Sports

From an article of the same title by Jason Scheib on Football Outsiders:

When a football team fails to convert on third down, it usually punts. And when it punts, it is turning the ball over to the other team. So why isn't a punt considered a turnover, just like an interception or fumble? I started with this simple idea and began exploring it as far and in as many different directions as it would take me. Over time, it has grown into a theory that redefines a turnover and uses this new definition to see what a team can do to improve their net turnovers and win more games. This theory presents two significant implications:

• A team would win more games if they never punted, and
• A team that never punts would not just be employing a different strategy but would approach the game in a fundamentally different way, which would further add to their success.

This is not about taking more risks and punting less often. That could cost you games depending on when you decided to punt and when you decided not to. The key is to never punt. Never punting takes away the risk because it allows the averages to work in your favor. It also opens you up to different play calling opportunities, primarily on third down. The two go together and are dependent on each other in order to make this work... Everybody knows that in football you have four downs to gain 10 yards or you lose control of the ball. But everybody approaches football as if you only have three downs to gain 10 yards or - most of the time - you punt. There may be exceptions to that when a team gets close to the end zone, but in general that is the primary approach. Think about that. Convention says that you are better off punting. And maybe that's true if you approach the game as if you only have three downs. The difference is mindset. That's the difference between saying you should be more aggressive and punt less often, depending on the situation, and saying that you should not punt at all. The first statement is based upon still approaching the game with a three down mindset. The second statement is based on approaching the game with a four down mindset. So what exactly is four down mindset? It means you look at EVERY first-and-10 as if you have four tries for a first down instead of three. After all, the rules of the game say you have four tries. How does this affect strategy? Well, primarily it affects what you do on third down. On third down, instead of having the mindset that you need to convert or the punting unit comes in, you have the mindset that all you need to do is get closer to the first down marker so as to put you in a better position to convert on fourth down.

The article contains a ton of statistics and analysis and makes an interesting argument.

Grandma and Grandpa Moore are in town this weekend, and Lisa is out of town at a church ladies' retreat. Elliot's soccer game this afternoon was in 50 deg F and rainy weather. After losing the first two games and tying the third, the Kickin' Chickens (in the rain today, they were known as the Ducks) finally won one today. 5 to 0. Elliot scored three goals!

From an article titled "Legendary golfer Byron Nelson, a faithful church member, dies at 94" from The Christian Chronicle:

Legendary golfer Byron Nelson, a lifelong Church of Christ member known as much for his gentlemanly conduct as his 52 PGA Tour victories, died today at age 94. Nelson died at his Roanoke, Texas, home early this afternoon, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner. "We've lost a great man today," Abilene Christian University President Royce Money said of Nelson, a former ACU trustee who long supported the university's golf program. "Byron Nelson was a wonderful Christian example whose life had a profound and lasting impact on everyone he met." Nicknamed "Lord Byron," Nelson established one of the most enduring records in sports when he won 11 straight tournaments - and a total of 18 - in his remarkable 1945 season.

Week 3 confirmed my week 1 heroics as a fluke. Again I managed to start an inactive player (Donte Stallworth this time), and there were only 4 touchdowns by players on my roster (3 of which were by players I benched). Needless to say, I got whipped.

Some good news...from an article of the same title in the NY Times by Bruce Lambert:

Friday night's season opener pitting the Cold Spring Harbor Seahawks against their perennial championship archrival, the Roosevelt Rough Riders, is the football game that almost didn't happen. The Seahawks come from a wealthy white Long Island district with top-rated schools, while the Rough Riders live in a working-class community of blacks and Hispanics whose dysfunctional schools forced a state takeover in 2002. Four years ago Cold Spring Harbor officials canceled the Seahawks' trip 14 miles south to play Roosevelt, citing safety concerns after an off-campus shooting in the community, unrelated to the school or its athletics, killed a youth. The teams resumed playing the next season amid hurt feelings, but their annual face-off was jeopardized this spring when Roosevelt's budget troubles eliminated the district's entire interscholastic sports program. Then members of the Seahawks' booster club began sending in donations, adding to the $15,000 that Roosevelt parents had managed to raise. A Seahawks captain, Peter Ottaviano, and a few teammates went to Roosevelt's turf to join their rivals in fund-raising car washes. And at the end of August, an anonymous businessman from Cold Spring Harbor sent an eye-popping $20,000, just in time for the school board to reinstate the football program before classes resumed. "Well, bless them," Ebene Gabaud, 17, a Rough Riders linebacker and captain, said this week. "Basically, without them, we wouldn't have a season."