THE GAME In Pictures: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh

In G.3, one of the many ways in which teams can be built is by combining professional, semi-professional or amateur teams from one city. How these teams interact with each other (if at all) in a GAME can vary widely.

On one end of the G.3 competition spectrum, one can find an alliance of teams representing a city; working together as a larger team but without direct interactions during the course of a GAME (at least on the field of play; however there will be interactions on a strategic and executive level to better coordinate the teams). Best described as “Games within THE GAME”, a GAME winner is determined by an aggregate score compiled from the constituent teams that form the larger team. These types of GAMEs would be ideally suited for G.3 enthusiasts who are node purists and who like to maintain a separation between nodes instead of direct interactions. For example:

G.3 Matchup: New York vs. Washington

Games
New York Giants (NFL) 24	Washington Redskins (NFL) 21
New York Rangers (NHL) 3	Washington Capitals (NHL) 4
New York Mets (NL) 5	Washington Nationals (NL) 3
New York Red Bulls (MLS) 2	D.C. United (MLS) 2
New York Knicks (NBA) 105	Washington Wizards (NBA) 102
Winner: New York 139	Washington 132

On the other end of the G.3 competition spectrum, there are GAMEs that have many interactions between teams regardless of their node affiliation. Which brings us to the above image.

Inspired by the defense-offense transition formation, the compiled image above shows a G.3 matchup between teams from Pittsburgh and Atlanta. On the left is Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers football kit (designed by Jimmy Nutini; see more of his crossover concepts here) playing the hybrid position of football fullback, rugby fullback and American football safety. Polamalu’s defense mates have stopped the opposing offense (note Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets left wing Evander Kane transitioning to defense in the background) and his defense is now quickly transitioning to a multi-pronged offense (using multiple teams, fronts and balls simultaneously).

Playing deeper than Polamalu on the backline is a hybrid fullback (not pictured)—the last line of defense in this particular formation. A hybrid fullback must have the ability to play stout defense and take away the ball from the opposing teams’ forwards (regardless of nodes). A hybrid fullback must also, at times, be able to simultaneously receive and handle balls from allied teams, teammates and players outside/inside his nodes and zones; quickly distributing the balls in his possession to a vast array of forwards and backs. So it is easy to see why a hybrid fullback is an important catalyst in the defense-offense transition.

In the picture, a hybrid fullback has already passed the football to Polamalu, who is passing it further down the field to one of his forwards. At the same time and also pictured is Steelers punt returner Antonio Brown (84) streaking through Atlanta’s transition defense; pursued by members of the Atlanta Falcons punt coverage team. Also pictured is, in the foreground, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik pushing forward to help with the offensive attack. The multiple balls and points of actions are used to illustrate the multilinear flow of some GAMEs. 

The First Basic GAME Formations, Circa 1999…Updated 2009, Part One

Back in 2000, I slotted, what were then, contemporary players into the various formation modules based on the players’ skill sets and what the positions’ requirements were. I thought it would be fun to revisit the first post about GAME formations by inserting today’s players into the formations while detailing the needs of each position some more. The following depth chart is for the power-speed formation module at the top of the diagram.

Module #1 power-speed formation depth chart:

SC:  Deron Williams (G, Utah Jazz), Kaká (MF, Real Madrid). This module’s position requires a strong decision maker with size, strength, quickness and the ability to distribute the ball precisely. The decisions that the SC make are based on the alignment and/or (expected) degree of penetration by the defense. Reacting to the defensive alignment, the SC will distribute the ball to the ThB’s in the rear, pass or lateral to the outside wings where wing playmakers (W) are aligned within separate wing modules, or keep the ball to achieve forward progress.

ThB: Tim Tebow (QB, University of Florida), Dan LeFevour (QB, Central Michigan University). This position requires a player who has the rare ability to accurately make all throws or kicks, run with elusiveness and run with power. Power is important in this position since the defense is aligned in close proximity. This ThB can either block/guard larger defenders, receive the ball and accurately distribute to ThB’s behind or to playmakers on the wings, or keep the ball to achieve forward progress.

ThB: Terrelle Pryor (QB, Ohio State University), Juice Williams (QB, University of Illinois), Dan Carter (Fly-half, USA Perpignan and the Crusaders). This position is similar to the ThB previously described, but throwing is not as essential of a requirement. The ability to pass or kick forward at this position is important in order to keep the defense off balance, but the majority of the time these ThB’s will keep the ball or distribute the ball laterally to a teammate. As a result, these ThB’s must have power, elusiveness and speed.

ThB: Boris Diaw (F/C, Charlotte Bobcats), Pau Gasol (C, Los Angeles Lakers). Diaw and Gasol are considered two of the best passing/outlet passing athletic big men in basketball. The primary physical attribute necessary for this position is size. As ThB’s are positioned further behind the frontline, visualizing the action on the field becomes more challenging. That is why it is necessary to have an excellent passing big man with good decision making skills positioned in the middle of the ThB formation to do the following: read the defensive formation and movement; analyze the progress of the ThB’s in the front (against the defense); adjust the call/play or continue with the planned call/play based on the two main reads; pass to the appropriate playmakers based on the reads.

ThB: Pat White (QB, Miami Dolphins), Seneca Wallace (QB, Seattle Seahawks). The next two rows of ThB’s are the best combination of speed, quickness and arm strength. Agile and elusive, these ThB’s can make plays with their game-breaking speed or with their arms. They can throw to playmakers positioned on the wings, launch balls to playmakers in other nodes or dart into/out of nodes by using their speed to slice through zones.

ThB: Michael Vick (QB, Philadelphia Eagles), Denard Robinson (QB, University of Michigan).

ThB: Donovan McNabb (QB, Philadelphia Eagles), Jay Cutler (QB, Chicago Bears. The next two rows of ThB’s have the best arms. This row has better movement and elusiveness than the following row; speed is not an essential attribute but a plus. The ability to throw the ball into other nodes and across zones is essential. Although these ThB’s may not have speed, they should have good lateral movement in order to laterally mirror the movements of ThB’s in the front rows (in the event ThB’s in front lateral, pass or kick to them) and the ability to laterally track the ThB’s behind them (in order to lateral, pass or kick to them).

…ThB: Ben Roethlisberger (QB, Pittsburgh Steelers), Ryan Mallett (QB, University of Arkansas). Also known as “Towers” or “Throwers”, these ThB’s have size, strength and superb arm strength. Their goal is to fire balls to participants in other nodes, across zones or on the wings: to transition play into other nodes and zones; to advance the offense in their own zone of play. They may not exactly mirror the movements of the ThB’s in the front rows, but they must remain in the zone of action in order to receive a lateral, pass or kick.

The First Basic GAME Formations, Circa 1999

Below are diagrams of the first series of GAME formations (sketched between the brackets) I came up with back in 1999. Enlarge image. The brackets in the diagrams reflect the modularity of the formations; in other words one could use any one of the formations below to create completely new formations or integrate them into existing formations depending on how involved a GAME a team is participating in and/or what the team is trying to accomplish.
The three formation modules are, from top to bottom:

1. a power-speed formation (the arrows that extend horizontally from “LINE” indicate that the line-forwards are positioned out in either direction without indicating the specific players or the spacing between them; the arrow that extends up from the “LINE” indicates that a forward push into the opposition is the goal of the line; the double-ended arrow between the Throwing Backs (ThB) at the bottom of the formation indicates that more players can be inserted in between the rear ThB’s, depending on the GAME and/or goal of the team). By positioning the SC (signal caller) close to the line followed by a “tail” of ThB’s, the SC becomes the initial ball handler who can either keep, hand off or lateral down the line of ThB’s (similar to the flow of rugby), depending on the defensive alignment and degree of defensive penetration. In general, ThB’s positioned towards the front are throwers with great size, mobility and generate considerable power when entering the frontline; ThB’s positioned in the middle are throwers who are elusive, and explosive; ThB’s in the rear are mobile, have good height and have the best power arms to deliver the ball downfield or into other transitional GAME zones. The rear ThB’s tend to be the least mobile of ThB’s and shadow the lateral movements of the ThB’s in front, in order to be in position to throw when required. This formation allows an offense to throw multiple looks simultaneously at a defense and then exploit the defenses’ weakest areas quickly and with forceful impact.
2. a defense-offense transition formation is a defensive alignment module that creates quick transitions into attack mode through the utilization of quick strike power forwards on the wings and athletic power players with size and mobility in the middle of the defensive line. The three “bubbles” at the bottom of the module are a side in hockey, an American football offensive line and a American football/GAME hybrid backfield consisting of a QB, SC, TWB and B (more on these positions later). The “bubbles” illustrate how the forwards on the wings augment the defensive line but are versatile enough to sprint into the transitional GAME zones in all directions; linking up with and then participating in other (athletic) nodes. The defensive line’s main role is to provide a stiff resistance to counter offensive maneuvers, but like the forwards, the line has the flexibility to charge forward to participate in offensive operations. Behind the line are varying numbers of defenders (D) who are typically aligned in an I-formation. The D’s are primarily defensive safeties who are the key decision makers when leading a quick counterattack.
3. a power-speed formation on the right wing with ThB’s stacked in a power formation upfront and speed ThB’s in the back. An extra layer of SC’s and B’s follow the ThB’s to create more power-speed combinations in the “tail” of the formation, producing more potential matchup problems for a defense.

Most positions have a corresponding athlete and the skill set (listed to the right of the athletes’ names) that I had in mind for the newly created GAME positions. The positions in the diagram may be unfamiliar to some, so a position index follows the diagram.

Position index for the preceding diagrams:

B=Back: is usually a multi-nodal hybrid position requiring quickness, speed, elusiveness and explosion. Because the B may usually be positioned further back in a given formation, endurance is a key element in the conditioning required for the position. A Back may in certain formations travel 15, 20 or more yards before hitting the frontline.

C=Center: a specific position from basketball, ice hockey and/or a football offensive line.

D=Defenseman: hockey defenseman providing a line of defense as well as lead a counterattack on a change of possession.

F=Forward: right wing or left wing in ice hockey, power or small forward in basketball. The F positions on the wings, in the middle formation module above, can be occupied by any type of forward from any athletic node as long as his skillset fits most of the requirements for the module’s position. Examples of forwards from the various athletic nodes who could fit in this defensive module include: Deion Sanders (CB/WR/KR/PR, American football), Roberto Carlos (wing back, football), Charles Woodson (CB/WR—in college/KR/PR), Scottie Pippen (SF, basketball), Ron Artest (F, basketball), Dwight Howard (C, basketball), Kevin Garnett (F, basketball), Lilian Thuram (centre back/right back, football), Cafu (wing back, football), Larry Robinson (D, ice hockey), Chris Chelios (D, ice hockey), Scott Stevens (D, ice hockey), Raymond Bourque (D, ice hockey), Bobby Orr (D, ice hockey), Claude Makélélé (defensive MF, football), and Hong Myung-Bo (sweeper, football). The F positions on the wings can also be multi-nodal hybrids.

G=Guard: football offensive lineman.

PF=Power Forward: basketball.

QB=Quarterback: football.

SC=Signal Caller: a hybrid multi-nodal position proficient in transitioning into and out of multiple nodes. A SC can, for example, start with a hockey line and/or receive a handoff from a football QB and stay in his node, transition into another node or distribute to another player from another node.

T=Tackle: football offensive lineman.

ThB=Throwing Back: a mobile multi-nodal hybrid position whose primary role is that of a thrower and whose targets are players spanning multiple nodes. ThB’s can range from tall power throwers to smaller, more explosively mobile throwers. and anything in between.

TWB=Throwing Wing Back: a multi-nodal hybrid player who can be positioned within a backfield formation or motioned/positioned to either wing. A versatile and athletic player, the ideal TWB can make throws between and within nodal zones, can catch/maintain possession, and can have tremendous explosiveness. The size of TWB can vary from tall and lanky, small and elusive, to anything in between, just as long as they have the above skillset.

Esthetics aside, the three GAME formations above were inspired by the University of Nebraska’s “I-option” attack, specifically; the I-formation, in general; and the hammer and anvil military tactical maneuver used in ancient battles and in modern frontline operations.
The I-formation was selected as a starting point for formations in THE GAME for several key reasons:

1. The ability to have multiple options for a multiple number backs when they are attacking the frontline.
2. Increased speed in hitting the frontline. The backs from the “tail” or rear will be able to read the defense with a running start when hitting the frontline. Conversely, backs towards the front can serve as quick hitting decoys, blockers, throwers, runners or a combination.
3. Improved deception. The quick hitting action and the fact that the backs are lined up and virtually hidden by the backs in front, increases the ability of the offense to mask their intentions at the start of play and also increase the effectiveness of the subsequent “hammer and anvil” attack.

Calcio Fiorentino: The Most Brutal Sport On Earth

Courtesy of SI.com and Jeremy Kaufman of Bleacher Report

Part soccer, part rugby, part mixed martial arts, calcio fiorentino is a popular no-holds-barred game that is popular in Florence, Italy. First played in the 16th century, the sport has few rules and matches take place on a 100-by-50-meter sand pitch with goals running the width of the end zone. There are no timeouts or substitutions. It just might be the toughest and most brutal sport in the world.

There are 27 players on each side at any given time, and the objective is to score a goal; either by kicking or throwing the ball through the designated goal area. In addition, kicks to the face are forbidden. This is pretty much where the rules end.

Of the 27 players on each side, as many as ten of them are often considered brawlers. These players usually come from boxing, wrestling, and MMA backgrounds, and it is their job to essentially knock out the opponent. The brawlers from each side will usually ignore the whereabouts of the ball, and instead engage in combat with one another throughout the duration of the match.

The skill players on a calico fiorentino team generally consist of rugby and soccer players. The rugby players are typically utilized to carry the ball past the opposition, while the soccer players are there for tactical kicking and goal scoring. However, these players must avoid life-threatening attacks from the brawlers of the opposing team.