Wednesday Information in early July of 2017

There are three different positions in the game of American football. There is the offensive unit, the defensive unit, and special teams. Today, football is played between 2 teams of 11 players each. It is a penalty if more than 11 players are on the field. Teams can substitute players between downs. Many substitution rules are abundant. Individual players in a football game have a number on their jersey. In NFL teams, numbers are approved for their usage in a game.Uniform numbers range from 1 to 99. NCAA and NFHS teams are “strongly advised” to number their offensive players according to league suggested numbering scheme. The offensive unit’s goal is to advance the football down the field with the goal of sourcing a touchdown. In playbooks, the offensive line looks like circles while the defense unit looks like squares. The offensive line lines up in legal formation before the snap happens. It is illegal for more than four players to be in the backfield or fewer than five players numbered 50-79 on the offensive line. Players can temporarily line up in a position whose eligibility is different from what their number permits as long as they immediately report the change to the referee, who then informs the defensive team of the change. Neither team's players, with the exception of the snapper, are allowed to line up in or cross the neutral zone until the ball is snapped. Interior offensive linemen are not allowed to move until the snap of the ball. The main backfield includes the quarterback (QB), the halfback/tailback (HB/TB), and fullback (FB). The quarterback is the leader of the offense. The quarterback or the coach calls the plays. Quarterbacks inform the rest of the offense of the play in the huddle before the team lines up. When the quarterback starts the snap, he gets the ball and either throws it, sends it to someone else, or runs with the ball. The halfback runs plays by running. Some halfbacks can act as receivers. Fullbacks are usually larger than halfbacks. Fullbacks can act as blockers too. The offensive line or OL is made up of players who block members of the defensive line from tackling the ball carrier on running plays or sacking the quarterback on passing plays. The leader of the offensive line is the center (C), who is responsible for snapping the ball to the quarterback, blocking, and for making sure that the other linemen do their jobs during the play. On either side of the center are the guards (G), while tackles (T) line up outside of the guards. The main receivers are the wide receivers (WR) and the tight ends (TE). Wide receivers line up on or near the line of scrimmage, split outside of the line. The main goal of the wide receiver is to catch passes thrown by the quarterback. Yet, they may also function as decoys or as blockers during running plays. Tight ends line up outside of the tackles and function both as receivers and as blockers.

The defense is meant to prevent the offense from scoring. They can tackle the ball carrier or force turnovers by interceptions or fumbles. The defensive line (DL) is made up of defensive ends (DE) and defensive tackles (DT). Defensive ends line up on the ends of the line, while defensive tackles line up inside, between the defensive ends. The major responsibility of defensive ends and defensive tackles is to stop running plays on the outside and inside. They want to pressure the quarterback on passing plays, and to occupy the line so that the linebackers can break through. Linebackers are behind the defensive line, but in front of the defensive backfield. They are divided into middle linebackers (MLB) and outside linebackers (OLB). Linebackers are the defensive leaders and call the defensive plays. Their diverse roles include defending the run, pressuring the quarterback, and guarding backs, wide receivers and tight ends in the passing game. The defensive backfired is made up of the secondary. They are made up of cornerbacks (CB) and safeties (S). Safeties are themselves divided into free safeties (FS) and strong safeties (SS). Cornerbacks line up outside the defensive formation, typically opposite of a receiver so as to be able to cover him, while safeties line up between the cornerbacks but farther back in the secondary. Safeties are the last line of defense, and are responsible for stopping deep passing plays as well as running plays. The special teams unit handles kicking plays. The special team unit controls the ball and will try to execute the field goals, punts, and kickoffs. The opposing team will try to block or return them. Three positions are specific to the field goal and PAT (point-after-touchdown)unit: the placekicker (K or PK), holder (H) and long snapper (LS). The long snapper's job is to snap the football to the holder, who will catch and position it for the placekicker. There is not usually a holder on kickoffs, because the ball is kicked off of a tee; however, a holder may be used in certain situations, such as if wind is preventing the ball from remaining upright on the tee. The player on the receiving team who catches the ball is known as the kickoff returner (KR). The positions specific to punt plays are the punter, long snapper, and gunner. The long snapper snaps the football directly to the punter, who then drops and kicks it before it hits the ground. Gunners line up split outside of the line and race down the field, aiming to tackle the punt returner (PR) or the player that catches the punt.


There are many rules in American football. The winner of the game is the team who has scored the most points by the end of the game. There are many ways to score in a football game. A touchdown is 6 points. A team reaching the end zone of the opposing team has the touchdown. Then, the scoring team will use a conversion which is a point after touchdown. A 2 point conversion is an option after the touchdown too. A field goal is worth 3 points. A safety is scored when the ball carrier is tackled in his own end zone. Safeties are worth only 2 points, which are awarded to the defense. Also, the team that conceded the safety must kick the ball to the scoring team via a free kick. There are goal posts, and different equipment used in football games.  The football itself is an oval ball, similar to the balls used in rugby or Australian rules football. At all levels of play, the football is inflated to  12 1⁄2 to  13 1⁄2pounds per square inch (psi) and weighs 14 to 15 ounces (397 to 425 grams); beyond that, the exact dimensions vary slightly. In professional play the ball has a long axis of 11 to  11 1⁄4 inches, a long circumference of 28 to  28 1⁄2 inches, and a short circumference of 21 to  21 1⁄4 inches, while in college and high school play the ball has a long axis of  10 7⁄8 to  11 7⁄16 inches, a long circumference of  27 3⁄4 to  28 1⁄2 inches, and a short circumference of  20 3⁄4 to  21 1⁄4 inches. In football games, there are hash marks, yard lines, and sidelines. Football games last for a total of 60 minutes in professional and college play and are divided into two halves of 30 minutes and four quarters of 15 minutes. High school football games are 48 minutes in length with two halves of 24 minutes and four quarters of 12 minutes. The two halves are separated by a halftime period, and the first and third quarters are also followed by a short break. Prior to the start of the game, the referee and team captains for each team meet at midfield for a coin toss. The visiting team is allowed to call 'heads' or 'tails'; the winner of the toss is allowed to decide from between choosing whether to receive or kick off the ball or choosing which goal they want to defend, but they can also defer their choice until the second half. The losing team, unless the winning team decides to defer, is allowed to choose the option the winning team did not select, and receives the option to receive, kick, or select a goal to defend to begin the second half.


The NFL and the NCAA are the most popular leagues in America. The NFL was founded in 1920. It is the largest and most popular sport in America. The NFL has the highest average attendance of any sporting league in the world, with an average attendance of 66,960 during the 2011 NFL Season. The Super Bowl is very popular too. College football is the third most popular sport in America behind professional baseball and professional football. The NCAA is the largest collegiate organization. It has Division I, II, and III.  Division I football is further divided into two subdivisions: the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The champions of each level of play are determined through NCAA-sanctioned playoff systems; while the champion of Division I-FBS was historically determined by various polls and ranking systems, the subdivision adopted a four-team playoff system in 2014. 1.1 million young people play high school football. The NFHS is the largest organization for high school football, with member associations in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. USA Football is the governing body for youth and amateur football, and Pop Warner Little Scholars is the largest organization for youth football. Rival football leagues have existed. The American Football League lasted from 1960 to 1969. The World Football League lasted from 1974 to 1975. The United States Football League lasted from 1983 to 1985. The XFL lasted in 2001 for one year. The United Football League lasted from 2009 to 2012. Today, the Canadian Football League has existed for years and it is very popular in North America and throughout the world.




There is the huge scandal where Trump Jr. (or Donald Trump's son) has been releasing emails about how he agreed to met with a Russian lawyer about information on Hillary Clinton. The Russian attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, denied in an interview with NBC News of having ever acted on behalf of the Russian government. Yet, the emails talks about a Russian government attorney. This proves that the Trump campaign desired to work with Russia in trying to get an edge in the 2016 Presidential campaign. This comes up as Trump related scandals continue to exist. Trump is a person that I don't trust. The Congressional investigations about Russia and the Trump administration continue. Also, many Congress people said that this recent scandal borders on treason. Meanwhile, over 40 states refuse to send their voting records to the Voting Commission (of Trump). Trump believes in the lie that there was massive voting fraud during the 2016 election. Kobach is heading this search of personal information of every voter in America, which violates many state and federal laws. We see that the GOP continues to try to promote their draconian health care bill that will strip the health care benefits of millions of Americans. Also, we see that the events of the G20 and other things. Unfortunately, racism continues to exist. That photo of a white supremacist wearing dreadlocks proves once again that racists are evil hypocrites by definition. Many white racists have dated black people, worked with black people, and traveled into Africa. So, white racists have done these things, but they are still racists. White supremacy is a lie. White people are not infallible, white mediocrity has been glamorized (a key example is about Trump's supporters giving the most desperate lies in order to obfuscate the extremism of the sexist Donald Trump), whiteness is not divine, Black is Beautiful, black beauty is sacrosanct, and white racism has always been related to genocide, theft, lying, distortion, deception, and other evils in the Universe. Recently, some of my relatives visited Charlottesville, Virginia. Many people in that city are racists and some are fighting back to combat racism too. I do send much respect to the activists in Charlottesville, who want the statues of Confederate traitors to be taken down. This is a long fight, but nevertheless, we fight for our black liberation.
Black Lives Matter.

By Timothy