The Snake Oil Salesman Is At It Again

[Ed Hickland]

Originally Posted by ajmc

I guess I'm just surprised that someone who tags their offerings with reference to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King would be so comfortable with using the tactics of personal attacks and unprofessional behavior, both of which were used against them.

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The current rule is a perfect example of a rule being adjusted OVER TIME to deal with the reality previous adjustments created. There was a time where numbers and positions didn't matter. As the game evolved that was changed to reflect the numbering requirements we see today, for multiple reasons including the ability to monitor eligible receivers in light of expanding formations and strategies.

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Part of the logic behind the current "Exception" was to allow these "better" athletes, whose skill and talents called for their primary roles to be as eligible receivers, to participate in SK formations. Reality is that all rules draw a line, and staying below that line is acceptable while moving a micro distance over the line becomes unacceptable. That's a reality of rules, all rules.

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Either you set the tone, or you react to someone else setting his tone and resorting to personal attack, mocking, unsubstantiated accusations and allegations is a lot lower tone than what we are normally recognized as setting. It's a level we need not fall to.

Maybe this discussion has gotten too personal.

There is a mechanism by which athletes, coaches, officials, etc. can and have used for decades to petition the rules commitee to make changes to the game and it has worked well albeit not as fast as we would like some time. Good example, post scrimmage kick rules.

Never that I can recall has a proposal to alter the rules gone into the New York Times, ESPN, etc. and yet the game has survived.

Coach Bryan is passionate about his evolution and it probably does have benefit for small schools but then again there are 6 and 8 man rules to accomodate those schools and most states recognize there are differences in school sizes, therefore, schools are placed into classifications for competitive reasons. One would hardly expect Piedmont to challenge Concord Delasalle even though they are geographically close for just that reason.

Coach Bryan had approval, yet, he seeks to thrust his evolution upon the masses largely through coercion via the media and that is not a personal attack but does question why he could not work through the system just like every other rule change.