Lost by a Footie

I did something I never do. I watched the Super Bowl. I'm from the Atlanta metro area. The Atlanta Falcons were in it, which I only discovered a few days before the game. The last time I heard anything about the Falcons, they were a cellar team. Culture shock. The Falcons in the Super Bowl? How did that happen? Plus the name was fun. Super Bowl Li. It had to be sponsored by China, right? heh heh heh

I never watch the NFL, but I do follow my favorite college team. The college rules have changed over the years. Some of the changes are good(forward progress). Some are just dumb(magical touchdowns). Professional football has undergone changes, too. The last time I watched an NFL game, in order to score a touchdown the ball had to be in the end zone. Even in the college game, the ball has to pass through the end zone, even if the player is out of bounds(magic). If it sounds dumb, that's because it is. The NFL rule is dumber. A guy's foot made it into the end zone, and he was credited with a touchdown. It might not even have been his whole foot. He was tackled and went down around the 2 yard line. I was breathing a sigh of relief, but because his foot crossed into the end zone, it was a touchdown. Culture shock. No. Just no. It's about the ball, not extremities. How could they make a rule like that? Magic!

In the college game, once a player's knee hits the grass, the ball is dead. In the NFL I saw a touchdown in which both knees were down but the guy's head and shoulders continued on into the end zone. No. That's not a touchdown. In any other NFL play the ball is dead when the knee is down. How can the rule be suspended for that one circumstance? That's not a touchdown.

So, the Falcons kicked the crap out of New England and still lost, because of those two rule changes. Even though I don't watch the NFL, it just made me mad.

It wasn't all bad. The way I watch football is to tape it and start it about 60 to 90 minutes after the official kickoff. That lets me fast forward through commercials, timeouts, official reviews, players huddling and then walking to the line of scrimmage etc. The professional game is a lot faster than the college game I'm used to. I didn't have to fast forward much during the delays during the game. It was much more enjoyable to watch. I skipped the halftime show. :)

Another nice thing about the NFL compared to the college game was the lack of violence. The college game is a lot more violent with late hits and multiple injuries on both teams. The level of violence is complete unnecessary. The referees don't call most of it. One example I see a lot is when a player is running along the sideline. All it takes is a shove to knock him out of bounds. His shoulder and arm is already out of bounds. It's the feet that count. It just takes a shove. Instead, I see a lot of extremely hard hits in that and other situations where it's unsportsmanlike and absolutely unnecessary. I see a lot of hits after the whistle that never get called, a lot of hits when a player is already falling and so on. I was expecting the NFL to be thug ball, but it was fairly clean. It was a really nice surprise.

NFL players are surprisingly fast. It makes college players look like they're waddling. Some college players are also track runners, so there are fast guys, but it was a different level of athleticism in the Super Bowl. It was a more enjoyable viewing experience as far as pace goes.

I might watch a few Falcons game next year, if I can. I'm really turned off by the rule changes, especially the magical touchdowns, which I hate in the college game, too.

Book Stuff
I'm still working on getting AoM prepared for the writing phase. Because part of it takes place in virtual reality, I need to maintain tension in those scenes, when it would be easy to lose it, since it's not "real" any more. I'm wrestling with things like that and story elements. There's a certain logic that has to be maintained beginning to end for the story to work and have impact for the reader. And I'm trying to up my game based on all I've learned from past books and the feedback from the freelance editor. I'm hoping for good things.

Have a great weekend.