Try a 1-5-5 defense

Want to make a football coach's eyes roll to the back of their head? Suggest some of the strategy you use while playing college football on your Xbox. I went to El Dorado High School today for my weekly visit with coaches Scott Reed and John Panter. Panter is the Wildcats' defensive coordinator and is, without a doubt, one of the best in the state at his position. I often find myself drifting into a world of animation when he gets too deep into the intricacies of defending the option. It's as if he starts speaking a completely different language. I think maybe it's Finnish. Anyway, Panter was telling me about how his team had to adjust on the fly at Benton last week. The Wildcats actually went to a 3-3-5 defensive alignment for a few times as the Panthers totally changed their offense. As he was talking, I saw an opening for a zinger and I couldn't resist. "You know a defense that's great," I told him with a straight face. "You should try that 1-5-5. I use it on my dynasty team on Xbox when I take over a program that don't have many defensive linemen." Panter looked at me with disbelief. "I'm telling you," I continued, "that always works. You ever seen a team use it?" He couldn't say, "no" fast enough. He practically spit the word at me like a used-up piece of gum. "Sounds like something Joe Lee Dunn would do," he muttered. "Playstation?" "Xbox," I corrected him. I backed up as I spoke just in case he had something in his hand to hurl at me. Thankfully, he has a sense of humor and knew I was just messing with him. Obviously, I was messing with him, by the way. Although, I ain't lying. That 1-5-5 is a monster defense on my Xbox.

Leave Cam Newton alone

What's with all this hostility towards Carolina quarterback Cam Newton? So far, all he's done wrong is not win football games and then express disappointment in himself and his team in the post-game press conferences. As far as I know, he hasn't tested positive for any performance enhancing drugs. As far as I know, he's not battering women. As far as I know, he hasn't electrocuted any dogs. As far as I know, he's not driving drunk. As far as I know, he's not shoving teammates on the sideline. As far as I know, he's not a deadbeat dad. As far as I know, he's not on drugs or drinking something called "purple." Why is he being grilled by the national media? He loses a game and then stands up and answers questions when he could duck and hide. If he smiled after a loss, people would say he doesn't care. He expresses disappointment and those same folks say he's not showing leadership. I really believe professional athletes have every right to hate the nick-picking media. They built Cam Newton up as a rookie and now that he's failed to reach "their" too-high expectations, the media is taking great delight in picking him apart. I've never been a Cam Newton fan just because I'm from Arkansas and I didn't appreciate what he did to the Razorbacks. But, as far as I know, he's a good young man who is trying his best to do all the right things. He doesn't deserve the treatment he's getting.