I personally like rules that allow BOTH. The reason is it allows all to play and compete, but even more than that it openes up the game to what I see as the benefits of both systems! To me the sticks are the equivalent of lofting a pass out there for the reciever to grab. In contrast the TTQB is a bullet pass. The sticks allow you to go over the top more if the defense plays with wrecklace abandon, but can be very dificult to work underneath patterns. A great TTQB passer is like having Peyton Manning, the benefits of a marksman are obvious.
Here are my personal feelings on the Pros and cons of each passing system...
PASS PLACEMENT- For the pros, I like that with pass placement the DEFENSE GETS TO MAKE A PLAY ON THE BALL. The defender's proximity to the reciever REALLY matters. I like that its about speed more than power on the outside when chasing a live ball. If it were just sticks, I don't like that its either a completion or a pick 90% of the time with a smooth board (maybe we should allow defenders to bump the reciever off line?). For the cons, there is ZERO ASPECT OF QB ACCURACY with sticks. The big reciever is not a factor. Additionally the QB should only be allowed to throw in the direction he is facing (180 degrees passing angle). Lastly, It shouldn't be TOO EASY. I don't think you should be able to orient the reciever in absolutely any direction to free himself from the defenders. In my opinion he should only be able to be turned within the 180 (+/-90) degrees of the direction in which he is facing (similar to the QB passing rule).
TTQB- I like the element of human passing accuracy, the excitement of making the big throw into traffic. I don't like the debate over whether the tiny ball hit the tiny player (why can't he really catch it
). The scale of the TTQB gunslinger is certainly difficult and there seems to be such a huge differential in abilities. How do you defend a deadly passer? One common answer is to knock out the recievers at the LOS with power (and holding) by your corners. Again, I prefer speed on the outside players and making plays downfield (maybe its just the absolute mauling of the recievers at the line that I'm really not fond of). I like the potential of multi-stop on pass plays which could have rules to force the defenders to release the recievers. I'd also like to learn more about different target passing methods where you throw with the TTQB to a passing target and then the players run to the spot. My concern with that would be that it is too time consuming.
Great conversational topic for this hobby and I've enjoyed reading the responses so far. We in the MFCA should definately document the many tournament methods for all to learn.
Joe