Super Bowl's Strangest Play
Don Campbell | Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 10:36PM This year's Super Bowl (number XLVIif you're Roman) saw one of the strangest things in sports. No, it wasn't the the winning coach's predictable Gatorade shower being replaced by chocolate milk, or multi-million dollar commercials being replaced by text-only ads. It happened at a very critical point late in the game. And it almost seems unreal when you think about it. The defence let the offence score a touchdown, and the offence tried not to. Huh? Let me explain...
With under a minute left in the game, and the New York Giants trailing the New England Patriotsby 2 points, the Giants made an impressive march down the field and were in scoring position. Announcer Cris Collinsworth noted that he would instruct any player heading to the end zone to score a touchdown to simply fall down on the one yard line and NOT cross the goal line. Why? With very little time on the clock, you not only have to manage the seconds required for your team to score, but also the seconds required for the other team to come back and score against you before time runs out. In this case, it might be better to keep the ball deep in Patriot territory, wind down the clock, and save the very last play to kick a chip-shot field goal for 3 points and the 1 point victory.
As I listened to the announcer, I thought it was a strange, although very creative, strategy. Sure enough, moments later the Giants ball carrier is heading to the end zone, seemingly untouched, putting on the brakes at the one yard line. In a strange twist of fate, his momentum carries him over the line backwards, and he accidentally scores a touchdown for his team. It all works out in the end, as New England never scores again, but it still seems like the Bizarro world of sports to me.
It got me thinking....when else does the offence try NOT to score, while the defence wants them to? It never happens in hockey, or soccer. In baseball, you often see them walk a batter, but I don't recall ever seeing them intentionally walking in a run. And if so, I can't imagine the team at bat trying to NOT let them do it. Perhaps basketball comes the closest, if one team lets the other score two points so they can quickly try and come back with a three-pointer. But again, I can't imagine the team with the ball trying not to score. Yet that's what happened in this crazy Super Bowl. New York didn't really want to score the touchdown, but the defence parted like the Red Sea and cheered him on. It was quite the sight.
One of the best things about sports is that sometimes the physical part gives way to the mental part. The coaches and their strategy really can have a positive impact on a game. Like a last minute stick measurement call by coach Jacques Demers against Marty McSorley that eventually leads to a Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup in 1993.
No matter how much you exercise your muscles to be a better athlete, don't ever forget to exercise your brain. Sometimes the best play you can make, is to think creatively.
Don
Reader Comments (2)
In cricket (a bat and ball game similar to baseball for those not familiar with it) there is a time limit as well as a set number of innings. At the top level a game is 2 innings per team over 5 days. If a team gets badly behind they can start playing for a draw. Their goal is now to spin the game out so that it is declared over with no winner because it is incomplete. So they will stop trying to score runs and just focus on avoiding outs. The rules of cricket allow a batsman to choose whether to run or not when they hit the ball, so you can get teams spending hours hitting ground balls and not bothering to run. Somewhat similar
That's great Colin. All a 5-day cricket match needs is a technique to slow down the pace. :-)