Football In The United States And Canada - Sports

In the United States, football means an entirely different sport than it does throughout the rest of the world. In these two North American nations, the game of football originated largely from various forms of rugby football in the United Kingdom plus some input from the game of soccer as it is played through most of the rest of the world.

* The game consists of four 15 minute quarters in professional and college football with quarters lasting twelve minutes at the high school level. Because of time outs and play stoppage after certain actions, the games typically last up to three hours with options for an extra quarter in the event of a tie game at the end of regulation play.

* Essentially, the game of American football is a team sport with eleven players on a side played on a field 360 feet long by 160 feet wide. The length of the playing area is 100 yards from goal post to goal post with a ten yard scoring zone for each team on opposing ends of the field. The distances on the playing field is marked off in five yard increments with numbers marked on each ten yard line. The line numbers decrease from the 50 yard line at the center of the field, thus marking the distance to the goal line at any point in the field.

* The goal posts are raised at each end of the playing surface. These consist of two upright poles and a cross bar set at ten feet in height. The uprights are raised at either 222 inches apart for professional level skill players or 280 inches distant when the skill level is still growing.

* Near the 50 yard line, there are one yard hash marks to make it easier to place the ball in the middle of the field for beginning of play. The field itself is deemed to be flat, but is commonly created with a slight elevation or crown to the center of the field. This allows any water to drain off the field--particularly useful in outdoor playing fields. Originally, all football fields were covered with well-maintained and hardy grass, but many stadiums now have incorporated Astro-turf or similar materials to cover the playing surface.

* The object of the game is to score the most points during the game period by any of various mechanisms. The point count can be made by a six point touchdown, a three point field goal or rarely, a two point safety. After a touchdown, the successful team can try for an additional Point After Touchdown or a two point conversion.

* Points are scored when a player carries the football into the end zone of the opposing team, when the ball is thrown to a player within the end zone (a forward pass), when the ball is kicked between the goal posts but over the crossbar by a player. The ball can be place kicked or drop kicked.

The popularity of football in Canada and the United States is undeniable, both at the collegiate and professional levels. Professional players earn some of the highest compensation packages of any sports figures and star college players are recruited actively to move into the professional ranks.

iAutoblog the premier autoblogger software