There's No "I" in Blog: I Can Respect That: Playing to the Whistle

Sunday, September 27, 2009

I Can Respect That: Playing to the Whistle

The first quarter of the Patriots-Falcons game has just gotten under way, but I've already seen something I can respect. On a 2nd and 10 inside the Patriots' red zone, Michael Turner ran the ball off the right tackle and was tackled by Adalius Thomas for a gain of about three yards. After the tackle, Turner popped up and was about to head back to the huddle when Thomas frantically tackled him again. Was there a penalty flag? Nope. The refs (who acknowledged it wasn't intentional) had not blown the whistle. Turner appeared to be slightly irked, but couldn't blame Thomas for doing what coaches try to instill in their players starting in Pop Warner: play to the whistle.

I wanted to add some video of this, but as it just happened and was an otherwise mundane play, I do not have high hopes. Instead, I'll give you another clip of a Delaware-James Madison game from two years ago that is another respectable example of playing to the whistle.

1 comment:

Alexis said...: Oh Falcons... One of the reasons Atlanta's not a big football town.; September 30, 2009 at 4:16 PM

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Rachel Partin

Rachel is a writer living in Somerville, Massachusetts. She spent her childhood shooting hoops with her beloved hot pink basketball and getting bowled over as she posted up against her towering brothers. Eventually learning that she was better suited to track and field, she pursued a high school career as a pole vaulter, only to inevitably end up sunbathing on the pit rather than practicing. In college she tutored athletes in writing and English, discovering, to her delight, that most college athletes truly care about academics. She edits a sports blog in her spare time.

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Alex is a writer who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a youth, he once scored five goals in an after-school street hockey game. He was also a key cog in the machine that was the 1996 Holliston Giants. More recently he was a member of the HHS 2002 ultimate frisbee tournament champion Cash Butter Nuggets and later helped found the Long Island Flag Football team of the same name. He is the owner of a Ki-Jana Carter jersey and a Free Lawrence Phillips T-Shirt, but is most proud of his Roger Dorn replica jersey. He is the author of But What About All the Good Things OJ Did? and Portrait of a Gentleman: The Ty Cobb Story.

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Ian is a writer (in theory) who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Though he grew up in Olympia, Washington and Burlington, Vermont, his family has roots in Framingham going back to the turn of the 20th century, which gives him the edge in any Boston sports team pissing contest. He had tickets to both Clay Buchholz's and Jon Lester's no-hitters, but gave them up for various reasons. He likes Dustin Pedroia's attitude, Ambiorix Burgos's name, and the body language of soccer players when they give up an own goal. He hates the save and RBI stats, Tony Dungy, and the Philadelphia Flyers. In his spare time, he rides bicycles and hangs out with his mom.

Patrick Truby

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