NFL heads back to London

Here’s my question: Why?

The AP is reporting that for the fifth straight year, the NFL will host a game at Wembley Stadium in London, England, when the Chicago Bears take on the Tampa Bay Bucs.

I’ll admit, it was cool the first time I saw it. And I know there is some history to the NFL bringing games overseas to the UK. But really, what do the British NFL fans– maybe spectators is a better word– get out of watching a sport they don’t know the rules to or understand? In past years, the only time the crowd showed any sort of interest was when the kickers and punters took the field. Cheerio, chaps.

Are there some genuine NFL fans in the UK? Of course. Do they make up a large percentage of the “fans” that will fill up Wembley? Of course not.

The goal, I guess, is to one day build towards having a European league that’s on par with the American league, and then having the winners of each league faceoff in a true international bowl.

Sounds great, but I don’t see it working. Here’s why: Europeans love their footy clubs because they grew up with them. Association football is often deeply intertwined with class and religious divides, and physical borders and boundaries (See: the Old Firm). Some of these teams’ subcultures and rivalries have boiled and simmered for over a century. Introduce a new sport without those deep-rooted rivalries, and well, just take a look at the empty seats during a MLS game and you’ll get the idea.

And we don’t necessarily want those same rivalries around our sport. A lot of European football hooliganism/firms/casuals/ultras/hardcores/whatever are tied to racism and fascism. The last thing we need is that spill over into American football.

I’ve been to the UK, and traveled Europe extensively. Despite what the NFL wants us to believe, Europeans do not give a damn about American football. Europeans care about our football less than we care about their football (though we’ve had some pretty good soccer teams in recent years that are worth caring about.)

I don’t have any actual numbers, but isn’t it expensive to fly an entire team, coaches, personnel and staff, over to London for a week? Is it really worth it? Will it be worth it when the novelty wears off, and attendance at Wembley begins to taper off? It’s one less game the diehard fans get to attend. You know, the fans that don’t go wild when a kicker boots the ball through the back of the end zone for a touchback.

(By the way, if you go to the nfllondon.net the lede story reads, “The 2011 NFL International Series game will see the Tampa Bay Buccaneets take on the Chicago Bears at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 23rd October 2011.”)

It's over...

And God said, "Let there be football." The NFL Players Association and Owners have reached a bargaining agreement that will end the four-month lockout.

Barring any major setbacks (or an opt-out in 2013) we will have a NFL season through 2021. Was there really any doubt? With mainstream sports media tracking every move, the NFL lockout has been covered tirelessly. We won't bore you with all the specifics, but here a few of the major points that were touched on in the agreement in layman's terms:

• Players are eligible to stay in the NFL medical plan for life. Previously, the medical benefits only covered a player for his first five post-retirement years.




• Injury guarantee. This one is a little more complicated, but it essentially says that if a player has a career ending injury (or an injury that sidelines him for multiple seasons), a larger portion of his salary and bonuses will still be honored then was previously the case.




• Percentage of yearly revenue. Players will get 47 percent of the roughly 9-billion dollars, owners will see 53 percent. Players will see 55 percent of TV revenue.




• 16 game season. For now at least. There is a possibility that, if at some point in the future, the NFL cuts the pre-season game schedule to two games players will choose an 18-game regular season schedule. Full-contact practices have been cut back.

How does all of this impact the average fan? It doesn't. Aside from bogging down your morning SportsCenter-watching routine for the past four months. But to the regular NFL fan there's nothing to worry about. There will be football, there will be NFL style football. Some have argued that cutting back on the number of full-contact practices (and at some point possibly cutting back on the number of pre-season games) will lead to sloppy tackling and a more wide-open style of play, similar to NCAA football.

That seems like a stretch. This year might be tricky, with so many weeks of the offseason wasted with the lockout. But will the fans even notice? Are we really expecting Pop Warner-esque play from the most skilled and knowledgeable players and coaches in the world? Don't think so.

And with all that said, LET THE FREE AGENCY FRENZY BEGIN!

Check back frequently as we follow the terms of the agreement throughout the day.

Boxing- Olympic Trials Set to Start

Winners of various National boxing tournaments will face off for the first round of the Olympic Trials in Mobile, AL on July 31. The winner in each weight class will represent the United States in the 2012 London Olympics.

Why is this relevant to the Capital Region? Albany's Amir Imam, of Albany City Boxing will be competing.

Fighters generally qualify for the Trials by winning one of the following tournaments: The National PAL, National Golden Gloves, USA Boxing National Championships, or the Armed Forces Championships.

Imam didn't win any of these. Despite coming close in the 2010 National PAL championship, he came up just short, taking home the silver. Instead, he had to compete at the Last Chance Qualifier Tournament early this month --literally the last chance for boxers to advance to the trials-- where he won all six bouts over the course of six days.

Imam will be competing at 152 pounds in the welterweight division. Capital Region Sports wishes our local fighter the best of luck.

So long, Doc

The longtime play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils is stepping down to take a position with NBC and Versus.

Mike "Doc" Emrick has been with the Devils organization for 21 years. Most notably, he called the games during the Devils late-1990s/early-2000s run that included winning three Stanley Cup championships in nine years. Many of the notable players that were on those championship teams came up through the Devils' farm system in Albany, with the then Albany River Rats.

Here's what Doc had to say to fans about his departure: http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569804

Capital Region Craft Brewers Festival at The Joe

Not exactly a sports topic per se, unless you're a competitive drinker, but sports related nonetheless:

The Tri-City Valley Cats and Brown's Brewing Company will be teaming up to host the second annual Capital Region Craft Brewers Festival at Joe Bruno Stadium on Saturday, July 23. The event runs from 2:30 to 6:30 pm.

According to The Valley Cats' website:

Attending this year along with Brown's will be: Adirondack Pub & Brewery, Blue Point Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Brooklyn Brewery, C.H. Evans Albany Pump Station, Cape Ann Brewing, Chatham Brewing, Cooper's Cave, Cottrell Brewing Company, Crossroads, Ithaca Beer Company, Keegan Ales, La Brasserie Unibroue, Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, Madison Brewery, Long Trail Brewing Co., Olde Saratoga Brewing Company, Otter Creek, Roc Brewing, Saranac, Smuttynose, Switchback, Wandering Star, and Wolaver's Organic Ales. Several additional breweries are expected to join prior to the July 23rd event.

More information can be found at the Valley Cats' website: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110713&content_id=21774646&vkey=news_t577&fext=.jsp&sid=t577

Rumble in the Catskills

World Class Promotions hosted an amateur boxing card this past Saturday in Catskill. "Rumble in the Catskills III" hosted 14 Olympic-style boxing matches. A number of local gyms were represented, including fighters from Syracuse Golden Gloves, Albany City Boxing, Old School Boxing in Ellenville, and the legendary Catskill Gym (home of the late Hall of Fame Trainer Cus D'Amato, and recent International Boxing Hall Of Fame inductee, "Iron" Mike Tyson).

Also worth noting-- the baddest man to ever come out of the South Bronx (that's bad), three-time world champion, Iran "The Blade" Barkley was in attendence. For those of you who don't know, Barkley holds two wins over Thomas Hearns, and has fought the likes of James Toney, Nigel Benn, Michael Nunn, and Roberto Duran.

You can read more about "Rumble in the Catskills" here: http://blog.timesunion.com/boxing/world-class-promotions-rumble-in-the-catskills-iii-last-saturdays-great-show/8607/