Get rid of the extra point

[red]

i got to thinking about this last night. is there any less exciting or anti-climatic moment then an extra point?

99.9 percent of the time its good, and i would guess many of us don't even watch them. I'm usually still celebrating the much more exciting touchdown or getting another beer, or taking a piss.

i mean who the hell decided that a team had to be given a chance for 1 extra point after just scoring 6?

i would say get rid of the extra point attempt. make TD's worth 7 points if you need to keep the 7 point fetish.

or you could make teams go for 2 every time, that would be more exciting

or you could make a rule stating that a player that was on the field for the TD must kick the extra point, that could be fun.

or my favorite. this is america, we love to gamble. you can choose if you want to try an extra point. if you make it you get 1 point, however if you miss, you lose the 6 points you just scored and the opposing team then gets the ball.

i'm starting this movement, join with me. lets get rid of the most worthless moment in football (yes, even more so then the kneel down)

[vince]

I'll sign the petition.

[gbgary]

no...gotta keep it. it's a decider sometimes.

[Tony Oday]

Keep it

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

I kind of like the idea of losing the touchdown if you miss it.

[TravisWilliams23]

Good points Red. I did some research on it and came up with this:

Football borrowed this convention from rugby. In early football, as in early rugby, the touchdown itself didn't award any points. The whole purpose of scoring the try/touchdown was to give your team the opportunity to take a shot at the goalposts.

In 1883, when a numerical point system was introduced in football, a touchdown became worth four points, but the "extra point" was worth just as much. It wasn't reduced to a single point until 1897. Now it's almost considered an afterthought, even though it was originally the whole point of scoring a touchdown/try in the first place!

But your right. It's evolved to getting a beer or taking a piss!

[bobblehead]

Ok Red, I like your points about how worthless it is as it stands, but how about going another route. Eliminate the PAT, but put in a 3 point option of kicking a 53 yarder (or something similar). Big leg kickers gain value. Going for 2 vs. 3 becomes mathematical during the game, but strategic towards the end.

I agree that the simple chip PAT isn't exciting, is acedemic and nothing would be lost if you eliminate it. Making it 2pts only would be cool, but adding a longer 3 point possibility would be really cool. Or maybe you could have more options....going for a 3 point conversion from the 8 yard line or a 2 point PAT from the 40ish yard line. Get rid of the single point and put in a couple of 2 and 3 point options.

[Tarlam!]

That's an eye opener Brew! Even I didn't know that, and I always wondered why we scored a "try". The term touchdown is exclusive to the American game.

Another MAJOR difference is it is not sufficient to simply break the plain with the ball to score a 4 pointer; it indeed must be grounded, and by that, I mean the ball must actually be brought into contact with the ground beyond the plain whilst the scorer is in clear possession. It may not bounce or be dropped onto the ground despite being in clear posessoin of the egg.

Grounding for a TD in the American game doesn't make any sense, it would change the game completely. In Rugby, it's justified IMO. I wonder what KY and Nutz think as ex Rugby stars.

I like the idea of being forced to go for 2 or, if the miss the PAT kick, they lose a point. I'd sign up for that!

[Joemailman]

I like the idea they have now of teams choosing between 1 and 2 extra points. I do think they should do something to make it less automatic. Either move it back, or change the rules to give teams a better chance to block the kick.

[red]

great stuff trav.

i knew it came from rugby, but i had no clue about the rest of the history. very interesting. that really helps make the connection between rugby and soccer, i never really understood how they could both come from the same game.

now tar. i thought touchdown was a rugby term that the american game borrowed. isn't that what they call in when a rugby player crosses the line and puts the ball down? (i have no clue how rugby works, thats just what i read)

[mraynrand]

I like the one point kick at 40 yards, 2 point at 50 (maybe 3 from 60 - total desperation or advantage for strong legged kickers). I'd like to see more 2 point attempts.

[Tarlam!]

No Red, we call it a try. Now I know why. It has been something I've asked myself for 40 years (I started playing at 7).

Many don't know this, but there are actually two codes of Rugby. Rugby Union and Rugby League. Early last century, There was only Union and it was strictly amatuer and very upper class. Then a split came and the professional league code was introduced. Most Americans only know the Union code, the fast flowing, strategic kicking game. 15 players per team. In many ways more disciplined, but extremely brutal.

The League code is almost a totally different game in that, it is not free flowing or strategical kicking. That code has the same 4 down system as the American game, except, you don't get another set of downs. You get 4 socalled tackles to get it done. On 4th, it is very dependant on where your field position is as to what you do next. That's why most League fans (Tar raises hand) find it far easier to grasp the rules of American Football. It is a stop/start game. 13 Players per team

[Tarlam!]

great stuff trav.

that really helps make the connection between rugby and soccer, i never really understood how they could both come from the same game.

Actually, Football came first. Then, at an elite school in Rugby, a boy picked up the ball and ran with it And Rugby Football was born. It was only played by the upper class. The commoners continued playing Traditional football. American Football, a derivative of Rugby Football, is actually known as Gridiron in Australia.

http://www.blurtit.com/q243339.html The proper name of what most the world call "football" and the Americans call "soccer" is association football. The word "soccer" comes from an alteration of "assoc.", which is an abbreviation of "association football" (as opposed to Rugby or Gaelic football, etc).

The use of the term can be traced back to about 1880: it's documented as soccer or socca in 1889, and socker in 1891. Soccer seemed have become the most common phrase by 1895. Originally it was only university slang; it was habitual for English university students in the 1880s to abreviate any word and then add on 'er' or 'ers' to it (so breakfast became brekkers, or rugby became ruggers). Because this linguistic habit belonged to an elite social group is probably why the name soccer never caught on among the masses in most of the world. Perhaps it would never have caught on in the United States, except that Americans already had their own preferred 'football' game.

Here's wiki on the origins of the pigskin:The Ball

Richard Lindon (1816 - 1887) and William Gilbert (1799-1877) started making balls for Rugby school out of hand stitched, four-panel, leather casings and pigs’ bladders. Both men owned boot and shoe making businesses located close to Rugby school. Originally, Gilbert's business was located at 19 High Street and Lindon lived next door as a young man at number 20 . The High street led directly to Rugby schools quad entrance which is where the boys played football (quad ball) before Rugby school gained its playing fields


They turned their skills to the making of balls for the boys of Rugby school and by the 1850's William Gilbert and Richard Lindon, were the two main suppliers of the pig's bladder & leather clad balls to the boys of Rugby School.

Shape and Size

In fact it is the shape of the pigs bladder which is reputed to have given the rugby ball it's distinctive oval shape although balls of those days were more plum shape than oval. The balls also varied in size in the beginning depending upon how large the pig’s bladder was.

In those early days it was necessary to ask for volunteers to inflate the ball for it was not a job that was sought after. The pigs bladder would be blown up while still in its very smelly ‘green state’ solely by lung power down the snapped stem of a clay pipe which was inserted into the opening of the bladder.

There is no record as to when the ball became less round and more oval in shape but there is a reference in Tom Brown's school days by Thomas Hughes, an old boy from Rugby school, i.e. "the new ball you may see lie there, quite by itself, in the middle, pointing towards the school goal" which indicates that the ball had become more oval by 1835 when the game was supposed to have taken place

[bobblehead]

I like the one point kick at 40 yards, 2 point at 50 (maybe 3 from 60 - total desperation or advantage for strong legged kickers). I'd like to see more 2 point attempts.

How about a free kick from 60 for 3

[Deputy Nutz]

a 20 yard pat hold no intrique in the game. 50 years ago when kickers had a steel toe boot on their kicking foot made the pat a little more compelling