Post-game wrap-up
The French did fine considering what they had to work with: a 45 minute pre-game show, a European audience that doesn’t know the difference between a block and a tackle (wait… those were NFL refs!), a really ugly half-time band and a game that had lost its punch after the first series.
French coverage started with de-covered Miami Dolphins’ Cheerleaders doing a routine while a roaming camera filmed moving body parts. The hosts then gave a history of French players in the NFL (just two: Laurent LaFite (kicker, of course) and Jean-Pierre Derrière (bench warmer)*) and talked about American Football clubs in France (200).
The rules were explained with a 4 minute video clip (prepared by the NFL) then were later re-explained after disastrous calls. (Someone forgot to show the clip to the officials.)
I see one game a year, maybe, and see football “anew” each time: the size and speed of the players, the impact of the hits, the gladiator spirit of the game, the adulation of the fans…
It was 4:05 AM when I turned off the tube, happy to have lived an American moment, even if it was a sleeper.
Bring on Super Bowl XLI.
*Just kidding.
posted by Brady @ 10:17 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Nicely written, fun, funny, even nostalgic! It is engaging to see American things from a (sort of) foreign perspective. Thanks!
BG
(FYI: Word verification has asked me to type in "racypu" before this comment will be posted. It sounds an awful lot like what my wife sometimes calls me (not always affectionately, mind you. And no, she does NOT pronounce it P-U!)
And, more importantly, only 8 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
LoL Brady!
My son has his first varsity baseball game tomorrow. He could start at 3b against a very large school from Orlando.
Welcome to the big leagues!
You make me laugh. I think I saw Jean-Pierre on NFL films. At the time he played it was NFL policy to place only English translations of foreign born players names on their jerseys. Shortly after the M.A.P.F. (Mother's Against Profane Jersey's) went to work on the NFL the policy was changed.
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