so i watched a few hours of very good teams playing in bowl games today. what did i notice?

a) receivers who didn't drop balls that hit them in the hands; who when hit fell downfield to collect additional yards as they were being tackled.

b) rushers who when hit, kept their legs moving until smothered... sort of like watching a gazelle being taken down by a pride of lions. one hit may have slowed them, but if more help didn't come along they'd kick their way free.

c) tacklers who swarmed offensive players and when they hit them, stuck to them. so even if the offensive guy started to break free, the swarm took care of it.

d) defenders that stayed in their zone and actually grabbed tipped balls. they may actually have been playing the ball rather than the receiver.

e) punt returners that didn't call for fair catches if a guy was within 15yds of them.

f) not a whole lot of punting.

g) a field goal kicker iced by a timeout.

i guess we can be thankful for our place kicking.

then in basketball...

a) guys that seem to know where to go to get the rebound but are a step or 2 late. i played some city league basketball as i passed 30 years old. our team knew where to be for the rebounds, but the 18 year old high school basketball team players slumming it in city league during the winter were there for the rebound while we were just deciding to get into place. how is it that anyone (other than smith) are beat to a spot?

b) guys taking and making the mid range jumpers. no need for 3 pointers if the 15 footers are close to going in.

c) teams rotating more than 7 or 8 guys. they play hard; get winded; come out for a bit; and go back in.

d) crowded arenas. why not refund all the bb season ticket holders and open all seats to anyone at $20 a seat down low and $10 on the upper levels. i haven't wandered down to the sports arena, so i don't know if they charge the ticketmaster fees to buy in person, but $7.50/ticket extra online is simply unacceptable. actually the better idea would have been to just play the games in wooden center like the women are doing.