Gridiron - you either love it or hate it (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Gridiron - you either love it or hate it

2:21pm Friday 2nd November 2007

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Reporters should always write in a totally objective manner.
So putting aside the flute of free champagne thrust my way on arrival, replacing the fork beside the steaming seafood souffle and ignoring the chunks of glorious, glorious apple pie warming on the hot-plate, I will try to do so.
Wembley’s hospitality boxes are certainly a bit special …
Anyway, to the American football and the reason I tore myself away from the prospect of a weekend following City in Cleethorpes.
I always argue with any non-believers that gridiron is a sport equivalent of Marmite. You love it or hate it; there is no middle ground.
As a devotee since living in the States as a little lad, I can’t get enough. Which is why the chance of watching a genuine NFL match on home soil could not be missed.
The game itself was no great shakes. It was fitting that Derby were up against Everton on the same afternoon because this was the US version. The current Miami Dolphins, missing their two best players with season-ending injuries, cannot beat an egg.
The conditions did not make for a free-flowing spectacle, with heavy rain and a pitch that was softer than our souffle.
That didn’t bother the New York Giants, whose running-based game revolves around “up yer jumper” tactics so loved by Stevo.
Their 13-10 win won’t have converted the doubters but the sheer size of the crowd, not to mention those who couldn’t get tickets, should have convinced the NFL big-wigs to come back again.
Maybe the day may not be too far off when they go the whole hog and base a team in London full time. Only make sure it ain’t the Dolphins.