The United States of America is a country of winners and losers.
In the land of the free, there can be no space for a grey area in between. Nuance is overrated, and there can be no room for any ambiguity.
You see this in all walks of life across the pond, but nowhere is it clearer than in the sporting realm where draws (or ties, as they call them) are to be avoided at all costs.
If a baseball game is level at the end of 10 innings, they simply have extra innings. While in their other major sports, overtime is the punishment for the teams finishing with the same score. And that’s not just in the cup tournament that is the playoffs, but in the regular, league-style season too.
But when the Cincinnati Bengals arrived in London to face off against Washington at Wembley stadium on Sunday, British NFL fans saw their first ever tie in the history of the NFL London series.
Because of the physicality of the sport, if a game is still level at the end of the extra period, then it goes down as a tie game – which happens, on average, once every two seasons.
Washington had the best chance to secure victory after kicker Dustin Hopkins split the uprights with a 34-yard field goal as a little over two minutes remained in extra time, but a Cincinnati time-out just before the snap meant Hopkins had to re-take the kick. On his second try, his kick sailed wide left and the game eventually finished level, with 27 points apiece.
It was the second tie game of the season – something that hasn’t happened in the NFL in almost two decades.
1997 – This is the first time there has been multiple ties in a @NFL season and in back-to-back weeks since 1997. Oddity.
— OptaJerry🏈 (@OptaJerry) October 30, 2016
And while we know that Americans don’t like to be denied a clear winner, we’re not exactly sure about the nation’s collective description for something we see on a weekly basis over here.
A tie? That's like kissing your sister…pretty awful
— Alexander 🏴☠️ (@TheDJAlexander) October 30, 2016
Can't believe the @Bengals tied that's like kissing your sister 🙄🙄🙄
— Taylor Keen (@tkeen6) October 30, 2016
A tie is the equivalent of kissing your sister
— Jon (@kindafoxy) October 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/theMANnamedDAN/status/792787306876801024
Tie is like kissing your sister NBA no ties baseball no ties Hockey no ties but NFL there r ties A JOKE #NFLLondon #NFL @Element23Sports
— Bartman (@Bartman51) October 30, 2016
They say a Tie in football is like Kissing your sister. Well, now 4 Teams, or one-eighth of the League, knows what that's like. #WASvsCIN
— Faux George McCaskey *Parody* (@FauxMcCaskey) October 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/BobbyBigWheel/status/792786201661042688
Bengals and Redskins TIE Game.
😂😂😂😂
Tie Game in sports is like Kissing your sister.
No one wanted to Win.
— Trouble_Man_JG (@Jtg8679) October 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/gojamz/status/792784007960428544
Ok America, whatever you say…
Colm Parkinson is joined by Paul Rouse for a heated debate about Sky Sports’ five-year GAA deal and an exclusive chat with AFL star Zach Tuohy on the new GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes
