Originally Posted by jasonrh

You don't like the idea of converting a Louisiana Born Bayou Boy away from Gridiron Throwball to Football?

Whatever works, I say.

In America there is so much land and so few teams (when my parents were young there were only 16 baseball teams for 48 states - my Florida father supported the Brooklyn - then Los Angeles - Dodgers) that geography is no object.

Because of that, and because of the franchise system and modern inventions like the salary cap, American sports are very boring with no long term dominance, or real rivalries that mean anything, no really important life-or-death struggles, no politics, no fights for survival, no international battles, no multiple competitions, and most importantly if you finish in the top half of the league you can still win the title through the crap arsed playoffs.

He's fascinated by the whole thing. European comps, Cups, promotion, relegation, teams with political histories, teams that once were great, teams that have no real history, changes in the game, internationals, changes in rivalries, different regions, different philosophies, the whole bit.

A lot of Americans think it is a bunch of Southern Californians who know they can't make any money doing track and field and who are vaguely homosexual.