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So how was your NFL opening day?


jcn37203

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Originally posted by Thelonius

Did have to get up to go grocery shopping. Avoided any conversations and television shows about 9/11.

 

Speaking of which: How many NFL viewers genuinely felt that the victims of the 9/11 attacks were "honored" by a pregame performance by "Nick and Jessica"? Seeing those two didn't exactly stir my patriotism or evoke my sympathy for terror victims.

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Just a quick observation:

I really {censored}ing love football. Even when my team is losing, I still love the game.

I've been reading a lot of stuff online about the mechanics of the sport. Like the positions responsibilities and defense schemes and such, it makes it a thousand times more interesting to watch.

Like, I've known the positions forever, where they stand and generally what they do, but I've never really known like what a "nickle defense" was, for instance. Or why sometimes a corner will line up closer the the line and sometimes farther. Or what the difference between the strong safety and the free safety was.

If you are interested, this site rules.

http://football.calsci.com/

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Originally posted by jcn37203

Just a quick observation:


I really {censored}ing love football. Even when my team is losing, I still love the game.


I've been reading a lot of stuff online about the mechanics of the sport. Like the positions responsibilities and defense schemes and such, it makes it a thousand times more interesting to watch.


Like, I've known the positions forever, where they stand and generally what they do, but I've never really known like what a "nickle defense" was, for instance. Or why sometimes a corner will line up closer the the line and sometimes farther. Or what the difference between the strong safety and the free safety was.


If you are interested, this site rules.


http://football.calsci.com/



I actually like football. What I do not like:

Team loyalty, particularly of the rabid variety. (I don't dislike it..just doesn't really appeal to me.)

Commercials - Holy {censored}ing {censored}.

80x more analysis and replay than play.


It's enough that the cons outweigh the pros for me.

I'm obviously not one of the guys who say "man..you gotta watch the superbowl for the great commercials!!"

Just because advertising sucks 364 days a year...:D

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More than anything I hate football people I think. I live in Alabama. These people are {censored}ing nuts. They shoot your ass over it. And they don't even have a pro team. It's all college {censored}.

bob: "wow...that guy from Auburn..um.. yeah that was a pretty good catch right there. You know...I mean..as far as catches go....umm...the guy..playin...

redneck dude: "WELL GODDAMN!!! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO TO AUBURN AND SUCK HIS DICK IF YOU THINK HE'S SO GODDAMN GOOD!!! ROLLLLLMOTHER{censored}IN TIIIIIIIDE!!! WOOOOOOH!!! *passes out*

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Originally posted by Thelonius



I actually like football. What I do not like:


Team loyalty, particularly of the rabid variety. (I don't dislike it..just doesn't really appeal to me.)


Commercials - Holy {censored}ing {censored}.


80x more analysis and replay than play.



It's enough that the cons outweigh the pros for me.


I'm obviously not one of the guys who say "man..you gotta watch the superbowl for the great commercials!!"


Just because advertising sucks 364 days a year...
:D




The analysis is more interesting after reading more about the strategy.

I've felt similarly for years. I always liked the game, but the slow-mo replays and {censored} used to drive me nuts. It's like they'd play for 20 seconds, then we sit around and watch it in replay for 45 seconds.

That's totaly bull{censored}, if your perspective is that the plays are essentially every man for himself, barely contained chaos where everyone lines up, the QB yells hike and all hell breaks loose.

But (and playing John Madden NFL video games got me in to this) once you start thinking in terms of strategy, then the slow mo clips become in some ways more interesting that the actual game, because you can see what everyone is doing, and you start to see that everyone really is trying to accomplish some specific goal, and it just eventually becomes awesome.

I wish the NFL network would have a show where they just show slow-mo plays with full analytical breakdown from an expert, I'd watch that {censored} every day.

In Madden you can design your own plays and {censored}, it's awesome.

It really is like super high speed chess or something. You set your pieces up, your opponent sets his pieces up, then you set them in motion and they all move at once, then you survey the results, and set up a different move.

I can see where people who like high speed, high intensity sports like basketball or hockey would find NFL football boring with all the pauses and breaks. And I hate the commercials, because I like watching the coaches and {censored} communicate between plays.

I love those NFL films they make where they show a game from the coaches perspective, with guys in the booth trying to come up with mismatches on the field and all that stuff. That's cool stuff.

I've considered being a little league coach or something, that would be cool, except for all the punk ass little kids.

Guess I'll stick with Madden.

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Originally posted by Thelonius

More than anything I hate football people I think.

 

 

I don't so much hate football people. I hate fantasy sports people.

 

And it's because they WANT to be geeks, but aren't nearly the geeks that my friends and I were BEFORE the internet, back when you had to tabulate and research your own stats. I stopped doing fantasy sports in the early to mid 90s when it got too easy. I know I'm sounding like a "I used to walk fifty miles to school, barefoot in snow, uphill both ways" sort of curmudgeon, but that's how I feel. Folks don't know how easy they have it. I spent more hours poring over Baseball Weekly with a calculator and reams of graphing paper than was healthy for an adolescent. Same with football and baskestball, although stats were easier for those, as there was less to calculate.

 

Anyway, I hate fantasy sports. I quit that {censored} for chess. And then I quit chess for this {censored}.

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Originally posted by jcn37203


It really is like super high speed chess or something. You set your pieces up, your opponent sets his pieces up, then you set them in motion and they all move at once, then you survey the results, and set up a different move.

 

This may sound retarded, but part of overcoming a really difficult part of my life about 13 years ago involved becoming obsessed with the strategic elements of football. Prior to that, I was too much in anti-authority punk world to acknowledge that football existed. But when I got past the sometimes-annoying fans and hype, the game itself drew me in, annoying my roommate but giving me something to focus on outside of the real world. Now I can talk 3-4 defenses and two-tight-ends-in-the-slot formations like someone who has had something to do with the sport himself, which I haven't.

 

Unfortunately, I started following the Bengals at that point, setting myself up for over a decade of sub-mediocrity. But I still loved watching it.

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Originally posted by palthegiraffe


This may sound retarded, but part of overcoming a really difficult part of my life about 13 years ago involved becoming obsessed with the strategic elements of football. Prior to that, I was too much in anti-authority punk world to acknowledge that football existed. But when I got past the sometimes-annoying fans and hype, the game itself drew me in, annoying my roommate but giving me something to focus on outside of the real world. Now I can talk 3-4 defenses and two-tight-ends-in-the-slot formations like someone who has had something to do with the sport himself, which I haven't.


Unfortunately, I started following the Bengals at that point, setting myself up for over a decade of sub-mediocrity. But I still loved watching it.

 

 

The really funny thing is that my perspective always was that the offense is where the strategy is, and the defense is just reacting to that. So I put very little effort in to understanding defense.

 

But the D really has a lot going on. Of course, they are a reactionary group, because they have to stop whatever it is the offense tries. But there is a lot more going on there than I ever realized. Thats where I am now, trying to understand what the defense is doing a little better. It's a lot more nuanced and subtle than the offense.

 

Where the offense's strategy might be fake the handoff and pass to the reiver over the middle, with the tight end as a bail out man in case of a blitz, which is pretty easy to understand. The defense would be like, bump the flanking receiver, zone in the secondary show a three man blitz to scare the QB but pull back at the snap, etc. It's really hard to pull that kind of thing in to one cohesive strategy and not just have 11 guys out there doing seperate things. I don't really understand it that well. Even if I recognize something, like a 3-4, I'm not able to really say why they're doing that.

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I know some about football. Been a fan forever, played in High School, etc. Sometimes I watch and understand the specifics of what is going on. I usually know what the penalty is before it's called. But there was no friggin way to follow what was going on between Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed last night. I'm basically in Algebra I as far as football smarts go. That was serious high math going on between Indy's O and Baltimore's D. It was a lot of fun to watch. Talk about high speed chess.....That game was a lot closer then score showed...

BTW the AFC north with Pitt and Baltimore and Cincy will be just as tough as the AFC East. And the south with Indy and Jax is going to be tough as well. The AFC chase for homefield and the wildcards is going to be brutal....

Further observations:

Cincy people deserve Marvin Lewis after a decade and a half of disaster. I hope they break through this year. I think they will. Palmer to Johnson is going to be some serious scary manning to Harrison type {censored} for the next 5-7 years for anyone playing them. With Rudi Johnson it's going to be a scary offense.

I hate the Eagles because I'm a Giant fan and it goes without saying I hate the Cowboys and Redskins. But I would really love to see Mike Martz and Mike Holmgren get canned. Long overdue on both counts. I think it happens on both counts. Football reveals the not so nice side of me-the side that roots for others to fail for no good reason other then sheer spite.

The NFC is really weak again. I think the Giants and Bucs have a better shot of going to the Super Bowl then either the Eagles or Falcons. There will probably be a team in the AFC that doesn't make the play offs that will be better then the NFC super bowl rep.

Lee Greenwood is an awful singer. I'll take Nick and Jessica anyday. At least their is a Fellini like surrealistic quality to those two. I'll take that over a lousy country singer anyday.

The Lions will make the playoffs. They'd still be 5-11 in the AFC.

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Originally posted by Mr. Twang

I had front-row seats at Giants Stadium yesterday, and it was a beautiful day all around!


But even better was listening to the Yanks beat the Red Sox 1-0!

 

 

I love listening to Yankees and Sox fans argue. It's like listening to someone argue who's better, the Backstreet Boys or N-Sinc.

 

I'd also enjoy seeing a forumite deathmatch between Mr. Twang and Yaz75.

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Originally posted by BillyGrahamCracker



I love listening to Yankees and Sox fans argue. It's like listening to someone argue who's better, the Backstreet Boys or N-Sinc.


I'd also enjoy seeing a forumite deathmatch between Mr. Twang and Yaz75.

oh oh... can i be the "ref"

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well....i was already excited about the Colts offense this year but....


SINCE WHEN DID THEY GET D?


it's gonna be a happy year for me. i just hope they get somebody besides the Eagles in the Super Bowl. philly's a rough town when you are cheering for the other team... i might have to move....

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Sorry about your Titans, JCN. The Steelers put it all together after the Titan's first drive. And uh...oh yeah...A Star is Born in Pittsburgh in the form of "Fast" Willie Parker! When I chose Willie in the 8th round of my fantasy football draft everyone was all "WTF is Willie Parker?". I started him yesterday and he did not disappoint.

20050912pd_fbn_parker_runBGI_450.jpg

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Originally posted by danfisher

well....i was already excited about the Colts offense this year but....



SINCE WHEN DID THEY GET D?



it's gonna be a happy year for me. i just hope they get somebody besides the Eagles in the Super Bowl. philly's a rough town when you are cheering for the other team... i might have to move....



Who sez the Colts are going anywhere? Until they beat the Pats, it's all talk. Peyton ain't won nothing. (Brady - 3 rings and counting.....) ;)

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