Ol Pros

The game of football is like a war between two generals, each one trying to out think the other. Bill Belichick is said to be one of the greatest defensive strategists of modern times while Mike Martz has a reputation for being an offensive wizard. In this article we’re going to discuss some basic football strategies and how offensive coordinators and head coaches try to out think the opposing defense.

The main thing that an offensive coordinator or head coach tries to do is play to the team’s strength when running an offense. Not every team is blessed with great running backs, a great quarterback and great receivers. The truth is, many of the weaker teams have very few great players, if any at all. However, regardless of how strong or weak your offense is, you’re going to have areas that are better than others. You need to concentrate on those areas and make the best of them.

For example, if your quarterback is your strongest part of the offense, even if you don’t have the best receivers, use him to his fullest. Maybe he’s got an uncanny ability to find open men quickly. In that case you’ll want to concentrate on your pass game. But, you have to evaluate your offensive line. If your blockers are poor or just average, your quarterback may not have enough time to pull off long passes, unless he is a quick scrambler. In this case you’ll want to execute a short passing game. Maybe some quick outs to your tight ends or even your backs.

However, if you continually concentrate on one part of your offense, eventually the opposition is going to catch on and they’ll adjust and be ready for you. This is why you ultimately have to establish a run game if you’re strong in passing or a passing game if you’re strong on running. You must have a balanced attack or your strengths will be shut down quickly.

Another thing an offensive coordinator must do is mix up his game plan. A few times on short yardage situations he should choose a short pass over trying to run the ball. This will keep the defense off balance and guessing. You don’t want to do this too often as again, they will begin to look for it. Same thing with long yardage plays. Occasionally you may want to sneak in a run play or maybe a reverse.

Some of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history have been trick or surprise plays. They don’t always work but when they do they are a sight to behold. They are certainly some of the most exciting plays to watch. Of course to be able to pull off these plays you have to have players who are capable of doing it. X’s and O’s on paper are one thing, but having players who can execute those X’s and O’s is a completely different subject.

This is why a good offensive coordinator is worth his weight in gold. Just ask Mike Martz if he’s had a successful career in football.

Multi Editors. A lot of people wonder why they even need them. Isn’t Microsoft Word or a comparable product good enough? Well, for most people, it probably is. But for those of us who need to have a large number of files open at one time, such as programmers, multi editors are a life saver. So the question becomes, which one do you buy when there are so many? While Multi Edit is probably the most popular and arguably the most powerful, its huge price tag may put some people off. That’s where IDM Comp’s Ultra Edit can be a perfectly acceptable alternative.

IDM really did their homework with this piece of software. Because of the numerous functions that it can perform we can’t get into all of them here. But we will touch on the high points of this very powerful piece of editing software.

For starters, when setting up a project, which is the main function of Ultra Edit, you can designate as many files for the project to open at one time as you have memory to handle. There is no limit. Each file when opened has its own memory space and own window, all visible at once. Just a simple click of your mouse on the top tabs switches from one file to the next.

Ultra edit can be set up to recognize a large number of file types. You can work on text files, HTML files, bcc files and on and on. When working on each file type, the properties of the editor itself adapt to the file itself. For example. When working on an HTML file, the color coding of each line changes to reflect the main parts of an HTML file. This way you can get a good handle on your tags, fonts, etc. Plain text files will appear in black and white.

Ultra Edit also has the ability to edit machine code. You can view any file at all in hex and edit it. So if you are a super programmer and want to tweak a piece of machine code, as long as you know what you’re doing, this software will let you do it. Also, while you’re making your machine code changes, the editor will show you the English changes in an adjoining window. Really cool stuff.

Ultra Edit, of course, also comes with all the standard things that you would expect in any regular text editor, like search, search and replace, spell checking, changing lower to upper case, cut and paste, sorting options for lists and a help function that puts most software to shame.

And, if you’re a real super user, you can customize your Ultra Edit to perform just about any way you like by editing certain ini switches. There is also the customize option in the main menu itself. You can have Ultra Edit close open files immediately upon opening a new project or have it prompt you first.

At about half the price of Multi Edit, Ultra Edit is a real bargain and runs on just about any Windows platform. You can’t go wrong with this piece of software if you need this kind of power and don’t want to shell out a lot of money.

Watching an NFL football game in person at the stadium is one of life’s ultimate experiences. If you’re a football fan you know what I mean. Being in one of the top NFL stadiums is even more enjoyable. Which football stadiums are the best? Out of the 31 NFL football stadiums, here are the top 5.

#5 – Cleveland Browns Stadium

Browns stadium in Cleveland, OH ranks in at number 5 on the list of top NFL stadiums. Cleveland stadium is a great place to watch a football game. Built near downtown Cleveland, the architects of the stadium built in large gaps in order for fans to be able to look out of the stadium and into downtown Cleveland. They also installed a lot of glass in the stadium to see out of. The atmosphere in the stadium is breathtaking. The fans in the “dog pound” are some of the most boisterous and rabid fans of any NFL football team. The stadium is also built near the beautiful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

#4 – Ford Field

Coming in at number 4 is Ford Field in Detroit, MI. Ford Field was the site for the 2006 NFL Super Bowl. That will tell you something about this stadium right there. This is without a doubt the most beautiful indoor stadium in all of football. Looking at all of the brick and exposed ductwork inside the stadium gives it an old time feel, sort of like being inside a loft that was restored in an old building. It even includes a 7-story atrium.

#3 – Reliant Stadium

Houston, TX is home to Reliant Stadium and the Houston Texans. This football stadium has a unique fabric that the roof is made of which allows the sunlight to shine through. The roof can also be completely opened to allow the natural weather elements to come through. Even though this is used mostly for an indoor stadium, the football field is made of natural grass and not artificial turf. Every NFL player will tell you that this stadium is one of the best to play football in.

#2 Raymond James Stadium

Coming in at number 2 is Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. This is one of the most unique stadiums in all of football. It is almost like a theme park adventure. There are lots of palm trees, flags everywhere and even a 103-foot pirate ship. This ship is located in Buccaneer Cove in the stadium and has a cannon that shoots cannon balls when Tampa Bay scores a touchdown. The football stadium is also a favorite among those who love the sunlight. The weather in Tampa makes this NFL stadium one of the nicest to watch a football game in.

#1 Qwest Field

The top NFL football stadium to watch a game is has to be Qwest Field in Seattle, WA. This stadium gives you one of the most beautiful views anywhere of Mount Rainier and the downtown Seattle skyline. It’s breathtaking to see. There is no bad seat in the house to watch one of the better football teams playing from. The atmosphere, location and view, make this the best NFL football stadium to be in for a game.