Quote:
Originally Posted by GlassCity
I hate sevens haha, but that's cause I've been playing standard rugby for a very long time. Sure sevens can be fun to watch, but it could never become a legitimate sport. It's the arena football of rugby. You couldn't have a sevens "league", just cause the games are so short. It pains me when I see TV channels market it as "rugby" because it's not. I see sevens growth as an obstacle in the growth of 15s.
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I've thought about that as well, but mainstream sports are going to have to change to stay relevant. Because of all the news about CTE and concussions, the CFL has initiatives to get flag football really going in schools. Parents are now conditioned to keep their kids away from contact sports. The wide open play of sevens might help mitigate that.
The CFL for sure and likely the NFL are looking for "transitional" sports to get kids interested in playing like games and later transition them when they are older into full contact.
I agree with you that some traditionalists might frown on sevens but you can't argue with its popularity. Regular rugby (15s) seems to have opened up more from when I remember it, as exceeding slow and plodding which is not very good if you don't have much knowledge of the sport.
And with social interaction being so far different than when I was a child, even then it was damn near impossible to get a real game of baseball going, so you played a bastardized version of it. 15s rugby and football are likely the same, you play an improvised version on the playground and that maintains/creates interest.