Making a mark

Finally got through the Chris Brown book....I'm surely missing the boat on the many fine reviews that were offered when the book was published months ago.  Its exactly as you think it would be; clear, articulate and entertaining football dialogues from the creator of Smartfootball.  Brown does what he does, easily better than anyone else, covering the ever evolving world of football, schemes, and the players and coaches that shape it's landscape.  It would've been easy (and acceptable) if Brown simply republished many of his fine works, but he goes above and beyond by taking his great articles and further researches and defines narratives.

Smartfootball: The Book

The prevailing thought I had when breezing through this extremely easy to read paperback is the depth and distinct flavor Brown provides that is so lacking in any other mainstream football publication available.  To think how much Brown has obviously labored over these writings, collecting data, outling and refining the message, diagramming, etc.....and you've been reading his stuff for FREE for years!  Then you figure how many bullshitting sportswriters that are getting fat book deals to pour out some narrative drivel that doesn't give you any insight to the game at all (what a crime).  Brown should be getting paid to do "his thing" full time because he clearly is an industry leader.

Chris Brown for nearly the past decade (and easily the past 4 years) has truly shaped how coaches, fans, and passers-by engage in football discourse.  He has single-handedly raised the bar from spastic Chris Berman inspired dogshit to dispassionate, analytical reflection.  Go to any fan site or SBNation blog and you'll see the people regurgitating Smartfootball and doing their best to talk his talk (how many times did you see "Constraint theory" before it was on Smartfooball?). Enough cannot be said about his impact on the game (in my opinion) and how we all see football today and in the future.



Leave something behind

I'm not sure if I've ever addressed this before, but this site started years ago as a lark, but with the intention of giving something back to the many coaches who have embraced electronic media.  In particular, Tom Brandow, architect of the old AOL site, "Tobyz Football Site" that spearheaded much of what you see about (coaching) football online today.  This spawned the Hugh Wyatt blog (OG of football blogs) and Jerry Campbell sites. Now we have the Huey's message board (and weekly whiteboard sessions) and various spinoffs.

As a newer project, here is a url you can reference that should become a repository of sorts.  Game film for historical archives (you can really learn so much from the older film).  Nothing from the NFL and all film will be greater than three seasons old.  Bookmark it or set up an RSS feed from the link, but it is something that will grow each week.  Do what you will with the video, it's there to stimulate thought and increase the knowledge base.
Football Video Files for downloading

Assorted Football Documents / Templates for downloading