4 Hard Downs: Sleepover Vibes, Drops & Hi-Lo
Great scheme, bad catching is called drops plus chicken tenders and fries
This week feels a lot more normal. Not five days in a row of football; it is like we just had some salad on Friday before the main course of Saturday.
Normal.
And I like normal.
Me? Sunday is gas, carwash and in two weekends, spin class.
And you know your boy got the right clips for the bikes at the Y.
Nike Super Reps with the clips for the Y bikes, then a shower and head home to work on dinner. That’s life. A good life.
Speaking of life, some teams have it, some teams don’t but this Friday my kid will be living her bestie life, so let’s SPOT THE BALL!!!
1st Down: A Sleepover
My kid’s best friend is spending the night on Friday.
We’ve done cousin sleepovers at my brothers house, awesome. We’ve done next door neighbor come and get your kid sleepovers, fine. We’ve done sleep-unders; where the kids hang out and stay up late but go home, they work ok.
We have not done a 1v1 best friend sleepover.
Menu? Set: Chicken Tenders and Fries (two styles: straight & crinkle)
Air Mattress functional, no holes:
I measured to make sure we had the space in her room for a queen mattress, even though it has happened before when my wife’s friends kids did a stopover.
Popcorn: Let’s go
Chipwich for dessert? Yes.
I am so ready for this. A very light football night. Two 2nd graders running around playing the floor is lava. Knowing my kid and the other kid live by the mantra my parents gave me about sleepovers, “leave that house better than when you got there.” My kid will clean up, her friend will clean up so this is less stressful than a lot of kids she knows who don’t do that.
Point is, they’re gonna have a good time and then I guess maybe I make waffles on Saturday morning before I get to work.
2nd Down: All Officials Are The Same
There is nothing that is more, “College football is a regional sport” than everyone thinking their refs are the worst. SEC. Big Ten. ACC. Big 12. MAC. Sun Belt. C-USA. American. Whoever else.
“Our Refs Are The Worst” is the battle cry for every league.
Sure, great.
You don’t see the same call made or missed in other leagues because you’re so busy watching your team/league/upcoming opponent.
It is a hard job. No one is perfect. They fight a two front war every week and still have to be humans, who sometimes get harassed in society all week.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
The point is, no league is different.
Stop.
Stop saying League X has the worst refs, those are just the teams, your team, you watch the most. Your league isn’t special, your team isn’t getting screwed, it is just a hard job that you’re asking 50 year olds to do.
If you want to talk refs, talk about fitness tests, eye tests, age qualifications, maybe put them through fireman training and pay them full time. Then you can talk about why they’re not as good as you, a person on their couch drinking a White Claw or Cut Water, wants them to be.
3rd Down: Drops Are A Plague
Watching Michigan, Duke, Texas, Florida and more this weekend just highlighted something we saw in Week Zero through, now, week two, drops are bad. Interceptions are bad, errant throws are bad, pass break-ups are bad; drops are the bane offensive existence.
Drops are plays that work, are called up at the right time, blocked well, routes ran well and a ball delivered by the QB and the WR or TE or RB doesn’t do their job.
Duke gets a Top 12 Illinois team if they can catch the ball. Florida survives against USF if they can catch the ball. Texas looks much better against San Jose St if they catch the ball. Michigan has a shot to win against Oklahoma if they catch the ball.
We spend a lot of time talking about sacks, interceptions even touchdowns given up by a safety or corner and not nearly enough about the pass catchers not pass catching.
4th Down: Hi-Lo On The Sneak Tip
Been seeing a lot more of this to start the season.
11 personnel and a TE feigning blocking for the DE, which annoys and slows the DE and makes the LB over him look up the WR before he “leaks” out. Play-action also freezes DE and the LBs to the RB getting to a flat cleared by the slot and wideout. QB rolls out, away from the DE danger from left side and now he has a hi-lo situation to figure out who is open.
As a defensive person it is brutal.
As a football person it is gorgeous. What is a safety does commit to that sneak over? Then you get a free play down the field on the sideline 9. If they don’t you get the over or if the LB carries that, hit the lo and let the hi block for him. A lot of damage.
Let’s get ready for the weekend. A sleepover. Bama hosting Wisconin, UGA at Tennessee, The Backyard Brawl, USF works on their power train against Miami, A&M to South Bend and plenty more.
Cheers!!!
Your first down was a play action read that looked off the safety and ended up with a huge gain. You're just showing off that rad Dad skill.
And alright - I hear your argument on the worst refs. I have seen the complaints from different people from different conferences or even leagues (NCAA vs NFL). I think the refs are generally fine and agree that they have a difficult job and are doing fairly well. Knowing a ref or an ump by name usually isn't a good thing though. Baseball fans known Angel Hernandez and Joe West because those guys wanted to be known.
Refs/Umps/officials are supposed to be neutral arbiters and that means they're making compromises. When they try to make a name for themselves, they are placing themselves above the sport. The MLS refs stated during their strike and union contract negotiation that they are the 3rd team on the field meaning they should have an impact the outcome and that they can win or lose. That's a problem to me and why they ARE terrible and worse than any other official in a major sport (including NCAA as a major sport even though it's not technically professional).
Someone once told me, a good compromise is one where everyone walks away a little upset or annoyed.
Such a RAD DAD!