The myth of the scripted workout

“Scripted workouts are limiting. The key is the connection between mindset & set-calling. Every set needs decisions – before and during, the “in-progress” decisions that determine progress.” – Culture Shock  

Ground & pound by air

item 1. The number of amazing catches weekly in both the NFL and NCAA is remarkable. Human hi-lites every weekend. Both the NFL and NCAA have proved that:

i. passing is far more explosive than running

ii. ground & pound can happen through the air.

 

The volume of amazing receivers who make remarkable catches shows that receiving brilliance is not limited to billionaire receivers. Every week, receivers who are not household names make huge impacts on college and pro games.

 

item 2. We are in an era of unrivaled quarterbacking in both the NFL and NCAA. stunning performances at both levels. The Arizona – Green Bay game showed the post-modern era of quarterbacking. Kurt Warner brought playoff passing to another level. So did Aaron Rodgers. Too bad NFL refs have become NHL-like by ignoring blatant penalties like the face-mask on Rodgers that decided the game.

 

Item 3. The effects of conformity are disastrous. Research has shown that the majority of humans conform to whatever they hear, regardless if they actually believe what is being said. Example: the growing number of “experts” who question whether Tim Tebow can make it in the NFL. Last week, the airwaves were filled with the same nonsense – Tebow may have a chance IF HE CHANGES HIS THROWING MECHANICS. Here is the overwhelming evidence of why this is complete nonsense:

 

- Tebow is one of the greatest college players ever – any position, any era. He dominated at a level that is the free minor-leagues for all NFL players. College football is where NFL players are developed at no charge to the NFL. Tebow won in the toughest conference. His performance is unmatched – passing and running.

 

- the myth of throwing mechanics – experts trying to inflate their self-importance. Tebow somehow managed to get the ball to receiver in a conference that could compete in the NFL. He won a Heisman, a national championship. He can’t throw properly??

 

- Here is one example of the myth of football experts:

 

question 1: What university did Brett Favre play at?

question 2: What NFL team drafted Favre?

question 3: How many NFL teams passed on Favre?

question 3: What university did Kurt Warner play at?

question 4: What NFL team drafted Warner?

question 5: How many teams passed on Warner?

question 6: How many NFL teams passed on Tom Brady?

 

The point is that the so-called passing experts pass on future hall-of-famers at an alarming rate. Blind faith in experts is the reason why so many NFL teams pas on great passers.

 

Tim Tebow is built for the post-modern NFL. If given the chance, he will revolutionize the NFL. He will be unstoppable. He will pass, he will run, he will win – if he is given a chance. 

 

 

 

What if….?

Jesse Palmer criticized the Patriots, in his commentary at the TSN website, for playing their starters in the season finale. He blamed Belichick for playing Wes Welker, who tore up his knee.
 
Question: Did the Colts give the fans a refund for the last 2 weeks? The fans paid regular prices to watch the regulars but the regulars sat out. Who would pay top prices to watch a meaningless game with 2nd and 3rd-stringer?
 
Question: Does sitting out the regulars after fans pay regular price constitute fraud?
 
Question: Professional sports talks about “integrity” of the game ad nausem. Does sitting out starters constitute “throwing” the game? Does the NFL have an integrity clause somewhere? Does any one get thrown out of football for throwing games like Major League Baseball bans people for violating the “integrity” of the game?
 
Question: Did the players who sat out still get paid?
 
Question: What if they get hurt? Then, cancel the game. Forfeit the game for not having enough players. Save every one the worry and anxiety. Or, make it a touch football game. Flag football.  
 
Question: Who had the balls to start Tom Brady in a Super Bowl despite the fact that Drew Bledsoe was ready to return?
 
Question: How many Super Bowl rings does Belichick have?
 
Question: What NFL team won 11 games last year after Tom Brady was lost for the season?
 
Question: Why doesn’t the NFL ban violence in games where teams are not trying to win?
 
Question: Why doesn’t the NFL waive ticket prices when teams are not trying to win? Let every one in for free. Or, donate the money to charity because a real game did not happen.
 
Question: Why do football people talk ad nauseum about toughness, beating adversity, etc., when FEAR ”runs” rampmant?
 
Question: If their is so much fear of getting hurt in the NFL, why don’t they ban violence or ban the sport completely, so we don’t have to hear the obligatory “what if they get hurt?”
 
Question: To save the criticsm of playing starters in meaningless games, why doesn’t the NFL go to the absurd college football system of having writers vote for the 2 teams who will play in the championship game? After 16 games, simply vote for 2 teams who seem to be the best after 16 games and exclude every one else.
 
Question: Speaking of college football, what sport decides it’s national championship opponents by: (i) election (ii) on a weeknight after the peak college season ends?
The Alabama and Texas game should have advance polls, exit polls, just like a real election. How does Boise St. get excluded from a shot at the title? Does the BCS constitute a monopoly where the traditional college football powers are protected? How in the world could the TCU-Boise St. game not have been a legitmate semi-final? What exactly is the significance of bowl games after a month off and no hope of winning a title?
 
Quote from Bob Dylan in “Someday Baby” - ”Little by little, bit by bit, every day I become more of a hypocrite.”
 
Message to Jesse Palmer – “Nihil timendum est.”
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

---

Get a great deal on Windows 7 and see how it works the way you want. See the Windows 7 offers now.

Insider versus Outsider – the main event: Part 1

Complacency weakens.

 

The biggest struggle in the weight room is not the plates, not the bars, not the machines. The biggest struggle on the football field is not the other team, not the guy staring at you, not the weather, not the refs. The biggest struggle is the insider versus the outsider – what we are versus what we want to be. What we are doing versus what we want to be doing. Where we have been versus where we have not been. Where we didn’t go versus where we should go.

 

The scariest opponent is not the bar, or the plates, or a linebacker. The scariest opponent is uncertainty. And, risk. They’re connected. They are partners – fear-strikers. Like ghosts, they haunt and scare until the fight is replaced by freeze or flight.

 

Complacency is like a thief – it steals form self and from your team. Complacency is uncertainty’s accomplice. Complacency robs us of the sense of urgency that is needed to move up to the next level.

 

Complacency destroys teams, businesses by beating down organizational and individual performance. Complacency weakens the insider by eroding judgment, chipping away at rationality, spirit, and drive until the motor stops revving and goes into idle. Neutral. Standing still until the gradual slide – reversal of fortunes.

 

The good news is that complacency can be beat. The insider can win the struggle if we learn how. But, nothing can be learned in isolation. Everything we learn is connected to a contextual network. No exceptions.

Football myths

 

Excerpt from the new books for sale at:

www.makethecall.biz

 

“Football is a microcosm of life - both are deeply entrenched in conventional thinking. The sport is the ultimate in conformity training. It trains every one to think alike. Destroy originality. Football build automatons – robot thinking, blend into the mainstream. Make the same call as every one else until the playbook is confused for rulebook.”

 

Example. Yesterday, the New England Patriot head coach Bil Bilichick went for it on 4th down deep on their with 2:08 left in the game. They didn’t make it because the NFL, a billion-dollar industry, leaves the game in the hands of human officials instead of using laser-like technology. They made the first down but the ref spotted it wrong. Regardless, Peyton Manning is the best QB in the NFL. he would have scored on any length of field. The Patriots defense did not do their job on their own 30 – and they wouldn’t have stopped him anywhere else.

 

Belichick made the right call. He is not a conformist. That’s why he has three Super Bowl rings. That’s why Tom Brady is the staring QB today. If he was a conformist like every one else, Drew Bledsoe would still be the Patriots starting QB.

 

Ex-Patriot linebacker Tedy Bruschi wrote on an ESPN blog that Belichick’s decision dissed the Patriot’s defense Did Belichick diss his own defense? Yes, and they proved him right. The Patriots did not stop Manning.

 

Football messes up thinking. People think that punting on 4th down and 2 is a rule. Cookie-cutter thinking that’s stuck in the mud. The 66% rule raises its ugly head again. Two-thirds of humans will agree with anything, even if it’s wrong – even if it contradicts personal beliefs. Research has proven this time and time againg – the majority are followers who are scared to be leaders.

 

www.makethecall.biz

 

Excerpt from upcoming book: Soul of a Coach

I. The Secret to Making The Call

 

We have a tradition – the first offensive play is a deep pass to the tight end. Every game regardless of opponent, coverage, field position, weather, mood, place (road or home) who is our quarterback, where the tight end is lined up.

 

The reason is to send a message to every one associated with the game – our offense, their defense, coaches, players, fans, media. The message is simple:

 

1. we pass a lot.
2. we go deep a lot
3. going deep causes pressure – we want you to fell as much pressure as possible
4. we don’t hide anything. We want to be like a horror movie – you know what’s coming but it’s still going to be scary
5. the game will be an alley fight – there will be a lot of punches thrown. No dancing and ducking.
6. completing a deep pass on the first play is the equivalent of a first round knockdown – right after the bell. It changes the game.  
7. we are not afraid of 2^nd and long if we fail to complete the deep pass
8. if you intercept it, we will not be afraid to do the same thing next drive
9. you are not playing against conformists – conventional-thinking followers who fear originality, failure, shadows, and, most importantly, critics
10. we will make the game into a fitness contest – survival of the fittest – mentally and physically. One play every 8 seconds. Rush. Rush to the line, rush the call, rush the play. We play exactly like we workout – go-deep-inside-your-guts intense workouts – no rest between sets.
11. if you win, you will get better because you played us. You will be in better shape than you were at the start of the game
12. We are not football automatons. We think outside the box because we have to. We have to go to extremes to win because we never have bigger, faster, stronger players
13. life is too short to worry about what people think. We do not care about critics. We have thick skin. A decision to go deep is not a life-and-death decision. Neither is going for it on fourth down. Neither is going for two. Neither is calling an onside kick when you don’t need it. Football is a game – it’s an escape from reality. There’s enough pretending in reality – masquerading imposters who go through life never having an original thought, never showing original act.

∞

 

Offensive coordinators are like back-seat drivers – shouting instructions from the back seat to the guy who has the control of the steering wheel.

 

The driver’s seat is stressful enough without someone barking directions every 25 seconds. Having to process someone else’s directions and then try to execute. At some point, the backseat driver has to let go – teach the driver how to drive and leave him alone. Let the driver take the wheel – navigate through traffic without having to process the incessant “turn left, slow down, speed up.” The driver can learn to drive and steer the machine, if he’s taught right.

∞

Coordinating an offense is more challenging today than at any time in the history of football because of expansion – defensive expansion. Defenses have grown – in size, speed, and strategy. The post-modern era has expanded formations, coverages, and pressure. Defensive coordinators have taken full advantage of a liberal rulebook. Defenses are not restricted to alignment and motion. No minimum number of players on the line of scrimmage. No limits on pre-snap motion. Defenses can line up wherever they want and re-align whenever they want – any number of defenders in any direction. Makes you wonder why any defender is stationary at the time of the snap.

∞

Offensive coordinators are problem-solvers – warp-speed decision-makers in a high-risk, fast-pace, high-stress work environment. Like any skill, coordinating an offense needs development. Offensive coordinators are not born – they are made. The key to success is the ability to consistently make the right call. And, knowing when to give up the keys.

∞

Pro-con list to quarterback play-calling:

 

Cons: the unpredictable fight/freeze/flight response to stress – cracking under pressure and crashing

 

Pros: (a) warp-speed tempo. Eliminates sideline to field communication  (b) next-level performance and production. He who creates, understands. The artist understands his creation better than the interpreter. A decision is understood fully in the mind of the decision-maker – so is the image. And, a greater challenge at the right time can lead to explosive gains. Expanding a job description is a powerful motivator – at the right time.

 

Like novice drivers, quarterbacks can be scary – road menaces. But, with teaching and time, they can learn to drive skillfully. As difficult as it is to learn, offensive play-calling is not quantum physics. But, the decision to pass the play-calling torch is not easy – the right call is needed at the right time.

∞

 

The reasons why quarterbacks can’t call make the right calls are:

1. never taught

2. taught but has not fully learned how – inexperience

3. no trust – the offensive coordinator lacks faith

4. inability to handle stress and failure – immaturity

5. control issues

 

The reason why offensive coordinators can’t call plays – same five reasons

∞

Know when to give away the keys. Not too soon, not too late – the paradox of micromanagement.

 

Micromanagement versus macro-management – the game within the game. The word micromanager originated less that 30 years ago, sometime between 1985-1990 but the conduct has been around since the beginning of mankind. Before micromanager became fashionable, they used the word parent. Despite its negative connotation. Micromanager has both a positive and a negative. Micromanagement is needed to lead novices but not to lead veterans.

 

Macromanagement teaches decision-making – how to make the calls without third party involvement. Micromanagement is the third party play-caller. Micromanagement and micromanagement work on a continuum – the first leads to the latter. Not vice-versa.

∞

The struggle between anxiety and boredom – the ongoing street-fight that profoundly impacts performance. The worst calls an offensive can make are: (a) calling plays only to satisfy the need to be relevant (b) stifling potential – holding back a quarterback.

 

Unlike offensive lineman, offensive coordinators are not supposed to be blockers. Giving a novice quarterback too much responsibility too soon blocks potential. So does not giving enough to an experience veteran.

 

Unleash potential, don’t pancake it.

∞

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field of Nightmares

I. Field of Nightmares

What’s it like being the only Canadian football team playing in the USA at the collegiate level? Culture Shock.

Two vastly different mindsets towards the same game, by two neighbours sharing the same continent. The difference is the investment – financially, physically, intellectually, emotionally. All 4 are connected.

The financial investment tilts the playing field – literally. Americans believe in state-of-the-art football fields. Lights, scoreboard, turf. The Niagara Region football fields are a joke in comparison to their American counterpart – no lights, no scoreboard, pastures. And, even if a field has lights, most fields are out-of-bounds because of WIYWTG – what if you wreck the grass.

Field of dreams versus field of nightmares. Culture Shock.

http://www.makethecall.biz/

II. Make an Impact

X Fitness participated in a historic LIVESTRONG Day, hosting one of 1,127 events all over the world on October 2.

LIVESTRONG Day was a global movement led by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, intended to make an impact by delivering a message to world leaders – make the planet cancer-free.Thanks to everyone who bought a yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet. Wear it and continue to make an impact.

excerpt from: SWAT 4-2-5 defense

Item 1. The following is an excerpt of the soon-to-be-released SWAT 4-2-5 defense

Evolution of the SWAT 4-2-5 Defense

I. MAKE THE RIGHT CALL

Defensive play-calling in the 21^st century is more complex than ever because of offensive extremes – spread to power and in between. Extreme passing, extreme running and the midline – balance.

Defensive coordinators have greater challenges than at any time in football history. Making the right defensive call has always been tough but now it’s tougher. You can’t be bound by the defensive call made in the huddle for two reasons: (a) the call in the huddle is an uninformed decision, and (b) no-huddle offenses have spread. Less time, less information. Greater uncertainty in a faster game. Tougher, faster decisions.

The solution is a no-huddle approach to defense based on decision-making models. Informed decisions after seeing the offense line up. Make the right call by starting the call before the offense lines up and finishing the call after the offense lines up – after seeing what the offense intends to do.

∞

Beat the no-huddle spread by doing the same thing as the offense. But, keep the capacity to pound the ground without changing the system.

The SWAT 4-2-5 defense is a no-playbook, limitless defensive system designed to MAKE THE RIGHT CALL at the line of scrimmage. Limitless formations, limitless strategies, and simple decision-making models that MAKE THE RIGHT CALL at the right time. The system includes more than audibles. The defensive coordinator starts the call before the offense aligns. The players finish the call after observing the offensive alignment.

The SWAT defense starts with an unconventional 4-2-5 base. Using 2 or 3 multi-dimensional strong safeties who align at any one of the 4 different levels, the SWAT defensive system can defend both spread and power offenses with limitless formations and strategies without changing the system.

The SWAT 4-2-5 defense was not only designed to beat the spread – it was designed to beat reality. A reality of limitations – limited number of coaches, limited player talent, limited practice time and the limitation of OPEN-ADMISSION recruiting and selection.

The SWAT 4-2-5 is a teaching-learning solution. No playbook, no limits. No memorization – just translation and decision.

II. Beat the Spread

The secret to beating the spread is to go deep and crack under pressure.

The best qualification for the job of defensive coordinator is extensive experience as offensive coordinator. Become an expert at what you’re trying to defend.

And the best way to find the secret to defending the spread is to use an extreme spread – a high-octane no-huddle spread offense. After decades of using the SWAT spread no-huddle to extremes, one glaring conclusion emerged: if the quarterback is not pressured, expect a 600 yard day – passing or total offense.

∞

The hardest part of offense is to pass deep under pressure.

Quarterbacks have the toughest job in sports. Hockey goalies have a tough job. So do boxers, MMA fighter, and baseball hitters. But quarterbacking is completely different. Quarterbacks have to make split-second decisions while facing the threat of violence. Brains and balls. Street smarts and book smarts – reality IQ. A difficult type of intellect to develop.

Going deep is the answer to many of life’s problems. It’s also the answer to building an explosive offense. And it’s also the answer to stopping an explosive offense, if the invitation includes pressure. Invite the offense to go deep and pressure them until they crack. Not just the quarterback. Receivers and blockers as well. Crack under pressure means caving in physically and mentally.

∞

Stress is deadly. So is being stress-free.

Stress-free quarterbacks, receivers, and blocker will destroy a defense. Total annihilation. But vice-versa is also true. Like life, football is a game of stress-busting. Who handles pressure the best wins.

∞

Changing the perception changes the outcome. So does changing the focus.

Quarterbacks are not quarterbacks. They are ballcarriers. That’s step #1 in beating the spread.

∞

He who pressures the most, wins.

Pressure is not reserved for defenses. Offenses can apply force as well – by air or ground.The best way to beat pressure is to apply it. Allowing blockers, receivers and ballcarriers to roam freely and do whatever they please is a recipe for defensive disaster.

———————————

item 2: Wild Celebrations

Rookie Denver Bronco head coach Josh McDaniel acted like he won the lottery after his kicker kicked a football over the heads of the New England Patriots in overtime. A classless act by a Bill Bellichick wanna-be. McDaniels owes his career to Belichick. If Belichick had not hired McDaniels and given him the keys to a Tom Brady-led Patriot offense, McDaniel would not be an NFL head coach at this moment.

The juvenile celebration was more bizarre considering that McDaniels chose to dress Belichick-like. Creepy. One grown man dressing exactly like his former boss who was across the field on the opposite sideline.

Maturity is a prominent factor in team sports. The NFL should be at the top of the maturity spectrum, ahead of college and high school football but the post-modern era seems to have reversed the order (or disorder). Watch the CBS College Sports network. They cover America high school football and service academy football. Air force, Navy, Army. Incredible performances – and maturity. No McDaniels-like madness.

Tom Brady’s gracious post-comment comments about McDaniels were mature. That’s why Tom Brady has a fistful of Super Bowl rings. And, it’s also why McDaniels has Super Bowl rings – because of Tom Brady.

McDaniels’ outburst was not only embarrassing, it’s guaranteed another Patriots Super Bowl run. The best playoff game will be a Denver-New England. The Patriots video coordinator will undoubtedly splice the McDaniels wild celebration into every game film that the Patriots will study for the rest of the year.

editorial – start a petition

Editorial

Here are three quotes by the SCC:

#1. “Those who import and market hard drugs for lucre are responsible for the gradual but inexorable degeneration of many of their fellow human beings as a result of their becoming drug addicts.  The direct cause of the hardship cast upon their victims and their families, these importers must also be made to bear their fair share of the guilt for the innumerable serious crimes of all sorts committed by addicts in order to feed their demand for drugs.  Such persons, with few exceptions (as an example, the guilt of addicts who import not only to meet but also to finance their needs is not necessarily the same in degree as that of cold-blooded non-users), should, upon conviction, in my respectful view, be sentenced to and actually serve long periods of penal servitude.” – “The words of Lamer J. in R. v. Smith (1987), 34 C.C.C. (3d) 97 at 123-24 (S.C.C.), serve as a reminder of the often irreparable harms for which cocaine traffickers bear responsibility” – a quote by the Ont CA in R. v. Harrison

#2. “The appellant was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking in a hard drug in significant quantities.  These are offences that can have a catastrophic effect on society and that carry with them a provision for imprisonment for life.” Cory J. in R. v. Silveira

#3. The “serious social evi[l]” that is cocaine trafficking“: R. v. Jacoy (1988), 45 C.C.C. (3d) 46 at 55 (S.C.C.).
                ———————–        
The SCC decision in Harrison is an outrage.

A uniform police officer stopped a car, with one Alberta plate, in Kirlkland Lake. A CPIC check revealed the driver was suspended, an arrestable offence. The officer searched the car and found 77 lbs of cocaine.

The trial judge convicted the accused despite a “flagrant” Charter violation.

The Ont CA agreed and upheld the conviction.

The SCC reversed the decision, excluding the drugs based on new 24(2) “framework” – a decision-making admissibility model – that was created the on the same day, July 17, 2009, in R. v Grant, the first of 4 decisions released that day.

Here are 5 points to consider:

1. The SCC ruled the accused person was stopped for no reason. The Highway Traffic Act of Ontario says otherwise. The police can stop any car to determine if the driver is: (a) licensed, and (b) sober.

2. Case law and common law authorizes a search, incident to arrest, of the arrested person and the surrounding area, which has included the interior of a car in other case law decisions (most notably, R. v. Caslake, SCC)

3. Was the Charter violation actually “blatant and flagrant” or were those words used to send a message to criminals that even extreme Charter violations cannot cancel out major drug crimes?

4. Sec. 24(2) admissibility decisions are supposed to have the reasonable Canadian citizen in mind. Let’s survey “reasonable” Canadians and ask what they think about excluding 77 lbs of cocaine after a traffic stop revealed that the driver was suspended?

5. The officer should have received a commendation for outstanding police work. He was doing what he was paid to do – catch criminals.

A movement must be started to reform section 24(2) Charter decision-making. Start a petition. Call your M.P. The issue is this:

Parliament, not the SCC, should legislate a sec 24(2) framework. Elected MPs should make laws, not unelected SCC judges.

The SCC has too much power. Who oversees their decisions? A trial judge and the Ontario Court of Appeal admitted the drugs. How could all these judges have been wrong? Parliament should at least look at sec. 24(2) or reform the decision-making model.

Make an impact. Voice your opinion. Be heard.

---

Faster Hotmail access now on the new MSN homepage.

RE: make the call: part 5

Make the call: part 5 

The relationship between investigative detention & sec. 24(2) Charter

R. v. Harrison(2009) SCC

 

by Gino Arcaro M.Ed., B.Sc.

I. Make the Call

You are a uniform police officer on patrol, in rural Ontario, at 11 pm.

You see an oncoming SUV driving at the speed limit. The SUV is missing a front licence plate.

You decide to stop the vehicle. You make a U-turn and follow SUV.

You see an Alberta licence plate on the back of the SUV. You know that it was not an offence to drive a vehicle without a front licence plate in Alberta, but you are suspicious: an out-of-province SUV driving in rural Ontario triggers your investigative intuition – this car might have drugs in it.

II. questions:

1. What is the classification of your belief”

a. reasonable grounds

b. mere suspicion

c. hunch

d. all of the above

e  none of the above

2. Do you have any authority under the HTA of Ontario to stop this car?

3. Based on this information, can you make an investigative detention?

4. Based on this information, can you search the car?

These circumstances reflect the landmark case in R. v Harrison, a controversial case that was decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2008 and then by the SCC in July, 2009.

Make the call.

Send questions/comments/answers to:

ginoarcaro@telus.blackberry.net

or

xfitness@bellnet.ca

 

---

New! Hotmail sign-in on the MSN homepage.