IFAF? WTF?!

The International Federation of American Football was set up to introduce a World Championship for Football and also to get Football into the Oympics.

No, I didn’t know it existed and I sure as hell didn’t know that this year will see the THIRD IFAF World Cup. I knew Football was going global, what with the regular season game in the UK and all, but now a World Cup too? Wow.

The 2007 IFAF World Cup will be held in Kawasaki, Japan between the 7th and 15th of July and will see a team from the USA participating for the first time (which pretty much makes this the first World Cup if you ask me…) The U.S. team will be entirely made up of NCAA and NAIA players and they will be joined by five other teams hailing from around the globe; Germany, Japan, Sweden(?), France(?!) and Korea (?!!)

What makes this even more random is that Japan are not only the hosts but also the current ' World Champions' having won the previous two World Cups .

Not to rain on their parade or anything , but I’m fairly sure the Indianapolis Colts could give Japan a run for their money. And so could the Boise State Broncos for that matter…

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

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Oh yes, people here have heard of it. I pointed it in my General Ignorance of Sport 4 a few weeks ago...

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

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Second attempt Oh yes, people here have heard of it. I pointed it out in my General Ignorance in Sport 4, a few weeks ago...

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

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You're right, the USA should win the World Cup of American Football. The USA should win the World Cup of basketball too, but they seem to be struggling in that too. It's a matter of complacency - they never pick full strength teams because the players don't want to play. The USA were invited to the two previous World Cups, but chose to ignore the invitation. Indeed the IFAF were very annoyed that the USA practically laughed at them. It's reasons like that give people like Pnatt their anti-US opinions. The USA needs to sort it out. I say, send the NFLers. So what if they crush everybody else (which they really should do)? They dominate Lacrosse in the same way (bar maybe Canada), and it isn't a big deal. It doesn't need to be the Colts, it needs to be, for example, a team of all the best players in all the positions. So it could be Manning at QB, Tomlinson at HB etc. Win it now before people around the world get good at it, and suddenly you can't win it anymore (like has happened in baseball).

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

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I meant "basketball" at the end.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

1017 days ago

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Havent your learned anything? The USA does not send it Pro-athletes overseas to compete unless it really matters. The USA went 70 plus years dominating basktball with NC2A players. It wasnt till they started losing games that they began bringing the NBA players in. There are plenty of high quality NC2A players who are more than qualified to take on any international star in a game of football, and the USA should not have to worry about the outcome for many years to come. Also due to the nature of football. NFL players should not want to, or be allowed to travel overseas to play what basically comes down to be an exhibition game. If this tourney is played in early to mid July that means it is a lil less than a month away from training camp, no team is going to risk their star players that close to the regular season, when the paychecks are on the line. Also think about how many players avoid the Pro-Bowl now due to injury. What makes you think that wont happen in this?

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

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Not really the point. If USA plays, then USA should send it's best players. In the same way that in the Australian Rules Football World Cup, Australia doesn't send a team because it wouldn't be representative, or make it seem stupid. If the tournament was held in May or something, then it would be fine. If the preseason was suspended for a fortnight, and reduced in length to two weeks, it wouldn't be a problem.

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BigPPupMajor Leaguer

1017 days ago

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Thats not possible. The USA needs to be in the tournament, but our Pros will never play in it. The NFL players do not want to risk an injury if its in May, June, Feb, August. They already want the preseason to be shorter just ask Clinton Portis. The way I look at is is this, Football is one of those sports that will never really translate into an international game and will only truely flurish in its country of origin. Much in the same way that Aussie Rules hasnt left the Southern Hemisphere, also Hurling hasnt left the Isle. Just one of those things, and contray to a lot of Americans Im okay with that. I dont need football to be some big international game.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1017 days ago

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Think of the rep though if USA wins some big international game. Look at the wonga involved. Britain hosting the Olympics will benefit our economy in the long run. The Football World Cup is making millions for FIFA, its associates and the country that hosts it. The Cricket World Cup will do the same. So will the Rugby version. Also, with increased international players, the standard of the whole NFL will increase. So an injury to Clinton Portis wouldn't be too bad, because you might have another player from another country that's good enough to fill the gap.

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ThecrookedcapAll-Star

1017 days ago

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There's a huge difference though between those sports and American football: by the time World Cups were established, the sports were already popular in other nations. What you propose will never happen. They'll never suspend the preseason because teams make money playing those extra games (season ticket holders often have to pay for those games as well), not to mention any possible revenue from selling the broadcast rights to games (these games are done locally, unlike the regular season which the league runs). Plus it wouldn't not make financial sense for a player to participate unless they were highly compensated (read: at least $1 million). Probably though these players could make more money pitching tampons on TV than playing in this tournament.

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

957 days ago

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You're out of your element on this one. An NCAA-comprised team will win this tournament handily. An NFL-comprised team would send the competition home in body bags. This isn't basketball, where getting creamed means merely wounded pride. Guys like Urlacher and Strahan would be lethal against less experienced guys. It would be dangerous.

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VishalJV Squad

1006 days ago

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There is virtually no chance that NFL players would be sent to this at this time. NCAA players should be willing though, it would be another great outlet for them to show off their skills to NFL prospects. Keep in mind that football is not a game in which a combination of great individual players win. The best teams are those that are well coached and have practiced the most together, developing great chemistry and teamwork over time.

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