Quote
Saguaro
but the reaction to this game is just an example to me of how fans (and even a lot of commentators) respond to game outcomes.
Whatever the winners decided to do was the right thing, and whatever the losers decided to do was the wrong thing.
I've watched a lot of football - college and pro. Unpredictability is what makes this such a great game to watch.
Many, many a time I've seen a defense bow up and frustrate a good, physical running team for 2 or 3 quarters.
And then they get tired, and suddenly the run begins to take off. Suddenly gaps start opening, and 1st downs start coming.
And then it's always easy to say later that the running team did just the right thing. They stuck with what they knew, and in the end it was the right thing.
Instead of getting impatient and abandoning the run, they kept at it and won. Yay.
But then it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes the defense doesn't lose its sand. They just keep filling those gaps and the running team loses.
Then come fans saying "why didn't they adjust? why did they have to be so stubborn?"
Or a team DOES try to adjust and they lose because they try to be somebody they're not, and they aren't good at it and things go haywire.
No matter what a coach decides to do, if he loses, the second-guessers will say that he made the wrong choices.
And maybe those second guessers are not always wrong. But I don't think they're always right, either.
I can understand why some coaches just stick with the girl they brought to the dance.
They trust their system. And if they're a playoff team, it means that most of the time, it has worked for them.
You can make the right choices and still lose. Because you're not playing against air.
The other guys want to win, too. The other guys have a system, too.
Sometimes they're just better. Sometimes it's just their day. Tomorrow may not be.
Tough choices.
