Last weekend, i watched a lot of football. LSU vs. South Carolina, Colts vs. Texans, Packers vs. Chargers… a lot more than i’m used to watching. It was also the first time that i heard the phrase “Gadget Play,” and I ended up hearing that phrase quite a few times this weekend. A Gadget play is an offensive football play that involves cleverness and trickery to fool the defense. It’s quite risky, because if the defense catches on then you can potentially lose yards or posession of the ball. However, if it can be executed as designed, it usually gets touchdowns or first downs. And what’s more, it is unequivocably the most fun and exciting play to watch for the fans.

Like in the LSU game, instead of having the punter kick the field goal, for example, the quarterback Matt Flynn could act like he was setting the ball on the ground but instead flip it over his shoulder behind him, and the punter catches it in the air and runs it in for a touchdown. The fans go crazy, the announcers explode, and the whole team gives high-fives. LSU coach Les Miles watched the play with a smirk on his face and tounge in his cheek, seemingly thinking “This is working out just… like… i planned.” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier watched the play and also couldn’t help but to smile and shake his head, thinking “Boy, Les, you put one over on me. I would’ve done the same thing.”

Gadget plays, when successful, are the only plays that get talked about after the game. They get put in the “highlight” reels, the “best-of” moments, and the coach’s playbook hall of fame. Even though those touchdowns are worth the same as every other touchdown, and even if they don’t eventually win the game, gadget plays get posted onto youtube and made immortal.

I wouldn’t mind a gadget play in my life. Something that will make my fans go wild and even amuse myself.

I could use a little cleverness
to make my job near effortless.
End up on top,
with a place to prop
my feet upon a cherry desk.

Yes!

In other news, dad let me borrow his african Kalimba, a musical instrument with a beautiful tone. It is also cool in that it takes minimal skill to improvise an interesting tune. I spent 15 minutes last night before bed just plucking out notes and ended up falling asleep listening to it. Look forward to some recordings in the future. Jon needs to get his banjo-picking self over to my place and we can finally start playing some music!

This entry was posted by dave on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 11:37 am and is filed under journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.