Why Football Replays Are Superior
We should all replay
Why Football Replays Are Superior
Though American football is unquestionably the more popular sport, we still live in a world dominated by baseball replays.
It shouldn’t be this way.
I was reminded of this by a Facebook post a few days ago:
Sure, the poster is using the latest NCAA game on the PS5. Frankly, though I don’t care. It’s the spirit of this replay that makes me excited.
Realigning the football world has been a fascination of mine for quite some time. My goal in all my future projects will be to take real life football seasons, both pro and college, and change things up to make things more interesting and more equitable. However, unlike this poster, I’m not going to let the computer play against itself. It’s my replay, and I want to have at least something to do with every game.
The problem with baseball replays is that they tend to be bland copies of real life. Baseball is not a particularly strategic sport, aside from the occasional bunting and hit and run plays. I suppose there is some strategy in pulling the pitcher and making late inning substitutions. However, baseball has become absolutely predictable in those respects over the past 20 years or so — to the point where it’s become insufferably dull.
Football is different.
You can change the play calling philosophy completely.
Want to pass every single down with Bob Griese? You might not have a lot of success, but you can certainly give it a try.
Do you feel like BYU should have relied more on its running backs and less on its quarterback in 1984? The play calling is up to you.
Do you think you can better utilize the Sack Exchange to bring a trophy to the 1981 Jets? You can play as aggresively as you want — but you’d better make sure you’ve got enough guys in the box just in case.
That’s the true fun of the football replay. It’s not in replicating what happened in real life. Rather, it’s in challenging what happened in real life, and seeing if you can’t put your own spin on the story.