American Football

On the homecoming week of UWEC, I have the opportunity to watch a football match in Carson Park a battle between UW-Stevens Point and Eau Claire. This is my very first time of watching such a huge live sport game in person. It was an awesome experience that I really want to write about and brag about it to my friends in Malaysia.

First of all, I am so grateful that our class was asked to watch the match as part of the class activity or else I do not think I will go for the match. I have read a Japanese manga about American football years ago and I am a big fan of this manga, Eyeshield 21. The story was about a high school boy with remarkable running speed that made him the top scorer of the story. Since then I have been looking forward to witness a real American football game when I came to the United States.

American football is well known in America but it is not commonly heard in Malaysia probably due to the overwhelming soccer fever. Basically, it is a game with 11 members from each team, scoring points by bringing the ball by running, passing, or kicking to the other end of the field. It started with a coin toss to determine which team will do the attack or defense first. The offensive team will have four chances to bring the ball forward at least 10 yards to gain the first down; if it continues to advance to the end zone it can score 6 points for the touchdown. This will enable them to have another chance to score 1 point by kicking it through the goalposts at the 3^rd yard line or 2 points by doing another touchdown. However, if the offensive team does not get the first touchdown, the opponent team will take over the possession of the ball and perform the same procedures to score. Each football game consists of 4 quarters which is 15 minutes each. There is usually a 12 minutes halftime after the 2^nd quarter, and this is the time we were able to watch the amazing performance of band and cheerleaders.

American football is a very intensive game that not only requires strength, speed but also strategy. It is so interesting how they organize the team to different positions and plot their plan deliberately to deceive the opponents and passing the ball to another teammate. I think this is why Americans love this game and I believe others will love it too if they learn more about American football. I would also like to share the link below if you are interested in reading the manga about American football, http://www.ourmanga.com/Eyeshield_21/.  Hope you will enjoy it as I did.