A Nerd Confession
I'm a football junkie.
Now, this didn't seem like a real problem when I was just vegging on all day Sunday with one hand down my pants a la Al Bundy, but I just spent two hours going to every video game store in Flag (EB, Wal-Mart, Target, Hastings, Gamecrazy, even the yet-to-open Gamestop) in search of NFL Head Coach for PS2.
I guess I'm getting crazy over it because I've always had a hard time conveying my love of football to non-sports fans, which is rooted equally in my family and my view of the game as chess in constant motion. I believe it was Dick Vermeil who said "90% of games are won or lost before you even hit the field on Sunday." That's the basis of the game. Drafting, personnel decisions, coaching focuses and intensity, motivation, strategy, exploiting weak players on opposing teams, playcalling, audibles, setting curfews for your players... It's insane. And I've never been so excited to play a game, or, maybe I should say not play a game. You never control a single player, and during games you act just as a coach, watching from the sidelines. You can call audibles at the line (even with a headset), but after the snap you can only change camera angles.
But the thing that really sold me on the game, and really exposed me as a football junkie was this idea...
You get a scouting report on EVERY player on EVERY team you face.
So the opponent's got an underweight DT they only use in pass rush situations, their weakside linebacker has a bad ankle, and they have a rookie DB starting on your second receiver.
Let's say I'm the Steelers going into this scenario against the Colts. The underweight DT on third downs allows for single blocking, allowing me to double Freeney or sweep out an extra lineman for an optional screen. A slow weakside linebacker means I can line Verron Haynes and Jerame Tuman as my strong TEs in a three tight set with Heath alone under coverage of the busted-up linebacker. Let 'em double Hines on the strong side with Heath distracting the LB undercoverage and let Santonio rip on that rookie DB (granted, Santonio's a rookie too, but consider a team with a second option like Stallworth in NO or Glenn in DAL).
Max Starks is having a bad game at RT and keeps letting Mathis through, I can slobber all over him for some motivation with the Cowher Shower, or I can tell Big Ben to scramble left more often, or I can even slide my assignments left and have Kendall Simmons block Mathis and leave Starks to O-stunt inside on Corey Simon.
If Willie Parker keeps getting slammed by Cato June, I can reassign blocking so that Heath runs straight for a pancake on June as soon as the ball is snapped, or tell Parker to cut inside whenever he sees Cato roaming outside of the ends.
If it was the AFC Championship again, I could exploit Nick Harper's wound from where he got stabbed by his wife for being a jackass. And I can run Roethlisberger and his busted face through some tackling drills just in case.
That kind of depth amazes me. Me, the guy who threw his control during a Madden game not over a bad play, but because I couldn't substitute my MLB as a TE without using a Goalline set. I could tell that I was the only person who had asked about the game anywhere I went, and maybe I am a bit of, or a huge Monday morning quarterback. But that's what this game's about. And maybe when somebody can see the amount of work that's done toward winning a game even before Sunday starts, they'll understand that it's more than eleven sweaty guys in pads slamming into each other for bragging rights. It's a business, it's a strategical game, and a team with the worst players in the league can win with the right coaching. Shit, look at the Dolphins' run at the end of last season.
I'm gonna read this later today and laugh at myself.
Now, this didn't seem like a real problem when I was just vegging on all day Sunday with one hand down my pants a la Al Bundy, but I just spent two hours going to every video game store in Flag (EB, Wal-Mart, Target, Hastings, Gamecrazy, even the yet-to-open Gamestop) in search of NFL Head Coach for PS2.
I guess I'm getting crazy over it because I've always had a hard time conveying my love of football to non-sports fans, which is rooted equally in my family and my view of the game as chess in constant motion. I believe it was Dick Vermeil who said "90% of games are won or lost before you even hit the field on Sunday." That's the basis of the game. Drafting, personnel decisions, coaching focuses and intensity, motivation, strategy, exploiting weak players on opposing teams, playcalling, audibles, setting curfews for your players... It's insane. And I've never been so excited to play a game, or, maybe I should say not play a game. You never control a single player, and during games you act just as a coach, watching from the sidelines. You can call audibles at the line (even with a headset), but after the snap you can only change camera angles.
But the thing that really sold me on the game, and really exposed me as a football junkie was this idea...
You get a scouting report on EVERY player on EVERY team you face.
So the opponent's got an underweight DT they only use in pass rush situations, their weakside linebacker has a bad ankle, and they have a rookie DB starting on your second receiver.
Let's say I'm the Steelers going into this scenario against the Colts. The underweight DT on third downs allows for single blocking, allowing me to double Freeney or sweep out an extra lineman for an optional screen. A slow weakside linebacker means I can line Verron Haynes and Jerame Tuman as my strong TEs in a three tight set with Heath alone under coverage of the busted-up linebacker. Let 'em double Hines on the strong side with Heath distracting the LB undercoverage and let Santonio rip on that rookie DB (granted, Santonio's a rookie too, but consider a team with a second option like Stallworth in NO or Glenn in DAL).
Max Starks is having a bad game at RT and keeps letting Mathis through, I can slobber all over him for some motivation with the Cowher Shower, or I can tell Big Ben to scramble left more often, or I can even slide my assignments left and have Kendall Simmons block Mathis and leave Starks to O-stunt inside on Corey Simon.
If Willie Parker keeps getting slammed by Cato June, I can reassign blocking so that Heath runs straight for a pancake on June as soon as the ball is snapped, or tell Parker to cut inside whenever he sees Cato roaming outside of the ends.
If it was the AFC Championship again, I could exploit Nick Harper's wound from where he got stabbed by his wife for being a jackass. And I can run Roethlisberger and his busted face through some tackling drills just in case.
That kind of depth amazes me. Me, the guy who threw his control during a Madden game not over a bad play, but because I couldn't substitute my MLB as a TE without using a Goalline set. I could tell that I was the only person who had asked about the game anywhere I went, and maybe I am a bit of, or a huge Monday morning quarterback. But that's what this game's about. And maybe when somebody can see the amount of work that's done toward winning a game even before Sunday starts, they'll understand that it's more than eleven sweaty guys in pads slamming into each other for bragging rights. It's a business, it's a strategical game, and a team with the worst players in the league can win with the right coaching. Shit, look at the Dolphins' run at the end of last season.
I'm gonna read this later today and laugh at myself.