A Different Kind of Football in Mexico

Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico, October 2, 2005. This monstrous arena is packed to the rafters with 103,467 hysterical fans waving the Mexico flag in various sizes and shouting, "Ole!" in unison. They are eagerly anticipating the inevitable clash between two bitter rivals that are hoping to put on a good show and, at the same time, emerge as the winner in this frenzied spectacle. As the players come storming in, the cheers grow to a fever pitch. Everybody stands to sing the national anthem while the great Mexico flag is raised. The coin toss follows in order to determine which team will kick off. The stage is set for the mayhem to begin as usual here in Mexico, except this time, instead of a regular association football game, it's another kind of football-American football, that is. In fact, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League are playing a regular season game much to the ardor of the Mexican audience. Well, isn't it a bit strange, don't you think?

On one hand, it is kind of strange, since Mexico is a predominantly football, or in this case, soccer country. And as a matter of fact, Estadio Azteca, or Azteca Stadium, has been the principal venue for some of the most exhilarating and memorable matches in the history of soccer like the 1970 classic "Game of the Century," where Italy defeated Germany, 4-3, in extra time, and the 1986 quarterfinal between Argentina and England, where Diego Maradona majestically executed the "Hand of God goal" and the "Goal of the Century." On the other hand, it is not strange at all because American football has been around in Mexico since the early 1920s and has been a fledging minority sport played mostly in the colleges and universities. And this has resulted in various leagues that have been faithfully organized through the years. The National Student Organization of American Football, or ONEFA (Organización Nacional Estudiantil de Fútbol Americano), for one, is a Mexican college league that has been thriving since 1978. Meanwhile, the Organizacion Mexicana de Football Americano, or OMFA, is a league made up of 10 teams from all over Mexico, which annually compete for the league championship and occasionally compete against semi-pro football teams from the U.S. There is also the Mexico national American football team, which competed in the American Football World Cup, held every four years since 1999. Mexico has finished second in the two editions it participated in, in 1999 and 2003.

But although American football has already taken root and has fruitfully flourished in Mexico, don't expect it to surpass or even match soccer's firm grip in the country. It will always be thought of as an engaging alternative pastime whose popularity has its own moments, like on that particular day in 2005, when the Arizona Cardinals eviscerated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-14, and thousands of people went totally loco watching it.

Pollux Parker is an adventurer who loves discovering secret island getaways in each country he visits. Pollux also likes to collect Mexican Flag and cheap Mexican Flag.

Different Types of Fantasy Football Leagues

Interest in fantasy football is growing by leaps and bounds. If you are interested in owning a fantasy football team, one of the most important decisions you will need to make will be in regards to the type of league you should join. There are many different types of fantasy football leagues and it is important to make the right decision. Read on for tips to help you understand the different types of teams and decide which one is right for you.

The most popular type of leagues are the standard draft leagues. These types of leagues are begun with teams in which the players are selected in a serpentine style of draft. Lineups can then be selected by the owners on a weekly basis. This is usually based on the number of players per position as allowed by league rules. There are actually two different types of standard draft leagues. These are total points and head to head. The difference between the two is that with a head to head league each team is matched up against a different team each week. The team that receives the most points is recorded as the winning team. Teams with the best records at the end of the season play in playoff games at the end of the season in order for a final champion to be determined. With a total points league, wins and losses are not tracked. Instead, points are accumulated on a continual basis. Standings are then determined according to the total points of the teams. At the end of the regular season, the teams with the highest number of total points meet for playoff games.

The auction draft league can also be comprised of either a total points system or a head to head system. Unlike the standard draft league; however, the auction draft league utilizes owners who have an amount of money that is predetermined that they can bid on for players to complete their rosters.

With the dynasty league, players are on the same roster from one season to the next unless they are released or they are traded. Drafts are held for rookies only after the first season.

Keeper leagues combine some of the features between dynasty leagues and standard draft leagues. A draft is held before the beginning of every regular season in order for many of the players to be drafted; however, owners can keep a select number of players from the prior season.

IDP leagues use defensive players in an individual manner rather than in defensive units. This type of league can be a bit harder to organize for the owners because it means more thought will usually need to be given to filling the other positions.

A survivor leagues uses just about any kind of draft you wish; however, they most commonly use auction or standard style drafts. The main difference between this type of league and all of the other leagues is that each week one team is eliminated based on who scores the least number of points.

Joe Kenny writes for the UK soccer forum [http://footballtalk.org/forums] site, FootballTalk.org. Join the football forum [http://footballtalk.org] for free today and have your say!

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Youth Football - Why Being Different Leads to Championships When Coaching Youth Football

Being Different Pays When Coaching Youth Football

While youth football and college football are worlds apart in many ways, there certainly are some similarities. How many of you are following what Paul Johnson is doing at Georgia Tech this year? Many "experts" said Johnson's Flexbone option attack would never work at the big DI level. Never mind that Johnson was hugely successful with this attack at Georgia Southern, winning two Division IAA National Championships and going 62-10 in six seasons there. Never mind that Johnson then went to Navy and using the very same offense, guided Navy to its first winning season in 14 years. His teams went 45-29 at Navy, which is a miracle turnaround compared to the 72-148 record compiled by his 4 predecessors. Mind you Navy has some serious personnel constraints due to their Military Academy status and the fact the kids have to meet very high academic and character standards as well as serve 4 years in the Service once their college playing days are over, Oh yeah, by the way, we are at war.

Georgia Tech and Paul Johnson

In Johnson's first season at Georgia Tech, his team is on the cusp of winning an ACC Title and is at 9-3. He is doing it with the exact same offense he ran at Southern and Navy, the option. He is doing this in his very first season with a team that was recruited to play a completely different offense. His quarterback is not an option quarterback, his linemen aren't option linemen. Heck his starting left offensive tackle started the season as a slot back and has never played the line at any level of football, even in his Pee Wee days. Georgia Tech also has very high admission standards that other schools aren't constrained with. Did any of you see Tech just blow out Miami and all the top talent the Hurricanes had amassed on defense, or how about the 45 points they put on SEC power Georgia last week? What Johnson has done is nothing short of amazing.

What Does This Mean for the Youth Football Coach?

But the question is why is he so successful and how can I use that information to my advantage when I'm coaching youth football? One huge reason his teams are so successful no matter where he goes is; Johnson runs a system no one else runs anymore. Teams just aren't used to defending the option. Miami and Georgia, both teams loaded with High School All-Americans and Rivals top 10 Recruiting classes, looked completely lost against Johnson's offense. These college defenses are used to seeing the spread offense or versions of it nearly every week. The defensive schemes and techniques they use to shut down the spread teams are much different than what you use to effectively play a well executing option team.

In fact some of the read and react concepts a 3 technique defensive tackle uses to defend the option are 100% contrary to what this player has learned and practiced for in the last 9 months. So you get one week to retrain that defensive tackle to "forget" what he has learned the previous 9 months and to react perfectly to his option reads in split second real time. Oh yeah lets not forget that you also have to retrain your force and alley defenders as well and remember Tech does throw a descent play action pass when you least expect it as well. That is why you see Georgia Tech going on drives where they get plays of 2 yards, 5, 8, -1, 8, 3,2,2,7, 2, 50. The defense just has a heck of a time staying perfect with their reads being done in split seconds, using techniques and schemes they use for just 1 week per year. Just one wrong read and boom it's a huge gain or 6 points.

Execution

Another thing Johnson's teams do is execute. Against Miami, Tech ran the midline option at least 22 times, in one drive sequence they ran the same midline option play 3 times in row. In the Tech and Miami games about 90% of Techs offense was the true triple option, midline and a little bit of rocket to keep the edges honest. Yes, just 3 football plays but the execution was flawless, the downfield and perimeter blocking was incredible.

Player Talent Available

Johnson also is a realist. At Navy and Georgia Tech, is he really going to be able to recruit the best passing Quarterbacks in the country? You know the 5 star kid being recruited by USC or Texas ? Is he really going to get a kid like that to go to Navy or Tech? How about that 5 star 300 lb Offensive Lineman? Is he going to get that kid over LSU or

Oklahoma? Heck at Navy they wouldn't even admit a 300 lb kid. So Johnson chose a system that allowed him to be successful with the grouping of kids he was realistically going to get.

Here in Nebraska the Huskers are set to play on January 1 in the Gator Bowl. Who does this team NOT want to play? I guarantee you it is the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets. Even with a month of preparation time, NU would much rather face another spread attack, We love the option here in Nebraska and we love to watch Johnson's offense, but we definitely do NOT want to see it being run against us.

Applying This to Your Youth Football Team

What does this mean to the local youth football coach? Should you shuck your current offense and sell out to an option attack? I'm not sure. I coached Nebraska style "I" option football for 7 years at the youth level. We did fairly well for 4 of those 7 seasons, winning 2 League Titles. But when I didn't have a smart and athletic Quarterback and a difference maker at Tailback, we struggled ( really need to have 2 good Quarterbacks in that offense). I just couldn't count on having that type of talent every year when I coached non-select teams. I also didn't want to practice 5 nights a week anymore, we wanted to go to a 3 nights a week format.

What Johnson's offense means to you is you should consider running something that you have the talent and time for as well as something that is different than what everyone else in your league is running. It means you should perfect a handful or complementary series based football plays that put the defense in conflict. It means you don't run 40-60 plays in some disjointed playbook. These are some of the main reasons we run the Single Wing offense with our youth football teams. Less than 3% of youth football teams are running this offense. Your opponents just are not used to defending this attack and some of the unique series or blocking schemes we use like the full spin, half spin, wedge, jet, traps etc Most youth football teams have lots of "I", Pro, Spread, "Multiple" and even Wishbone or Double Wing teams, but how many Single Wing teams do you see? Very very few. It's a series based offense based on putting a defense in conflict and execution, it isn't an offense that relies on great talent making huge plays.

So all the "experts" and naysayers have been proven wrong so far about Paul Johnson. That "%$3&' won't work in big time DI football, they said. You don't see the pros run it they said. Same goes for the Single Wing, we are seeing it with more and more High School teams as well as of course Florida and Mississippi in the SEC and of course now in the NFL with the Dolphins and Ravens. Hopefully the Single Wing won't get too popular, because how effective can you really be running what everyone else is running unless you have the very best players? How much fun would that be? It would all be about recruiting or drafting players and very little to do with coaching.

Dave Cisar-

Dave is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington. His personal teams using this system to date have won 90% of their games in 5 Different Leagues.

To Sign up for his free tips and drills newsletter or to view 400 free youth football coaching tips go to: Football Playbooks

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Football Field Dimensions For Different Levels of Play

In North America, football is a game where the male players are wearing helmets and pads and the field has goal posts on opposite ends. The official or regulation dimensions of a football field may vary depending on the levels of play.

Here are the dimensions of football field in different levels:

National Football League (NFL) or Professional

Outside Dimension:
Length - 120 yards or 360'
Width - 53 and 1/3 yards or 160'

End Zone:
End zones are ten yards deep.

End line:
The end line border is 6'and it marks the end zone's back.

Team Benches:
Team benches are set next to the restraining line which is between the 30 yard markers.

Field Numbers:
NFL field numbers are about 6' in length and 4' in width.

Restraining Line:
All NFL fields have a 6' restraining line next to the side lines. These lines mark the closest area non-players can be to the football field.

Hash Marks:
The hash marks of NFL are the thinnest among all of the levels of football game. It measure about 70' and 9" from the side lines and are about 18' and 6" in width.

Goal Posts:
The goal post of NFL is about 10' in length and 18' and 6" in width.

NCAA or College

Outside Dimension:
Length - 120 yards or 360'
Width - 53 and 1/3 yards or 160'

End Zone:
An NCAA end zone is ten yards deep.

End line:
The end line border is 6'.

Team Benches:
Team benches are also set next to the restraining line which is between the 30 yard markers.

Field Numbers:
The field numbers of NCAA are about 6' in length and 4' in width.

Restraining Line:
All college fields have a 6' restraining line next to the side lines.

Hash Marks:
The hash marks of NCAA measure about 60' from the side lines and are about 40' wide. These are wider than the NFL's hash marks.

Goal Posts:
College or NCAA goal post is about 10' in length and 18' and 6" in width which is the same as NFL.

High School

Outside Dimension:
Length - 120 yards or 360'
Width - 53 and 1/3 yards or 160'

End Zone:
End zones are ten yards deep.

End line:
The end line border is 6' and it marks the end zone's back.

Team Benches:
Team benches are set next to the restraining line which is between the 30 yard markers.

Field Numbers:
The side line field numbers are about 6' in length and 4' in width which marks the ten yard line mark.

Restraining Line:
All high school football fields have a 6' restraining line next to the side lines.

Hash Marks:
The hash marks of high school are the widest among all of the levels of football game. It measure about 53' and 4" wide and the distance is the same from the border of the side lines.

Goal Posts:
The goal posts of high school measure about 10' in length and 23' and 4" in width. These are wider compare to the NFL and college level.

Canadian Football League (CFL) Football

Outside Dimension:
Length - 150 yards or 450'
Width - 65 yards or 195'

End Zone:
End zones are 20 yards deep.

Dead Line:
The end zone's back marks the dead line.

Field Numbers:
The field numbers of CFL are about 6' in length and 4' in width.

Hash Marks:
The hash marks of CFL is designated 24 yards from the sidelines of the playing field, thus, its width is 17 yards or 51'.

Goal Posts:
The goal post of CFL is about 10' in length and 18' and 6" in width.

All fields have the same outside dimensions except for CFL. The hash marks are different for all levels. Also, the goal posts for high school are different from the other levels.

Click these links of you want to know more about football field dimensions or sizes and dimensions in general.