Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

It occurred to me today, as I sat there watching The Replacements, that the film has never been as fitting as it was on this day. From some of the characters, to the story itself, it is almost a tale of real life.

It is a film about professional American football, and there is a disagreement between the players and owners, causing the players to go on strike. The Washington Sentinels, a fictional team, recruit prisoners, bouncers and fishermen to form a team of replacement players, and hilarity ensues.

But it’s a tale of real life because, at present, the NFL is currently in a similar sort of shadow. There is a disagreement between the owners and the Players Association in real life, too. And while it is accepted now that an uncapped year is probably going to happen next year, the prospect of football after next season is filled with worry.

Things will get a bit crazy unless the owners and players come to an extension agreement. There will be no salary cap on player contracts, and after that, if an agreement is still not reached down the line, there could be strikes, or there could even be a lockout: no NFL season whatsoever.

The owners have somehow injected a rule in the current contract that they will get paid, even if there is a lockout. Which seems slightly unfair. And the players don’t want to take a 20% pay cut.

To me, it’s all a little bit ludicrous. When you’re earning tens of millions of dollars – and in some cases, hundreds of millions – what difference does 20% make? You’re still being paid to play the game you love for a living. And even the very worst salaries are the stuff of dreams to us mere mortals.

But then, I suppose, like one character says in The Replaements: do you know how much insurance costs on a Ferrari?

Ladainian Tomlinson, the future Hall of Fame NFL running back, was cut by the San Diego Chargers earlier this week. Everyone knew it was coming. It was inevitable. But why?

Even LT himself, when he spoke to the media, didn’t seem to have been informed why he had been released.

It was heartbreaking to see him break down up on that podium, and if you couldn’t hear it in his voice, you could see it in his eyes: he loved San Diego – still does, in fact – and he wanted, more than anything, to win a Super Bowl with his team; the team that picked him, the team that he helped transform into a perennial playoff contender.

It’s the horrible, haunting bump in the road for running backs: the 30-year mark. Some manage to overcome it; the few, rare players; and some haven’t taken too much of a beating in the early part of their careers, and can plough onwards. But Tomlinson’s stats had declined, and he was due to make a lot of money.

Tomlinson has been one of the finest running backs in the history of the NFL: he is the fastest player ever to reach 150 career touchdowns, and he has compiled them with brilliant and often dazzling runs. But he also catches the ball a lot. He’s has a better career as a receiver than some wide receivers themselves, racking up nearly 4,000 yards. That’s a lot of punishment, on top of carrying the load on the ground.

The curious thing is, he still has plenty left in the tank. Certainly, whenever I’ve seen him play this year, he’s seemed quick, more explosive than much of last season. But he has been slowed down by injury on occasions.

He’ll find a team, at some point or another. And he’ll contribute, and help them on their quest for the trophy. It will be interesting to see if this decision comes back to haunt San Diego.

When Championship Sunday rolls around, there is always the same feeling: there is a sort of brooding presence about the day. It’s big, and you can feel it. Today is the day that the AFC and NFC champions are crowned, the day that we discover who will be making the trip to the Super Bowl in Miami.

Every year this day rolls around, it has the same feeling. But this week, perhaps more so than any other championship year in the past, things could be bigger and better than ever.

The first match it the Indianapolis Colts against the New York Jets, in a clash of opposing play styles and philosophies. It will be wonderful to see the chess game being played by Peyton Manning and Rex Ryan, the Jets defensive guru. But, secondly, we have the Saints at home against the Vikings.

And that’s where the real magic should be. It is the two best offenses in the league, two of the best quarterbacks in the league, and some phenomenal playmakers like Reggie Bush, who played sensationally last week. If you haven’t seen his run from that game, make sure you check it out here. I know I can’t stop watching it.

To kill the time before the action begins, you might also like to check out the short videos on NFL UK, with commentary and insight into the big games.

Some of the best moments the NFL has had to offer over the last ten years are up here. There is less variety than I had expected; of course some memorable records are featured – the Patriots almost-perfect season springs to mind, in particular – and it starts off with these impressive feats, with records broken and streaks etched in history. But then, as it gets closer to the more prestigious numbers, the ones that score highest are all ones where someone has overcome an emotional hardship, and gone on to perform exceptionally well.

I think the most emotional performance is the one chosen for number 1: the New Orleans Saints, in their first game back in the Superdome after Katrina. For so long, the Saints had been an average team, and the fans branded by it. But here, with this game, with so much loss and devastation around the city, was the first time the Saints truly brought everyone together and gave people something to believe in and support. The fans were rumbling the rafters, and it was absolutely epic.

But there are other moving scenes, too. Right behind the Saints, there is Brett Favre playing so dominantly after his father passed away, for one. And with this in mind, I find it slightly strange that they included Bill Belichick’s decision to go for it on 4th and 2. As one of the top 10 moments of the decade? Why? Were they even watching that game?

The Patriots were up, and they could have either punted the ball, or gone for it on this 4th down. But the fact remains that if they punted, they were giving it back to Peyton Manning with two minutes left. Peyton Manning, possibly the best player to ever play the game; Peyton Manning, who had already driven the field countless times on them and scored with seeming ease. Bill Belichick knew this, so he decided to try and make 2 yards, which would have secured the win. As it is, they didn’t make it, and they lost – but they very probably would have lost anyway. There is always a point in any game where the match is on the line. What makes this one rank up there with Favre, with the Saints’ Superdome win, with all those emotional, moving performances?

Today has been a wonderful day. It was NFL at Wembley for the third year running, and my second in a row. When you are watching the Patriots, you know it is going to be a fantastic display of football, but they were also playing the Buccaneers, who, quite frankly, are terrible. So I was quite surprised to feel so excited, heading to the game.

It might have been seeing all the different jerseys and shirts on display, dotted about the various stations, and flooding onto the train. All sorts of colours, all sorts of teams, as people showed their support of the sport itself rather than a specific team. Perhaps it was the energy of an excited kid on the seat to my right rubbing off on me. He was bouncing up and down, and calling out every team he saw with tremendous glee. It was his first game, and he was loving every minute of it.

On the other hand, perhaps it was the fact that I had the opportunity to watch Tom Brady and Randy Moss play. I knew that if Moss caught one touchdown, he would move to second place on the all time receiver list behind Jerry Rice. I knew that Tom Brady is already being considered one of the best ever, and so long as he stays healthy, he still has a long career ahead of him.

Whatever it was, I was excited. And I had an absolute blast. It was great seeing old friends, and drinking together, and chucking a ball around together before heading in. It was wonderful to watch the pre-game warm-ups, seeing the players catching balls, and the quarterbacks demonstrating perfect spirals. It was brilliant, all of it.

I’m looking forward to next year already.

I think it is about time I write a little about my work, and about my office. It’s only fair really, considering I had the cheek to moan about it a few weeks back; about the moving around, about the cleaning up, and the updating. I wrote about how I hoped it would be nicer, when it was all done; I hope things would be able to run a bit more smoothly. And thankfully they do! The mission was a success. Things have been updated, and they work – and they work very well.

On the work front, a lot of this new smoothness can be chalked up to the business broadband. We had initially been worried that, with quite limited business sdsl availability in our area, we wouldn’t be able to go for the ideal internet connection, but in the end it worked out. The new internet is not only a lot faster than our previous one, but it doesn’t seem to disconnect as much either. There were times before where you could be working, and out of nowhere, and apparently for no real reason, you would get cut off. As long as I haven’t just jinxed it, it seems to be the case no longer.

Our telephones were also updated, which was almost as needed as the internet fix. Mostly this is because our phones were the most out of date things in the office. Probably even more out of date than Jack’s Tottenham shirt, which is yellow and very, very dated. Now our phones can do all sorts of fancy stuff. It is a little bit like these voip phone systems that you can get, and can do a lot more than just serve as a telephone. Fancy stuff.

Tomorrow is the big day. Wembley. The NFL, over here in England. So there is a lot to look forward to, and I’m growing more and more excited by the minute.

Apparently Michael Crabtree could start in the San Francisco 49ers upcoming game against the Houston Texans. Of course, if this had been announced earlier in the year, before the season started, it might not have been such interesting news. Crabtree was widely considered the best wide receiver in college football over the past two years; some even considered him to be the the best player in the entire 2009 draft.

Yes, prior to the beginning of the season, it would not be surprising to see him in the starting line up. It might even be expected. Coming a quarter of the way into the season, though, it is very interesting news.

Crabtree only signed a contract at the beginning of the month, making him, by a very long way, the last rookie to sign with his team – 5 games into the campaign. He hasn’t played for the 49ers yet. And the team has been looking good, too. They’re off to their most successful start in a while, beginning the season 3-2, and they currently sit atop the NFC West. Josh Morgan, whose spot Crabtree will be taking, has had some success, too.

The team is coming off a bye week this week, and their players have been allowed to travel home to be with their family – all except Crabtree, who remains at the practice facility getting up to speed with the offense. And poor old Morgan has had to stay behind to help him learn the position. He is literally teaching the man who has walked in and taken his position.

A low blow, perhaps. And an interesting move all together: it shows other players that you can hold out and not suffer any consequences. But then, it is Michael Crabtree we’re talking about here. He is one of the most explosive, prolific and hyped players to come into the league since Reggie Bush.

I think if I were Mike Singletary, I would play him too.

Monday night was both historic, and epic. In fact, it was early Tuesday morning, if, like me, you are in the UK, when the Green Bay Packers travelled to Minnesota to face the Vikings. It had been hyped and hyped and hyped all week long. It was Favre against his old team, Favre against the man they chose to replace him with, Aaron Rodgers, and, in fact, the possibility of this game had been bubbling away in the back of people’s minds ever since #4 signed with the Vikings.

Yes, if I could choose one word to describe the game, it would be historic. It was historic because of Favre. It was historic, because of the age-old rivalry between the teams. It was historic because no cable television show has ever drawn such an audience before. Before the very first snap, the dome flashed like a lightning storm, as the fans rushed to take a photograph of the first snap. Yes, it was historic. If I could choose a second word, it would probably be epic. Certainly, I’m very glad I stayed up till nearly 5 in the morning to watch it.

The Packers came with an obvious game plan: shut down Adrian Peterson, the best runner in the league, and force the 39-year-old Favre to throw on them. They probably didn’t expect that he would pick them apart as efficiently and ruthlessly as he did. He converted on nearly all – if not every single one – of his third downs; he launched laser-precise passes all over the field, and had no trouble hurling rockets when he needed to. He played a very nearly perfect game, with only a handful of interceptions.

Sometimes – not often, not when you have #28 in the backfield – but sometimes, teams will be able to shut down the run. And when they do, you need to be able to rock n’ roll. They certainly did that on Monday. And that, I suppose, is why you bring in Favre.

The Favre Factor, they call it, and I think I agree.

I find that I have no sympathy for NFL players who hold out on their contracts. Of course, my frustration is probably nothing compared to how much it annoys the teams in question – especially in the case of first round draft picks like Michael Crabtree.

After reading this article, it’s Crabtree that I’m mostly thinking about, I suppose. He is one of the players I followed quite closely before the draft, and I was really looking forward to watching him play, when he was picked in the first round. In college, he utterly dominated, earning back to back awards for the best wide receiver in the nation. He is an explosive player with fantastic hands, and he would have made the San Fransisco 49ers an instantly entertaining offensive team. In fact, he was very probably the best player in the draft.

The trouble is that he knows that. It’s just that with an injury preventing him working out for teams, he dropped a little lower in the draft than he would have anticipated. On top of that, another receiver was picked before him, which he will probably have taken as a personal insult. Now he wants paying, and he wants paying more money that the 49ers want to give him as the 10th pick in the draft. In fact, he’s even threatening to hold out the entire season, and re-enter the draft in a years time.

That’s the sort of thing that really annoys me. I would have assumed that, after dedicating over half your life to the game of American football, and hoping and dreaming to play in the NFL, when you finally get that opportunity you would take it in a heartbeat. Should the money really matter, if you are going to make a living playing a game, and a game that you love? You don’t have to work 9-5 in an office, answering phones and sitting behind a computer screen – you are playing sport for a living. And, no matter how disappointing he found the offer, it would have still been in the millions per year.

And that just really amazes me.

Last weekend proved to be an entertaining start to the 2009 NFL season, and already there have been a lot of surprises.

Most incredibly, in my opinion, was this game-winning catch by Brandon Stokley. Mostly because the Broncos were supposed to be utterly dreadful this year. They were down 7-6 with the whole field in front of them, and only 28 seconds on the clock, the Denver Broncos – who many suspected to be an absolute disaster this year – threw an 80 yard pass to win the game. The magic of it: it was not intended for Stokley at all … he was just in the right place at the right time, and plucked the ball from the air, before taking it all the way for the score.

Of course, the excitement continued past the weekend. Because on Monday night, in the first of a double-header on the nationally televises Monday Night Football, the Patriots played the Bills in a match that at first looked set to be a blowout. For years, the Patriots have been the team to beat in the NFL, and the Bills haven’t made the playoffs in something like 10 years. But it was an epic confrontation – indeed, the Bills could have, and should have won it. Regardless, it provided tension and excitement right to the final whistle, which is a lot more than anyone was expecting.

On top of all that, there were quite a few rookies who put in good showings, which is quite rare to see. Mark Sanchez, in particular, had a good game; and Percy Harvin showed flashes of the explosiveness that is going to make him one to watch as the season progresses.

The defending champions looked stagnant at times, and struggled for much of their game, and the second place Cardinals lost their opener – in true NFL fashion, the season is up in the air, and it looks set to be a good one.