BLACK

With a 'forced' weeks holiday from work nothing left to do but ride and race.. not quite a Belgium Holiday calender of races over the Christmas period but so far i've managed 2.. CXNE RD 9 on Boxing day and Macclesfield Monster on 28th..

CXNE RD9 was a local affair.. only 10 miles from my house.. the event had been upgraded from a fun race to a league event and I had convinced a visiting friend, Ian, to race on a borrowed bike.

The course I had pretty much ridden a few months prior but the sloppy mud had been replaced snow and Ice... the car park was filled with riders having ridden a lap putting more pressure into their tyres.

The start was one of the best I have ever had.. although the front rows were gridded I found a cheecky hole in the middle and was up into the top 10 off the start and holding the pace well.. by the end of the first lap the top boys superior bike handling had seen gaps opened.. a rushed mount after a short run up saw my unship my chain and lose 5 places trying to wrestle it free from the chain device :(

The rest of the race saw me clawing back the places I had lost seeing me finish back in 12th ... Paul Oldham took the win chased by Steven Ward.. Ian Bibby after a heavy first lap fall was back in 6th.

After the race I packed up the car.. fired home.. put more bags and the whippet in the car and drove to meet Grace at her parents in Manchester.. as well as the excellent meals and coffee's on offer at her parents it gave me chance to fit another race in just a few days later.

The Macclesfield Monster is the first race in the North West leauge after Christmas so the turn out was good... as well as a leg stretching it offered a chance to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen for 10 years.. Duncan Astle.. creator of Here Come the Belgians.. after a quick chat we lined up for another kicking.

The conditions at Macc were the opposite of CXNE race.. raining, sloppy mud and greasy corners... the course was fantastic.. some great little climbs.. boards up for dismounts and run ups and some off camber corners from hell :)

The gridding at this race went league top riders first then national points leeaders so I was a fair bit back... with the National Cross Champs looming alot of the big hitters were out.. Oldham, Bibby and Craig to name but a few.

Straight into the race I was into a battle with 4 other riders as we switched places so many times I lost count.. and when I thought I was clear the slightest mistake and a rider would pop past..






My first mistake was a late dismount before a board and I slid shin first into it.. ouch!! ... I still maintained contact with the little group I was riding with.. next I washed out my front wheel on a corner and unshipped my chain again although this time it went on quicker but a gap had opened.

As the race progressed I noticed that I was running wider and wider into the turns t bottoms of descents.. my brakes were almost non existent.. with 3 laps to go and just before I was lapped by Nick Craig as he rode to 3rd place I started a little descent that went into an off camber 45 degree left.. Nick Craig railed it.. I went for some brakes to check my speed and both levers came to the bar and I accelerated into the corner.. I briefly held the drift before the front wheel washed and I was left comically sliding down the hill on my back.. wet grass offering no resistance to slow me down.

At that point I called it a day and accepted my second DNF of the season.. too many cheeky descents to ride with no brakes.

Not the most productive races with a 12th and a DNF but entertaining all the same.. the only downside being a sore throat and cough I have so training will be minimal and hopefully I will be good to race again on Sunday 2nd :)

The Welsh FA have pre-warned the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey ahead of the 2012 Olympics that should they decide to participate they will be banned from appearing again in the Welsh side.

The fact that this is the year for Euro 2012 and that the Olympics will be sandwiched by the Euros and the new Premier League season 2012/2013 will probably make this element of the Olympics a non-event.

The British side would look good with Bale complimenting some of his Premier League colleagues...wouldn't we want to see it in action? Are the Welsh FA being a little bit harsh?

My "off season project" is near complete. I have essentially burned my physical video library of DVDs to a 1.5 Terabyte external hard drive as a backup against scratches or loss.

It may seem like a lot of unnecessary work, but searching, organizing, and keeping up with over 453 NCAA/NFL game film DVDs (plus a few hundred clinic discs) can be tedious and subject to error. I had no real feasible method other than to store the discs on large disc spindles, which began taking up more and more physical space. It was herding cats to find a disc (even after having grouped spindles by categories), then to go through the process of creating a copy was worse.


Now, once I receive a disc, I just pop it in the drive, rip the ISO image to my portable hard drive and store it away as a master disc.

It also makes providing copies for other coaches that much easier, too. I just pull from the ISO image catalog, pop in a blank disc, and burn....done. This way, the bookshelf full of DVDs, the entire collection is available on a paperback-sized drive, available to take with me anywhere and burn (dvd-ready discs) anywhere with a DVD-RW drive.

Jacob Fuglsang Mikkelsen talks about electric cars and such with
British environmentalist Tony Juniper (special adviser for The Prince of Wales' Rain forest Project and University of Cambridge, long-time CEO of Friends of Earth, has lead campaigns for The Green Party, etc.) and the Danish author and professor Bjørn Lomborg "The Sceptical Environmentalist", Copenhagen Consensus.


Filmed for the German/French TV channel ARTE

Thanks to *Coach Hoover for the heads up on this (and saving my ass)....Yahoo Video is removing all of its existing content in March.

http://www.techieinsider.com/news/4873

On December 15, 2010 the functionality to upload a video to Yahoo! Video was removed and a download utility, available through March 14, 2011, was added to users’ video profiles to allow retrieval of content. The user-generated content will be removed from Yahoo! Video on March 15, 2011. We apologize if this causes you any inconvenience.

Thanks, dickwads. Now my Yahoo account will only be valid for the annual fantasy football pastings.

So, my attempt at avoiding the issues I had with GoogleVideo (2006-2008) randomly pulling any game film I posted (not broadcast footage) have hit a brick wall. I am reluctantly migrating all my 500 some Yahoo videos into my Youtube account to conform to the Google monolith.

Change is good, I suppose, and this was something I was actually planning on doing anyway to make the content more accessible for mobile users. This affords me an opportunity to experiment with creating higher resolution game clips for viewing online. Oh well, you get what you pay for (both free...........for now). Also, likely unrelated, I'm itching for an opportunity to use my Captivate's TV-out function to record practice footage (in 720p) and connect it to a big screen with component cables after practice to go over coaching points (beats lugging around a camcorder).


*be on the look out for a moster project Coach Hoover is putting together in the coming weeks

another great blog worth checking out that just took off this past fall is

http://footballpressbox.blogspot.com/

The Milan CO2 tag - click on image to see larger size


The Milan flyer & poster


Videos about the day


By the Milan based production company Lunadavideo



Video by the Italian website LIFEGATE
The video is showing the pre-event before the cars went out on the "painting peformance" in the streets of Milan.



The above video with focus on a vehicle alternative to a scooter in Italy,
that can be driven from the age of 16.

The Milan version was done in collaboration with Ragnarock - Nordic Festival.
For more images, go to their Facebook page on HERE!

Its been 2 weeks since my last race... I was entered to race the Northern Champs race but after a Christmas party incident in a Paris bathroom left me with a very sore head I had to give it a miss.

Wasn't sure how I was feeling before this one... training is going pretty well.

The venue, Dalton Park, was almost free from snow but in leaving it left behind a pretty soggy mess so full mud tyres were perfect.

The course wound its way front and back of a big hill feature with a section along an exposed top... the climbs were pretty short, the descents nicely off camber or slippy.. all good cyclocross elements.

The start was on a narrow path on a slope only a few riders wide so the field spilled onto the grass either side and as we set off I was nicely cut up by a guy that came from above me.. with the anger of that move I was out the saddle on the first short climb and up into the top 5.. by the back half of the lap I had moved into 3rd with a clear view of 1st and 2nd riding away.. the severity of the start strung the field out quickly leaving myself and 4th place to battle out most of the race with 5th a comfortable distance behind and the guys in front now out of reach.

I love the intensity of cross racing... its something you don't get in endurance events... you ride the whole race with people breathing down your neck.. the pressure never lets up.




Towards the end of the race I notice 4th place wasn't there anymore and I got to relax a little and just maintain a gap... then the bell lap came and then it was done.. first top 3... now i just have to do it when there is no national on and the field is at its strongest.

Race Video

Chris Paine in Denmark on a Electric Nimbus, July 2010

As we all anticipate what should be an exciting match up between two explosive offenses in Auburn and Oregon for the National Championship, we may be able to glean some useful lessons from both these teams. Both represent fast-paced no-huddle offenses that are borrowing on basic concepts and adapting them as the lastest offensive innovation. Ironic or fittingly, I suppose, that we covered both teams offenses earlier in the Fall (Oregon / Auburn), but what stands out to most people about each is not their plays or scheme so much, as their method of operation...................fast. In this post, we will provide some insight into how one of these teams facilitates this tempo via sideline signal boards.

While it has garnered quite a bit of attention (and favor) with the BooYah Sports Network by featuring their self-heralded icons during Oregon games, Auburn's similar practice has been rather subdued. Both essentially share the system of communication, along with other offenses (Oklahoma State).

It may appear as complex chaos, the methodology is quite simple. You have a base offense and concepts that you run, all you are doing is eliminating the unnecessary huddle and parsing the relevant pieces of information needed on a given play. The no-huddle concept has been around for a while, but recently it has undergone more efficient tweaking, accentuating the irrelevance of the huddle. If you've ever spent anytime coaching offense, you'll know just how tedious and frustrating it can be dicking around "coaching" the huddle procedure ('YOU go here...you go there....no, no, no...you're supposed to face that way!").

To better explain this process, I've included examples of how this information would be coded and signaled to flesh out how it actually works. Lets explore what needs to be delivered to the players....

Formation
Motion
Play direction
Play Type

This is common information usually shared in the huddle, before anything is presented to the defense. What the no-huddle is doing is presenting a formation, allowing the defense to match it, then call an offensive play based on this information and/or change it (if necessary). All this can be accomplished outside the confines gathering the players together; just line up, get the play, and execute it.

How information is being communicated (the huddle is a waste of resources)

As the offense nears the spot, they will assume the same formation as the last play (though nothing really changes for the offensive line, quarterback, and fullback on most every play). The formation will be signaled (usually by a sideline player) as soon as the previous play ends along with any pre-snap movement until that formation is achieved. Next, the play type will be given to the players. The quarterback will begin the cadence, repeating the playside/series code, and snap the ball. Once the play ends, the next begins and the process repeats.

This necessitates an offense to develop its own language, with multiple terms (and signals) to deliver the same information, so the code cannot be easily ‘cracked’. This is achieved by concept association and by allowing the position units to devise the terms they want to use (ownership of association).

Sideline Communication
The sideline usually features up to four different signalers consisting quarterbacks, receivers, graduate assistants, assistant coaches, and coordinators. These players will be signaling something every down, though not every signaler will be ‘live’ (will be signaling bogus dummy calls). The common method is broken down as follows;

Play Caller: coordinator / coordinator assistant
Signaler: position coach (runs, play action, screens)
Color: player (black or blue = right / white or gold = left / red = play change/check)
Signal Board: GA (passes)

All these individuals will present their signals to the on-field players until the ball is snapped to ensure that no player did not receive the information. So once a play ends, the 'next play' begins with the entire offense setting up on the spot of the ball, looking to their sideline for new information.

The real key to the team of signalers is the Color designator. Colors will determine if the signaler is hot (or the board is hot) as well as reinforce what the playside will be.

Black, White, Green, Pink, Brown – Signaler is Hot
Blue, Gold, Red – Board is Hot

So by this example, after a formation is given and the sideline player signaling “Black” (right is playside / signaler is hot) the players on the field will look to the signaler for the play. If the color signaler is delivering “Blue”, they can understand that the playside is right and the board is hot (i.e. pass routes) and disregard the signaler.

To better explain this process, I've included examples of how this information would be coded and signaled to flesh out how it actually works. Let’s explore what needs to be delivered to the players....

As you can see by the charts above, the no-huddle concept of signaling can deliver this information quickly through association and will generally only affect the 5 specialists on offense.

Next, the play type (run, play action, screen, or pass) can be delivered. The key is to group the play type by genus or series.

“If the reference is X, I will know that the play is going to be ‘this type’, now all I need to know is which one”

In our examples we can classify the play types as;
Runs are represented by NFL teams (or mascot)
Passes are represented by College teams (or mascot)
Play action passes will be represented by the run action signal with a (color) tag
Screens are based off locations (city or state)

We saw this earlier (and it is quite common) during the write-up on Louisiana Tech’s first few practices last spring as well as Bo Pelini’s base defense concepts, where commonly used categories represent different types of plays.

Take these examples for instance;
I=draws the association of “I for IZ” that is commonly tied to the NFL team, Indianapolis Colts, so any horse reference would be able to convey a zone run.

P=draws the association of “P for Power” (i.e. NFL team with a ‘P’ is the Patriots), so all you would have to do is deliver an iconic symbol of what people would associate a ‘patriot’ with.

During this entire process, the quarterback can eyeball the sideline while ‘translating’ audibly to the line and backs…. “Blue, Blue….Cowboy! Cowboy!” (right counter) without the defense really having any idea of what is going on. Alternatively, the very next play could be called “Black, Blue….Dallas! Dallas!”, and still be running the same play.

With passing plays, it is the same process, but this is where the boards come in. If the board is 'hot', the bogus play type will be called out and let the offensive line know it is not run-action, so they will need to listen for the protection. The fullback will then call out a play-specific protection on every down (much like the TFS system will have the back make a 'roger' / 'louie' call each play).

When the board is ‘hot’ the quadrants will represent primary and secondary receiver routes based on the route tree used. So, you could have your passing concepts represented by both associations (NCAA teams/mascots deliver a passing concept) as well as number representations (“20” / “97”). See below for a standard chart for passing concepts and marry them up with the included passing tree.

If you are calling a smash concept, you could just call "Razorback" (Arkansas) or the "20" (or "90"). The "2" in this call would represent the initial read side (right) and the "0" indicates primary receiver running the hitch.

>> No.1. Sack a manager with a firm pedigree in achieving top half finishes.
>> No.2. Appoint a flakey manager with a history of walking out if things get tough.
>> No.3 Piss off said flakey manger by appointing Dennis Wise above his head, or by just appointing Dennis Wise full stop.
>> No.4 Act all surprised when said Flakey manager flounces off.
>> No.5. Appoint a manager with a history of heart problems.
>> No.6 Act all surprised when said manager has heart problems.
>> No.7 Appoint a former player who has taken charge of 0 games.
>> No.8 Act all surprised when you get relegated.
>> No.9 Under no circumstances entrust the team to the highly regarded no.2.
>> No.10 Wait until the highly regarded no.2 has got the team into the top half of the table and has the team settled, playing well and liked for the first time in years and sack him.
>> No.11 Act all surprised when you get relegated.

Lying in bed with the phone constantly refreshing the event website.. no change... it was still on.

The recent cold weather had seen a good foot of snow dumped over the week and there was no more putting off my first snow cross experience.

The first challenge was digging out the car... the next negotiating the various driving styles I encountered on the hour drive to the race venue.. afterthis nothing would be a problem.

The car showed todays was racing would be in a very manly -5 degrees ... the event car park park was already filling up as I arrived... you can never underestimate peoples desire to get out and ride :)


Near 60 riders and a few fields wiith 8" of snow covering the race was going to be amazing... made better still as although last week was my first sign on for Velo Club Moulin this was my first week wearing the colours...

.. and almost as good as that my new wheels had been finished so I would get to race on new tufo tubs :)

The course had some really tough sections but on the flipside also had some compacted sections were you could get good speed up but overtaking would mean coming off the good line and fishtailing through deeper snow... doesn't get any more fun than this.

My start was less than ideal... 50 metres of clambering to get both feet in the pedals then riding squarely into a plastic marker post saw me distinctly mid field with lots of work to do.. seems like this is becoming the norm for me every week so it didn't worry me.

The racing went... sit in on the deeper snow sections into everyone elses groove... pop out on the wider compacted sections and steal a few places.... repeat.. any foot down on the floor would lead to you not being able to clip back in so running any sections was avoided.

I cut my way up through the field and could see a group of 4 riders ahead.. then I heard the commentator announce they were fighting for 4th place so the chase was on to get across to them... when I did we had a great battle.. everytime I got up and past I would panic a corner and dab loosing the ground and places I had made... I ended up sat in 5th place on the bell lap.. just behind 4th place.. as we got to a steep climb 4th place went to the side to look for the better line and I gambled and smacked it straight up the middle through the crap or mud and snow... both of us coming to the top close but I had a half wheel and nipped through... a quick blast out the saddle and a few turns later saw my best result so far with 4th place.

The power of Velo colours is great :)

Next week Northen CX champs.. weather and roads allowing i'm hoping to break the top quarter of the field.

A week after Gateshead and an £80 parts repair bill later I was back at another cross race.

The Stainton venue was windy and cold... watching the Junior race from the comfort of a warm van the motivation to get changed and get riding was low.

With no National Trophy race on the field was stacked with some top quality rider... Oldham, Ward, Murray, Moss, Nixon.. the list was extensive so today wasn't gonna be easy.

First sign on for my new team for 2011... VELO CLUB MOULIN ... after other new Velo rider Dave Crawley's 1st place on his first outing for them the pressure was great :)

After a quick change myself and Neal, who'd come for his first cross race experience, pedalled out onto the course... to not long after turn around and head back to the van.. I had changed rear wheels and forgot to fit a spacer to inside of freehub so cassette was rattling.. luckily I had other wheel with spacer with me and was able to borrow tools and sort it.

The course looked pretty awful but once on it it rode really well... plenty of turns, a nice climb, transitions from dirt to tarmac which were only surpassed in their bike sliding ability by a set of off camber bends which were really tricky.

Just before start Neal decided that he had a rear flat so made for the van only to make it back in time to get going... I was mid field on the start line and spent the first lap executing some high risk dubious cornering overtakes to cut my way up towards the top 10.

On a set of low boards that could be bunny hopped I saw new team mate Dave Crawley standing with his bike, later found out a snapped rear mech... I feel your pain Dave!!!

The race was excellent... I had a great battle for most of the race with the same Malton Wheeler rider as we exchanged places two or three times a lap... He would be a little quicker through the turns but I would get on the gas on the climbs and take position back.

About 45 minutes in I was overtaken by the leader ... Paul Oldham... no great shame as the form he has at the moment I was surprised it didn't come earlier... another 40 seconds later then Steven Ward came through... a North East rider having a great battle with Oldham and squeezing out the other Hope factory boys for the second place spot.

A lap to go I was just behind my Malton Wheelers rival on the start finish climb so I rode hard past and then buried myself for the rest of the lap.. in doing so I caught and lapped Neal who looked to be enjoying himself too much... one final out the saddle effort and the race was done... 13th place in a good field of riders... I know I have a more to give so looking forward to North of England CX champs in a few weeks.




Picture courtesy of Lee Adeola (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeandamanda/)

Videos of the race can be seen here;

Video 1
Video 2

interesting piece in today's WSJ regarding how to judge quarterback efficiency and play on more than just throwing alone

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704312504575618762643111900.html

"That would take in the ability to move a team down the field," he said. "That would take in running ability." His argument, it turned out, foreshadowed a more intuitive formula devised by David Berri, a sports economist at the University of Southern Utah and the co-author of the book "The Wages of Wins."

Dr. Berri's system, which he called QB Score, analyzed data to determine which aspects of a game contributed most to a team's scoring or surrendering points. It places greater value on all the yards a quarterback gains (regardless of how he gains them) and on turnovers (including fumbles). A quarterback's rushing totals aren't a huge factor, Dr. Berri said, but they're taken into greater account.

The event was documented by several National TV Stations.

(and yes, it is advertising, but the message is ok)


The above image is also about Changing Something from a project anno 1994 in San Francisco

Riding really strong... 40 ish minutes in I was lying 4th.. 20 second gap to 5th and I was feeling good.. then..



.. nothing I could do from there on in.

Roll on RD7 on Sunday.. bike should be fixed and i'm ready to go again.

Back to where my cross season this year started... 4 races back and under the BCF banner I opened my cyclocross season.

The course here is an excellent mix.... short sharp climbs, wooded singletrack and wide grassy drags for losing or gaining places.

As a change for this race the course was altered slightly and ran in reverse... this coupled with a heavy downpour the day before leaving the grassy sections wheel suckingly wet it made for a challenging course.

So to keep with the theme of change I had opted to strip my bike of its front mech as I had rarely used it in any of the races.. with this change I upped the front ring to a 38t leaving the 12/25 out the back.

I've identified that i'm not the best starter in the world.. in fact i've had awful starts every race so far and with such a short race every little helps... this time round I wasn't taking any chances so pre start I stalked Alan Nixon (Blackhawk Bikes)to the start line and pulled right up next to him... front line and a clear field ahead no excuses.

As the race started I was immediately in a better position although still not the best start it was infinitely better than previous efforts and I was about 10th going into the singletrack muddy descent.. this descent fired the riders into a sharp left hander and then it was into some slippy singletrack.

By the time we had reached the section where the course double backs on itself I could see that the lead group had a little gap already.

It was immediately clear on the first lap that the new gearing was maybe a little steep and I really had to mash the pedals hard to make the slippy climbs.. that being said I wasn't losing any places and was gaining on the riders in front.

The wooded singletrack was nice and twisty and passing was best left till you were out of it but as we caught the back of the field quickly there was no option but to try and weave through best you could..



The racing was very close and I was pushed from the start... about 40 minutes in I was caught and dropped a few places... although the riders never pulled out a very big gap and I would get those places back not long after and hold them to the end.

The mud had started to gather around the wheels and I was glad of the extra clearance the disc brake set up allows me although it felt like I had gathered a fairchuck of the course on my bike and was now carrying round with me for extra training effect.



On almost the last lap I saw Alan Nixon running off the course... broken mech.. I was happy that my bike was still working well but as the race entered its final lap I was pushed hard by a rider from Malton Wheelers who stuck a pass on me as I had to dismount and run a climb when my rear wheel broke traction and I span to a stop... as we started the final drag up before the start finish field I passed him again and this time when we enetered the field instead of diving for the sides and seeking an easy line I just gave it all straight down the middle.

Another great race and a satisfying 6th place.

The race was won by Dave Crawley (Velo Club Moulin) who looks to be taking his place at the front of the field for the forthcoming events.

New wheels and a 11-28 cassette this week in preperation for sundays CXNE race :)

Once you’ve taught the power, you’ve also taught the counter (to the playside). All the rules remain the same; PST works a B-gap track, PSG works an A-gap track, Center works backside, and BST hinges.

The only thing that changes with counter is the backside guard and H-back. The guard will change his pulling footwork to accommodate the trap technique on the end. He will exit on a 45 degree angle, rather than the 90 degree open-hip technique used on power option. Since the guard is kicking out the end, the H-back will exchange roles (with power) and seal the first backer inside the box.

The same principles used with power apply with counter. If the DE wrong-arms the kickout, the guard can log, leaving the H-back to loop outside and bounce the run.

After a heavy diet of power (overload of numbers at the point of attack), the homerun threat of counter action can stretch defenses to a breaking point. To help with this horizontal stretch, the slot (#2) running orbit motion will adhere to a simple set of rules. If the ball carrier is aligned in split backs (away from where the orbit motion is coming from), the slot (in motion) will continue on an (power) reverse track to the counter action. If the ball carrier is stacked (pistol), the motion man will reverse out and run an option course with the quarterback. This simple rule helps stress defenses who will game plan against counter/power, by spinning a safety down with the motion. By introducing the reverse path, the playside safety is widened, creating a larger seam for the ball carrier to run through.

Malzahn’s offense is premised on a 2-back run and play-action team that will keep constant pressure on a defense and defensive coaches by;

1. Running the offense at a 2 minute pace the entire game (physically and mentally wear them down)
2. Balanced attack
3. Heavy misdirection in the run and passing game
4. Stretch the field vertically and horizontally
5. Throw the book at defenses with specials, fire alarms, and various personnel packages. Plan to go into each game with 7-8 trick plays
6. Present the option in 3 different ways (zone read, speed option, power g option)

After covering the zone-read with bubble last year and with the Cam Newton destroying defensive fronts this season, it may be time to cover Auburn's gap run schemes (Power, Counter, Hand Sweep). What is interesting about this "spread" is how much nothing has really changed over the years. This series is nothing more than Wing-T from the gun, and you'll find more and more spread teams complimenting their zone runs with these concepts (La Tech, for one).

Gus Malzahn gained notoriety as a high school coach in Arkansas throwing the ball and attacking through tempo and extreme spread sets (see ninja). While joining forces with Rich Rodriguez protege, Herb Hand, the appreciation of the 2-back power run game was realized and perfected. In this post, we'll take a look at how Auburn's inside/outside zone is complimented by gap blocking via "Power", in its many forms.

POWER G





The H-back looks to make his first step to the midline of the defensive end (or EMOL), who he will kick/dig out of the C gap. He obviously wants to leverage this player quickly by striking the chest and pin the inside shoulder of the defender. This player doesn’t always align in the backfield. Malzahn will often bring a slot receiver or tight end into the formation late with motion.

The playside tackle will step down hard inside and follow a B-gap track. He is looking to work his track to the 2nd inside linebacker in the box. If it is an (base) odd front, the tackle will work toward the backside inside linebacker. If it is a stacked front, he will work to the MLB. If confronted with a 3 technique playside (defensive linemen in B gap), the tackle will look to make this DT an A gap player, washing him into the playside guard’s track (thereby creating a double-team). This method allows the tackle to have a better angle attacking the backside linebacker.


As mentioned, the playside guard will step down and work an A-gap track and wash any shade head-up to shade of the center. The center will always block back on a nose / backside shade / backside 3 tech, aiming high to ensure the defender does not cross his face.

The backside tackle will hinge, by stepping hard inside to prevent backside B-gap penetration, retreat, and look to just get a hand on the shoulder of the backside end.



QB POWER


When you have an exceptional runner at quarterback (like Cam Newton) Power can be run with him as the ball carrier and/or a running back can be substituted as the ‘quarterback’ (ala Wildcat). The QB power is usually complimented with perimeter stressors like speed sweep / reverse.

POWER OPTION



The only nuance of Power Option for the line (everything remains exactly the same), is the technique used by the backside guard. Because the H-back will not be kicking out the end, the guard will have a longer path to work to the backers. To account for this, Malzahn will have the guard use the ‘old-school’ shoulder throw with playside foot pivot as the first step. Opening the hips of the guard for this extended pull track (outside C gap) helps neutralize any penetration and gets the linemen to the destination faster.

The split end will attack the slot receiver’s (who is becoming the pitch man) cover defender and the pitch key will be the flat defender. This is a fantastic play inside the 10 yard line, as most defenses will be in some sort of man coverage.

Passing along a great link provided by Trevor McIntyre, detailing elements of Saban's program manual and how it influences players at Alabama.
Blueprint of a Champion Article

Though Saban isn't the only coach to use such intense indoctrination methods to build a positive-peer culture, this is an insightful look at how to lay a detailed foundation of expectations, behaviors, motivation, and mental processing to build a consistent product. Some of the insights regarding player expectations outlined in the article can be heard here and also through the 2010 ESPN "All-Access" special.

Some choice excerpts from the article;





“Discipline, commitment and effort and toughness - that's the four fingers,” (Scott) Cochran said. “The thumb is pride. “So when you put the four fingers up, that's what it's all about. It means fourth quarter, but there's a lot more.”

The manual is obviously not just the sole creation of Saban, but a collaboration from his entire staff, selling a united message. Even at the high school level, there are many valuable tenets to essential program building to be garnered from this lesson ( framing competition, staging strength & conditioning, positive mental imagery, leading with purpose, etc).

Additional Links:
Dr. Kevin Elko
Albert Bandura
Self-regulation of Motivation and Action through Goal Systems

Happy to still have something to blog about 100 posts in :)

In my effort to improve my cross racing I am taking in not only the CXNE BCF run series but also the NECCL TLI run events:)

Last Sunday saw RD3 of the NECCL series and although I have missed 2 rounds already the overall series is based on best 5 out of 8 events so an overall decent position is still to play for.

Hetton Lyons Park is a popular cross destination featuring some good sharp little climbs and off camber muddy descents... the weather decided that after previous weeks of easy going that it was time to get into the 'Real' cross season and let rip with a good level of rain for the duration of the event but when you are breathing hard and tasting blood the weather doesnt even register.

After a pre ride of the course tyre pressures were lowered... not since Arrowhead snow race have I dared run such low tyre pressure... numerous times I felt the rim hit a root or rock.

The start was on tarmac for a good 100m before firing into an S bend... again I struggled to get a decent grid position on the start and I had to spend the first half of the race picking my way through the field of over 80 riders before settling into the natural order of the race



The leaders were out of sight and I was left chasing the same 2 riders for probably the last 20 minutes of the race... we were very evenly paced so the gap never seemed to decrease... as the final bell lap came I sprinted the start finish straight to try and finally bridge the gap.. in a narrow singletrack section which climbed steeply I caught onto the back of them then on the next straight section made a move on the outside and past.
The next corner was hard left straight onto a muddy short climb.. I washed my front wheel out having to dab a foot and allowing the rider I had just overtaken to pull alongside.. I put in another effort and squeezed just in front as we hit the singletrack straight immediately apologising for the abrupt overtaking manouevre.

I pulled away leaving with a comfortable gap at the finish.

9th place... I am gradually creeping my way further up the finishing list.. I started the year aiming for top 15 finishes but now want to push myself harder and get into the top 5.. as conditions worsen I think my chances of getting there will grow.

NECCL RD4 this Sunday :)