WestCoastJoe wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 10:40 am
For this fan Rourke's reads were astonishingly fast. Then the quick delivery, with excellent accuracy. And his escape instincts are out of this world.
A lot like Flutie? Absolutely. Of course the NFL did not like Flutie. Too small, etc. Eventually he got some time there, although it was far from optimal time. I did think that Jackie Parker was the all time greatest CFL player, but that is another issue.
cromartie wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 9:09 am
I actually don't agree with this. Rourke's reads were as fast as they were because he spent all of his formative football years playing Canadian football. Accordingly, it's an operating system, for lack of a better term, that didn't have to be installed by a transition from the American game to the Canadian one, which can take a QB a year or so to master.
One of the best things about Lionbackers, when operating at its best, is that it provides an opportunity for a diversity of viewpoints on the topic of football within an environment that those differing viewpoints will be respected, even if not always agreed with.
In a world of increasing cancel culture, where a differing viewpoint becomes an ego injury, where 'safe zones' are created so one does not hear a dffering view, and in a world in which too many males are increasingly behaving like petulant toddlers mired in a constant state of resentment or anger if they don't get their way, it’s a good thing to post on a website in which there is not pressure to become a carbon copy of everyone else.
At the same time, its also a good thing to know that Lionbackers is also a website in which most Lionbacker posters support other posters views, whenever possible, and are often kind and positive when doing so. For tens of thousands of years an individual’s identity was almost entirely subsumed by the tribe to which he or she belonged. Each person built up his and her sense of worth by contributing to the strength and reputation of the tribe.
But if any person is focused on their own ' individualism', they have to work very hard to feel unique (and therefore superior). Often, they inflate the significance of the minor differences with another and will even focus on the trivialities of their differences. Being against something is easier whereas being positive takes courage.
This type will often aggress and push, sometimes subtly, over minor things to work hard at disagreeing and being distinct. In other words, they focus on their separateness to inflate their sense of individuality. That's more important than being supportive because the adversarial approach is their constant journey toward 'superior selfhood'.
I guess the key aspect is intent.
On the topic of the speed of Rourke’s reads, a difference has been highlighted between Rourke’s early experience playing Canadian football up to his Grade 12 year and Flutie’s lack of Canadian experience at all prior to arriving in the CFL with B.C.
Certainly, minor differences can mean a lot in the game of football. The difference between a quarterback releasing a football in 2.8 seconds vs. 3 seconds can make a world of difference on a pass, for a variety of reasons.
How much impact did playing the Canadian 12 man game up to Grade 12 advantage Rourke. How much was the American 11 man game embedded in Rourke’s mindset from Grade 12 and college forward and how long would it take to remove that conditioning ( I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
) .
Would it be like riding a bike to go back to CFL Grade 11 football or would five years of learning and playing the American game, with much more in depth instruction and detailed coaching be difficult to derail.
I have no idea.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
