12/21/24
October 20, 2009
Eating the Dinosaur: Chuck Klosterman breaks down (American) football.
posted by Ufez Jones to football at 09:57 PM - 6 comments
From the picture it would seem Corey Feldman has found a new career.
posted by Drood at 11:03 PM on October 20, 2009
That was great. I really enjoyed it. I'm always looking to understand why I like football. This helped, I think.
posted by fabulon7 at 11:35 PM on October 20, 2009
This is a wonderful read, but there's one premise that was a groaner: "Soccer aligns itself with forward-thinking globalists who enjoy fandom more than sports. But football only uses football. They are the product they sell."
The Super Bowl is the only major championship in which the commercials attract as much attention as the game itself, drawing millions of viewers who care more about the ads than the game. It is preceded by an orgy of media hype the likes of which the sports world has never seen, including an entire day in which non-sports media descends upon the players and coaches.
The finals of the World Cup are far more about soccer than the Super Bowl is about football.
posted by rcade at 10:13 AM on October 21, 2009
One could say "Too much information", but the article really brought out some things that I had known but never understood why. It's too bad Klosterman never got into the way to beat the wildcat offense, if there is one. Rex Ryan boasted about how he had the key to doing so, but look what that got him.
The other thing the article did not stress was how in the midst of so much innovation, things really don't change much. The wildcat is really a single wing offense without the blocking back, the spread is a variation on the wing-T that places a running back and one receiver into the slot positions, some variations of the 3-4 defense are really throwbacks to the old Oklahoma 5-2, and so on. I'm not trying to run the article down, it was really good, but there are things that perhaps could have been added.
Confession: I am old enough to have gone to a high school that played a combination of wing-T and single wing. I also remember when the 5-2 was the defense of choice in college. I also remember when cheerleader's skirts were much longer, and now that they are shorter, I'm too old to do anything about it.
posted by Howard_T at 12:48 PM on October 21, 2009
"I am old enough to have gone to a high school that played a combination of wing-T and single wing.
...
The wildcat is really a single wing offense without the blocking back"
We ran the Wing-T a bit in England too when I played, because it was easy to teach everyone. We didn't have cheerleaders though.
Miami has thrown a new twist into it their Wildcat this year, particularly against the Jets where they frequently sent out a personnel package with four backs, including a blocking back - Fullback Lousanka Polite.
The other three were Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams as the usual focal points and Sparano-favourite Patrick Cobbs.
On occasion Miami had an unbalanced line, two Tight Ends and four backs with no QB and no Wide Receivers against a defence with four-to-six defensive backs on the field.
With Cobbs down for the rest of the season with a knee injury, you can expect Miami to replace him with 5'11", 240lb Lex Hilliard to add even more bulk to the backfield.
I'm interested to see what counter and counter-counter moves will have been implemented when Miami and Rex Ryan run into each other again in a couple of weeks.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:18 PM on October 21, 2009
Okay, that was a freaking great read. I paused the ballgame so I could finish it.
Thanks!