Friday, January 29, 2010

What's Going on In Between the Super Bowl Commercials: A Beginner's Guide- Part II

In our last installment, we learned the Who, What, When, Why and Where of the Super Bowl. Now it's time to get down to the basics of The Game.

I'm going to teach you the basics of the game through the referee's hand signals. Once you learn what the hand signals mean, the game will suddenly make a lot of sense. Plus, you'll be able to impress your friends with your superior knowledge. Just trust me on this one.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. As with most games, the team to score the most points wins. So how do you score those points? There are three basic ways to score in football:

1) Touchdowns and Extra Points,
2) Field Goals, and
3) my personal favorite, the Safety.

Touchdowns and Extra Points
When the Referee extends his arms straight up, like so, it is indicative that the team on offense has scored either by a touchdown, extra point, or field goal.  (If you have children, you will also recognize this motion for "SOOOOOO Big!" ) We'll get to field goals next, but for now let's focus on touchdowns and extra points. There are two basic ways to score a touchdown- running the ball and catching the ball.

Running the ball in
In the National Football League, you can score on a run if you are holding the ball and it passes into the end zone with you still holding it. What matters here is that the BALL enters the end zone.

And what does "entering the end zone" mean? Picture a football field.  Now- the area at each end of the field is called the "end zone." See that large white stripe around the end zone? Imagine that an invisible wall is rising up out of it. In football, we call that the "vertical plane" and once the ball penetrates the vertical plane, a touchdown has been scored.  Ball + end zone = touchdown! Easy enough, right?

Catching the ball in the end zone
Additionally, a player can catch the ball while in the end zone for a touchdown. For a catch to count, the playing must have control of the ball AND both feet must touch the ground inside the end zone. Both feet don't have to be touching the ground at the same time- the right foot can land and then the left, for example. Also, they just have to touch the ground. A ballerina-on-her-toes type of landing is perfectly acceptable. All that matters is that both feet touch the ground while the receiver has control of the ball.

So, if either of those things happen, the ref will do this, the fans will cheer, and the team will get 6 points!

Extra Points
After scoring a touchdown, the scoring team is given the opportunity to try for an extra point. Also known as a try or a p.a.t., point after touchdown. This is typically done as either a kick for one point or a two-point conversion for (shocking!) two points.  Most of the time, the team will opt for a kick rather than the two-point conversion.

With a kick, the team's kicker simply has to kick the football through the goal post, i.e. the large, yellow Y-ish-shaped thing at the back of the end zone. If the ball goes through the up-rights, as they are commonly called, then the team gets one point. This is a fairly easy way to score, so there is little risk involved in choosing this.

For a two-point conversion, the team essentially has to score another touchdown. The ball is placed on the two-yard line and the team either tries to run the ball or throw the ball into the end zone. It is riskier, but the reward is greater.  Obviously, there is strategy involved in whether to go for one or two points, but for now, just know that these are the two options you are likely to see.

Field Goals
When the team doesn't have enough time or can't get close enough to the end zone to score a touchdown, they can try for a field goal. This one is pretty easy- all you have to do is kick the ball through the goal posts, just like the extra point we just discussed. A team will usually attempt a field goal once they get to about the 35 yard line, give or take some. Obviously the closer the team gets to the end zone, the more likely they are to score. The farther away, the less likely they are to score.

A field goal is worth 3 points and a successful field goal kick is indicated by the same "so big" arms motion as the touchdown. If a field goal is missed, it is either called "wide right" (to the right of the uprights), "wide left" (to the left of the uprights), or short.  If this happens the ref will extend his arms out in front of his body and wave them back and forth.

Safety
The safety is rare, but it yields the best of the hand motions. A safety occurs when the defense tackles an offensive player who is holding the ball in the offense's end zone. Confused?  Yeah, it's confusing.

In football, the team that is on defense (trying to keep the other team from scoring) is guarding their own end zone. So if the Saints' are about to score a touchdown, it will be in what we call the Colts' end zone.  But in order for a safety to be scored, the offense has to be in their own end zone. So for the Saints to score a safety, the Colts would have to be on offense and the Colts' player holding the ball would have to be tackled in the Colts' end zone.  If a safety is scored, the ref will clap his hands above his head. I call this one the "genie in a bottle" motion.

Safeties are the result of strong defensive play in combination with the offense having bad field position. If that doesn't make any sense, it will soon enough. Hopefully. ;)


So there you have it- the fundamentals on how to score in a professional football game. You are now one step closer to understanding the game!

Monday, January 25, 2010

What's Going On In Between the Super Bowl Commercial: A Beginner's Guide- Part I

Ok- so I started this blog MANY months ago and never updated it, but NOW is the time! This will be the first in a several part, crash test in football. Everything you need to know to survive a Super Bowl Party!

Let's start with the basics- Who, What, When, Where, and Why

WHO
New Orleans Saints- This is the Saints' first Super Bowl appearance EVER. This is big news down in the bayou- expect to hear lots of stories comparing the Saint's trip to the Super Bowl with the city's recover from Hurricane Katrina.

You will also hear the expression "WHO DAT" a lot. This is the rallying cry of the Saints' and their fans- "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints." Surely, a proud moment for all English teachers in New Orleans. ;)

The Saints are quarterbacked by Drew Brees. The team is coached by Sean Payton. Also, for a pop culture reference, the Saints' running back, Reggie Bush, is dating the-famous-for-no-apparent-reason, Kim Kardashian.

The Saints started their season 13-0, before losing the final 3 games of the regular season. They defeated the Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs to make it here.

versus

Indianapolis Colts- The Colts are making their second Super Bowl appearance in 4 years. The Colts are lead by Peyton Manning. If you haven't at least heard of Peyton Manning, you probably haven't turned on a t.v. in the last 5 years. And I say this with nothing but love for Peyton, but he does appear in pretty much every single television commercial ever and he hosted SNL. Peyton is the son of former Saint's quarterback Archie Manning and Peyton is from New Orleans. But, no fears, Archie has already said that he'll be rooting for his son's Colts to win the big game. Expect to hear about this approximately 3 dozen times during the big game. Also, you'll see video footage or photos of young Peyton in a Saints' jersey.

The Colts' head coach is rookie coach Jim Caldwell, who is only the 5th first-year coach to make it to the Super Bowl. The Colts started the season 14-0 before losing to the New York Jets in a controversial move by the head coach to pull the starters to avoid injury and rest before the playoffs. Many Colts fans were disappointed as the team had a good chance of going undefeated for the year. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only NFL team to have remained undefeated for the whole season, including the playoffs, so going undefeated would surely have been a great feat to obtain. The Colts defeated the Baltimore Ravens and the aforementioned Jets in the playoffs.


This match-up is exactly the kind of match-up that the Super Bowl should be. The two top-ranked team in their divisions (AFC and NFC) make it to the championship game. Additionally, they are the two teams to go farthest in the season without losing. Add in some great human interest stories and you've got yourself the makings of a great game.

WHAT
Super Bowl XLIV (that's 44 for those who don't remember your roman numerals)

WHEN
Sunday, February 7th at 6:25 pm, EST, on CBS

WHERE
Sun Life Stadium,* Miami, Florida (Though the NFL is calling it "South Florida," I guess this is to make more of the state feel like they are included.)

*Be surprised if anyone other than NFL officials or CBS commentators call it Sun Life Stadium. More likely to be referred to as Joe Robbie, Pro Player, or Dolphin Stadium.

It was in this same stadium that the Colts won their last Super Bowl in 2007. The old Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl V in the Orange Bowl Stadium, also in Miami. Will history repeat itself?

WHY
The winner takes home the Vince Lombardi Trophy, bragging rights, and probably lots of $$$. This is what it all comes down to.


In our next installment, I'll start teaching you the basics of the game. If nothing, you'll come out of this with a basic understanding of the game to survive a Super Bowl party without dozing off in between the commercials. Hopefully, though, you'll come out with a greater appreciation of the game.