Lincoln, Storyteller

Sometimes I go see a good movie and it leaves an impression on me. Had another one last week when my wife and I went to see "Lincoln". Now this movie may not be for everyone because it's not typical Hollywood fare. You know, cars crashing, buildings exploding, karate fights, vampires, the usual. But what you will get is a great history lesson, superb acting and directing, and a fairly realistic look at President Abraham Lincoln's last four months in office. My wife and I REALLY enjoyed this movie and would recommend it as a "must go".

Maybe it's because I'm a history buff, and a civil war buff that I liked it so much but beyond that it gave a picture of Lincoln's personal life, political life, and personal resolve. But one thing it really brought to life was Abe's ability to tell a good story. It's well documented that Lincoln was a story teller but this movie showed how effective he could be when in tense political moments. It reminded me of how effective Jesus was at story telling. Now, I'm NOT comparing Lincoln to Jesus, heaven forbid, but he copied Jesus' example of using stories to makle a point. Remember how when Jesus would tell a good story and his disciples would walk away saying, " What's he talking about? What does that mean?" Well, the same was true for Lincoln. At times he would tell a sory in the middle of a heated cabinet meeting and his cabinet members could be heard saying, "What was that?" But there was always a point. I like story telling and always thought it was an effective way to communicate. Most of his stories were humorous too, which was entertaining.

Oh, by the way, the week before we saw "Skyfall" the new Bond movie. Full of action like explosions, fights, car chases and stuff. I liked that too. In fact, maybe the best Bond movie I've seen yet and I've seen Bond movies since 1965.

On another side note, do you believe Notre Dame started the season unranked and now they're 12-0 and playing for the national Championship? Just goes to show, never rely on the polls. Anything can happen.  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

College Season Begins

I've always loved the college football season, more so than the pros. So it is with great anticipation that I dive in to the college season. One thing I liked about college is that you got a chance to watch different offenses and defenses. Everyone had their own style. But I'm a little disappointed when I see just about everyone running the spread. Every game seems the same, just like the NFL, but I guess there's enough difference to enjoy the college landscape. Don't get me wrong, the spread can be exciting but the game has slowed down in a way. Although the spread is designed to "play fast" and it does, I get tired of motion penalties, holding calls, delay of game. And the players get to the line of scrimmage and stop, look at the sideline, shift, look at the sideline, motion, audible, point, then finally run the play for an incomplete pass that runs two seconds off the clock. I liked it when they broke the huddle, ran the play, and kept things rolling. There's too much choppiness in games.

After all that complaining I still really do love college football. I'm looking forward to Navy and Notre Dame playing in Ireland and Alabama playing Michigan in Texas I think. Texas? Why Texas? Anyway, Alabama will have too much speed and dominate the Wolverines by the middle of the third quarter. But I'm a Big Ten fan so I hope Michigan does well. Navy runs that double wing offense to precision and I'll be pulling for them.

High school football is getting into full swing and their are some fun match ups there as well. I'm going to enjoy this Labor Day weekend and try to relax. You do the same. Chiefpigskin.com

And They're Off!

All across the country high school football is getting underway. It's an exciting time, isn't it? Optimism flows everywhere and all teams are still undefeated. I talked to a coach today who coaches at a small high school (290) and he said, " For the first time ever we have no real holes in our defense. Usually we're hiding at least one linebacker or corner but not this year. We're thin, but solid." Yep, optimism is the order of the day.

Now if you're like me you're probably saying, "We've got two weeks to get ready, how am I going to cover everything we need to get ready?" You look at your list and get overwhelmed. Alignment, responsibilities, technique, coverages, blitzes, fronts, stunts...and that's just defense. Offensively it's the same kind of content except multiple formations, motions, the run game, pass game...you get the idea. Then of course, blocking drills, tackling drills, agility drills, and weight training. Oh, and don't forget special teams, they win and lose ballgames. Punt, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return, PAT, field goal, onside kick and hands team. All this needs to be ready for game one. How does a coach get to all of this? Remember, you don't need all of your offense and defense installed for the first game. Just the base. You can always put more in as the season goes along every week. Just know your base, believe in it and do it well that first game. Maybe one trick play? Yeah, maybe.

On a side note, have you seen the new $49 million high school football stadium in Allen, Texas? It's got to be the most impressive new high school stadium I've ever seen. Take a look on Maxpreps.com. They are taking some criticism over their priorities. But I've found that schools that have great athletic facilities usually have great academics too. It shows a community cares about their education all around. Also the first week of the season will have some great match ups that I'm looking forward to. Notre Dame and Navy play in Ireland as well as several high school games as preliminaries. Loyola (IL) goes against Jesuit (TX) on Friday night in a match up of high school powers.

Well, it's going to be another exciting season and I know we're all looking forward to it. Good luck to all of you coaches and to your teams. http://www.chiefpigskin.com/

When There Were Ties

How many of you are old enough to remember the 10-10 tie Notre Dame and Michigan St. played in 1966? Probably only a few of us. The game was played on November 19, 1966 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. I waited and waited for that doggone game and I sat there and watched every minute of it. You see, back then there was only one college game televised per week. That’s right, ONE! There was no ESPN, FOX, TNN, BTN, or anything other than the big three - ABC, NBC, and CBS. Only one had the rights to the game of the week. So, I looked forward to that one game on TV every week and it was just about always the premier game in the country. They could afford to be very picky.

Notre Dame and Michigan St. were ranked #1 and #2 all season. Notre Dame was ranked #1 in one poll and #2 in the other. MSU was ranked #2 in one poll and #1 in the other. So, who was really #1? This game would decide it. They both came into the game undefeated, ND 8-0 and MSU 9-0. The buildup for the game was tremendous; this was the first time in 20 years that a college football game was given the "Game of the Century" tag by the national media. The Spartans were coached by old Duffy Daugherty, the veteran coach of the Big Ten. The Irish were coached by the legendary Ara Parseghian, one of the best. I was about 15 years old and a football junkie. On Saturday mornings I played on the high school sophomore team, Friday nights I went to the varsity game, Saturday afternoon I watched the college game of the week and on Sunday I watched the Bears or Packers. Homework? I don’t remember doing it-I disliked school work very much. I’m not proud of that, but that was me. Oh yeah, no girlfriend either. Got in the way of football. So, there I sat in front of that TV with my Pepsi and snacks.

Irish quarterback Terry Hanratty was knocked out after getting sacked in the first quarter by Spartan defensive lineman Bubba Smith. Michigan State jumped out to 7-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter. Later in the half they added a field goal for a 10-0 lead. But the Irish came right back scoring on about a 35 yard pass play. MSU took a 10-7 lead to the half. I was enjoying a great game. Notre Dame tied the game early in the 4th quarter on a field goal. Who was going to get the winning score? I was ready for an exciting finish. Late in the game, Notre Dame had the ball on its own 30-yard line with 1:10 to go. They needed about 40 yards for a game-winning field goal. But Coach Parseghian, not wanting to risk a turnover that could hand the game to the Spartans, chose to run the clock out, preserving the tie and Notre Dame's # 1 ranking. The last play of the game was a QB sneak by Notre Dame that gained 5 yards. Game over. I sat there, Pepsi in hand, staring blankly at the TV. A tie? I waited and watched all that for a tie?

For over 40 years, Parseghian has defended his end-of-the-game strategy, which left many fans feeling disappointed at the game not having some sort of resolution. Michigan State fans and other Notre Dame detractors called him a coward, and college football expert Dan Jenkins lead off his article for Sports Illustrated by saying Parseghian chose to "Tie one for the Gipper." In that same article, Parseghian was quoted as saying, "We'd fought hard to come back and tie it up. After all that, I didn't want to risk giving it to them cheap. We get reckless and it could cost us the game. I wasn't going to do a jackass thing like that at this point."
The tie resulted in 9–0–1 seasons for both Michigan State and Notre Dame. The final AP poll put the Irish and the Spartans at #1 and #2, ranking both teams above the undefeated and two times defending national champion 11–0 Alabama. Both schools shared the MacArthur Trophy, while Alabama was denied recognition for its accomplishment.

We no longer have ties, and I’m thankful for that, but we do have the BCS and so controversy remains a part of college football. But I’ll never forget that game and in fact was the 2nd greatly anticipated game for me in less than a year. I went to local high school game that was dubbed “Game of the Century” in 1965, but that’s another story. I’ll share that with you soon. Right now, its playoff time in Illinois and I get to watch more football. The fun just never ends. Keep following the documentaries on www.chiefpigskin.com and enjoy the greatest team sport ever.