American football is not “action-packed”
A one-hour game of pro American football usually takes around three hours to complete, thanks to a steady flow of time-outs and other scheduled interruptions, most of which have been specifically designed so lucky fans get to watch a lot of adverts and drink a lot of beer whilst they’re doing it.
If fans knew how shockingly thin the action was spread, they might never want to waste another three hours watching the NFL.
An American web journalist took a stopwatch and measured the actual time the ball was in play during the course of a three-hour game (in this case, it was the Kansas City Chiefs vs Denver Broncos).
The result was as follows:
“…during the two hours and 56 minutes the game took to complete, throughout the 60 minutes of regulation time, the ball was in only in play for 12 minutes and 8 seconds. The rest of the time, players were standing around, plays were being reviewed and I was being bombarded by a multitude of beer commercials and truck advertisements.”
Twelve minutes of play stretched to almost three hours? That’s magic of the most shameful variety.
[Wired]
Posted: 15th, December 2008 | In: Sports Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
