We're forever gonna disagree on this, I think. But! I think an argument could be made that in some respects, Game 96249 did have some elegance to it.
I have to admit, it really did. A field 53 yards wide that goes from Mexico to Canada is, on its face, ridiculous. But I will happily admit that its confines are strangely brilliant in a way.
It's hard to imagine much more geographic diversity than what this game has. There's plenty of opportunity for some good mountain football in Idaho, plenty of big lakes to navigate, and then when you go south into Utah, there are these big salt flats. There's just nothing there, it's like playing football in a whole bunch of nothing. And then, of course, you've got the deserts in Arizona.
And scattered throughout, you've got a little bit of farmland and a few small towns. But what I love about this field, at least in theory, is that it forces you to just march forward into all this geography head-on. With most long-distance games, there aren't really any defined sidelines, or at least they're really wide. So if you see a mountain or a lake? You go around it. But not here, You've only got 53 yards of wiggle room. So you just have to grit your teeth and go.
