The Short Version of Explaining Football * * * Just - TopicsExpress



          

The Short Version of Explaining Football * * * Just finished the first quarter of the Patriots-Chiefs game and explaining this to our 9-year-old daughter was quite fascinating and enlightening. Her older brother has watched football with me for years, plays NCAA and Madden on his Xbox, can diagram certain offenses, etc. Daughter and I worked through the basics from the start and I kind of lean on her years of basketball experience to explain some of this. Each team gets 4 plays to get 10 yards. The red line (or blue line) is where a play starts. The yellow line is where they have to get to. The order of our collective observations. - Me: Yuck. The Chiefs are wearing the red pants. Thats never been a good look for them. Her: I agree. I dont like them. - Me: See the coach? He has a headset and can talk to his quarterback. Then the quarterback takes the play and tells the guys in the huddle. He can throw it to any of the guys on the outside. - Me: Okay, the Chiefs got the ball past the yellow line. What does that mean? Her (wheels turning) Um...a first down? YES! - Me: Oh, thats Tom Brady. Hes married to a supermodel. Her: Katherine Webb? Me: No, thats a different quarterback. - Her: So its a first down in the first quarter. It is a second down in the second quarter? Me: No. its always a first down. (Note: Im actually very impressed with how she followed the logic on this.) - Me: Oh, thats Bill Belichick. Coach Hoodie. Some people think hes evil. Her: Why is he evil? Me: He isnt evil. He simply wins. - Her: Why do they celebrate after some plays and not others? Me: The players who catch the ball are receivers. They tend to celebrate all the time. Well talk about that later. Theyre divas. Like some quarterbacks. Finally, the Chiefs get a touchdown. - Her: What if the ball only touches part of the white line (at the goal line)? Me: Its a touchdown. If it gets a little bit of the white, thats still six points. - Me: Wait for the extra point. (The kick goes through.). Thats another point. Kansas City has seven points. - Me: Was this exhausting? Ready for bed? - Her: Yes. :) Post-script: At this pace, by Halloween, shell be well-versed in running a proper two-minute drill, isolating a weak defender with back-shoulder throws, misdirections inside the 5-yard line, when to go for two and why I call out coaches who cannot properly manage the clock when nursing a 4-point lead late in the game. Specifically, coaches in the 920 area code who cannot properly manage the clock when nursing a 4-point lead late in the game...
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 02:02:15 +0000

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