The Words

Well, what a coincedence. Just two weeks after writing in my blog that I wished I could REALLY write, my wife and I saw a movie about a guy who wished he could REALLY write. I didn't expect that. The difference was, though, he was a full time writer who couldn't get anything published. He thought he was writing good material but was having trouble getting someone to give him a break. To make ends meet he was borrowing money from his father while he continued to pursue his dreams. Obviously, when you're a full time writer and making zero dollars the stress, doubt, and strain become severe. That's where the movie became really interesting.

Film critic Chuck Koplinski writes, " Bradley Cooper is a struggling writer who stumbles upon an old manuscript and, out of desperation, pawns it off as his own. Fame and fortune come his way as does the original author, a bitter old man whose motives are mysterious. The film...maintains a serious tone as it deals with its theme of sin, regret, and the price paid when pride gets the best of us. Compelling and unexpected, this one will stick with you long after the credits roll."

And that's exactly how I felt after watching this movie. I sat there a couple of minutes just pondering the surprising ending and watching the credits roll. I really enjoyed this film much more than I thought I would and highly recommend it. But then again it's the kind of movie I like, no special effects, no aliens, no magic. Just a movie about people and life. Chiefpigskin.com 

Yes, It's Still Time For A Rule Change

Last year at this time I wrote an article/blog stating that it was time for a rule change in football. I'm going to repost parts of that blog because I feel just as strongly about the subject. To lead into this post let me explain. The University of Illinois will be hosting Louisiana Tech, coached by Sonny Dykes, this Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Coach Dykes has done a fabulous job at Tech and has a fast moving high octane offense that is hard to stop. They will be running a no huddle and pass oriented offense that might throw the ball 50+ times. The play clock will be stopped a lot on incomplete passes and players going out of bounds. The average L. Tech game lasts 4 hours and 10 minutes! That's too long. I love football but that is too long. What can be done to speed thigs up a bit? Here are excerpts from a Sept. 5, 2011 blog that I wrote. (Get ready, it's radical)

You’re going to think I’m nuts. You’re going to think I’m advocating football blasphemy but it’s time to keep the clock running on incomplete passes. Oh, not completely keep the clock running, but start the clock once the ball has been spotted in place for the next down. Exactly the way we do the clock for setting the chains. Hear me out, my friend.

We have to think logically. Think back to the games origins (imagine) and try to figure out WHY the clock was stopped on an incomplete pass. They had to have a reason. The only logical answer is they stopped the clock to chase down the ball. The thinking must have been, “Let’s not run the clock while we’re retrieving the ball”. They probably didn’t have as many refs as we do now nor as many footballs and ball boys. It may have been time consuming to chase the ball down. Now, why the rules makers didn’t restart the clock when the ball was ready for play from the very beginning, I don’t know. Help me on that if you can.  At any rate, there is no reason why the clock can’t be started when the ball is ready for play.

Why do we need this rule change? Because with passing attempts going up at all levels it’s starting to take too doggone long to play a game. Particularly at the pro and college level once you add in TV timeouts and the like. A team that throws three incomplete passes in a row might burn ten seconds and that in turn extends the game too much. I propose stopping the clock on an incomplete pass and then restarting it once it’s ready. Will that change some strategy? Sure, but so what? A good coach can still manage the clock with timeouts and utilizing the sideline. Remember, the clock can be stopped by going out of bounds although I can’t think of the reason for that. Another story some day. And what about spiking the ball? That will make that strategy useless you say.  Good. I think it’s dumb anyway. Spiking the ball looks like a fumble to me. My proposal would speed up the game and still allow for strategy in stopping the clock.  

Well, there you have it. What do you think? Give me your comments or go to the Chiefpigskin forums and start a thread. I'd love to hear if you think I'm crazy or if I might be on to something.  Have a great weekend coaching, playing, and watching football.

We Can't be Intimidated

Shiekh Hassan Nasrallah, making a rare public appearance before hundreds of thousands of supporters, says the U.S. must ban the YouTube video "Innocence of Muslims" and have it removed from the internet. Said Nasrallah, " As long as there's blood in us we will not remain silent over insults against our prophet. " Really? The U.S. must ban and remove? When they say the U.S. who do they mean? The government, president, secretary of state, football coaches, me, you? Do they realize that our government has no power to ban so much of the offensive, sinful media? If they did, they should start with pornography. But it doesn't work that way here.

The radical, extremists of the Muslim religion are trying to bully and intimidate us into banning material they don't like. The message is, "If you do things that anger us we will kill your ambassadors (they did) burn your flags and murder innocent Americans." We simply cannot let one group of radicals intimidate us. If a video that insulted Christianity, Taoism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other 'ism were made there would be no fear of violent retribution. Oh yeah, some grumbling, but that's about it. A few years back there was a movie made called "The Last Temptation of Christ" that many catholics and protestants found insulting to Jesus Christ. There was some grumbling and complaining but at no time did the U.S. consider banning the movie. Nor should they have.

I did not see that movie nor have I seen the YouTube video. I don't care to see either. I do not endorse insulting other peoples or religions and I do not participate in those activities. But if some goofball wants to make an offensive video I guess that's his right in America. There are plenty of insulting movies out there.

OK, enough of that. It makes me angry and I had to blow off some steam. I'm getting back to football and enjoy the rest of the season. There's plenty of action to go and I know we're all looking forward to it. Coaches and fans, have fun! www.chiefpigskin.com

How Do They Do It?

Did any of you catch the Michigan vs. Air Force game? Air Force had Michigan on the ropes late in the fourth quarter at The Big House! A pro Michigan crowd of over 105, 000 cheered a vastly more talented Wolverine team on to a win over feisty Air Force 31-25. How do the service academies do it? Yes, Notre Dame put a whippin' on Navy two weeks ago but the Midshipmen and Falcons have been very competitive for the last several years against superior talent. Army has been down but I think they're getting better. So, I ask again, how do they do it?

The answer to that might be several different factors but the main one, in my opinion, is disciplined football. Air Force and Navy both run an extremely effecient triple option offense. And they run it flawlessly. Every football guy knows that option football is an equalizer on the field and can allow the team with less talent to go with a bigger, stronger, faster team. The deception and "trickery" if you will, is said to be the equalizer. Now, personally, I don't find the option trickery, just smart football. Never the less, it IS deceptive, but all offenses feature fakes and deception. It's considered though a high risk offense because of the pitch from the QB to the pitch back and that scares off a lot of coaches. But it's not high risk the way these guys run it to perfection.

Another factor is the tremendous personal discipline that the athletes of the academies possess. I mean, these guys are dedicated and committed to excellence in ALL areas, not just football. It carries over to the football field in a way that all football coaches admire. These guys are athletic, smart, classy and real all-americans. It demonstrates how much of a team game football is when lesser talent can band together and play fundamentally sound football to the extent these guys do.

As you can tell I'm a big fan of the service academies football teams and I really enjoy watching them. Course, I love option football too and that's what they run. There are probably other factors that contribute to the success of Navy and Air Force but those are my top two factors on how they do it. Your thoughts? Chiefpigskin.com

Wish I Could REALLY Write

Have you ever read old letters or journals from regular people that lived before telephones, email, Internet, etc.? People with little education had beautiful handwriting and writing skills. Why? I guess because other than face to face that was the only way to communicate. And they were good at it. My grandmother didn't get out of 5th grade but was a good writer. I used to get letters from her from time to time. But if we go back a bit further into the 18th and 19th centuries there are many good examples of excellent writing skills.

One of my boyhood heroes was American frontiersman Davy Crockett. Even though he had very little formal education the guy could write. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in a journal while out on one of his exploring trips. Davy encounters a beautiful sight that causes him to launch into praise to the Creator. The writer describes it this way: "Just beyond the grove there was another expanse of treeless prairie, so rich, so beautiful, so brilliant with flowers that even Colonel Crockett, all unaccustomed to the devotional mood, reined in his horse, and gazing entranced upon the landscape, exclaimed, 'O God, what a world of beauty hast Thou made for man! And yet how poorly does he requite Thee for it! He does not even repay Thee with gratitude.' " Crockett recognized that the Creator's handiwork demands a response of gratefulness. We can also gain a lot of other insight on Crockett. He took pride in his military rank, he was familiar with the bible, (King James Version) he believed in God but he was not usually a religious man, and he could write with great detail and emotion.

I wish I could write like that. I think I do OK with my blog and my book on football ( see Chiefpigskin.com for my book) but I envy real writers. I love reading and it sometimes causes me to yearn for the ability to write a short story or novel. I simply don't possess that ability but I enjoy writing down my stories and thoughts on this site. I guess that will have to do.

Toiling In Obscurity

By now some of you parents may have noticed that the atmosphere at the lower levels of the high school football team is pretty laid back. Whatever your school calls it - Junior Varsity, Freshman, Sophomore, or Frosh/Soph, the lower levels simply don't get the same treatment as the varsity. In fact, they got more attention in Youth Football! I don't think it's that tough on the kids, but tough on the parents. There are no cheerleaders, fanfare, announcers, band, or crowd. Just the game. Some parents may feel their sons are getting the short end of the stick, that they deserve more attention. After all, aren't they part of the team? Didn't they put in work over the summer and weight train just as hard? Well, I would submit that this low profile approach might actually serve as motivation and could have other benefits as well.

Looking back to my high school days I remember we played our freshmen and sophomore games on our practice field at Woodruff High School in Peoria, IL. This field was about fifty percent grass, forty percent hard dirt, and ten percent cinders. An old cinder track that the track team used for practice encircled the field. The more cinders we threw off the field the more showed up by the next practice or game. There were no bleachers, no P.A. announcer, no scoreboard, and no band or cheerleaders. I can still see my Dad walking the sidelines right next to the team. That's what the fans did, just stood along the sidelines next to the team. But you know what? We didn't care. Heck, we'd have played on bricks if we had to. We just wanted to play football and I knew that when I played varsity I would get to play at Peoria Public Schools Stadium. "The Stadium" as we called it had the lushest grass, brightest scoreboard, prettiest cheerleaders, biggest crowds, and best doggone P.A. system in the country. (At least that's how I remember it). It had two large bleacher sections, one on each side, and one had a roof. The end of the stadium that had the scoreboard was lined with pine trees. It was and still is a pretty stadium. It motivated me to work hard so I could play varsity someday. But if I'd had to I still would have played varsity ball on the old practice field.

There was no pressure in those JV games, we just had fun. We were playing football and that's all that mattered. It kept us humble and made us realize we had to pay our dues like the juniors and seniors had. A lot more due paying than one summer of work. Did we desrve to have our names called out like the varsity on the loudspeaker? Maybe. But heck, with all the noise out there and the wind whistling through the ear holes of my helmet I never heard a P.A. announcer while I was playing in my life. I was into the game. And admit it parents, when your son's name is called out on the loudspeaker for a great play, it's not for his ears, it's for yours. YOU want to hear his name.

Many years later I attended a JV college game that my son was playing in. The scoreboard was on but that was it. Colleges don't play many JV games and I was just thankful he was getting a chance to play. He played well that night, caught several balls from his wide receiver position and had a lot of fun. It never occured to me to be upset that this game wasn't getting the same treatment as a varsity college game.

So, my advice is don't worry about the extras, his day is coming. The coaches don't worry about it and neither do the players. Just relax and enjoy those freshmen and sophomore games. They're learning how to be varsity players, and that's what counts.

Chiefpigskin.com