new offenses

In my day you either ran an option offense or a pro style offense. Basically in an option offense you predominately ran the ball and in a pro style offense you threw it more than you ran it. So what has changed? Not much really. You have new names like spread option or run and shoot but really not much has changed.

Spread offenses are designed to spread a defense out and put the ball in the hands of your play makers. This is nothing new. In the old triple option offenses, you would spread the defense by running horizontally along the line of scrimmage and choosing who gets to carry the ball. In the old pro style offense when you put in 3 or 4 wide receivers you were spreading the defense out so you could throw to your play makers.

When it comes down to it, football is just like any other sport. You want your play makers with the ball in space. And then you just hope they make a play for your team.

As much as things change, the more they remain the same.

the waiting game

This is by far the toughest part of the season. The waiting game. You are coming out of the dark time. The time when they are very few sporting events to watch. We are lucky this year that we have the Olympics to tie us over. But it only partially fills the void.

Sure we have practice reports coming out of each school. And of course we subscribe to one of the premium sites, you know I have to be an insider. But I want to watch my team win a real game. When they scrimmage I'm worried about the offense if the defense does well and I'm worried about the defense if the offense does well. And what about injuries??

You can read about other teams and what the experts think about the coming season. You can find somebody who loves your team and others that think they stink. It gives you plenty to talk about on the websites that you frequent.

Oh yeah, the websites. Rivals and Scout are just two of the more common sites. There you can find kindred brethren. Other fans of your school that share a common bond. They also live and die with each tidbit of information. Some more than others. You can always find out something new, learn the new rumors, and gripe about things that you don't like.

So here I am sitting and waiting for the season to start. Playing the waiting game. The only game in town.

college football season

We are now less than two weeks away from the start of college football. A religion to many people. If you are from a pro sports background, then that is no big deal. But for the rest of us, it is a rite of passage. It is literally the only game in town. We live and die for it. We follow our favorite teams. We know more about 85 strangers than we do our spouses.

I know more about ACL, PCL or MCL tears, high ankle sprains and various sports injuries than the typical family doctor. I can recite 40 times both accurate ones and the inflated ones of my arch rivals.

Soon I will help the struggling economy by purchasing tailgate supplies and the normal trappings associated with the ritual of attending games. It makes me feel patriotic just thinking about it.

During this time of the year, no news is good news. The only news out of camps is usually injuries and that is never good. The countdown has started and for those of us consumed by college football, the wait is almost over.

Roll tide roll, how bout those dawgs, go big blue, buckeyes are the best, so cal can do it, hook em horns, etc.....

Pick your poison, it's all good stuff.

WDC