When you make those decisions and I, we're under NO pressure at all. If we're wrong, we get laughed at and it's forgotten. If he's wrong, he could lose his job.
"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:
Yes, but isn't that the whole point? I watch the game . . . for fun. I yell and scream and curse and cheer and applaud . . . for fun. I come here to talk about the game . . . for fun.
Mike McCarthy gets paid to do what he does.
Our motivations are totally different. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and I don't see why it's so hard for some people to understand that. They seem to think that our critiquing the game means we're not having fun, when the reality is that it's part of the fun of the game. The joy of victory is inextricably intertwined with the agony of defeat, and at any given moment, a play can represent a little victory or a little defeat. It's the ups and downs of the game that make it so fun -- much more so than, say, baseball. Football is so complex and complicated and nerve-wracking and nuanced that a single game gives us enough to talk about for an entire week. That's amazing.
The thing that irks me is the people scoffing and saying our objections are "hindsight." As I've said before, the fact that a play works out doesn't necessarily mean it was the right decision, any more than the fact a play doesn't work out necessarily means it was a bad decision. Most of the playcalls I dislike I'm objecting to -- quite loudly -- in the bar or my living room before I know what the results of the play are going to be. Even if I like what happens, that doesn't mean I change my mind to agree with the call, and there are times, say on 4th-down conversions, when the play fails, but I still agree with the attempt.
I can't count the number of times I've jumped out of my seat and yelled, "Whyyyy!!!" when I see our quarterback taking a deep drop on a 3rd-and-1, or our backs lining up in an I-formation on third-and-long, and then the receiver lays out for an amazing catch, or the back somehow gets the first down, and I yell and cheer along with everyone else, and I then sit back down, shaking my head, and say, "Well, okay." Just because I'm happy about the result doesn't mean I changed my evaluation of the play call.
That's not hindsight, just a difference in philosophy. I don't see what the problem is with that.
"Zero2Cool" wrote: