FBO: 'What Becomes England the Most?'

The NFL staged the first-ever regular season game out of these continental United States yesterday. The 0-8 Miami Dolphins 'hosted' the New York Giants in a sludgy game where players slipped on the muddy Wembley Stadium pitch as if it were covered in ice. The Giants won 13-10 in an unthrilling game for fans in assorted football jerseys. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the game could have 'sold out nine times over,' based on demand. Perhaps the 26-foot Jason Taylor robot in Trafalgar Square helped.

What disturbed the Failed Bands of Oklahoma is how little the NFL let the game be a 'two-way': the UK getting to watch a NFL game first hand, and NFL viewers seeing more about their friends across the Atlantic. So little of the game was devoted to London -- live shots of a Tube sign, the Parliament building, the Eye (ferris wheel) on the Thames. There were no in-game interviews with accented NFL fans, or clueless locals outside making comical questions about football. Missed opportunity.

Also, Fox, who broadcast the game, accented some of the commercial breaks with 'local flavor,' some songs by English performers. Their soundtrack of choice is generally questionable:

1. Wang Chung, 'Dance Hall Days' * What?
2. Rod Stewart, 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' ** Scot born footballer recorded this in LA.
3. The Jam, 'Start!' ***** shocking choice, very British
4. Madness, 'One Step Beyond' *** The video was so English, but a bit obvious.
5. Warren Zevon, 'Werewolves in London' * Chicagoan, but hey he says London in it
6. Pretenders, 'Middle of the Road' * C Hynde got the band together with Londonies, but she's Ohio all the way.
7. Police, 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' ** Remember the video shot in the Caribbean?
8. The Jam, 'Town Called Malice' *****

Huge oversights by the Fox pundits:

1. The Clash, 'London Calling' - It's obvious and very London.
2. The Kinks -- anything.
3. Oasis, 'Wonderwall' -- yes they get mocked, but the Brit attitude and accent is all over it.
4. Sex Pistols, 'God Save the Queen'
5. Paul McCartney 'Mull of Kintyre' or get a deal with him for payola to play new single
6. The Who, 'Substitute'
7. Rolling Stones, 'Under My Thumb' or 'She's Like a Rainbow'

The FBO invites your suggestions for overlooked English/British bands/performers that Fox SHOULD HAVE USED for their game broadcast. The submission will be sent -- with an angry tone -- to Fox in a few days.


FBO-INSPIRED TWO-POINT CONVERSION GUIDEBOOK
In other football-related news, the FBO-inspired blog Loser of the Week at BleacherBloggers.com released a 'guidebook' to determining when to make two-point conversion attempts. See it here.


Failed Bands of Oklahoma
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