Growing Trend of Passing in the NFL

It's no secret that passing is becoming more prevelant in the NFL these days. Teams still run, but not nearly as much as they did in the past. The days of Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders single handedly winning football games are over, (with the exception of the Tennessee Titans' Chris Johnson or Minnesota's Adrian Peterson if he doesn't fumble). I brainstormed some of the causes, and came up with a few. First, quarterbacks are far better athletes now days than they were in the past, they can escape pressure better, and throw the ball further with more accuracy. Secondly, defenses are a lot faster. Linebackers and Defensive Linemen are running 4.4 to 4.8 forty yard dashes, making it easier to jam up holes and seal up running backs in the flat. Thirdly Receivers are getting better, with some of the better passing teams, their number 4 receiver is just as good as a number 1 in the past. When you have that much talent across the field, it's easy to create mismatches against either a linebacker or nickelback. These are 3 of the main reasons I believe the passing game is taking over the NFL.

Ken Robinson Video

Ken Robinson seemed like a pretty funny, down to earth man. He also had a lot of wise things to say about the current education system. I would have to agree that education today focuses too much on academics and not enough on being creative. I know where I went to high school, we were encouraged to not take any art classes until final semester of our senior year. My question was why? If you enjoy art, and could possibly make a career out of it, who is the administration to tell you what you should focus on. Another thing that was looked at as more of a joke were the wood working classes. Administration looked at them as a way to eat up credits needed to graduate. I thought wood working classes were some of the best classes I ever took in high school. It didn't matter how smart you were, or what you got on your ACT, if you weren't creative, you couldn't do it. I think schools need to start emphasizing creativity into their cirriculums more often or else creativity will be lost to meaningless trigonometry and calculus equations in the near future.

Looking Forward to Summer

It seems like it has been one of the longest winters in my lifetime. Right after duck season, which is my autumn right of passage, it began to snow. Duck season wrapped up December 6th and two days later we were covered in 17 inches of snow. I didn't even get a chance to put my gear away and winter had already reared it's ugly head. And so it began. The painfully slow moving, cold, short days of winter. Living in the midwest has it's perks, however, winter is definitely not one of them. I feel like winter is the cold equivalent to hell. You can't do hardly anything outside, unless you own a snowmobile or are intrigued by skiing, and snow removal is a constant thorn in the side. Everyone is always on edge and grumpy because they are consistently cooped up in their houses. Police have even stated that domestic abuse rises in the winter months, although crime analysts say statistics do not support this. I believe it, winter is frusterating for everyone.

Now with the better part of winter behind us, and milder temperatures recently we can look forward to spring and summer. I'll enjoy kicking off spring the right way by celebrating my 22nd birthday on March 2oth, the first official day of spring. Spring is definitely one of my favorite seasons. You get to dust off the golf clubs and hit the links, and the bass fishing can be absolutely phenomenal. The air smells so good this time of year when everything is melting. I always will put on shorts a little prematurely, just to get the blood pumping. (I am wearing shorts as I write this actually.) Spring turkey hunting season has the birds strutting and gobbling feverishly trying to entice a mate. Baseball also begins, and everyone has a fresh start, even my woeful Chicago Cubs. There are so many reasons to love spring, I'm glad it's almost here.

Spring brings us into summer, and no school! This is the part of the year I like the most. Between hanging out with friends all the time, to competing in the many different bass tournaments that go on all over the state, I love every minute of it. Every year during the 4th of July I host a huge pool party for all my friends at my parents house. Ever since we all graduated high school everyone has looked forward to the 4th. It has to be my favorite holiday by far. Toward the end of the summer starts NFL training camp, which really pumps me up for Packer football, and that brings me right into autumn, where I enjoy hunting ducks and deer.

There are a ton more reason why I am looking forward to summer, this is just a brief summary. So everyone sit back, relax, and it will come. We will be drinking beers and grilling out sooner than you think!