Locator: 49554ITSALLGOOD.
Macy's Day Parade -- the three-hour marathon has just ended and now we move to The National Dog Show on NBC! Holy mackerel! Those dogs certainly get a lot of treats! What a great country.
ABC was the only major legacy network that did not get Thanksgiving Day game. ABC/ESPN has the most valuable time-slot -- Monday Night Football!
- FOX: 12:00 noon CT.
- CBS: 3:30 p.m. CT.
- NBC: 7:20 p.m. CT.
Amazon Prime has exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football but to get that contract, Amazon had to agree to "give up" the traditional Thanksgiving Day game -- the "Dallas" game.
But Amazon Prime got the better part of that deal! They introduced the "Black Friday" game, exclusively on Amazon Prime tomorrow, at 2:00 p.m. CT, which offsets their TNF this week. The stock market closes early on Friday so folks can get home in time to enjoy the game. Incredibly well planned.
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NFL Football
Let's talk sports for a minute. Why is American football -- particularly profession football -- so incredibly fascinating, enjoyable, addictive (insert your own word)? I think it's because, as a game, it is very much like chess. With regard to football, like chess, there is defense and there is offense. With regard to offense, the coach has two main options to choose from: the run or the pass. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. When I hear analysts discuss the advantages / disadvantages of each, the one thing I seldom hear discussed: time management.
So, run vs pass. Not discussed, perhaps most important when talking about either, and seldom discussed -- time management. And time management on so many levels. Think about this: if a team needs a timeout and either has no more timeouts or doesn't want to use a timeout -- an incomplete pass can provide that needed / wanted timeout. (And if the pass is completed, running out of bounds leads to the same timeout.)
If the game is a blow-out, running vs passing probably makes little difference by the middle of the fourth quarter (or earlier).
However, for close games (which one expects / hopes to see in championship games) time management is incredibly important. Running vs passing each provide "time-management" advantages.
However, in close games, it often comes down to the "two-minute drill" and without question, time management is critical. It's almost predictable how long a pass play will take. A running play cost a team a lot of time -- a lot of seconds, they can ill afford to lose. Obviously running out of bounds accomplishes the same thing as an incomplete pass when it comes to time management. This is all very, very obvious, but I never hear sportcasters mention as a chess-like way to see football, and among armchair quarterbacks and coaches, I don't think I ever hear about time management except in the obvious ways. Thoughts?
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Book Page
Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and The World, Malcolm Harris, c. 2023.
