I originally intended to add some disclaimers, so to speak, to my article, to avoid any misunderstanding and to communicate that I had not taken offense to anything said in CJ's shows. Unfortunately, I kept getting interrupted as I was writing, then had to rush the completion of the article out faster than I wanted in order to publish before today's frantic Media Guides activity. My fault. So I'll issue a few of those qualifications and explanations here:
1. I took no offense at anything said in any of the CJ Sweat Shows, by him or by any of his guests. While I certainly do not agree with everything said - as stated in my article - I appreciate the diversity of thought and opinion. In fact, one of my two primary motivations for joining Wilkinson was the CJ Sweat Show, which is simply amazing for reasons I think we all appreciate. I was just playing off some of his material to add a counterpoint. So, CJ, no I didn't take offense.
1a. Though I don't agree that my offense is not ideal of the Wilkinson D-IAA playoffs. I just didn't get it done, but those failings were almost exclusively defensive. In fact, the only coach who ever held my offense even remotely in check was babcick, but even his Semifinal victory in S119 over Sacred Heart was a higher-scoring affair than our typical contests. No, I didn't score 60+ against most of the top teams/coaches, but 30+ is a good showing deep in these playoffs... certainly enough to win with even a modicum of defensive prowess, which I apparently am lacking these days.
2. Personally, I do not find any ideas in this game all that intriguing based on any aspect of real-life football. Maybe that's just me, but I've really compartmentalized the two types of football - real-life and GD - in my mind, in terms of the way plays develop and succeed/fail. The core concepts of football apply, but the nuances of why things work and don't are simply not correlated enough to warrant attention. I do appreciate experimentation with formations and settings - that is the very essence of coaching development and staying ahead of competition.
2a. I will qualify that statement with one final word on the subject: If someone's real-life understanding of football leads them to ideas and innovation within GD, then that's great. I firmly believe that even incorrect application of real-life football concepts can lead to implementation of successful GD outcomes, due to factors either beyond our understanding or the law of unintended consequences. Maybe you believe that QB pass progressions work a certain way due to your understanding of real-life football, so you set up an offense and it works! Consider, though, that maybe it works in a completely different way than you think, but still works out really well within the game. This happened to me in GD 1.0 and it turns out the developer incorrectly described GD pass progressions using real-life analogies that were largely intuitive. My implementation of that concept actually worked BETTER than I even expected due to the way the game engine actually simulated (which was later revealed to be different than the first developer explained).
3. I appreciate the Wilkinson community and the competition. It's kept my interest level relatively high at a time when I was running out of steam elsewhere. As previously stated, I value the diversity of opinions and methods here, even when I do not happen to agree with them. I will, at times, write pieces where I disagree with something CJ said or something I see on a Conf Message Board or other things; other times, I'll see something that resonates and I will write on agreement. I always endeavor to avoid taking offense to comments, because everyone has their own perspective from which they view GD and that perspective will often differ from my own. And ultimately, as in the case of my particular brand of offense, I'm confident enough in what I'm doing that I don't need to worry about whether or not others have their own doubts. Besides, they're probably raising questions and concerns that I have pondered many times over... and if not, then I can take the opportunity to step outside my own mind and maybe learn something along the way.
5/5/2016 1:52 PM (edited)