Each coach writes down the yard-line at which they’d be willing to accept the ball, and they put their bid in a sealed envelope. Both coaches hand the envelopes to an official at midfield, and the coach who’s written down the least advantageous yard-line gets the ball, at the yard-line he's written down.
What happens if they both turn in the same bid, though? Is it a do-over? Can the coaches implicitly collude to bid the same number over and over again until you force a coin flip? What kind of message does it say to your offense if your coach puts out "40-yard-line", which basically says that we would be in a better position to score if they started on their own 40 than if we started on our own 40?
Maybe if they institute this, teams will have to hire an expert on game theory. Steve's your man if that happens!
Blah. Silent auctions are definitely dramatic - think Final Jeopardy, which has a mixed strategy solution - but it's not right for the NFL. It's a sport, not a gameshow! Coaches should be trying to outwit each other on the field, let's not invent elements that have nothing to do with athletics and everything to do with entertainment.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, in my ideal NFL the NCAA system is used. It's hard on network TV and downplays defense so it could use some tweaking, but the key thing is both teams get a chance to play both sides of the ball.
Three things:
ReplyDelete1. The NFL is as much in the business of entertainment as it is in sports. The knock on the current overtime system is that, in addition to inequitably rewarding luck, it's not very fun to watch because you know a team who gets it at their 35 most often time can get it to the other team's 30 for a 47, 49 yard field goal on their first try. This adds to the entertainment value.
2. I didn't link the Shutdown Corner article because I assumed y'all already read it. I think this takes into account how much the coach trusts his defense as compared to his offense, which does take into account strategy. And this isn't like a one-time situation like with Jeopardy - as a coach gets the reputation of being more or less aggressive with his bids, strategies have to change as well.
3. I used to like the NCAA solution too, but someone pointed out to me that it's not really football - there's nothing in football that says you have to get a chance to score every time I do. I feel like it's analogous to having someone "shoot for it" to resolve a disputed call on the basketball court. Sure it has its merits, but you'll never see that on the pro level because it's just not the way the game usually is played.