No Football, No Problem: Rugby to Fill Void

February 11 2011 Last updated at 12:50 PM ET

This weekend threatens to be a rough one emotionally for millions of Americans as it's the first since last summer without football. And with talks between NFL owners and players for a new collective bargaining agreement stuck in a perilous fight, that collective ennui could go on for a while.

But not to worry, football fans. Dave Sitton has the cure for what may ail you: Take a few hours of rugby and call him Monday morning.

The linkage isn't so far-fetched, says Sitton, who will analyze more than 15 hours of USA Sevens Rugby coverage this weekend for NBC and Universal Sports, since a lot of what we know as football has its roots in rugby.

For instance, what we know as scrimmage is related to scrummage, a rugby term that involves one player placing his hands in the crotch of another player to receive a ball to start a play.

Sound familiar?

"It's not as radical (the linkage between football and rugby) as some might think," said Sitton, who has coached and played rugby for more than 30 years. "There's a logical progression both historically and tactically that will allow a first-time viewer who watches football to understand that we don't have a Super Bowl unless there's rugby."

This weekend's tournament, the fourth of the year in the International Rugby Board season, pits teams from the United States, England, France, Samoa, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Australia and Scotland against each other. The seven-man game, which removes the forwards, or linemen, from the 100-meter long, 70-meter wide field is a faster paced match that has just two seven-minute halves.

Because it's a faster game and better lends itself to tournament play over two days or so, sevens rugby, a primer of which can be seen at www.irbsevens.com, will become a part of the Summer Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janerio, which may explain NBC's interest in this weekend's tournament from Las Vegas, even though rights for those games haven't yet been awarded.

At any rate, rugby could become the next sport, like lacrosse, to make its way into the American sports consciousness, and Sitton, who calls University of Arizona football and basketball on Fox Sports Net, for one, wouldn't be surprised.

"Twenty years ago, we didn't care," said Sitton. "I think there's a lot of Americans who are perfectly open to ... looking at different sports from around the world, particularly a tackle football game that's going to be in the Olympics. That's unprecedented and that's what we're featuring this weekend."

Universal Sports will air games at 2, 6 and 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday and again at 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday, while NBC will carry games Saturday at 3:30 and the championship match Sunday at 4:30.

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