Georgia promptly took out the Tigers 41-20 and showed Richardson that while the Tigers spread offense may at times put up quick scores and light up a scoreboard against Big 12 level defenses, they would have to up their game, and respect their new conferences affinity for running the ball and playing great defense, if they were going to compete for the Conference Championship every year.
I love football, always have, always will. Since my parents bought me a Fran Tarkenton uniform for Christmas when I was five years old (Thank God I broke away my brief Vikings obsession) it is fair to say that I have been obsessed with the game.
I played for my entire life; pee-wees, high school, and a couple of uneventful years in Junior College until I tore my knee up and faced the truth that I wasn't nearly as good as the guys around me.
But I never wavered as a fan. Whether it is high school, college, or the NFL, the bulk of my autumn and winter weekends have been consumed with the sport for my entire life.
While I can never see my fanaticism going away, recently the sport, led by the monolith that the NFL has become, has, to be blunt, began to piss me off a little.
Little by little the game is changing. The way it is played, the way it is officiated, and even the way it is broadcast and followed by the multitude of fans in America.
I know that I can't stop progress, if you can call it that. But that doesn't mean I can't complain about it.
That is how "Old Man Football" was born.
It is a counterweight to all of the crap that is weighing down the sport and is slowly eating away at the simple and wonderful experience of just sitting in you favorite chair at home, pouring yourself a beverage and watching the game. This is a Blog that will celebrate defense, good tackling, and the beauty of a perfectly executed counter play.
What kind of crap will I be railing against do you say?
Let's start with the biggest and baddest, the NFL.
I know that it is a business, I know their job is to make money for the owners, but how much is enough for these billionaires. As Bud Fox told Gordon Gecco, "How many yachts can you water ski behind?"
The NFL has come to believe that points=ratings, and ratings=dollars. So over the past 40 years virtually every major rule change has been made to help scoring and hurt defenses.
Eliminating the bump and run, this year's emphasis on illegal contact penalties, protecting the QBs as if they were made of glass, fining defensive backs for hitting "defensive receivers", the list is endless.
Last year was the NFL's worst nightmare, the small market Seahawks (My favorite team in the interests of full disclosure,) playing aggressive defensive and a simple offense that focused on running the football, tore into the Broncos Flag Football style offense and God's Quarterback and kicked their ass.
The NFL's response? Throw of flag on aggressive defensive backs if they breathe wrong on a receiver..
Defense is slowly being legislated out of the game. I realize that the concussion crisis necessitated a response by the League, but this is ridiculous. It is a violent game, you can't eliminate the contact aspect of the sport and punish every big hit with a fine and suspension. It has gotten to the point where they expect defenders to be as accurate with their shoulders as if they were laser guided missiles. Incidental contact is now seen as unsportsmanlike conduct.
And they aren't only doing it for safety, the NFL seems to be of the opinion that running the ball and solid defense are "boring." Was Seattle boring last year? How about the '85 Bears? Or the Steel Curtain teams of the 70's. There is a way to protect players without turning the sport into the type of glorified flag football that you are starting to see in places like the Big 12, where defense is a dirty word and god tackling in nearly extinct.
And the sad part is, the new breed of fan, the fastest growing portion, and the group that the NFL seems to focus all of their energy these days, that being "The Fantasy Obsessed Douchebag," loves every bit of it.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy fantasy, and I play it. But do I watch games for the sole purpose of keeping track of my team? Do I feel the need to tell every guy at the bar that I stole Nick Foles in the tenth round last year? Do I believe that Matthew Berry should take Roger Goodell's job? No.
I have had it with fantasy, the obsessives have jammed this activity down America's throat over the past few years. Enough of the ubiquitous scrolls during games, fuck these celebrities and their high end leagues that they need to share with the rest of us on Jimmy Kimmel. These people see the games as nothing more than a point source for their imaginary teams. I am convinced that half of today's modern fans could live with every game being blacked out just as long as the NFL provided instant stats to their God Damn I-Phones. And speaking of stats.
I enjoy Aaron Schatz, Bill Barnwell, and many of the other Football Metrics Geeks. However, at times it feels like they enjoy a little too much reminding us "old fashioned" fans how smart they are and that we have been watching the game the "wrong way" for our entire lives. Just like fantasy, it has gone a little too far, I can't take another article on Pythagorean Wins, Regression Totals, and I really don't care who the best slot corner in the NFL is against third receivers on 3rd down plays with more than 7 yards to go, I just want to watch the game. Put away your slide rule, end your judgmental criticisms of athletes performing a skill that you couldn't do at the junior high level, and get off your twitter feed already. The new breed of football writer engages in paralysis by analysis and has essentially devolved what was at one time an interesting idea of Sabermetrics for football into a group masterbatory exercise among the stat heads as they argue over which teams adjusted DVOA is likely to drop this year based on schedule strength. There is a human element to the game, there is stress, pressure, and even fear. the players aren't robots in pads and the coaches are don't have the benefit of time and hindsight when they decide to go for it and fourth and 5. Got that Barnwell?
And leading this charge, changing the game from the one I fell in love with, are the networks. Yes, the man behind the curtain. They have one job, make money. So what if they bombard the fan with endless sponsors and distracting ads, who cares if the scroll on the bottom of the screen takes away 10 percent of your picture? And when they throw it down to their useless eye candy reporter on the field to give you some cliché from the coach that they call a quote, they don't care if you just missed a play. Because they don't care about the game, and they don't respect the fact that some of us still just want to watch it without useless information being jammed down our throats.
We aren't watching it for the stats, and not the fantasy points, and sure as hell not for the announcers (I will get to them another day,) but for the game -and to gamble of course, I am not a romantic like Bob Costas for God's Sake.
So that is what this Blog is about. A celebration of what brought me and others into football, and an occasional rant against the powers that are trying to destroy it. I hope you enjoy it.
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