The NFL and NBA thread

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

And there's the other end of the spectrum, the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. I'd love to be in one of the balconies overlooking the course with some sangria and tapas watching all the idiots getting themselves literally torn a new one.

Actually I dont mind the Pamplona Bull Run at all: the danger is to the people and they have chosen it. Thats OK with me. They have recently started a similar bull run festival in New Orleans (presumably part of starting the revival of that cruelly maimed city) and it is already extremely popular with people who want to risk life and limb but are afraid of aeroplanes. As long as the danger is to the people and not to the bulls, Im cool with it. Each to their own.

Actual bull fighting is pretty loathsome, a survival perhaps of the Circus in Ancient Rome where animals and people were sadistically killed for the entertainment of the crowd. As far as I am concerned, Ancient Rome was the great false start of human civilisation and the Fall of Rome is to be celebrated. The so-called barbarian Ostrogoths deposed the last Western Emporer, Romulus Augustus, in AD476, and just to show how cruel and barbaric they were, they didnt even hurt him. King Odoacer did give orders that the Emporer, who had only just been enthroned, was to be killed at once, but Odoacers soldiers found Romulus hiding under a bed: he was a boy of 12. So they captured him alive, showed him to King Odoacer and said "Are you sure you want us to kill him? Just checking..." King Odoacer looked at his child-captive and said "Actually, Im not..." Thus the boys life was spared and the Ostrogoths showed how mean and nasty they really were. Think Nero or Caligula would have spared the boys life?

Its no accident that the Nazis and Mussolinis Fascists celebrated and upheld Ancient Rome as a great iconic civilisation. Rome was utterly fascist, authoritarian and founded on the principle that mercy is weak. Tony Soprano would have have been a liberal and progressive stateman in that society. We today do not believe that compassion is a weakness. Passtimes such as dog fighting, bear baiting and public executions are increasingly outlawed through most of the world and even where they still legally go on they are a lodestone for the lowest and worst dregs of the society where they are allowed to happen. Spain will steadily relegate bull fighting to the same marginal status as the generations who were reared on it and think its part of their culture gradually fade away. The Michael Vicks of this world are set to get lonelier and lonelier by the year.

Arguably NFL is (like boxing) a sport which channels and controls our violent urges. It is a trial of strength between teams staffed by consenting adults, men who are eager and passionately willing to engage in the sport and test their physical and mental powers to the uttermost. Even defeat, though hard to take, is honourable as long as a man knows and can take a surly pride in knowing that he gave his all.

[Mal Hombre]

I agree totally,"Roman Civilisation" is a misnomer,those the Romans called barbarians were often notable for being rather more civilised than the Romans.

[keefriff]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

They have recently started a similar bull run festival in New Orleans (presumably part of starting the revival of that cruelly maimed city) and it is already extremely popular with people who want to risk life and limb but are afraid of aeroplanes.

I have a nephew who lives in New Orleans and he attended their version of the Running of the Bulls. It does not involve real bulls. It is a typical New Orleans tradition, meaning lots of alcohol and a twist on the ordinary. The bulls are actually girls on roller skates chasing "runners" and hitting them with whiffle bats as they careen around the French Quarter. He attended it for the last two years and said it is an absolute laugh riot. Of course it being New Orleans, lots of drinking is involved.

Here are some pictures from the event.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

I agree totally,"Roman Civilisation" is a misnomer,those the Romans called barbarians were often notable for being rather more civilised than the Romans.

More archaelogical evidence is being found that shows that the supposedly "barbarian" Celts were not only more sophisticated than previously believed, but they had extensive trade relationships with Rome until Julius Caesar decided that conquering and dominating the Celts was a better thing than economic cooperation.

[K_D]

Dateline: Foxborough, Massachusetts Sept 26, 2910:

The Buffalo Bills pre-game warm-up was delayed today after a player found an unknown white powdery substance on the ground. Training was suspended while police were called in. After analysis, experts determined that the substance, unfamiliar to most of the players, was in fact the goal line. Practice resumed after they decided that the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by tygrkhat40

More archaelogical evidence is being found that shows that the supposedly "barbarian" Celts were not only more sophisticated than previously believed, but they had extensive trade relationships with Rome until Julius Caesar decided that conquering and dominating the Celts was a better thing than economic cooperation.

A rivalry which goes way back?

[wozhere]

Ancient Rome was the last time Lions fans had something to cheer about

It's sad how history primarily remembers the brutal or the conqueror. I fear that 2000 years from now, the 20th century will be remembered for Hitler & Nazis more than anything else (and the Dallas Cowboys )

Forgive my failing memory, but isn't it actually the Greeks that are credited for the birth of modern civilization or even the further back the Mesopotamians ?

[ourlad]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgfWxDDdcvs

[wozhere]

After 1 pm games:

Still alive: cardinalcary ourlad tygrkhat TitansFan keefriff

Eliminated: grossnex, Pukindog, Ghaleon, qwerty007, & brother SIT

[qwerty007]

I was just watching Peyton audible at the line and was thinking;

I know Terry Bradshaw used to call his own plays. He may have been dumb as a doornail, but at least he knew enough to hand off to Franco Harris.

Roger Staubach used to call his own plays, as well.

Who was the last QB to call his own plays...?

When did the offensive coordinator era begin?