreck on every play. I would rather be hit by a Yugo without pads than a 18-Wheeler while dressed like the Michelin Man.
The only thing the helmets do is keep the number of concussions over a lifetime in the 4-6 range, rather than the 50-60 range with permanent brain damage. Even a small amount of concussions have proven to cause brain damage, as a matter of fact.
Originally posted by Rogue Jedi
look at it this way.....you think the greatest athlete in soccer can cover marvin harrison on a deep route? no, not possible. on the other hand, you take those same two athletes, and try and have marvin harrison defend the soccer player in a soccer game, and marvin would get owned.
Actually I think the real question is not whether Marvin can defend that soccer player during a soccer game, but whether he can drop to the ground and clutch his ankle/shin/ear in a convincing enough manner to score a penalty kick.
(Joking, joking)
Originally posted by Rogue Jedi
oh, NFL players do their share of acting. when you see a QB flop down when a LB barely touches him, youll see.
Yes, to be honest it is always something that has annoyed me about soccer and the like. While I like soccer and don't mind NFL, the acting sometimes irks me (I probably shouldn't call it acting, they might be in actual agony, even if they seem to bounce right back up when the appeal is granted/denied.)
Now the cricketers of the past. There were some men who tried to avoid showing pain, even after a particularly fast bouncer might have broken some of their ribs, and one chap, if I remember rightly, went back out and batted with his jaw wired - what with it having been broken by a delivery in the previous innings.