The Rob Deer of Video Games

I wonder how many people remember Rob Deer. He has been known to many baseball fans as Mr. All-Or-Nothing. That guy either struck out or hit one out of the ballpark. There have been some through the years who've tried to be the equivalent to Rob Deer: Sammy Sosa, Preston Wilson, Pat Burrell, Russell Branyan, and Adam Dunn just to name a few. But, Rob Deer is still THE name to which many associate the All-Or-Nothing batter. If he makes contact with the ball, a fan will get a souvenir. But, he doesn't make contact too frequently. There wasn't any strategy to his hitting. Just swing that bat as hard as humanly possible and just hope that you make contact. I can't stand players like that. Yeah, home runs are great, but not if that's all the player provides. Most players anymore can hit at least 10-15 home runs. Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bobby Abreu (last I checked) has only 8 home runs, but 64 RBI's. RBI's are more important than home runs. If all a guy does is hit solo shots, he may wind up with 40 home runs, but only 75 RBI's. I will take the Bobby Abreu's of the world any day over Rob Deer. Abreu typically has a batting average around .300, drives in 100 runs, scores 100 runs, steals 20-30 bases, plays solid defense, and has an excellent on-base percentage. He currently leads the National League in walks. He's a smart baseball player. There's a strategy to his game. While he may not hit too many into the stands, he's productive, gets on base, and is consistent.

That guy who I played against last night is the Rob Deer of video games. I've played him twice now and have seen him play other games. He picks the same pass play every single time. It's a shotgun formation corner route. Then, he scrambles to his left with his fleet-footed quarterback and if there's space, he'll run. If not, he'll throw. That's what he does every play. On defense, he runs a full out seven man blitz every single play. As they're all coming in the direction of the backfield, unless your running back has speed and acceleration of 99 and he's able to run to the outside of the blitz (which is unlikely), he'll be stuffed at or behind the line-of-scrimmage. So, whether you like to run or not, you'll be forced into passing the ball early and often and from the shotgun formation, so your quarterback has extra time to throw the ball. Because he blitzes seven guys every play, all he has to defend the receivers are his two corners and two safeties.

There you have it. That's it for the entire game. Even on the first Tecmo Bowl for the original Nintendo which had four plays to choose from, that'd be three plays too many for this guy. There's no strategy. He either throws the ball deep, to his square receiver, runs the ball down the left sideline with his quarterback, or, well, I guess that's it. On defense, expect the blitz early and often. So, no, you won't run for any yards, but will throw for a bunch.

It's really annoying and boring because unlike in real life where coaches will make changes in their playcalling depending upon what happens in the game and make some adjustments, this guy doesn't believe in that. He literally calls the same play every single down. I threw for over 500 yards against him in that game yesterday and had the ball for only four minutes out of twenty. So, yeah, I averaged over 100 yards per minute. If I had held the ball for sixteen minutes, I would've been breaking many records. Yet, even though I was throwing the ball all over him, he didn't make any adjustments. He didn't double team my outside receivers, my slot men, play zone coverage, bring a different blitz package, or anything of the sort. He stuck with the one play. It's hard for me to get motivated to play a guy who obviously doesn't know much about football. He could create his own playbook for offense and defense and there'd only be one play in each.

I saw him play against Miami as Florida State and at halftime it was 35-35. He played the same strategy against Miami, where he passed the ball (same play) on every single down he had it and he brought the seven man blitz on Miami, so the 'Canes receivers (many of them speedy) were wide open. I played the third quarter and Miami didn't score on me. Why? I mixed things up and made sure not to let their speedy wideout beat me. I also pounded the ball some with the run and tried balancing the offense more. The 'Canes ended up not scoring the rest of the game. When that guy was playing, it was tied 35-35. When I played, we shut them out 42-0. Just like the Rob Deer in baseball, I can't stand playing with or against the Rob Deer of video games.