Posts Tagged ‘Plays’
There are many reasons to love the sport of football. Whether you are sitting on your couch with some buddies enjoying the game, or are lucky enough to be at the game with your air horns blaring, football is almost always exciting. True, the game can get bogged down by too many running plays or just terrible teams, but there are times when the excitement level ratchets up, and here are three of the biggest plays in football that can turn a mundane affair into an afternoon of excitement.
1. The Pick Six. The pick six involves the defense intercepting the football and returning it for a touchdown. Even if the game is really boring, there is always the chance that a safety or a linebacker or a corner will jump a receiver’s route and go the distance. When this happens, it is a split second affair that can send a crowd into fits of joy, or pangs or desperation (depending on what side you root for). This play can be made even more exciting if the interception and return is made by a lineman or is a long return for a touchdown. The beauty of the play is that it can completely change the momentum of a game because the offense will end up being deflated, while the defense will most likely prosper knowing it can stop the other team at will.
2. The Long Bomb. The sport of football was changed forever when people stopped handing the ball off every play and finally took the time and effort to throw the ball down the field. And once that started happening, the quarterback position became more important than ever, and people wanted to find out how far they could throw the ball. The long bomb is one of those plays where everyone can see the play developing and rises to their feet when the quarterback rears his arm back and lets the ball fly. Whether the receiver comes down with the ball is the other part of this play. When he does not, there is always the chance that a flag for pass interference could fly, and, while not as exciting as the player catching the ball, it still gets the job done. If you want to see this play in even more glory, just wait until there is a flea-flicker and you will witness the long bomb in all its glory.
3. The Punt Return. This play involves the offense for one team stalling, having to give the ball to the other team, and that team returning the ball for a touchdown. This is a dagger for one team because they will have just given the ball back to the other side, only to have six points put up on the board. The punt return for a touchdown is exciting because it involves one man avoiding an entire team of people out to get him. Once the ball is in the air, the punt returner has to watch the ball, catch it and quickly start running up the field. He could get completely pasted, or he could make everyone miss and get into the end zone. The chances of this play happening are very small and when one does happen, it can change the whole momentum of a game for one side.
All of these plays are momentum changers and all of them can bring a team back from the brink of defeat. If any of these plays happens in the final two minutes of a game, the player will probably get the game ball and be hailed as a savior. Unless that player is on the other team, in which case he will be even more hated by the other side.
The BCS (short for Bowl Championship Series) system is meant to determine who plays in the National title game. Only the top two college football teams will be selected. This system was created in 1998 as a way to select the top two teams for the national level games.
Initially, when considering the best system to adopt, human votes were taken into consideration. However, this would be a biased system because if based solely on human votes, teams who are not performing but highly popular may be voted to play year after year. There is always the danger of people voting out of biasness instead of performance. This will hardly keep the general population happy.
To address this problem, computers came into the picture. Besides taking the votes of Associate Press writers and coaches into account, the BCS system also uses seven computer ranking methods to come up with a total score. Various factors such as number of losses, number of wins when matched against top teams etc., make up the ranking formulas. The two teams with the lowest total score will be playing in the National title game. However, this system is not without its share of problems.
For example, in 2000, both Florida State and Miami lost only one game. When the human votes came in, Miami was voted as the second team, and Florida State came in third. However, to everyone’s surprise, when the computer made the calculations, Florida actually came in second – ahead of Miami. That meant that Florida State actually qualified for the National title game. Obviously, some enthusiasts are not happy with the results.
In 2001, Nebraska lost to Colorado during the final game and they did not win their conference. Colorado came out as the stronger team by winning their conference. The human voters agreed, and most rooted for Colorado. However, when the computer rankings came out, everyone was once again surprised – Nebraska qualified! Everyone thought that the BCS system must have gone bonkers.
But how can computers be totally at fault? After all, they are just following a set of instructions input by human beings to choose two supposedly well deserved teams to play in the national games. Their primary function is never to make everyone happy. In fact, that may be an impossible task.
Whatever teams the BCS system chooses, there will be some who will be happy. For sure, every college football enthusiast wants their favorite team to qualify. If the team that they are supporting fails to qualify, they will be unhappy, and they will blame it on the BCS system. Perhaps that’s why year after year, news of flaws in the BCS system kept regenerating.
Obviously, no system in this world in perfect. All the major sports leagues like the NFL or the NBA have their own systems, and they are not perfect. But the bottom line is, they get the job done. Until a better system can be proven to work better than the current system, the BCS system will be staying.