NFL Football Visits the Brits: Will the League Make It Global?

On Sunday, October 28, 2007, the first ever NFL regular season match to take place outside of North America occurred in London, England. The New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins made the trip across the pond to square off in London’s Wembley Stadium (pictured right with the Dolphins' mascot). 81,176 people packed into the stadium to see the team’s play. There is no question that the league played this game in Europe and has plans of playing another game internationally next season because they are hoping to capitalize on the international market. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was quoted saying, “The international popularity of the NFL grows every year.” He noted that many of the leagues supporters in England have been watching since the NFL was broadcast on terrestrial television in the 1980s. However, it unclear whether the league would be able to generate ticket and gate sales from multiple games in Europe for a profit, or if the best they could do internationally is benefit from TV revenues. Just because the market seems to be growing, and there was a large turnout for the game this weekend, does not necessarily mean that the NFL and American football will be able to have staying power in Europe.

Europe is not exactly a stranger to NFL football. NFL Europa, which was a development league, existed for sixteen years before folding this past June. Commissioner Goodell said that folding the league was the best “business decision for the NFL”because the league was reportedly losing about $30 million a year. The commissioner also suggested that one of the reasons why NFL Europa was not very popular was because it was “second-rate football.” Therefore, Goodell hopes that by playing regular season NFL games in Europe the league would be displaying the highest level of play. The league planned to showcase the exciting nature of NFL football to Europeans and others around the world, in hopes of spurring their interest in the game. However, that did not exactly happen this past weekend.

The game between the Giants and the Dolphins was full of sloppy play, which was not aided by the fact that there was a light drizzle throughout the whole game that created a muddy field (pictured to the left). Journalist Eddie Pells states, “It was hardly a clinic of American football at its best." The fans actually booed at the completion of the event, after the game was basically decided, and the Giants ran out the clock by taking a knee. Tom Coughlin, coach of the Giants, attributed the boos to the fact that the Englishmen did not know the intricacies of football. He may be correct, given that England has a variety of other sports that as a whole the country is much more passionate about, such as the "other" football (soccer). This was made clear when this past weekend the game failed to make it past Champions League soccer on to the front page of the sports pages of London newspapers. The chance for the NFL to be able to come in to Europe and become one of the most popular sports would take a lot of work and seems to be highly unlikely.

There is no doubting the fact that many people in Europe have become NFL fans. For instance, there is a group called Dolfan UK, which is a Miami Dolphins fan club that has more than 100 members. There were many Europeans who showed up decked out in gear (pictured below) to cheer on their favorite NFL team this past weekend. However, Bryan Tyrell, the catering director of Bodean’s, a Kansas City-style barbeque restaurant with four branches in England notes that during a typical week, most of his customers are British, but during the weekend when college football and the NFL are on, the crowd is mostly American. Ladbrokes, Britain’s largest sports betting agency says that betting on the Dolphins vs Giants game was up 10-15% over other NFL games this past Sunday. However, wagering on NFL games is not even one-fifth of what the British spend betting on Premier League Soccer matches. Therefore despite the large crowd this past weekend, it seems as though the NFL has some more work to do to get Europeans excited about soccer.

Beyond the fan interest, the well-being of the NFL athlete also plays a large role in whether league games overseas will be plausible in the future. Jet lag from the trans-oceanic flight played a part in the quality of the game on Sunday. Coach Tom Coughlin of the Giants was most concerned with transportation, and the general inconvenience that was caused by playing a game so far away from home. The teams flew on red-eye flights that arrived in London on Friday morning for the game that took place at 5 pm local London time on Sunday. Ordinarily, Friday is a key practice day for teams to prepare for their Sunday game. However, by flying in on Friday morning and being jet-lagged, they lost the ability to practice.

Overall, it seems as though the NFL has a long way to go in making overseas regular-season games a common event. Fan interest in Europe should continue to be fostered. This game was a good first step, but more still needs to be done if the league wants to capture more than TV revenue from this potential market. Europeans need to be shown by the league why they should become as interested in American football as they are in soccer. The NFL needs to demonstrate that football is a meaningful game, with a clear goal and top-notch athletes. Future games held in Europe will be important with fostering interest in the NFL, however, summer pre-season games that do not affect regular-season standings may be better for the league because of the jet-lag, travel, and poor Fall weather problems. After this past weekend it is clear that there are a lot of kinks that need to be worked out and changes that must be made before the NFL can really invest their brand of football in Europe.

Kevin Millar: Back with the Red Sox?

Who would have thought it? The Boston Red Sox, after being down 3-1 in the American League Championship series, overcame the deficit and beat the Cleveland Indians in game seven to win the American League Championship. They are now headed t o the World Series where they will face the Colorado Rockies. Ever since the Red Sox broke the “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004 by winning the World Series, it seems like they can do no wrong. Dare it be said, after their latest comeback against the Indians, they may finally have some luck. Surprisingly, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar might have given Boston the little extra push they needed to win game seven. Millar is a former Red Sox first baseman and was a key figure in the Red Sox's run for the Pennant in 2004. This is not the first time Millar has been back to the hallowed park that is Fenway. He has returned multiple times since his departure from the Red Sox in 2006. However, his return visits have been as an opposing player. In 2006 Millar joined the Baltimore Orioles, a team that is in the American League East with the Red Sox. This time to first baseman was back in Boston to throw out the ceremonial first pitch (pictured right) of the game.

Having Kevin Millar throw out the first pitch was the first time in MLB history that a current player has thrown out the ceremonial pitch. Millar received a huge standing ovation as he made his way to the mound before the game. He stayed around on the field after he threw the pitch, and recorded a commercial in which he stated that "We (the Red Sox) need to win." After the game Millar said, "This is all fun. This is an exciting time. It's baseball." He may be right, it might just all be about fun. However, ethically, is it right to go and support a team that is a rival of your current team? There is no question that Millar is a fan favorite in Boston. Known for coining the phrase “Cowboy Up” and being an integral part of the 2004 World Series team, Kevin Millar will forever be a part of Red Sox lore. However, it does not seem right for him to publicly support a rival team. However, it does not seem right for him to publicly support a rival team. Red Sox manager Terry Francona stated, “This is another one of those things where he can pull it off. He's a member of the Baltimore Orioles, he's going to be spurring on the Red Sox and nobody is going to say a word. He'll probably bring the house down. I love it, but I don't get it. It's Millar. It's hilarious.” It turned out Francona was wrong that no one would say a word about Millar's actions.

The day after he threw out the first pitch, pictures of Millar laughing and striding around Fenway Park with his former teammates was all over the news. Debates rose up about whether it was right for Millar to support a rival team (Millar supporting the team is shown to the left). News was released that the Red Sox also asked for former pitcher Pedro Martinez, who is now with the New York Mets to also make an appearance. Martinez and the Mets respectfully declined this offer. According to the Red Sox, they asked and received permission from Andy McPhail, the President of Baseball Operations for the Orioles, before having Millar throw out the first pitch, yet it still was not right for Millar to support a rival team.

Professional athletes have a team that they like to be defined with. Often times it is where they played the longest or where they played their best. For example, Nomar Garciaparra is now playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he will always be remembered as a Red Sox because that is where he played his best seasons. It is clear that Millar wants to be remembered as a Red Sox. He was part of their historic 2004 team and is still friends with a lot of his ex-teammates. However, Millar needs to remember that Major League Baseball is still a business. He signed with the Orioles and until he is done playing in the league, his loyalties should lie with his current team. He currently is still under contract with the Orioles. His contract included an option for 2008, but as long as he had 274 at-bats in 2007 (which he accomplished), then his option would immediately go into effect.

The bottom line is that despite the fact that the Orioles front office said it was acceptable, it is disrespectful to his current teammates and Orioles fans for him to go out and blatantly support another team. Seeing him joking around and supporting a rival team makes me question his dedication and support for his current team. I am not saying that he cannot go to the game and support his friends, but he should not have made his support public by throwing out the first pitch. That was disrespectful to to the Orioles and their fans. It is great that Kevin Millar still has such a following in Boston. He will always be remembered synonymously with the magical year that was 2004 (shown on the right). Once he retires, he can profess his love for the Red Sox and how he will be a Red Sox for life, but until then, he needs to stay loyal to his team and teammates and show them that he is one-hundred percent behind that team.

MLB Playoffs: Anything Can Happen

It is October and the magic that is the Major League Baseball Playoffs is underway. The MLB playoffs are exciting because it seems as though any team has a chance to win. This is evidenced by the fact that since 2002, six of the ten World Series participants have been wildcard teams. Of those teams, three of the six have gone on to win the World Series. So far the playoffs this year have been no exception to this underdog-phenomenon. The National League Championship Series, which will begin on Thursday, October 11, 2007, features one wildcard team and one scrappy-playing team that has managed to pull together wins this season. The teams I am talking about are the Colorado Rockies (pictured right) and the Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.

In the preseason rankings, Sports Illustrated had the Diamondbacks finishing second in the National League West, and the Rockies finishing fourth. However, here we are, the 2007 MLB baseball season is over, the playoffs have begun, and both the Diamondbacks and the Rockies are indeed in the National League Championship Series. If there is one thing that is constant in this game of baseball, especially when October comes around, it is that one should always expect the unexpected.

Last year at this time, both the Diamondbacks and the Rockies were already on vacation. Both the Diamondbacks and the Rockies had a record last year of 76 wins and 86 losses. That record put the two teams twelve games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers who won the National League West in 2006. Being twelve games back indicates that both teams were not even close to making the playoffs last season.

If you go back even further to 2005, the Rockies had a record of 66 wins and 95 losses, and the Diamondbacks had 77 wins and 84 losses. The last times the Rockies had a winning season was in 2000 when they went 82-80, and the last time they made the playoffs was in 1995. On the other hand, in 2001 the Diamondbacks won the World Series (pictured left) and in 2002 they made the playoffs but lost in the National League Division Series. However, their last winning season was in 2003 when they went 84-78. By looking at these stats and given the way both teams have been playing the past few years, it is rather evident that these teams were not ones that people would have expected to have winning seasons, let alone make the playoffs.

If these teams can teach us one thing, it is that nothing in sports is predicable. In his article on ESPN.com, Jayson Stark puts it best by saying that “They’re a reminder to all of us that there are no magical formulas to play this game.” Both of these teams play hard-nosed baseball. They are not a collection of past-their-prime, over-paid superstars like some other teams who are in the playoffs. Instead, they are teams of young, team-first guys who win the battles on the field.

Five of the eight position players who started in the National League Division Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Chicago Cubs were under the age of twenty-five. The youth of this team was one of the reasons why in April everyone thought that this was going to be a re-building year for the Diamondbacks. Veteran first-baseman Tony Clark (pictured right) stated, “The conventional wisdom was that this was going to take a year, it was going to take two years, its going to take three years, till these guys [the young players] get around in the league…But this group, from a Baseball 101, a baseball IQ standpoint, is very high. And they have been able to take the information they have been given, make the adjustments they need to make and learn the league along the way.”

During the regular season, the Diamondbacks did not lead the league in any categories, neither offensively nor defensively, yet, they found ways to get wins. They remind us that the true meaning of a team is that the whole must work together to win. It is not about the stats or the one big superstar player. Any given day, the most important thing is the end result. If a team is being successful on the field and getting wins, it does not matter if they have a superstar player or not.

The Rockies have built their team similar to the Diamondbacks, by drafting excellent, young players, and grooming them in the minor leagues. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle stated, “It speaks of good old-fashioned values of baseball: scouting and player development and building from within and being patient and taking chances and things working out.” They have been patient and have relied on their strong minor league system to produce good, young players that today are helping these teams to win.

Both the Diamondbacks and the Rockies may not be the best teams on paper. They do not have the big superstar or the largest payroll, but they find ways to win. They work together as a team. As Arizona leftfielder Eric Byrnes (pictured left) puts it, “You have twenty-five guys pulling for each other. I have not heard one guy complain all year. We have guys who are ready to win. We have already exceeded expectations so far and we are going to continue to do so.” In today’s world of sports, where so much emphasis is often put on the acquisition of the superstar or the blockbuster trade, it is refreshing to see two true teams, which everyone counted out early in the season, having success in the playoffs.

Favre Touchdown Record: A Bright Spot in Today's World of Sports

There was nothing special about it. He had done it hundreds of other times. A sixteen yard slant pass to the corner is something he has been doing for years, and could probably do in his sleep. However, this one was special for the ever-humble quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. With 4:56 left in the first quarter, quarterback Brett Favre zipped that sixteen yard slant to Greg Jennings for his 421^st career touchdown pass, breaking Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino’s career touchdown pass record. Favre did not treat this one as any different, however. Favre, who is always one to excitedly celebrate a touchdown, ran to the endzone and picked up the recipient of his touchdown pass, Wide Receiver Greg Jennings (shown on right). He then joined his teammates on the sidelines. Sure, there was a bit more celebration than usual on the sidelines, but for the most part, Favre was focused on the game and getting the victory.

Brett Favre has always been the epitome of a team player, but at no point was it more evident than after the game on Sunday, September 30 when he became the king of touchdown passes at 422. Favre said, "I'm so glad we won the game. There was so much emphasis on this record and not the game itself. Everyone's like, 'What are you going to do? Are you going to have a big celebration?' Put yourself in my shoes. I want to help this team win. I do not want us to get blindsided by this record and what we're actually here for." The most important thing for Brett was to get a win, which he got with by beating the Vikings 23-16. The Green Bay Packers as a team have struggled the past few years, with a 4-12 record in 2005 and a 8-8 record in 2006, and it is important to Favre that they start off this season winning games. So far this year they are undefeated at 4-0, and Favre, who has been criticized for his inconsistent play the past few years, is currently second in the NFL in passing. Based on the success of the Packers so far this season, the legend that is soon-to-be 38 year old Future-Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre is alive and well, and in today’s scandal filled world of sports, it seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

The sports world as of late has unfortunately been filled with scandal and strife; from Michael Vick and dogfighting to the baseball steroids scandal, so it is nice to see something positive happen to someone who has gone about his career in a classy manner.

All things considered, Brett Favre has gone about things the right way. He was drafted in 1991 in the second round (33^rd overall) out of Southern Mississippi University by the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons said that he looked like a player that could have “some potential.” He went 0-5 with 2 interceptions before the Atlanta Falcons traded him to the Green Bay Packers for the number one draft pick in 1992. Some may have seen the trade as foolish, but looking back, it just may have been the best personnel move in NFL history. Brett came into a game in September of the 1992 season after the Packer’s starting quarterback was injured. Going into the fourth quarter of that game the Packers were down 3-17. However, Favre engineered a comeback and the Packers won the game 24-23. After that game, Favre took over the position of starting quarterback, and he has held it ever since. Even then, it was clear that Favre was a team player. The Packers coach in 1992, Mike Holmgren was quoted saying, “What you see in Brett is a strong guy who wants to win.”

Things have not always come easy to Favre, however. He has had his troubles on and off the field, but his persevering nature always comes through. Favre has always been a gunslinger, and especially as of late, he has had issues with interceptions. He is second on the list of career interceptions, and is two shy of tying the record of 277 set by George Blanda (pictured on the left). However, Favre feels that his aggressive style of play has gotten him to where he is today. "What got me to this point, what got me in this league, was a playmaking ability that was different," Favre said. He is not your typical “game-manager” type player who is careful to protect the ball. Favre’s style is all about high-risks that reap high rewards. It does seem, however, that Brett has changed his ways a bit this year, and is playing within the game plan set by Packers’ Head Coach Mike McCarthy. According to an article by the Associated Press, McCarthy has reined Favre in a bit more this season, and based on their 4-0 start, it is working. McCarthy has said, “He is really playing within the system so well right now.

Off the field, Favre has had to work through some much publicized hardships over the past few years. His father, who he was very close to, passed away on December 21, 2003, and the next day, Brett played an inspired game with a heavy heart, leading his team to victory. He passed for 399 yards and threw 4 touchdowns. Then in October of 2003, Brett’s wife Deanna (pictured to the right), was diagnosed with breast cancer. This came a week after Deanna’s twenty-four year old brother died in an ATV accident on Favre’s property in Mississippi. Finally, in August 2005, Favre’s house in Mississippi was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Many thought that these hardships would be too much for Favre to bear, and may force him into retirement, but they have not. Football seems to be his outlet, and he is practicing and playing harder than ever. There is no question that Favre is football’s "Ironman," with 241 consecutive starts as a quarterback. That puts him in second place on the all-time consecutive NFL starts list. Also, two weeks ago he broke John Elway’s record for career victories, pushing it to 151 wins. There is no question that Favre is still out to win, and knows that he has the ability to still be successful in the NFL.

Honestly, one could go on and on about the stats that Brett Favre has put up over his illustrious 17 years and counting NFL career. However, the ever-humble Favre would not want that. After breaking the touchdown record, Favre spoke of Dan Marino (pictured to the left with Favre), the man he passed in the record books. He said, “"It feels great, but I've never considered myself as good a quarterback as Dan Marino. Dan was a hero of mine. To be mentioned in the same breath as Dan and other guys really makes it special.” Yet, Marino might have put it best when he said, “"I loved holding the touchdown record for the past 13 years. But if someone was going to break it, I'm glad it was someone like you [Favre], who has always competed at the highest level and always played to win." So in today’s sports world, which is unfortunately so often riddled with scandal and negativity, it is a breath of fresh air to see someone who has worked to get to the pinnacle of his sport through hard work, dedication, and a will to win.