Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Loser Comment I no longer want to see/hear/read

When teams lose, everyone makes excuses. Coaches, players, fans, etc. Everyone has excuses, but the one that follows is just plain dumb. It's not an excuse, it's not an explanation, it's an admission that your head is firmly entrenched in your anus.

"They gave us some looks we weren't expecting" or "They blitzed/ran/passed more than they have in the past"

Really? They did something you didn't plan for? You mean they didn't send you a script of everything they were going to do in order to allow you to prepare the perfect gameplan to dominate them? This is ridiculous, and speaks to a loser mentality. You absolutely HAVE TO EXPECT that your opponent will throw things at you that you haven't seen. What world do we live in where we think our opponent is going to run by some script and not vary it at all? I don't get that.

They blitz more than you expect? Pick it up. Everyone has an assignment. But, here's one very obvious guideline: If there is a guy wearing the opposing jersey, and you're between him and the ballcarrier BLOCK HIM.

They usually pass and now they're running? TACKLE.

They usually run and now they're passing? COVER RECEIVERS.

They usually play cover 1 and now they're playing cover 2? Work the short stuff.

They usually play cover 4 and now they're playing cover 0? Line up in Shotgun and find the hot receiver.

It's a useless excuse. This is what it really means: "That team we just played, they did a better job preparing, playcalling and executing than we did." That's what it means. Coaches who use those excuses just need to man up and accept responsibility. You got whipped. Deal with it. Learn from it. Coach better next week. If your excuse is continually "They did things we weren't prepared for," then it's time to find a new job. Perhaps you should look into weatherman openings in San Diego. Nothing unpredictable happening there.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ben,

Loved your comments and it is right on. We all love Coach Richt, but you are right in that the excuses need to stop and we need to start solving problems. We had the momentum in the 4th quarter and the home crowd was bringing the roof down. Then Bobo goes out of the shotgun and starts sending receivers 20 yards down the filed? Most pathetic play calling I have seen in a long time as we had that game won if we make a few first downs, run the clock out and send Walsh in to kick the winning field goal. Mike Bobo is not the OC we need to compete in the SEC as I see it and Richt needs to take over the play calling right now if we have any shot at beating Mississipi State next weekend in Starkville. This season will be over if we don't get the offensive play calling right as we have the talent on offense to win and a damn good young QB. So frustrating to watch!