Thursday 4 February 2010

Brisbane Superbowl Party - Grand Central Hotel, Central Station from 8am Mon Feb 8 2010

The 44th US National Football League Superbowl is on Monday morning, February 8 2010 (Brisbane time), and the Australian American Association are holding a free Superbowl watching party at Grand Central Hotel in Ann St, Brisbane City.

The party starts at 7am on Tuesday February 8 and goes through till 1am. There will be plasma TVs to watch the game on, and you'll be able to buy breakfast at the hotel. And if watching the game makes you want to play or watch American Football in Brisbane, you should have a look at the Gridiron Queensland website.

Grand Central station is the hotel actually opening onto the footpath of Ann St. Once you get to Central, walk to the lift near the escalators and go down to Ann St. Turn left out of the lift and the hotel is just a few steps away, on your left hand side.

Click here for a Google Map showing where the hotel is on Ann St. The best way to get there by public transport is to catch a train to Central Station - click here to use the Translink Journey Planner to find train (or bus) timetables.

Now, a rant:

It's quite common for Australians, especially fans of Rugby League and Rugby Union, to sneer at US pro footballers for wearing helmets and padding. So let's put this pathetic crap in context. Willie Mason is one of the largest and heaviest men in Rugby League in Australia. He's a forward, making him roughly equivalent to a lineman in American football - that is, someone whose job is to smash into other big people, wear them down, break through them and bring down the ball-carrier. According to Wikepedia, Willie Mason weighs 115 kilograms. Now, let's have a look at the current players in one of the top teams in the NFL at the moment, the Indianapolis Colts. If you look at the Offensive Linemen and Defensive Linemen you can see in that link, you'll notice that of the 19 linemen, 17 weigh more than Mason. Thirteen of them weigh more than 130kg. So one of the hugest players in Rugby League in Australia would be on the small side in American football. Anyone who ignores this fact and dribbles on about helmets and padding is welcome to try having a fit, powerful, 130kg man smash into them five or six times and see how they feel about it.

Mind you, Rugby League is a faster game, better to watch on TV IMO. But don't be fooled - American football is a very hard, violent game to play, so don't give me your moronic anti-US snobbery. You have no idea what you're talking about.

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