Brouhaha
Monday, June 27, 2005 at 04:50PM Last week, Heisman Pundit declared blogger revolution. Soon others followed. Things seem all well in bloggy-land.
Then things got crazy.
First, CFR and HP had their say on the upcoming Boise State/Georgia matchup here and here. Then, mgoblog got batty and launched this broadside.
Then, the weekend came and everyone jumped into the water proclaiming skepticism of HP and also CFR.
This morning, HeismanPundit answered back extensively: vinegar.
For a condensed version of the above, you have EDSBS.
What does CFR think?
We think mgoblog was way off base in considering the thoughtful
posts and backed-up justification of HeismanPundit shallow and
facile. I read both posts mgoblog pointed to and found them
almost the complete opposite of what HP was being accused of.
Talk about facile.
Mgoblog takes offense to the creation of HP's Big Six, asking 'how
would he know'? if they're really sophisticated. Well, as HP said
before, no less than Pete Carroll, one of the elite coaches in the
game, was on record giving quite heavy praise for Boise, a team that
for whatever reason is taking a beating as somehow unworthy of HP's Big
Six. HP also brought up those teams' records last year---just two
losses that weren't head to head.
In response, I've also created the Big Six tracker on here just to
keep tabs throughout this season. Some of the things expressed by
HP and CFR are awaiting the actual games to be played. In the end
are the outcomes we talk about predictions? Well, yeah, since the
games haven't been played. But asking 'how am I to know', after
having just read justification from the previous season and an offering
of what will happen the next based on that justification, that's your
answer. Actually, your answer is to watch the games!
This sophistication argument is legitemate, and is not going
away. We've presented the outline this preseason, giving you, the
reader, time to prepare and watch these teams and see what we're
talking about during the regular season.
As far as using numbers or film as justification, I'm sure I'll try
and get some film if I have any just sitting around and manage to load
it on here. Until then I don't think written play-by-play of what
22 guys are doing each quarter of a second is really worth your time.
I could sit around and use numbers, too, but I did that once and was
accused of not having real justification. Catch-22 here, if you
ask me, from the fickle forever-cautious skeptic types who live what
amounts to a fairly numb existence.
Lastly, part of helping people along to understand something is to get ahead of the argument, as HP and CFR have done. Saying your say afterwards, and being right, has the unfortunate effect of making one a Moday-morning quarterback and people will still not believe you. At least if your arguments are presented before, people have the time to watch them either develop or disappear and analyze their merits in real time.
Blogs, General, Intelligence, Politics, Teams, The Big Six
Reader Comments (4)
Boise State, Louisville and Cal are three teams whose offenses are built upon multiplicity. They run the same plays out of different formations, personnel groupings and motions. These offenses give the look of complexity to a defense but yet are rather simple. Al Borges does the same thing at Auburn, Ralph Friedgen does something similar (but more complex) at Maryland, and Charlie Weis did this at New England and is bringing the offense to Notre Dame.
Norm Chow does something different. He's more about creating mismatches on the field. He's not about running the same plays out of different looks; he's all about creating match-ups for his talent to exploit.
Finally, there's Utah, Florida and Bowling Green (if you include Utah, you have to include Bowling Green since their HC (Gregg Brandon?) runs the same offense. This is the spread option. It's really simple but yet much different than the others. In fact, I don't think it's very sophisticated at all, although it has the appearance of complexity. The QB reads the defense; if there are 7 or fewer defenders in the box, they run and if there are more, they pass. The QB reads are pretty simple and not much is asked of the quarterback.
The truly sophisticated passing offenses are the ones that don't work in college - see Paul Hackett.
Sophistication is a catch-all term for style of play, etc. These six teams have pulled away from the pack, whereas Maryland hasn't, and we don't think Notre Dame will (although it would be great for CFB if they did).
Also, why didn't you include Auburn and Borges?
Probably because it's the same offense, for the most part, that he ran at UCLA, which was figured out by the Pac-10 after the 1998 season. It was successful in the SEC because they haven't seen an offense like that-- one that throws passes to the running backs that aren't just swing passes or passes to the flat. It's sophisticated for the SEC, but not necessarily sophisticated when compared to the Gang of Six.