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Saturday, August 2, 2014

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS




HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS


A Cranky Opinion for


CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY

The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with little or no expertise in the subject opined.  Opposing opinions are welcome; they are welcome but will be ignored and please, no name calling, and that means you, you big stupid head!

All successful football coaches have a philosophy that has served them well.

(Come back ladies this is not really about football.)

One coach believes in “Smash-Mouth Football” (I hate that term.)  He wants to out hit, block, and tackle the other guy.  His team lines up against you and runs right at you.  His plays are simple, but well executed from repetition.  When he is indeed bigger, more powerful, and better conditioned than the other team his philosophy usually wins.  He recruits, coaches, and trains in a manner that generally makes his team bigger, more powerful, and better conditioned than the other team.

Another coach believes in trickery and a complex strategy.  His players are picked for their speed and quickness.  His offense has fakes and misdirection, short quick passes and when the other team moves to stop that strategy, he throws the bomb. 

Both of these philosophies work when the team is prepared properly.  Both coaches are successful; for a while.   Eventually other coaches will devise a strategy to defeat both styles. 

The stubborn coach never changes his style or makes adjustments to what has always been successful.  Great coaches will make adjustments.  Hall-of-fame coaches make adjustments at halftime.  They will substitute a few faster players from their “Smash-Mouth” starters to keep up with the opposing team’s speedsters.  They will put in plays that take advantage of an over aggressive “Smash-Mouth” style.

Hall-of-fame coaches learn from other teams styles.  They adjust.  They keep their basic philosophy, but they recognize weaknesses and adapt other philosophies to shore up those weaknesses.

Our politicians do not adapt.  Our politicians hold onto one philosophy and beat it into the ground without ever accepting the idea that the other guy may be on to something.  They will not accept that maybe their philosophy has some weaknesses, that perhaps it needs some halftime tweaking.

There is no score based on results in the political arena.  If you can convince the judges that your failures are the result of the other guy, you can still win the judges votes.  The emphasis in politics is more on selling your philosophy than on adjusting to changes in the environment, or to accepting the ideas of your opponent when they prove successful.  This is why successful politicians can win their game even without scoring and while offering a porous defense.

I blame the judges.  I blame the voters.  I blame us.  The voters have chosen their team and they do not waver.  We refuse to boot out our leaders when they do not see that their philosophy does not always work. 

Our leaders will never make halftime adjustments until they fear failure to do so will have them looking for another team.

It was that great comic strip “Pogo” which said it best,

“We have met the enemy, and he is us!”


The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.

10 comments:

  1. "Our politicians do not adapt. Our politicians hold onto one philosophy and beat it into the ground without ever accepting the idea that the other guy may be on to something. They will not accept that maybe their philosophy has some weaknesses, that perhaps it needs some halftime tweaking."

    This. Until politicians can actually put their party lines aside and do what's best we are screwed. I am very doubtful this will happen.

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  2. Both teams, Republicans and Democrats, should realize that they're both on the same team---TEAM USA. The game should be called COMPROMISE.

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  3. we need a tom landry in congress. a lot of them, actually. even in a sport like football, he was a class act.

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  4. Yep, we are up a creek without a paddle. A mess and then some and you are right that both sides of the aisle aren't doing the right things. Finger pointing and name calling isn't going to get the job done.

    Have a fabulous day. :)

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  5. Got to go with Stephen. Both sides seem to forget the real team and just work towards beating the other side, not accomplishing a darn thing. .

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  6. Brilliant analogy. And you're right...most of our politicians couldn't be bench warmers on a high school JV team.

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  7. Sometimes I think the outcome has been decided before the game is even played.

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  8. Great analogy. And true. What sets a great leader apart is the ability to see change quickly and adapt.
    One thing I've always hated in professional sports is how the coach of a losing team is fired so quickly. It always seems short sighted. But maybe there's something to that after all - maybe it's getting rid of coaches who don't adapt.

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