Tra qualche settimana verrà pubblicato il libro di Nicholas Davidoff "Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football", che racconta la stagione 2011 dei New York Jets. La definizione "collision low crossers" indica, nella terminologia dei coach dei Jets, la cosiddetta "bumping zone", cioè le cinque yards oltre la linea di scrimmage nelle quali è consentito il contatto tra attaccanti e difensori nelle azioni di passaggio in avanti.
Nel 2011 l'offensive coordinator di quella squadra era nientemeno che il nostro Brian Schottenheimer, e nelle ancitipazioni pubblicate da Men's Journal e riportate dalla rubrica MMQB, viene raccontato un episodio alquanto illuminante sulla personalità, sulle abitudini e sulla filosofia del nostro Offensive Coordinator.
“On the Jets, where the defense was not only tough but original, there was the growing feeling that Schottenheimer and his offensive players were holding the team back from winning a championship. The previous year, the Jets had begun their season with a game against the Ravens and lost, 10-9. The Jets offense was one for 11 on third down and secured a franchise-low six first downs. The game had been personal to the former Ravens coaches on the defense, and before it they had given Schottenheimer many suggestions regarding the Ravens players they used to coach. None were taken. Afterward, Pettine was so upset he could barely speak. ‘We knew them,’ he kept repeating. The defense’s superior attitude, Pettine knew, ‘chaps some asses across the hall,’ but this was the way football teams worked. He liked Schottenheimer, considered him ‘a great, great guy,’ and he knew that with a young, shaky quarterback and such an accomplished defense, ‘Schotty’s in a tough spot.’ If Pettine had been the head coach, he would have sought Schotty out, tried to help. Pettine hoped someday to be a head coach. But now he was the defensive coordinator, and ‘I never want to farm somebody else’s land. That’s how you get in trouble."
Chissà perchè quanto riportato da Davidoff non mi sorprende affatto.