I was naturally drawn to play defensive positions in sports.  There’s something about being able to be aggressive and get away with it.  I used to shove opposing players out of my area when I played goalie – whether I had my pads on or not.  Once during a soccer gane, I made a slide tackle, won the ball, brought my man to the ground, and for good measure, pushed his face into the dirt.  

Forgive me Jesus, I was 15 at the time.

But I was actually competent on offense.  I could play point guard and quarterback.  I never had the strongest arm or the best dribbling skills but I had just enough to get the team down the court or field.  I relied on timing and positioning a lot.

I used to study basketball and football offenses.  Even applied this knowledge at work and church.  For basketball, I loved the Princeton and motion, flex offenses.

And for football, the triple option.  In my opinion, the most elegant of them all.

Usually implemented by the military service academies, it is designed to compensate for the generally less physically gifted athletes at those schools because of the post-graduation service requirement.  The offense, though, maximizes the strengths of those athletes – intelligence, timing, discipline, and grit.

In simple terms, the three options are in order – a direct handoff to the fullback, a quarterback keeper for a run, and finally, pitching the ball to a running back.  Passing the ball occurs but is rare in this run-based offense.

If you watch clips of it being played out – especially Navy and Air Force, it is a thing of beauty.  The quarterback has to be able to read and discern the defense quickly and know which of the options to play out.  It is truly like a beautifully choreographed dance.

And it works.

The academies can compete with superior teams.  They don’t win all the time but they put up a good fight in general.  Navy plays elite Notre Dame every year and it’s usually close.

I thought many of my colleagues in law enforcement fit within this model.  There is a premium on being able to read a situation quickly, assess correctly, and then choose the best way to respond.  True of both prosecutors and police.  Things can go south quickly and the ability to react is paramount.

Very Bruce Lee and John Boyd like but that’s for another day.