USA-365 Commentary: 5 Undeniable Truths of Football

A Commentary from USA-365.com

The 5 Undeniable Truths of Football
	By Mark Smith 9-16-2004

The amazing thing about sports is that it is not logic-based. The winning team is ALWAYS seen as the better team, even if the score reverses in a rematch the next week.

Anyone who is fortunate enough to play on a championship team is a 'winner' whether they had anything to do with the victory or not. Coaching is imposing your will. The ultimate in coaching is probably to get each and every one of your players to believe something that is an absolute falsehood, and to be motivated by it. It's not real life. It's sports. If lying works to win, it's a powerful personality (player or coach) getting the job done. If lying doesn't work to win, then it's, well, lying.

Football is the greatest example because it is probably the most macho of all team sports. Television is full of big fat slobs who try to show what tough guys they are by arguing about football, a game they played and think they know. But then television is also full of idiots who stand out in the middle of hurricanes and swear to you they are legitimately covering the story.

But when the rubber meets the road, some things cannot be denied. Some things simply are true, no matter what anyone says.

A lot of football watchers are in cliché denial 'jail'. And the truth shall set them free.

1.) Size does matter

This isn't a quote from 'The World According to Pam Anderson,' it's a basic truth.

A good big player will always beat a good small player. And many times, a mediocre big player can beat a good small player.

Football is a power and speed game. But unless the players are very fast, there's no place to hide. In college and pro football, offensive linemen have soared to over 300 pounds across the line. So no line coach believes in small over big. Wide receivers at major colleges are 6-3, 6-4 or 6-5 or they are switched to the defensive backfield. Look at Notre Dame, Florida State, USC. You've got to be tall or you don't get the ball.

Running backs have also grown. If a halfback is 185 pounds, he better enjoy college football because he can't play in the NFL at that size. Football players work all their life to get big. If size is not that important, why all the time in the weight room. It's the weight room. Not the speed and tanning room.

In the stands and the press box, there is a place for the 'little man' in football. But on the field, the place for the 'little man' is on the soccer team.

2.) The best offensive line almost always wins

Coaches, players and fans parrot the cliché that 'defense wins.' Defense wins in ice hockey, but not necessarily in football. Especially at the high school level, if you do not have an above average offensive line, your defense will be as tired as 'Everybody Loves Raymond.' Most championship offensive teams run the ball far more than they throw it.

Look at the five state title winners last season. All five, including Indianapolis superpowers Warren Central, Roncalli and Bishop Chatard run the ball 80% of the time.

Why? You control the game running the ball. You defend the other team by holding the ball. They can't score while you have it. Most teams have two-way players and you'd rather have your big guys pushing on their little guys (see Truth No. 1) more than 50% of the time as opposed to the other way around.

Linemen don't need to be skilled or athletic. They just need to be strong, work together and not wear down and you'll run the football against the best skilled offensive team.

Running the football also lifts your team. The defense can't score if the offense is careful. A good offensive line can score no matter what the defense does. Many teams have gone to 5-wide receiver sets now with no blockers except for the offensive line. The college champion, USC, could throw the ball recklessly because those five blockers gave the QB time.

When you look at the highly successful programs in northwest Indiana in the last 20 years, you see Hobart, Griffith, Merrillville, Portage, Valparaiso, Portage and Lowell. All are based on running the football. All are based on strength in the offensive line. You take the best defense, I'll take the best offensive line and I'll beat you more than 50% of the time.

3.) Football can be played with absolutely no athletic ability

You can be insulted if you wish, but look at college and NFL special teams players. Kids who are too slow, too small or not smart enough are put on special teams where they can help the team win by simply trying hard. Many high school defenders simply run to the ball and deliver a blow. They don't need to be fast, strong or even good tacklers if they simply never stop moving. Hustle is a very honorable trait but, let's be honest, it's not talent. It's not athletic ability.

Runners have to be able to run. Basketball player have to be able to dribble, jump or, at least be tall and agile. Baseball and softball players must be able to throw, hit or field.

Gymnasts must be agile. Swimmers must be able to swim, which is a talent. Wrestlers need technique. You can go on and on.

But when it comes to defensive depth, special teams players or offensive linemen in football... they do not need athletic ability to be above average players. It's why people like football.

4.) Big schools beat small schools

Always have. Always will. Every once in a while a coach will beat on his chest and say, 'We're not afraid of those big schools," but he's just shooting off his mouth. Every once in awhile, a smaller school beats a distinctly bigger school. Small schools that play big schools repeatedly get beat repeatedly.

In northwest Indiana, Whiting was 4-0 after four weeks. Andrean was 4-0 after four weeks. But neither of those teams could stay above .500 in the next largest conference. Whiting would be blown out almost every game in the LAC Black Division and Andrean would be lucky to win two games in the big school Duneland Athletic Conference.

Big schools have more big players, more speed and much more depth. It's easy to compete in one game. The problem would be Whiting playing Andrean, Griffith, Lowell and Hobart on successive weeks. That's an 0-4 any way you look at it. If Andrean played Merrillville, Portage, Valparaiso and Chesterton, they would also be 0-4.

You say that Andrean beat Chesterton 18-13 on a last second finish? It was the first game of the year. If the 59ers play the three teams I mentioned and THEN plays Chesterton, they'd get walloped. No small school consistently beats big schools. Small schools consistently beat other small schools. Perhaps larger than them. But other small schools nonetheless.

Football is a war. There are casualties. The season is a survival test. It's easy to fight one battle and then pick on street gangs. The hard part is to fight major battles every week. Eventually you lose.

The IHSAA offered all Indiana football schools to move up in class and play bigger schools in the state playoffs. None did. Not a few. None. They know they could not compete and they don't want to try. It's easy to talk.

This fall. Brigham Young beat Notre Dame 20-17, one week before ND beat No. 8 Michigan. So, Brigham Young could compete in the Big-10? Not a chance. It's the difference between going to work 52 weeks a year and being a substitute teacher.

5.) You cannot judge a team from the press box

Most people who cover football don't like the game. They like the fantasy they see from 100 feet away. They like the colors, the noise and the poetic beauty of the setting. They don't like standing on the sidelines and watching four boys hit one. They don't like walking through the mud and dirt and dodging large angry, dirty boys and men.

So, since they won't come down on the sidelines, they do not see who's winning. They do not see who is winning the line of scrimmage. They don't see the bad spots by the referees or how many penalties are not called. They don't see when a team is getting beat up, even though they are winning. They don't realize how fickle the heart of the game is.

The reason people pay more for front row seats than they do for standing room is that you can see more from front row seats than you can from the back row.

Here's the bottom line. Standing on the sidelines does not make you an expert in any way. But if you spend every week 100 feet away from the field in the press box eating free food and running your mouth behind a pane of glass, you know next to nothing about football.

And worse yet, you DON'T KNOW that you know next to nothing about football.

Care to sound-off on this subject? E-mail us with your comments on these or other 'truths' of football: usa365@ameritech.net

A Commentary from USA-365.com

The 5 Undeniable Truths of Football