British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw here

[Bravo]

Jack Straw is in town here over the next two days along with Condi Rice.

She is going to take him to interview some Hurricane Katrina victims and they are going to see the Alabama-Tennessee football game on Saturday afternoon.

Do you Brits think he will find American football utterly boring? (If the game is close - it might get a bit loud in there....)

 

[bdcrowe]

Jack Straw is in town here over the next two days along with Condi Rice.

She is going to take him to interview some Hurricane Katrina victims and they are going to see the Alabama-Tennessee football game on Saturday afternoon.

Do you Brits think he will find American football utterly boring? (If the game is close - it might get a bit loud in there....)

Boring? The UT/UA rivalry boring? He'll feel right at home and think it is a soccer game when the bleechers clear and the seas of orange and scab-- er-- crimson collide.

Should be a good game.

 

[Bravo]

Boring? The UT/UA rivalry boring? He'll feel right at home and think it is a soccer game when the bleechers clear and the seas of orange and scab-- er-- crimson collide.

Should be a good game.

I hope so...quite a bit of pent up emotion here this season. I wonder how he will compare it to a Premier League game...

 

[Rockford35]

We have a creek just outside the city named Condie.

Condi Rice makes me think of something you'd put souvlaki on in a nice restaurant.

R35

 

[Kilted Arab]

Do you Brits think he will find American football utterly boring? (If the game is close - it might get a bit loud in there....)

Have you any idea of the atmosphere at football games in the UK or Europe?

I remember taking four Americans to a Rangers/Celtic (old firm) game. They were Wall St types and had been to their share of American football games, including Superbowls. I'm not going to use pointless hyperbole, suffice to say they'd never witnessed an atmosphere like it in terms of passion, volume and enthusiasm.

I'm sure old Jack will have been to a few games in England, so I don't think Americans yelling "yee-hah" will phase him too much...!

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-2796023-prod-travelguide-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i

 

[Bravo]

Have you any idea of the atmosphere at football games in the UK or Europe?

I remember taking four Americans to a Rangers/Celtic (old firm) game. They were Wall St types and had been to their share of American football games, including Superbowls. I'm not going to use pointless hyperbole, suffice to say they'd never witnessed an atmosphere like it in terms of passion, volume and enthusiasm.

I'm sure old Jack will have been to a few games in England, so I don't think Americans yelling "yee-hah" will phase him too much...!

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-2796023-prod-travelguide-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i

I have wanted to see a Premiership game for a long time to experience it. What is the typical attendance?

 

[IrishGolfer]

A typical Premiership game and a typical "Old Firm" game cannot be held in the same breath. While living in Scotland I was lucky enough to be at 4 Old Firm games, each one an experience. The passion, rivalry and hatred expereinced at these games is breathtaking. There's as much stuff goes on before and after the game than you'll actually see on the pitch. Having said that, most of these games tend to be fairly dirty affairs, with several yellow and red cards. This in turn whips the crowd up into a frenzy.

I have witnessed several "normal" guys (including a top Glaswegian barrister) turn into monsters during the 90 minute period of play. It's kinda funny to watch if it wasn't so sad. Actually the picture I paint is a bit too dark. There is some humour injected into these games. I remember a Jack Russell running out onto the pitch and stopping play. Within seconds the (Celtic) fans were chanting "Souness! Souness!" in references to Rangers' manager. Ya gotta laugh!

Bravo, if you ever get a chance to go to a game, go to a local Derby.

 

[Kilted Arab]

I recall going to watch Rangers/Morton many years back...

At the time, Rangers had the Israeli international keeper, Bonny Ginzberg. Each time he got the ball, the Morton crowd erupted into a chorus of "Where's yer foreskin gone...?"

Bravo - not sure off the top ofmy head the average attendance in the Premiership each Saturday - maybe around 40-50 thousand for the top flight.

 

[Bravo]

Well the game that the Foreign Secretary attended here resembled (from a scoring standpoint) a European football game...

Final score: 6 to 3 with each goal counting 3 points. Basically - a final of 2 - 1 with the home team scoring the winner with less than a minute remaining. 80,000 fans in attendance under sunny skies and temps of 22C.

When I go to the UK, I am going to drink it all in. I will play the Open rota courses and I will want to attend an Arsenal or Man U game. (Sorry fans of other clubs!)

 

[Kilted Arab]

Well the game that the Foreign Secretary attended here resembled (from a scoring standpoint) a European football game...

Final score: 6 to 3 with each goal counting 3 points. Basically - a final of 2 - 1 with the home team scoring the winner with less than a minute remaining. 80,000 fans in attendance under sunny skies and temps of 22C.

When I go to the UK, I am going to drink it all in. I will play the Open rota courses and I will want to attend an Arsenal or Man U game. (Sorry fans of other clubs!)

Had a browse through some old files and found this photo from Ibrox - the stadium of Glasgow Rangers. Photo not great, I'm afraid. But the team is!

 

[Bravo]

KA:

I thought I might send along a pic or two from a game I attended yesterday...

 

[Bravo]

Football trivia for those of you across the pond....

There are two broad types of football here: amateur (college) and professional. I know you have likely seen pro (NFL) video from time to time from the Super Bowl.

Strangely, major college football is more popular than the NFL. The stadiums at the large college programs are larger than all NFL stadiums.

The one currently has 80,000 and is undergoing an expansion to 91,000 and it will still not be as big as the largest college stadiums which are about 105,000...

And the weather you see is typical for this time of year in this part of the U.S. Perfect for being outside...

(Sorry about the picture size...left them large for greater detail)....

 

[Bravo]

At halftime, the schools have marching bands....