

Speed-Freak Football - mhb
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05Football-t.html?hp

======
dpritchett
Check out the speed at which the NYTimes Magazine - even the online edition -
gets to press:

 _With victories in its final two games of the season (Arizona and Oregon
State), it would likely earn a berth in the national championship game in
January, either against a traditional power like Auburn or Louisiana State, or
perhaps an upstart like Boise State or Texas Christian University._

The URL says this is a December 5th article and yet LSU and Boise were both
knocked out of contention last weekend. Auburn and TCU _are_ still in the
hunt.

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spectre
If this becomes a common trend in American Football it could cause the game to
evolve back towards Rugby Football. A good example of how fast rugby is played
is this game: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ZU4GKmOoQ>

Particularly at 3:15 where the ref gives a player a yellow card for slowing
down the game. (Note that this isn't just a minor game, its an International
Test between the worlds two top ranked teams).

~~~
russellallen
As an Aussie brought up on Rugby, this is the thing which most gets in the way
of me enjoying US football - its so stop/go! They seem to only play for about
half a second, then they stop - there doesn't seem to be any flow. I keep on
wanting to yell 'Get on with it!'

~~~
anigbrowl
The best description I've ever ever seen of American football (can't remember
where I read it) was 'random violence interspersed with committee meetings.'

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RiderOfGiraffes
Single page:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05Football-t.html...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05Football-t.html?hp=&pagewanted=all)

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jpeterson
Slightly off-topic, but if you want to see a true "hacker" operating in a
different field, check out Gus Malzahn. He's the offensive coordinator for
Auburn, and no one has found a way to stop his offense.

~~~
marklabedz
We'll likely be able to see this showdown in a few more weeks (Oregon vs.
Auburn).

~~~
sachinag
I want to see TCU crash the party, but I really wanted to see TCU vs. Boise
crash the party. But Kelly's pass fast offense versus Malzahn's run fast
offense would be _amazing_.

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slackerIII
John Boyd would be proud. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop>

------
Caged

        Kelly’s overarching philosophy owes to business texts, most directly, 
        the writings of Jim Collins (“Good to Great” and “Built to Last,” among others), 
        who argues that successful organizations coalesce around a concise, easily 
        communicated core mission. Kelly said: “If someone says to me, 
        ‘What do you stand for?’ I should be able to invite them to practice and in 
        five minutes, they’d say: ‘I see it. I get it.’ 
        They stand for playing hard and playing fast.”
    

This could be applied to your product's home page. The difference is that
you'll be lucky to get 60 seconds.

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bretthopper
A different NYT writer wrote about Oregon and their speed offense 2 months ago
as well:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/sports/ncaafootball/02oreg...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/sports/ncaafootball/02oregon.html?pagewanted=all)

Another NYT article about an innovative coach, Mike Leach, who is mentioned in
the above:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/magazine/04coach.html?page...](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/magazine/04coach.html?pagewanted=all)

------
lliiffee
Here is a link that you might be able to use to avoid the user-login wall.

[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&v...](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBoQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2010%2F12%2F05%2Fmagazine%2F05Football-t.html&rct=j&q=%09Speed-
Freak%20Football&ei=3nz6TLu5DMOBlAf0nLyYDA&usg=AFQjCNEYYuHBGapcTfhxpGfTvaOFkg8h0g&cad=rja)

------
muxxa
i18n: Title should read 'Speed-Freak American Football'

~~~
BrandonM
Considering that it says "(nytimes.com)" right next to the article title,
football = American football should probably be assumed.

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klbarry
This is really good. I wonder if you could apply the same philosophy to
business or start-ups: Focus on doing what you're doing again and again,
really fast, with no breathing room for your opponents, and they will wear
down.

~~~
icegreentea
It's vaguely related to the concept of being able get inside your opponent's
OODA loop, with the added bonus of physical fatigue in addition to creating
situations where the opponent cannot adjust.

I can't say for sure (never played football, but I do play fairly high level
ultimate frisbee), but when a team starts upping its tempo, it pushes both
your mind and body's ability to adapt. Usually the first thing to go is your
mind. You start losing your ability to predict and anticipate as well, and as
a result you have to work your body even harder to compensate, which gets you
tired even faster etc etc.

I guess there's a business analogy where, where the mental aspect becomes
business planning, and the physical, is the actual creation of the
product/service. In fact, I'm fairly sure that OODA loops and all that jazz
are (were?) fairly popular in all those business books and mags. The question
is how many people can actually successfully implement it.

For context, OODA loops (uh, observe orient decide act) were originally
created by John Boyd in the context of war fighting, drawing inspiration from
Sun Tzu and von Clausewitz. The idea's been sitting around for decades, and
'officially' part of how the US Military is 'suppose' to fight. But even
though everyone 'knows' about OODA and maneuver warfare, it's still not always
pulled off.

[<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OODA_loop>]

~~~
dpritchett
Really glad to see this here on HN. I read _Boyd_ by Robert Coram a month ago
and I still can't stop seeing the parallels in any competitive endevavor.
Definitely a great book for hackers.

The book covers the history behind Boyd's OODA loop and a lot of Pentagon
bureaucratic infighting as well. Corporate politics at its finest.

[http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-
Changed/dp/0316...](http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-
Changed/dp/0316881465) (I got my copy at the library though)

~~~
lucasjung
I prefer this one:

[http://www.amazon.com/Mind-War-John-American-
Security/dp/158...](http://www.amazon.com/Mind-War-John-American-
Security/dp/158834178X)

Less hagiography (still more than I would care for, but not as much as the
other book) and is focused more on explaining Boyd's ideas, less on telling
his story (still a biography, but the difference in emphasis is notable).

If you're interested in reading the original briefings by Boyd, you can find
them at the links below. Of course, reading his slides isn't the same as
actually sitting through his briefing, but the latter option is unfortunately
no longer available:

[http://dnipogo.org/strategy-and-force-employment/boyd-and-
mi...](http://dnipogo.org/strategy-and-force-employment/boyd-and-military-
strategy/)

<http://www.danford.net/boyd/>

~~~
dpritchett
I agree that Coram's book had a taste of hagiography to it. I still found that
the underling military theories made a lot more sense to me when revealed in
the context of Boyd's upbringing and his own gradual development of the
theories. I should definitely read Hammond next, thanks.

I've made it about 2/3 of the way through Boyd's slides and they're very
distractingly dense. I'm sure they worked better with a live session.

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sscheper
I like these two passages:

"The team’s graduation rate for football players, as measured by the N.C.A.A.,
is below average."

"James did have one complaint, having to do with the music: “The other day he
had like ‘Hakuna Matata’ or some [expletive] from ‘The Lion King’ playing,
which I don’t think nobody wants to hear. He needs to bump some Lil Wayne on
there.”

~~~
dpritchett
Only nine of the top twenty-five football programs matched or beat NCAA's
average graduation rate. Commitment to championship football doesn't
necessarily imply commitment to graduating football players.

[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2010-10-27-ncaa-
gradu...](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2010-10-27-ncaa-graduation-
rates-study_N.htm#charts)

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beefman
I don't get it.

