Last Sunday Wembley stadium in London, England played host to its sixth Regular Season game as the New England Patriots blowout the St Louis Rams, 45-7. Although mentions of a potential franchise being based in the UK were tentatively whispered back in 2007, those whispers are now being echoed by some of the most prominent figures in the sport.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is one of the most outspoken persons on the issue, claiming “it’s time for you [UK] to have your own NFL franchise”, based in London and cited the way London handled the recent Olympics as proof that the city could host a permanent franchise.

The NFL has also taken significant steps towards finding out if a permanent franchise would be viable in the UK. By securing the Jacksonville Jaguars to repeated appearances from 2013 through 2016 at Wembley, the league will be able to evaluate whether or not a fan base can be built to a level that would sustain a franchise. They have also arranged a second Regular Season fixture in 2013 to be played in London, when the Minnesota Vikings will host the Pittsburgh Steelers. As well as rewarding UK-based NFL fans with an extra game, it will also go a long way to finding out if the consistent sell outs of Wembley are due to novelty, or if it can occur on a more regular basis.

Whilst things are progressing as well as could be expected in regards to the NFL’s international ambitions, there are a number of obstacles which first need to be tackled. League commissioner Roger Goodell has put his weight behind growing the game in the UK over other potential markets such as Germany and Mexico, but feels that the sport needs to be in the top five viewed sports before a franchise could be considered. Given the congested sports market in the UK, American Football will first need to overcome the likes of golf and motorsport, before it sits amongst the national sports of soccer, rugby union and cricket.

Another potential problem is logistics. The distance, and time required, to travel to and from London 16 times a year, not to mention preseason or possible playoff appearances, would certainly be an issue for some teams and owners. It is, however, not an unthinkable proposition. There is not a large difference in distance between London and the NFL teams based on the East Coast than there is between East Coast and West Coast based teams. The Patriots also proved last week that a team can fly into London on the Friday, perform to a high level on the Sunday, and be back at their training facility by the Monday.

Concerns have also been raised over the desire college players would have of joining an overseas based franchise in the NFL Draft, the primary resource NFL teams have for acquiring new players. Whilst this may limit a London-based franchises pool of players to select from, it is not a death sentence to the prospect of an overseas franchise. The creation of a London-based team would do miracles for the game at college level in the UK, something which is currently miles behind their American counterparts, and thus create a larger pool of players who would be willing to play in the UK. In addition to this, London would likely be a desirable location for free agents, as the city could likely rival anything that a New York or Chicago for example, could offer.

For arguably the first time since the inception of the International Series, a franchise in London within 10 years actually seems a realistic option. Many experts have even said that London could likely get a franchise before Los Angeles, given that the infrastructure is already in place, and the huge potential fan base the UK offers if the sports profile can be grown. With television audiences growing swiftly every year in the UK, and the continued success of the International Series, it may be time to start thinking of some potential franchise names. I’m going to put the London Bulldogs on the table.

Image Courtesy : New England Patriots

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‘NFL Blitz’ was a popular Midway Arcade series, now owned by EA, which was known for taking its own spin on football. The ‘NFL Blitz’ series was never a “true” adaptation of the sport; NFL simulators were meant for EA Sports’ ‘Madden’ and 2K’s ‘NFL Football 2K’ series while Blitz just stuck with the arcade formula and gave something the lighter sports fans could easily enjoy, chaos on the field and “late hits.”

The Blitz games allowed you to enter cheat codes prior to the game starting, which let you change the look of the field, ball, players, and some gameplay codes that can make things a little easier or harder for you. If you want to know more about Blitz’s history, click here.

On January 3, EA Sports released ‘NFL Blitz’ as a PSN and XBOX Live download. Before this, the last Blitz game to be released was ‘Blitz: The League 2’ in 2008. The League games took the most of the arcade elements out of the Blitz series and went for a more realistic style and brought Blitz into a new hyper violent sports game by including real, and sometimes nasty injuries.

It was because of this that the NFL license dropped from the Blitz games and the series took a downward spiral. Though still entertaining, they were no longer the Blitz series that everyone remembered. That is, until EA picked up the rights and returned Blitz to its former glory.

The Gameplay

For those of you new to the Blitz franchise, be ready for illegal moves, unrealistic plays, crazy teams, and the arcade classic invisible walls. In order to understand how and why these work, you have to know the two rules of Blitz:

Rule #1: There are no rules on the field. Any means for you to take out the ball carrier are allowed, including pass interference. If you are in threat of getting tackled, spin yourself to act as a shield or just knock down your opponents like bowling pins (sound effects included). You may also use your turbo meter to assist against your opponents. Though the meter runs out fast and slowly recharges, if you play your cards right, your team might burst into flames (literally) so you don’t have to worry about your turbo running out.

Rule #2: There are no out of bounds or offsides. There are invisible walls that keep you in the playing field and on your side of the field, until the play has started. This keeps the action simple and heated as well as helps give your character, in defensive position, a running start towards the QB as he runs in place on the line of scrimmage until the ball is hiked.

Worried about the two minute clock since you cannot run out of bounds? At the end of every play the clock stops. It’s just part of the rules of Blitz.

With EA’s revival of the Blitz series, they have returned Blitz to its bright colors, arcade controls, as well as the wacky character skins such as, Ninjas, Robots, Hotdogs, and many more including Zombies (Yes, they do the ‘Thriller’). Some of the new features brought into the series are:

• Blitz Gauntlet, which is where you face three sets of three teams in order to battle the bosses to unlock them as playable skins.
• Blitz Battles, where you go head to head with people online or even join up with a friend to battle others in two on two team battle.
• Elite League, where you build your own personalized team using your favorite players as well as banners and logos from your favorite teams to make your own personalized Blitz team.
• Online Coop, where you join up with an online friend to battle other online teams.
• The Blitz Store, where you use Blitz Bucks (earned through online play) to purchase logos and players for your custom team, gallery images, Fantasy Character skins, or cheat codes (All cheat codes can be used without having to purchase them, except for the fantasy characters).

EA’s ‘NFL Blitz’ is a true revival of the Blitz series and a fantastic game with solid gameplay for both sports and arcade fans. The only complaint I had with the game is that they did not allow late hits at the end of the plays. Besides that EA did a great job with reviving the Blitz series and the game itself does not disappoint.

Score: 4/5

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