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The kind of thing that drives me nuts
Boopotts
Posts: 6,784 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
The NFL irritates me, and here's why.
Nearing the end of the 2nd quarter and the Jags have the ball at about midfield or so. As most of you saw, they decide to run the clock down to :04 and throw up a hail o' mary.
Now that's fine. I have no problem with that. But here's the thing-- you don't throw that hail o' mary unless you think the odds that you will score on that play are better than the odds that the Steelers will catch it and run it back 100 yards for a TD. So, if it's worth doing with :04 left on the clock, THEN WHY THE HELL ISN'T IT WORTH TAKING A TIME OUT WITH 11 SECONDS LEFT AND DOING IT TWICE!!
Every week you see these kinds of boneheaded decisions that are a) never questioned by the neanderthals in the booth, and b) never brought up in the post-game or in the Monday papers. It's like the entire nation takes a 30 pt. IQ hit once the NFL takes over the airwaves.
Nearing the end of the 2nd quarter and the Jags have the ball at about midfield or so. As most of you saw, they decide to run the clock down to :04 and throw up a hail o' mary.
Now that's fine. I have no problem with that. But here's the thing-- you don't throw that hail o' mary unless you think the odds that you will score on that play are better than the odds that the Steelers will catch it and run it back 100 yards for a TD. So, if it's worth doing with :04 left on the clock, THEN WHY THE HELL ISN'T IT WORTH TAKING A TIME OUT WITH 11 SECONDS LEFT AND DOING IT TWICE!!
Every week you see these kinds of boneheaded decisions that are a) never questioned by the neanderthals in the booth, and b) never brought up in the post-game or in the Monday papers. It's like the entire nation takes a 30 pt. IQ hit once the NFL takes over the airwaves.
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It looked about 2 sizes too small.
I'm the boss.....have been for 8 years now.
Decisions that are made in football games, that I have no control over, just don't irritate me.
Possibly the reason coaches don't attempt it twice is the offensive players are a bit winded after the long sprint and the risk of a problem such as you mentioned or the risk of injury could be there - I'm not saying this is logical...just saying what the coaches might be thinking.
<< <i>Gotta disagree Steve - most good sports fans (at the pro level) enjoy the winning....not the irritation. >>
Well then it's obvious you don't live in Philly.
<< <i>LOL - nope - but I am gonna visit there and take in a Phillies series sometime! >>
The new stadium is superb.
<< <i>I get irritated by use of improper nomenclature when describing well-known plays in football. >>
Wow, imagine that! Another smart ass chimes in with a nitty (and off topic) post in the sports talk forum! Just when I thought I'd seen it all.
Other things that irritate me in football include what I feel is the gross underutilization of the false field goal (a la the Vikings this Sunday) and the flea flipper. I'll let the guy with the Uncle Sam avatar elaborate..
<< <i>I'm with Boo on this one. Most good sports fans enjoy being irritated. Otherwise we would take up peaceful, non-stressful pursuits such as reading poetry and bird watching - not that there's anything wrong with that.
Possibly the reason coaches don't attempt it twice is the offensive players are a bit winded after the long sprint and the risk of a problem such as you mentioned or the risk of injury could be there - I'm not saying this is logical...just saying what the coaches might be thinking. >>
That could be, steve. I guess the larger issue here is that I think the proper answer to many football decisions could actually be solved, as opposed to merely guessed at, and it baffles me that these teams-- who have millions of dollars at stake in these contests-- don't do a little bit of quantitative work to come up with the optimal strategy in some of the more common situations a team finds itself in. 'Irritates' may be the wrong word, but perhaps 'offend' would be better-- not that I'm offended in the traditional sense, but that it offends my sensibilities, much in the same way that I would be 'offended' if someone took off to Vegas with their family's nest egg to play hold 'em and never bothered to learn the odds of completing a flush with two cards to come.
<< <i>Wow, imagine that! Another smart ass chimes in with a nitty (and off topic) post in the sports talk forum! Just when I thought I'd seen it all >>
If I'm a smart ass (thank you), I guess that just makes you a stupid ass, keeping with your themes, Mr. hail o'mary. Sports nomenclature is off topic? Try not to kill any more brain cells, genius.
<< <i>
<< <i>Wow, imagine that! Another smart ass chimes in with a nitty (and off topic) post in the sports talk forum! Just when I thought I'd seen it all >>
If I'm a smart ass (thank you), I guess that just makes you a stupid ass, keeping with your themes, Mr. hail o'mary. Sports nomenclature is off topic? Try not to kill any more brain cells, genius. >>
I'll do my best to preserve the few I have left. Thank God these boards have guys like you here to offer this kind of sage counsel! Thanks for the kind advice, and many thanks for your invaluable contribution to this thread.
<< <i>Now that's fine. I have no problem with that. But here's the thing-- you don't throw that hail o' mary unless you think the odds that you will score on that play are better than the odds that the Steelers will catch it and run it back 100 yards for a TD. So, if it's worth doing with :04 left on the clock, THEN WHY THE HELL ISN'T IT WORTH TAKING A TIME OUT WITH 11 SECONDS LEFT AND DOING IT TWICE!! >>
It was 4th and 1. On 3rd and 11 they ran the ball, then ran the clock down on 4th down.
nfl.com play by play
edited for the link
<< <i>Gotta disagree Steve - most good sports fans (at the pro level) enjoy the winning....not the irritation. >>
If you don't get irritated by stupid decisions and plays that could lead to a loss then that tells me 1 of 2 things. You either aren't a "die hard" fan or you have become so used to losing that those type of things have become standard.
Ahhh, I just saw your avatar. The latter must be the case.
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<< <i>
<< <i>Gotta disagree Steve - most good sports fans (at the pro level) enjoy the winning....not the irritation. >>
If you don't get irritated by stupid decisions and plays that could lead to a loss then that tells me 1 of 2 things. You either aren't a "die hard" fan or you have become so used to losing that those type of things have become standard.
Ahhh, I just saw your avatar. The latter must be the case. >>
KC Royals record the past ten seasons
Year League Record
2005 AL Cent 56-106 (.346)
2004 AL Cent 58-104 (.358)
2003 AL Cent 83-79 (.512)
2002 AL Cent 62-100 (.383)
2001 AL Cent 65-97 (.401)
2000 AL Cent 77-85 (.475)
1999 AL Cent 64-97 (.398)
1998 AL Cent 72-89 (.447)
1997 AL Cent 67-94 (.416)
1996 AL Cent 75-86 (.466)
Good Grief!
<< <i>
<< <i>Now that's fine. I have no problem with that. But here's the thing-- you don't throw that hail o' mary unless you think the odds that you will score on that play are better than the odds that the Steelers will catch it and run it back 100 yards for a TD. So, if it's worth doing with :04 left on the clock, THEN WHY THE HELL ISN'T IT WORTH TAKING A TIME OUT WITH 11 SECONDS LEFT AND DOING IT TWICE!! >>
It was 4th and 1. On 3rd and 11 they ran the ball, then ran the clock down on 4th down.
nfl.com play by play
edited for the link >>
Oops! My bad. But this brings rise to another interesting debate, i.e: Does the run on 3rd down have a higher expected point value for the Jags than either a) tossing it up in the end zone, or b) trying another deep out (or maybe something up the middle, since they still had a time out)? I can't believe it does.
I could be wrong on that score too. But what's REALLY puzzling, at least to me, is that the answer to the question could probably be quantified-- or at least a reasonable estimate could be mathematically derived. So why haven't these teams-- who spend millions trying to win-- hired a math guy to write a computer program that allows one to imput the relevant variables and come up with an optimal strategy? I would be something of a challenge, but it wouldn't be THAT hard to do, and getting the 'right answer' in situations like ths could, in theory, be worth an extra 1 or 2 points a game.