Who will win: Dog or Football team?

[Aloysius]

The ratio of serious responses to Air Bud pics in this thread is sort of alarming.

-Al

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
Dude, all of you talking about kicking it 20 yards forward and as high as you can are morons. And so are people that are saying the dog has a chance at that point.

To address idiot answers like "line up on the goal line you only have to stop a touchdown" which wouldn't work anyway or "kick it really high and surround him" which makes the question completely boring, I suggest a modified hypothetical in which it's assumed that it's just a normal freaking kick.

And no, NFL players can not get to the goal line on a kickoff even unblocked. How long do you think it takes to cover 70 yards in full pads? How long do you think a kick off can stay in the air? It's semi close with the running start but there's still no way they get there.

[/ QUOTE ]


no one ever said that the players could get to the goal line to get the ball. Why dont you learn to read?

and yes, it may make the question boring, but it also unequivocally makes me right.

[KUJustin]

[ QUOTE ]
no one ever said that the players could get to the goal line to get the ball. Why dont you learn to read?

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all where in my quote do I discuss getting the ball? Did you honestly just implicitly misquote me while instructing me to read?? Secondly:

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Guids, on a regular kickoff they won't be within 3'. On an onsides kick, the dog can simply go backwards until there is sufficient space, esp since we agree the dog is moving and accelerating at 2x [or more] the speed of an average NFLer.

As long as we agree a human will tire before a greyhound [incredibly obvious] then an onsides kick does nothing. The dog is not forced to run forward into a tackler.

[/ QUOTE ]

regular kickoff they won't be within 3'


what are you talking about? do you even watch football? There are NO blockers, they will be within 3 feet of that dog before he catches it basically every time.

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Also:
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and yes, it may make the question boring, but it also unequivocally makes me right.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, seriously? Really? Um... congratulations... we're all so very impressed.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
no one ever said that the players could get to the goal line to get the ball. Why dont you learn to read?

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all where in my quote do I discuss getting the ball? Did you honestly just implicitly misquote me while instructing me to read?? Secondly:

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Guids, on a regular kickoff they won't be within 3'. On an onsides kick, the dog can simply go backwards until there is sufficient space, esp since we agree the dog is moving and accelerating at 2x [or more] the speed of an average NFLer.

As long as we agree a human will tire before a greyhound [incredibly obvious] then an onsides kick does nothing. The dog is not forced to run forward into a tackler.

[/ QUOTE ]

regular kickoff they won't be within 3'


what are you talking about? do you even watch football? There are NO blockers, they will be within 3 feet of that dog before he catches it basically every time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Also:
[ QUOTE ]
and yes, it may make the question boring, but it also unequivocally makes me right.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, seriously? Really? Um... congratulations... we're all so very impressed.

[/ QUOTE ]

And no, NFL players can not get to the goal line on a kickoff even unblocked.


NFL players are trained to get to the ball, when you say get to the goal line, everyone is assuming a kickoff that comes down on the goal line, hence the players would be going for the ball. It wasnt really a misquote, I dotn think. I dont understand your 2nd point whatsoever. thirdly, if people would just admit that they were staunchly supporting a very wrong stance as per the OP, there wouldnt be a problem.

[Fedorfan]

if the dog also has a team blocking for him, and assuming it's a standard kick, then i would go with the dog having a better chance each time.

My buddy has a big lab that goes playfully nuts when you take it out to a park or the beach, and let me tell you i'm in reasonably good shape but when this dog is running around at full speed dodging us I'm not even quick enough to touch it as it runs by and dodges past me... let alone tackle it. And I'm not a 300lb dude either.

[crookdimwit]

The thing the anti-dog people are missing is that it's really not going to be 11 vs. 1 on the field...

Let's assume the dog dances around a bit, then takes off to the far right side of the field. 7 or 8 of the players will never be able to get over to that side of the field in time.

This leaves maybe 3 or 4 players to try and tackle Air Bud. If he gets past them, they won't catch him. He's in the endzone. Even a Golden Retriever, at 3 or 4 years old, can outrun almost any human easy.

So the dog bursts forward and to the right... My old dog loved to catch a frisbee, then taunt me with it instead of bringing it back, and let me tell you, dogs seem to instinctively understand the idea of faking left then taking off to the right, and visa versa. Dogs love to watch you chase them and lunge, and once you've committed to a spot, they can easily shift direction on the fly (an advantage of four legs, I believe) and make you look silly. It wouldn't be hard for the dog to run straight at the defender to the far right of the field, get about two yards away, then react to which way the player commits, then juke and cut away from that spot. Even if another defender was in the zone, the dog could quickly re-juke that other defender, then take off to the endzone.

I think this contest might be close because Goldens aren't the fastest dogs... If this was a Dalmation or Border Collie, it would be Dog taking it to the house 90%+ of the time...

[J.A.K.]

My pro-dog stance is based on the ball being kicked AWAY, not pooched, squibbed, onside, etc.

Best I can ascertain avg. hang time for a kickoff is ~4 seconds. No team is sprinting ~60 yards and surrounding the dog in 4 seconds. And that's catching it on the 10 YL.

[kmack]

With regards to OP's original question, I think that the specific dog breed would determine my answer... However, on a standard kick-off my Vizsla would score easily even if the special teams were joined by the offense, defense, and band in their efforts to prevent the kick return.

[lastchance]

I think most NFL players have a top speed of 20 MPH (at least the special teamers will).

A golden retriever cannot just run up one side, and then outrun the entire NFL team to the other. A bunched up U-formation like guids describes should be effective in cornering a golden retriever.

If we're talking about a greyhound, NFL team has almost no chance.

[shadypac]

Just for anyone doubting this arguement when it comes to greyhounds-whippets i thought id post a few interesting videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCaINlysTHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxthBeGRGE0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEK-GYVehRA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRLPrLWZA1o

ya so in a greyhounds case, 95% of the time?