Fast-paced no-huddle offenses put a lot of extra pressure on a defense. The Ducks have had several opponents counter this pressure with a curious number of one and two-play injuries, that seem to miraculously correspond to the exact moment Oregon gains a little momentum by increasing the tempo and pressure.
Vontaze Burfict looked like James Brown doing "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World" in the mid-sixties. He had a dozen curtain calls in this game, limping off one play and crashing the line moments later. His recuperative powers should be studied by the Mayo Clinic. OSHU could do it, but the PAC-10 might not trust the findings.
There's a fine line between gamesmanship and World Cup soccer-style faking. College football is a beautiful game. I'd hate to see an exciting fast-paced offense undone by more fake falls than a WWE Summer Slam.
Not sure how you police this, but it's a trend that discredits the game. You'd think coaches would have more belief in their players than to resort to garbage like that.
I've been screaming that into the TV during Duck games for a couple of seasons. Buy what can a ref do? The health and safety of the players are paramount.
ReplyDeleteIt's clearly an ethical issue with opposing coaches, but we're just going to have to take it.
BP--
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately you're probably right about the health and safety issue, an ethical gray area, one of those "life is not fair" conundrums that can never be resolved.
However, if a player would ever be caught in a flop, it should be something the officials can penalize for.
Dale
It was almost humorous in the Tennessee game. After about five plays, one of their guys would go down with a "cramp" only to return two plays later after getting some water. Lol.
ReplyDeleteThe solution seems fairly simple, and it falls within the context of player safety. Require that any player who requires stoppage time to assist from te playing field be forces to sit out the remainder of the series to allow ample time for trainers to evaluate their condition.
ReplyDeleteBen, Anon,
ReplyDeleteWelcome and thanks for commenting.
Ben, yours is the most elegant and consistent solution I've heard to the flopping issue. It makes perfect sense and provides a meaningful disincentive without jeopardizing player safety. The NCAA rules committee ought to consider it, maybe even with the extra clause that a player who "suffers" a repeat injury should perhaps sit out for a specified number of plays or a portion of the game, maybe 5 minutes or so, for a more complete evaluation.
Anon, the "cramping" at UT approached epidemic proportions and did at times seem almost scripted. You wondered if they had a practice period devoted to it, or sideline signals.
You'd think teams would have more pride. I mean, can you imagine how you'd tell your players, "okay, we can't compete or keep up with these guys, so every 3 or 4 plays we want one of you to fall down and fake an injury." What kind of message are you sending your athletes at that point?
Dale