Blair Luchs

8/31/11

Putting the fans in the stands:

Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest football minds of all time, once said, “ Some people

try to find things in this game that don't exist, but football is only two things - blocking

and tackling.” In other words, football is a game to be watched and played solely on its

basics, which are the players doing their duties and the coaches telling them how best to

do their duties. Nothing Else. I think Danny Hope has a good sense of the idea that the

players are meant to play and the spectators and meant to spectate. The spectators

criticizing Hope think they know a lot about football because they show up to games on

Saturday afternoons in their, “nosebleed” seats, tailgating and drinking beer, and fancy

themselves as experts. They have not spent one day in a football coaches shoes; watching

film, making game plans, preparing and giving speeches to young, nervous players, and

yet they are suddenly God’s football gift to earth? I would compare them to the typical

obnoxious sports dad. You know, the one that is always yelling right next to your ear on

every play, and always has something to preach to the coach after a lost game? Schools

and owners hire their coaches because they know he or she has what it takes to lead a

team to victory. If a coach didn’t have that ability, wouldn’t it become obvious to these

owners to get rid of them and find a new one? In closing, imagine getting off after a long

days of work, and as soon as you walk out the door, hundreds of people yelling at you

about how you didn’t do your job right and how they knew better. Shouldn’t they worry

about their own business?