All American Sports Cafe
All American Sports Cafe is an independent guide to American sports, written in English for fans wherever they live. We explain how the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and college sports actually work: the rules, the formats, the clock, the stats and the traditions that make a broadcast make sense.
Many of our readers did not grow up with these sports. Some are in the UK, India or Australia and have started watching the NFL or NBA late at night. Some live in the US and want to finally understand what the announcers mean by a balk or a power play. Others know one sport well and want to learn another. We write for all of them.
What we cover
Our guides are organized by sport and by the questions fans actually ask:
- Rules explained in plain English, from NFL overtime to icing in hockey and the infield fly rule.
- Formats and timing: how long games last, how many periods or innings there are, and how the playoffs work.
- Stats that show up in every box score, such as OPS, ERA and the triple-double, with the formulas and worked examples.
- Starter guides for people coming to a sport from zero, beginning with American football for beginners.
How we write
We aim to sound like a knowledgeable friend explaining the game over a drink: plain, specific and patient. Jargon gets explained the first time it appears. Where a stat involves arithmetic, we show the arithmetic. Where a rule is easier to understand through an example, we use one, and we label hypothetical examples clearly so they are never mistaken for real games.
Accuracy comes first. Every rule, number and format on the site is checked against an official or primary source, such as the league rulebooks published by the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, the NCAA's playing rules, or FIBA for international basketball. Leagues change their rules regularly, so we say which season a rule applies to and update pages when it changes. Our editorial policy sets out exactly how that works.
What we are not
We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any league, team, governing body or player. We do not sell tickets, and we are not a betting site: we do not publish odds, picks or tips. We do not invent quotes, statistics or records, and we only name players in connection with facts that are widely documented.
The site is written and maintained by the All American Sports Cafe Editorial Team, which works as a team rather than under individual bylines.
Where to start
If you are new to American sports, these are good first reads:
- American football for beginners for the field, downs, scoring and positions.
- How long an NBA game lasts for quarters, the clock and overtime.
- How many innings there are in baseball for the structure of a baseball game.
- How many periods there are in hockey for hockey's format, overtime and shootouts.