TOUCHDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Tom Brady played Diplomacy I would help him win every time...

45 seconds left - Bills on their own 21 yard line - they have no chance. They should hang their heads in shame and give up. They should go kiss Brady's feet for allowing them to even be on the same field as him.

Love the new time slots for MNF. Wonder if they will get a field goal off

I think they're going to have to resort to a hail Mary

4th down BABY - last gasp for the Bills...

Yikes - that last play was sketchy...!

BUT - GAME OVER

PATS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow indeed... what a finish by the pats.

Yeah dude, that last play by the Bills was crazy, but the Pats came back from an awful first half to make it happen!

Yeah, Pats! Welcome back Tom. See ya, wouldn't want ta be ya, Tyrell!

What a shocker. The Bills choked, AGAIN.

Jacob, you a Pats fan? Are you from NE?

yes, I grew up in Mass. I live in a foreign country now (Kentucky)...

I saw the most amazing thing in a documentary from Stephan Fry, it was about an American football game between two colleges in the same state, and during the pre-game celebrations the whole stadium was packed, everyone was singing a national (I think) song at the top of their lungs, the whole stadium filled with hundreds of musical instrument players in a marching band, and 3 jets flew overhead.

If you could add up ridiculousness, awesomeness and charm into a single quantity called asdfness it would be the most asdf thing I've ever seen. Can you explain Jacob? (A trick question, no-one can possibly explain it)

(The documentary was about America in general, a multi-part documentary where he visits each state, the football game was a small segment in one of the documentaries)

@kestas - And how is that significantly different than a football (soccer) game in most other parts of the world?

I guess the marching band might be different as most professional teams do not have one. Do universities elsewhere not have them?

You should've seen in DM, it was very different trust me.. I tried to look for a clip but couldn't find one.

It was spectacular, and I've been to a european cup game at Wembley, (and this

(and this was just a college game for teams within a single state)

(Pressed enter too early)

@Kestas

Well, Douglas Adams explained it this way: 42.

I explain it like this: Tom Brady!

Jacob, what parts of KY (I'm in Cincinnati).

And Pats didn't win that game, Buffalo lost it (Leodis McKelvin, specifically). Regardless, the Pats offense looked vulnerable, and the Pats defense was flat out awful (against a team that couldn't score a TD in all of preseason).

the idea of University sports (as well as HS sports) is rather unique to America - or at least much more 'normal' here. in most countries they have 'clubs' that you join... like a gym membership - thats where you play your favorite games... not school.

Kestas - the point you made about Football as a cultural phenomenon in the US is exactly right... in fact, the NFL is promoting the game in China as a 'lifestyle' thing rather than a 'sport' thing... kinda interesting that you picked up on that.

dont get me wrong - I'm a regular football guy myself... not a huge 'american' football fan... but the level of intensity and love for Football in the US - particularly in Texas and in most parts of the south is just astounding. Football IS Life in most small towns in the US.

Kestas, do you remember which state it was?

College football (American) is huge in the U.S. It is big business and big money. The top coaches get paid 3-4 million dollars (yeah I know only U.S. dollars, but still) a year. The student athletes get a free education and if they are good enough can take all their football training and move on to the pros.

The NFL only has 32 teams. Division I-A college football has 120 teams. College stadiums are bigger than NFL stadiums. There are several college stadiums that have a capacity over 100,000. This is a neat website for looking at stadiums of call kinds all over the world.

http://www.worldstadiums.com/

American Football started at the college level and got deeply ingrained before the professional leagues came around. Especially in the south.

Oh, and if you ever wondered, NFL stands for the No Fun League. College football >>>>>> NFL.

I'm not too terribly far from Cincinnatti - live near Louisville, KY.

fortknox, do you follow the Cincinnati Bearcats at all? They are coming out to play Oregon State (my team) this weekend. Should be a good game, but certainly could be a blowout if OSU's defense can't stand up to Cincy's O.

@Babak football is the life and soul of Texas more than half of the players that go into the NFL are from a college in texas

My school is ranked 46th in the nation and 7th in state it is a honor but football is highly overrated ......and schools cut back on books and other funds .....just to pay for football .......it is pretty sad to see what this world has come too.

Just to pay for football? Football is the money maker of the athletic department. It pays for all the other sports. So maybe it is volleyball, gymnastics, track, baseball, wrestling, hockey, and the other non-money-makers that are supposedly eating into the "books and other funds".

I made a clip of the american football college game, in case anyone is curious:
http://kestas.kuliukas.com/americanfootballclip.wmv

Ah, Alabama and Auburn. That's an almost 90k seat stadium. Similar in size to Wembley. And definitely in the deep south where college football runs through everyone's veins.

From what I've heard they'll have many more people than can fit in the stadium come to the game. All the people without tickets just hang out outside tailgating, talk, drink beer, eat BBQ, watch games on the TVs they are running off of generators, and just have a grand ole time. It is what everyone does on Autumn Saturday's in the south and to a lesser extent in the rest of the country.

These two statements are just not true:

"@Babak football is the life and soul of Texas more than half of the players that go into the NFL are from a college in texas"

and

"American Football started at the college level and got deeply ingrained before the professional leagues came around. Especially in the south."

Football didn't come anywhere near the south until it was super entrenched in midwestern industrial towns like Canton, Akron, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The first "NFL" of sorts was the Ohio League, with the Canton Bulldogs among them (Canton just happens to be my hometown :) )

And nowhere near half of the NFL players played in schools in Texas. Someone has been drinking some bad kool-aid :) Sure, football is big currently in Texas and most of the south, but let's not say it started there; it definitely didn't. Check wikipedia if you like.

and @Alderian - I'd say places like South Bend, Ann Arbor, Columbus and Happy Valley could compare to the south. Stay away from the "SEC rules the football world" kool-aid people!

@Alderian UC football? I'm a UC alumni, and always go to UC games. OSU is in for some trouble... I knew the UC offense was explosive, but the defense has been fantastic for a group that had to replace 10 of the 11 starters this year!

Good luck (your gonna need it!) ;)

@bartdog42, I wasn't buying that thing about Texas either.

In my defense, I did not say football started in the south. I was saying that college football was ingrained in the south before professional football got there. I just wasn't very clear. Professional football started in the north (mid-west) as you indicated and is part of why the NFL is stronger in the north than in the south.

I'm a Pac-10 guy, so I certainly don't buy into the SEC hype. And I didn't mean to slight those Big Ten towns by commenting on how much a part of the culture college football is in the south.

@fortknox, while you watch the game on TV this weekend, keep an eye out for me when they camera goes over the crowd. I'll be the fan in orange. :)

@bartdog and Alderian not half but almost a near 40% are from Texas and that is a fact......and by the way Wikipedia is not always right....although i think they are about that one ...dont trust wikipedia ..........some people will edit something and put tottaly wrong facts

I would LOVE to see some actual statistics on NFL players timetokill. I have a sneaking suspicion you're making things up.

In fact, check this out: Draft stats since 1988.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS
Colleges sending most players to NFL
School Players

Miami (Fla.) 136

Florida State 125

Tennessee 120

Ohio State 116

Notre Dame 115

Nebraska 112

Florida 107

Southern California 99

Penn State 95

Michigan 91

I think it's safe to say you've got some really bad information timetokill because NOT ONE texas school is on the list.

40% from Texas? What are you smoking tilMelettokill?

The biggest reason I'd say a big NO to that is the amount of colleges in texas. Florida, Georgia, and California have a big impact on the NFL...

If you were talking conferences, I'd say the the SEC and Big-10 probably have the most players in it from the conferences.

I am guessing he meant to say are from highschools in texas, which the number would be more represented but his is still way to high.

high schools? Man, that can be from pretty much anywhere... I'd be surprised if the high school percent was over 20% for any state!

Geaux Tigers!

Go Gators!

oops i did mean high schools...to college.....

Every time I see this thread I misread the title as, "ugh - looks like the PANTS are going down tonight"...

Good game fortknox. Your guys were very impressive. Losing sucks, but at least we didn't get blown out. Cincy has a really good shot at taking the Big East. I'll be cheering for you from here on out.

So ... the Jets?