Bill from North Liberty, IA
A favorite baseball dig I remember is when an outfielder takes a circuitous route to catch a fly ball, the opposing bench yells, “Nice catch Magellan!”
We used to say, “That circus needs three rings.”
I respectfully disagree about two-a-days. Some of my favorite high school and college memories are from hanging with the team all day long in between practices. I understand why the NFL doesn’t allow it anymore, but man we had fun in that locker room.
There’s no way I could’ve survived two-a-days in the summer heat in my youth. I barely survived a 95-degree high school doubleheader out in left field when I don’t think a single ball was hit to me all day.
John from Rhinelander, WI
I remember the Lombardi two-a-day practices, and Wes said that in today’s football, players have many meetings, with less practice. Are today’s offenses and defenses more complex than the past and require way more study? It seemed like Lombardi kept it simple and said this is what we are going to run, try and stop it!
All true, and in today’s game they would stop it. Specialization and constant substitution have made the game way more complex than yesteryear.
If (or when) the NFL goes to an 18th game, would you rather the preseason will start a week earlier and leave the bye between pre and regular season, start the regular season a week earlier, eliminate the bye week before the Super Bowl, or play the Super Bowl one week later? I don’t see what’s so sacred about starting the season before Labor Day, but football into mid to late February seems ridiculously brutal. Then again, I’m not a fan of a team that plays in a dome or the Sun Belt.
I think when the regular season goes to 18 games, it will be opening on Labor Day weekend, which the league has avoided for years for fear of not getting the ratings it wants over the final summer holiday. I suspect that’s not much of a concern anymore. Just my hunch anyway. There will only be two preseason games, and there might be other adjustments via collective bargaining regarding the offseason or start of training camp, etc., that will factor into everything, too.
Good morning II. Bob from Rome, NY, had a good question posted yesterday but it wasn’t really answered, so I’d like to ask it again: With the chains no longer used to measure for first downs, will the coach know exactly how short they are? Preseason TV coverage has shown a computer-generated image of the ball and the line to gain. Is that also on the scoreboard? Can a coach request that similar to requesting a measurement in the past? Thanks.
A coach will be able to make that request, I believe.
Brandon from Imperial, MO
Good morning, I have a question on what feels like recent terminology. When did we, collectively, start saying “the line to gain” instead of “first-down marker”? Was there a timeline shift around 2022 because that’s when I first remember it being said all over different football broadcasts and rarely prior. Was there a memo that went out from the league since they were getting ready to change to the “Hawk-eye” tech or did everyone just decide to start using it fulltime?
I can’t pin it to a moment in time, but the more common it became to hear in-game officials over the mic refer to “line to gain” when discussing a replay, it seemed to seep more into the general football vernacular. It’s the language of the rulebook. I’ve always said “marker” and always will. That’s just me.
Chase from Diamond Springs, CA
In Joshua’s defense, I only know about compensatory picks because of this column. I totally get the logic too, but then you look at last season and realize how big those two wins came out to be. Then there’s the added value in practice and potential for creativity now that he’s in his second year here. Even if those picks weren’t a thing, I still see too much value to trade away with no cap concerns and the abundance of youth already.
Couldn’t agree more. It took 11 wins to get the final seed in the NFC playoffs last year, and the Packers needed Malik Willis for three of them. As for the comp pick, as Wes said, there’s a good chance Willis could fetch the Packers a third- or fourth-rounder, which would mean any trade compensation talks now should start with at least a second to even consider it, and I don’t see a team surrendering that at this stage.