Well, you asked, so you may want to grab a beer, 'cuz I foresee a LONG-winded answer here...
Let me say, it isn't easy to become a rugby fan over here. It's never on television (NBC has been experimenting in the last year or so, but that's brand new), and of course, with the time differences, even if they were on, it's inconvenient to watch. Super Rugby tends to happen at like 3AM for me, and I am unlikely to find a bar that's open and showing the Scotland game tomorrow at 9AM...
A friend of mine spent a summer in New Zealand back in the late 1980's and came back wearing an All-Blacks jersey and raving about how much better rugby is compared to football. That sparked my interest, but as I said, it's almost impossible to find games on TV, and with no internet, it seemed an impossible divide.
Occasionally, during the 90's, I might come home very very late from some bar and discover a random match on, like, ESPN3 or some minor channel, but even then, I found the game incomprehensible. I still remember seeing fans holding signs that simply read, "Try!" on them, and thinking, "Wow, all they want is for their team to
try? That seems pretty bare minimum," and the commentators didn't seem to interested in explaining things to the uninitiated.
Amazon creating their "All or Nothing" series and featuring the All-Blacks was a real game-changer. It helped me understand the rules, get a grip on the (very foreign) dynamics of having intermingled leagues, side tournaments, cups, and a lot of the fundamental aspects of, especially, international rugby. Even the small things, like, "Can I earn this jersey number" is completely foreign to any American sport. In the NFL, your position dictates a
range of numbers you can have, but the player still picks it and then it's
his until he leaves the team (or somebody pays him for it.)
After the Amazon show, I randomly discovered that one of my co-workers is an American Women's Hall of Fame player. I have been chewing her ear ever since, trying to better understand the intricacies of the game. I am still utterly baffled by driving mauls, and how referees decide what constitutes a penalty in a scrum eludes me.
My growing interest led me to bite the bullet and pay for a couple online subscriptions, so now I watch quite literally every single Premiership game, every Pro14 game, every Super Rugby game, any international tests I can find, the European Cup, and whatever else comes along. The international tests, to me, are by far the best, and there's simply no American equivalent. I am WAY beyond excited for the Six Nations starting this weekend (countdown is at 6 hours 'til Wales/France!) The only American team I care about, in any sport, is my beloved NFL Patriots, and they are potentially on the cusp of Brady and Belichick winning their 6th Super Bowl, so obviously that has me more excited than even Six Nations, but that will end Sunday, one way or another.
At this point, I really think rugby is the superior sport. The NFL still has glitzier highlights, and there may be more spectacular plays, especially with the evolution of the passing game, but let's face it:
Football is a 60 minute game that takes 180 minutes to play. Rugby is an 80 minute game that takes 100 minutes or so to play.
Rugby players respect the refs and the rules and the traditions of the game. NFL players are often far less savory, and it's increasingly difficult to separate the league from all the issues of domestic violence, crime, and toxic masculinity.
The NFL will always be American, and it seems typically American to play a sport nobody else cares about, then proclaim ourselves "World Champions." In rugby, you actually
know who the world champs are, because they go out and prove it.
The commercialism and just the sheer amount of advertising during NFL games has gotten so ludicrous, I find it hard to sit through a whole game. I used to snicker at all the ads on soccer and rugby jerseys, but no more - I'll take an infinite number of logos on shirts over another freaking Bud Light ad ANY day.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant - as I've said, I pretty much have nobody to talk to about it here, and the folks here have just been fantastic answers questions and reflecting on my obviously newbie questions.
Thanks for taking the time, I very much appreciate it.
Go Pats, and Go Scotland!
-Dave
