Comments on: What If the Canadians Hadn’t Given Us Rugby? http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/ It's always football season somewhere. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:13:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Dave http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13742 Dave Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:27:59 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13742 I think Marino would have chosen a different sport and done well at it. For example, Joe Montana probably would have been a Steve Nash-like point guard. He actually turned down a basketball scholarship at NC State to play QB at Notre Dame. I think Marino would have chosen a different sport and done well at it. For example, Joe Montana probably would have been a Steve Nash-like point guard. He actually turned down a basketball scholarship at NC State to play QB at Notre Dame.

]]> By: Yardbarker Jeff http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13638 Yardbarker Jeff Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:01:12 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13638 Interesting. I had no idea rugby had been introduced to us so long ago. It definitely makes you wonder. I wouldn't want to square off against Bo Jackson or Jim Brown in any sport, but think of all the players with purely pro football skills that would have been left out of the cold. Take Dan Marino. I can't see him having the same impact in Rugby (or any sport really) as he did in the NFL, where he was one of the best ever. Interesting. I had no idea rugby had been introduced to us so long ago. It definitely makes you wonder. I wouldn’t want to square off against Bo Jackson or Jim Brown in any sport, but think of all the players with purely pro football skills that would have been left out of the cold. Take Dan Marino. I can’t see him having the same impact in Rugby (or any sport really) as he did in the NFL, where he was one of the best ever.

]]> By: a different dave http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13142 a different dave Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:57:55 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13142 @Dave: I might have overstated the case a bit about rugby being "dominant" in California in the late 19th century, but it was the first football code played by the University of California. @Ronald Dale: there's almost zero chance of mid- to late-19th gold miners returning to the USA and having any influence on the development of football in the USA. Whichever code captured the universities was going to be dominant in the USA, and I doubt any gold miners ever matriculated into a 19th century Ivy League university. @Dave: I might have overstated the case a bit about rugby being “dominant” in California in the late 19th century, but it was the first football code played by the University of California.

@Ronald Dale: there’s almost zero chance of mid- to late-19th gold miners returning to the USA and having any influence on the development of football in the USA. Whichever code captured the universities was going to be dominant in the USA, and I doubt any gold miners ever matriculated into a 19th century Ivy League university.

]]> By: Ronald Dale..... http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13134 Ronald Dale..... Thu, 21 Jun 2007 22:08:08 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13134 Or a much better result would have been miners from the Aussie Gold rushes of the mid-late 1800s bringing back Aussie Rules (possibly called Victorian Rules at that stage). Oh what a wonderful world that would be...... Or a much better result would have been miners from the Aussie Gold rushes of the mid-late 1800s bringing back Aussie Rules (possibly called Victorian Rules at that stage). Oh what a wonderful world that would be……

]]> By: Frankie http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13113 Frankie Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:31:34 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13113 Hey guys, I'm really looking forward to the Tri Nations Series. I was looking around the web for a place to watch rugby online (I'm in the US, no rugby on TV here), and I found this great site with a blog. The blog is - http://mediazonerugby.typepad.com/ Streamed Rugby is - http://www.mediazone.com/channel/rugby/jsp/2006/trinations.jsp\ Check it out guys Hey guys, I’m really looking forward to the Tri Nations Series. I was looking around the web for a place to watch rugby online (I’m in the US, no rugby on TV here), and I found this great site with a blog.

The blog is - http://mediazonerugby.typepad.com/

Streamed Rugby is - http://www.mediazone.com/channel/rugby/jsp/2006/trinations.jsp\ Check it out guys

]]> By: Gary http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13107 Gary Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:15:42 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13107 I've thought about this too before, imagine if the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears and the rest of the early teams were actually soccer clubs? I wonder what the old footage of those games would look like in those days with soccer goals and the bears and packers logos on the jerseys instead of on the helmets. We would'nt have had to change the name of the sport either. I’ve thought about this too before, imagine if the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears and the rest of the early teams were actually soccer clubs? I wonder what the old footage of those games would look like in those days with soccer goals and the bears and packers logos on the jerseys instead of on the helmets. We would’nt have had to change the name of the sport either.

]]> By: Dave http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13104 Dave Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:03:12 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13104 Dave: I saw that comment about California rugby, actually. I'm going to look into that one after I get back from my big beach trip this weekend. Dave: I saw that comment about California rugby, actually. I’m going to look into that one after I get back from my big beach trip this weekend.

]]> By: a different dave http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13103 a different dave Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:58:50 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13103 As I mentioned in your earlier thread about gridiron players playing rugby, we actually did have different states adopting different codes for a while, back in the late 19th/early 20th century when rugby, not gridiron, was dominant in California. As I mentioned in your earlier thread about gridiron players playing rugby, we actually did have different states adopting different codes for a while, back in the late 19th/early 20th century when rugby, not gridiron, was dominant in California.

]]> By: a different dave http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13101 a different dave Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:56:30 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13101 The ironic thing about that song is that thanks to the forward pass and the pointy ball, no one drop kicks field goals in gridiron anymore. The ironic thing about that song is that thanks to the forward pass and the pointy ball, no one drop kicks field goals in gridiron anymore.

]]> By: a different dave http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13099 a different dave Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:51:38 +0000 http://www.davesfootballblog.com/post/2007/06/21/what-if-the-canadians-hadnt-given-us-rugby/#comment-13099 If the American universities had stuck with association football rules, it still isn't certain that they would have agreed to abide by the rules set up by the FA, or later, the International Football Board (FIFA came much later). So we still might have ended up with our own "American only" football code. What's more interesting to imagine is, say, a USA where the US Civil War did not happen and each state pretty much goes its own way in cultural and sporting terms (ie, you don't have the Northeastern Yankees creating a national mythology that the USA began with a bunch of Pilgrims eating turkey with the Indians in the first Thanksgiving). So the fact that Harvard or Yale adopted a particular code wouldn't mean squat outside of New England, for instance. In such a situation, you'd have the USA looking a bit more like Australia: sports competition based at the intra-state level, rather than inter-state, with some football codes being dominant in some states and almost nonexistent in others. If the American universities had stuck with association football rules, it still isn’t certain that they would have agreed to abide by the rules set up by the FA, or later, the International Football Board (FIFA came much later). So we still might have ended up with our own “American only” football code.

What’s more interesting to imagine is, say, a USA where the US Civil War did not happen and each state pretty much goes its own way in cultural and sporting terms (ie, you don’t have the Northeastern Yankees creating a national mythology that the USA began with a bunch of Pilgrims eating turkey with the Indians in the first Thanksgiving). So the fact that Harvard or Yale adopted a particular code wouldn’t mean squat outside of New England, for instance.

In such a situation, you’d have the USA looking a bit more like Australia: sports competition based at the intra-state level, rather than inter-state, with some football codes being dominant in some states and almost nonexistent in others.

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