YEE-HAW! FOOTBALL IS BACK! BEST OF LUCK TO ALL THOSE DOUBLE-WING TEAMS WHO PLAY THIS WEEKEND! IF THERE IS SUFFICIENT WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF COACHES TO E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP IT SHORT AND SUCCINCT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH
Nicknamed "The Dutchman," Van Brocklin was born in South Dakota but attended high school in Walnut Creek, California, and played college ball at Oregon under the great Len Casanova. Playing the early part of his career in the Rams' wide-open offense, he once threw for 554 yards in one game. It's still an NFL record. That was 1951, when most teams would have settled for half that. It broke the previous record by 86 yards. In his early years with the Rams, he and Bob Waterfield created the NFL's first version of the modern Quarterback Controversy. In his latter years, after Waterfield retired, he and Billy Wade paired up to keep the controversy alive. In his 12-year career, he threw for 23,611 yards and 173 touchdowns. He averaged more than eight yards per attempt (compare that with the five yards or so that today's West-Coasters average). He also was an outstanding punter, averaging 42.9 yards over his career. After nine years with the Rams, he was traded to the Eagles - for a guard, a defensive back, and a first-round draft choice. Van Brocklin's eventual departure from the Rams was brought about by a coach-player dispute that few fans of today, when coaches communicate with quarterbacks by radio, would even understand. As he himself wrote in "Norm Van Brocklin's Football Book," co-authored with Hugh Brown, in 1961: "My nine years with the Rams were happy and prosperous. I probably would still be serving out my time with them, except for a delicate situation that arose in 1957 involving coach Sid Gillman and myself. It has been publicized extensively, and needs no retelling here. Suffice it to say that we both wanted to call the signals; Gillman from the sidelines, the way Paul Brown does. I thought I could call the plays better from my position back of the center. The Rams felt they had to back their coach, so we parted company." At first, he was not particularly happy about having to relocate his family to the East Coast, to play for a team that hadn't won more than four games in any of the previous three seasons. But teaming with the great Buck Shaw, who had just been hired as Eagles' coach and arranged for the trade, he led the long-sorry Eagles to a 7-5 record in his second year there, and in 1960, took them to the NFL title game, where they defeated the Packers. For his efforts, he was named the Sporting News-Marlboro Pro Player of the Year. Following the win, Shaw retired, and Van Brocklin expected to be named his successor. When the Eagles instead hired Nick Skorich, Van Brocklin bitterly denounced Eagles' management, claiming that he'd been enticed into moving East with the promise that he would succeed Shaw. Instead, he was hired to build the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings won only three games his first year, but played exciting football, mainly because of the way he used his scrambling quarterback, Francis Tarkenton, the guy on the left in the photo. (The great irony of that, of course, was that Van Brocklin defined the term "immobile passer." In his 12-year pro career, he "rushed" 102 times, for a grand total of 40 yards. In Tarkenton's first season with the Vikings, he rushed 56 times for 308 yards.) He got the Vikings as far as a second-place conference finish by 1964, but in 1966, after the Vikings failed to improve and he and Tarkenton were unable to get along, he was fired. After a year out of coaching, he was hired by the Atlanta Falcons to replace Norb Hecker, three games into the 1968 season. His 1972 and 1973 teams both finished second in the conference, but in 1974, after starting out with high hopes, the Falcons went into a tailspin. With the team stuck at 2-6, he was let go with six games left in the season. He retired to his pecan farm in Georgia and never coached again. All told, he was named to nine pro bowls and played in eight of them. He played in five NFL championship games, and in the last game he ever played, he led his team to the NFL championship. He was noted for his temper and his sarcasm, and his first coach, Hamp Pool. predicted that he would break every NFL passing record, "if somebody doesn't break his neck first." He was known to fire a football at any teammate who wasn't paying attention. Once, at practice, when he spotted a Los Angeles reporter who'd written something that angered him, he called a sweep to be run in the guy's direction. As a coach, he didn't suffer fools gladly, and made his share of enemies among the news media, many of whom are fools. He was one of the founders of the NFL Players Association. When his efforts to organize players were ridiculed by the Redskins' militantly anti-union (and notoriously stingy) owner George Preston Marshall, Van Brocklin said, "The best thing that could happen to Marshall's players and the National Football League would be for him to step in front of a moving cab." Lest you get the idea that Norm Van Brocklin was a total jerk, I came across an interesting story in "Ain't the Beer Cold," famed Orioles' and Colts' (Baltimore- the real Colts) broadcaster Chuck Thompson's autobiography. It was 1962, and Chuck was in Minneapolis, disconsolate. He'd just learned that his longtime buddy and onetime broadcast partner, Bailey Goss, had been killed in an automobile accident the night before. (Goss, an employee of the company I once worked for, the National Brewing Company, was much-loved by Baltimore sports fans, and had been driving home late at night from a Colts' function of some sort or other. His was the voice-over in all National commercials, and he represented the company at all kinds of community affairs. In the early days of television, he did all National Beer Commercials live. There was a lot of whispering about the circumstances of his death, and I can say this: brewery employees were expected to enjoy the company's product when out in public, and driving after imbibing was not the capital offense in those days that it is now.) "I found it hard to concentrate when I broadcast the game on the night after learning of Bailey's death. But it was better than sitting in a hotel room wondering why such tragedies happen. Norm Van Brocklin was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1971, while he was still actively coaching. Correctly identifying Norm Van Brocklin: Joe Daniel's- Sacramento "(about that wide open Fly-T, great book , great offense.")... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana... Adam Wesoloski - Pulaski, Wisconsin ("and that's Fran Tarkenton (UGA grad) next to him in the picture.")... Scott Russell - Potomac falls, Virginia... Dave Potter- Durham, North Carolina ("As a head coach, he's got some classic moments on Steve Sabol's NFL Films series.")... John Muckian- Lynn, Massachusetts ("that is the 'grouchy bastard' Norm Van Brocklin")... Jack Tourtillotte- Boothbay Harbor, Maine... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota ("The picture is of Norm Van Brocklin from the Vikings immediately after Minnesota defeated the Chicago Bears.")... Don Capaldo- Keokuk, Iowa... John Zeller- Sears, Michigan... Tom Hinger- Auburndale, Florida... Steve Staker- Fredericksburg, Iowa ("Being a Viking fan, I guess I should know that one. They have had a few Iowa guys play for them over the years. One came from my college alma mater, Upper Iowa University. He was a punter for the Vikes, Mike Eischeid.") ... John Reardon- Peru, Illinois... Bill Mignault- Ledyard, Connecticut... Roger Kelly- Delta, British Columbia... Mike Framke- Green Bay, Wisconsin... David Crump- Owensboro, Kentucky ("I loved it when he would get mad at Fran Tarkenton for scrambling so much. I also thought it was neat that he would smoke a pack of cigarettes on the sideline during a game.")... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois... *********** After 18 seasons playing under Kevin Sheedy, Mark "Bomber" Thompson is now a rival coach in the Australian Football League. Yet despite all the time they spent together, their styles are vastly different. "I'm looking for an angle all the time," Sheedy says. "Bomber's as straight as the highway. I'm a bit of a gambler. He's probably Commonwealth Bank, and I'm out there in the sharemarket. I live on the edge a bit." Sheedy attributes their different approaches to the trades they once pursued. (Australian players do not follow the US model of first going to college and then into professional football. Instead, it is common - or at least it used to be - to pursue a trade in the event they might not make it as professional footballers.) Thompson's meticulous approach, says Sheedy, "comes from being an electrician. You don't want to make too many mistakes as a electrician." Sheed, considered an innovator by most, even an eccentric by some, says that's because he was once a plumber.
*********** "Coach Wyatt, again you are right on the button about ABC's handling of the Ohio State game. These producers must have come over from the NFL. They don't get the" attraction's" of the college game - they just don't get "IT" John Muckian- Lynn, Massachusetts *********** I've been looking over this offense, it sounds real explosive! We're Coaching a 13 year old little league team and seem to run into teams that are quite a bit bigger (at all lineman positions) and blocking them to run the ball seems almost impossible at times. I've always been told "if it sounds too good to be true"..... How long does it usually take for the boys to start catching on to this offensive scheme? Are the smaller teams effective? I would like to invest in some of your materials that you offer, like I've stated previously it sounds too good to be true. I know you're a busy person, I would like to hear back. It isn't too good to be true. But it does require the willingness to commit to doing something that a lot of coaches are unwilling to run. (We Double-Wingers call it having "a set of stones.") But it is a sound offense that is within your kids' capabilities, and there are teaching materials available that just aren't available for other offenses. It is being run successfully by kids as young as 6-7 years old, but it has also been run at the professional level, in the Canadian Football League. As for the time it takes to catch on... it is easy to understand the basics. Typically, kids are running a couple of plays within the first half hour. But although it is based on sound football principles - such as faking, angle blocking and double-teaming and pulling linemen - that have stood the test of time, it doesn't look like anything the average fan is used to seeing on the tube, and so it is often ridiculed by the semi-literate (football-wise). I think it is important for you to understand that upfront. *********** Hello Coach, Last we spoke was the Providence clinic. Just thought I would send you a quick note to keep you posted. Won our opener this Sunday. A gritty defensive battle. Our opponent's huge outside linebackers stuffed our power and super power all day. Fourth quarter the boys rose to the challenge and wedged 60 yards to to 11 yard line where we scored on 38 go reach. Wedge for PAT was good. Guilford Junior White 7, North Haven 0. (11 and 12 year olds). Roy Lamberton, Guilford, Connecticut *********** Coach - Since all the other coaches are being a tad braggadocious about their Double Wings teams, I will go ahead and jump into the fray. This past weekend our Lathrop Titan team played in a jamboree (a series of controlled scrimmages with other teams over a set period. Each team has the ball for 10 minutes). Couple of interesting facts here: 1. Ran 41 plays, for over 300 yards. You were right about 2-Wedge setting up 29G-O Reach. 38 Reach went fairly consistent also. 2. The league president seemed very pleased that a team was running the "Cox Box". He said he coached it previously. ("Cox Box" was the nickname given to the Double-Wing offense run by a very successful and innovative coach in Northern California named Terry Cox. HW) 3. We tried several times to run a "no-huddle" offense but of the 3 times I warned the official we were going to do this we scored each time! The white-hat said to me something to the effect of "Hard to run a no-huddle when you score all the damn time..." 4. Had several calls on my voice mail when I got home from work today from teams that wanted to scrimmage us before the first game. Teams that we did not play during the jamboree. Teams that won either their Division or Super Bowl last year. The lovely Mrs. Torres said it best, "Words out Coach, get used to it. Their coming after you...". 5. It was a very good "Double Wing weekend"! John Torres, Manteca, California (Mrs. Torres is right. You are becoming a marked man. Now, instead of people running from you, coaches will be coming out of the woodwork, hoping to become famous as the guy that slew the Double-Wing Dragon. But then, you aren't a true Double-Wing coach until you become a marked man. HW) *********** Redemption! Hi Coach.Greetings. Cave Spring Stampede 38-14 over North Roanoke Chargers(Defending Champions).Set them up with runs, killed them with Blue-Blue passes. Scored every time.Also scored with thunder pass. Need to work on offensive line pulling techniques. Play a team next Wed. whose Coach says he doesn't care if he goes 1-9 if that one win is against my team.What a clown. I'll keep you posted. Best Wishes, Armando Castro, Roanoke, Virginia (Coach Castro's teams have had so much success with the Double-Wing that he is a marked man in the Roanoke area. That's the sure sign that you're getting the job done. HW)
*********** In case you still believe in coincidence... Electronic Data Systems (EDS) laid off 1700 workers on July 2. Among them were 300 workers who had come on board a year earlier, when EDS acquired the company they had worked for. Had EDS let those 300 workers go just one day earlier, on July 1, it would have had to pay them all a severance package it had agreed to when it acquired their company a year earlier. That package provided that each laid-off worker would receive a month's salary, plus as much as a month's pay for each year served. Instead, because EDS waited exactly one day more than the term called for in the severance agreement, the laid-off workers will receive two to four weeks of salary. Oh yes, and they were notified that their medical coverage would end at midnight July 2. One Oklahoma worker with nine years on the job would have been eligible for $68,000 in severance pay had he been laid off on July 1. Instead, on July 2, he received $3,000, and less than a day to go out and find medical coverage. Here's the best, though - the company denied that the workers' severance agreement had anything to do with the job cuts, and it expects people to believe it.
I am now taking orders for "PRACTICE
WITHOUT PADS," my latest video production.
It is geared primarily to the youth coach,
but it will be useful to high school
coaches as well. It deals with subjects
ranging from the organizational details
that you must cover before you even start
to practice, to pre-season workouts, and
takes you all the way through a practice
to the sort of things you might want to
cover when you're wrapping things up at
the end. In between are drills dealing
with flexibility, strength, form-running
and agility, as well as the basics of
proper blocking, tackling and
ball-handling. It ends with numerous
fun-type drills that you can use to build
competitiveness and morale among your
kids, and send them home wanting more. And
the best part of it is, although you might
see players on the tape performing some of
the drills while wearing helmets and pads,
and
although these drills are still plenty
useful once you're allowed to hit, they
are drills that you can do in the
off-season, or in pre-season before you're
allowed to have any contact!
The tape runs approximately 1-1/2 hours in
length and sells for $49.95 - mail check
or money order to Coach Hugh Wyatt -
1503 NE 6th Avenue - Camas, WA
98607 *********** Coach- Thanks so much for the O-Line video. It has helped already. It is the perfect thing to give the Jr. High coaches for their instruction, as well as the new coaches. Just another thing to sell them on the offense. Thanks again, Jason Sopko, Forest City High School, Forest City, Iowa *********** Coach, The video (A Fine Line) turned out to be exactly what other people have said. It covered things I had done a better job on when I started the double wing 6 years ago and some new things. My line coach and I realized that we had not been paying enough attention to details. This tape is an outstanding "jolt" to me to get back to what made us so successful a few years back. (Not that we've been so bad lately-we were fortunate to go 7-2 last season) I could kick myself for getting complacent. Coaches that don't try to improve and are satisfied because it "was good enough last year" get worse. Thanks again !!!!!!! John V. Irion, Queensbury HS, Queensbury, New York (Coach Irion runs a quality program. Twice in the last four years, Queensbury has been in the New York State Class 2 - second largest - final game. He is the original "500 reps before I will run a play in a game" coach that you may have heard me speak about. HW) (FOR MORE INFO ON "A FINE LINE") *********** Bob Greene, in the Chicago Tribune, ran this excerpt from Bill Mauldin's "Up Front". Mauldin became famous for his cartoon depiction of World War II as seen by two ordinary Army grunts, Willie and Joe, but as you will see, he wasn't bad at painting word pictures, either. When your kids complain about how tough they have it, you might want to read this to them. As General Jim Shelton, one of my unofficial military advisers put it, "It's great--and true. Like two-a-days in August, and then somebody starts shooting at you." Dig a hole in your backyard while it is raining. Sit in the hole until the water climbs up around your ankles. Pour cold mud down your shirt collar. Sit there for 48 hours and, so there is no danger of your dozing off, imagine that a guy is sneaking around waiting to club you on the head or set your house on fire. *********** Hugh: Do you really think soccer is a threat to football? I think it is a "no contest" competition. What kid with an ego and growing self-confidence would opt for soccer over football, in all of its facets? First, you get to hit somebody--and you learn that the harder you hit the more you win. And what is tougher and more rewarding than putting a good block on your opponent to break a back for a gain? Just to post a lead-post that takes a big middle guard or tackle for a ride, knowing that you will soon get your turn at the glory block - the inside-out - that can be seen so much better in the movies. At least in the "both ways" era, every player had to be agile, quick, and ready to hit. I have seen some great soccer players. They could also have been dancers. But not many experiences can match the feeling at kick-off time, right after the Star-Spangled Banner,,,, when you begin searching for the jersey of the guy you will next confront with intensity, poise, and concentration. And then sorting out the confusion after the ball is snapped on both sides of the ball, knowing you must be there"Fustust with the mostest" but still under control. American football, in spite of all the excesses, remains the most challenging all around sport devised by man. And what makes it go is ultimate teamwork and sacrifice on the part of the players. It's the closest thing to battle. Unfortunately, battle will ALWAYS be with us, and our young men must be prepared to meet that challenge. There is no better place for that preparation than the football field. I know you know that. Keep up the fire! Black Lions. Jim Shelton, Englewood, Florida (Jim Shelton is a former Delaware guard, and a retired Army General with Vietnam combat experience. Not having served myself, I rely heavily on him and others who have for advice and observations on the parallels between football and the military. ) Jim, You expressed so accurately what football can mean, and I think that too many American boys are being deprived of this thrill by well-meaning but overly-protective parents who want everything to be risk-free for their kids (and for themselves) and as a result direct them to soccer when they're little. Youth soccer tends to draw affluent, politically-sophisticated parents, and as a result, some youth soccer organizations are unbelievably well funded. There is a military parallel: while football people remained complacent and figured American boys would always play an American game, youth soccer built an infrastructure and developed a political savvy that has helped it dominate youth football in most middle-class communities (and in much of American culture, as it's portrayed by Madison Avenue). The fact that it is unisex helps, too. Part of our strategy, I believe, lies in the counterattack. And part of it lies in promoting the unique values of our game. I do sense that the tide may be turning in our favor, but we can't take it for granted as we once could that an American kid would just naturally gravitate to football because that's what American kids do in the fall. It does seem that when you leave it up to the kids to make the decision, they choose football. I have seen that happen with my two oldest grandsons, both 11. They said they were tired of soccer, and this year they are playing football. But I was still blown away when the kid in Chicago chose to dump stardom in soccer for being a member of a football team. I could have cried, I was so excited. Black Lions. Hugh *********** I shared the Idris Amao (hope I spelled it right) story with my wife. She thinks like I do, and she loved the story. She thought that Hollywood should do something with it, but that they would probably change the sports and make futbol come out on top. Then she started asking questions about what you were doing in Chicago. She said, "He's got it made, just traveling around doing clinics in the spring, and breezing in to town to help coach in the summer. He's like Hillary Clinton; unelected and unaccountable!" I doubt if you've ever been compared to Hillary before, and I hope you think that it was clever, and not an insult. My wife reads your news vicariously through me, and she is definitely a big fan. (I must say, Lady Hillary is about the last person I ever thought I'd be compared with, but maybe it's what I need in the way of a makeover into a kinder, gentler kinda guy. You're right - the Idris Amao story is great. You're also right that Americans, loving happy endings as they do, wouldn't stand for seeing their precious soccer lose out to that big, ugly football! Ugh! HW) *********** Hi Coach. How are you? I was reading through the NEWS and been following the soap opera of soccer and football. Interesting stuff all around. I thought I'd add my experiences with this from my current crop of youngsters One player is having a tough time with practice. Doesn't want anything to do with it. His dad is an asst. coach and there is a little bit of a battle going on. I should clarify that Dad is not pushing the player to play, he's interested in coaching because the son is playing. He's been doing a fine job too - more than a helper dad, he's almost co-coach. Anyway, Dad says to son that if you don't practice, you don't play in the games. He wants to play, but doesn't want to practice. Those are the rules he's told, so it's up to the player. He's sat in the vehicle while we practiced once and another time for an hour last night. I was asking my asst. where does his son get this mentality, and he says in soccer they never practice, they only play games. Ah ha! What's that? Personally I'm amazed there is a team sport and they don't practice. I had a player quit the second week because he didn't think it was fair to expect the players to attend every practice. It didn't occur to me to ask if he played soccer. After this happened I asked another asst. coach about soccer because his sons have played it. He said they play hockey and it lasts all winter and it is taken very serious. They treat soccer as optional and a more relaxed activity. With the abundance of soccer and all these kids playing, this uncommitted attitude is filtering into the true team sports I guess. Man, we've been trying to instill commitment, responsibility, sportsmanship, and team building, and this is what we're up against. Wow. When did team sports become slow pitch softball? I have three brothers on our team and they play soccer in winter and summer. I asked them if they play any other sports, and they say no - football and soccer. Now there's a combination! It almost doesn't seem to fit. The funny thing is all three are just about the three most rough and tumble kids on the team. Maybe it has to do more with being brothers and loving football despite playing soccer. Incidentally, they are the only family that says 'Thank you coach.' after each practice. I think there might be a few others now and then, but this family is the only consistent ones, every day. I just noticed because I never expected it or thought I was entitled, but it is nice to hear too. Nice surprise. Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin *********** We have, excuse me, HAD (past tense) a new kid on the team this year. From the short time I knew him (4 days), he seemed to be a good kid with some athletic ability. He was not real big, but he was in the top five on the team for speed, and he had great hands (pretty much caught everything that he touched). On the second day of practice his mom shows up and asks if it would be a problem for her son to miss practice a couple of times a week because he had just signed up for fall soccer and they practice 2 times/week. You see, she figured that since we practiced 4 times/week, and soccer only practiced twice, it would be okay for him to miss football. She wanted to make sure that missing practice wouldn't affect her son's playing time on the football team. Of course I told her that it would. You see, we (our organization) made a concerted effort this year to explain to the parents and players (especially those new to the program) that football is a HUGE commitment and that the players were expected to be at all practices. Of course we would excuse players that had family emergencies or serious illness (unfortunately, some families consider birthday parties, trips to amusement parks, theater tickets (huh), etc., etc.) to be emergencies.) Apparently, she did not like my answer because the kid made it to exactly 2 more practices. Then, a week later, the head coach gets a call telling him that the kid was going to quit. Its a shame, I really think the kid could have contributed to the team and seemed to be having fun. Subsequently, I found out from the head coach (his son goes to school with the kid who quit) that the kid's family had been putting pressure on him to not play football and concentrate on soccer. The coach's son said that the kid's big brother (and even the parents) was telling him that he was too small, too wimpy, etc., etc. to play football. Nothing like setting a kid up to fail. How does this happen in today's society where the kids are entitled to do anything they want. You know, nobody can tell you what you can and can't do. the parents just sent a message (loud and clear) to their kid that you have to be a certain size or shape to do certain things. Its really sad. I'm really glad that my parents never taught me that lesson. If they had, being that I was never even close to the max weight limit (I was always closer to the lower limit) in little league, I would have never played football and would have missed out on some of the best experiences and people in my life. Come to think of it, I gotta go call Mom and Dad to thank them. Regards, Donnie Hayes, Farmington Hills, Michigan *********** WHERE KIDS GET THEIR IDEAS DEPARTMENT (1): John Madden was a very good coach. And he certainly knows his football. Early in his broadcasting career, before he began playing a character named John Madden, going "BOOM!" all the time, explaining at great length such inside football information as the fact that when the whistle blows the ball is dead, and ingratiating himself with the young dudes who shout and spill beer by pretending to be as dumb as they are, he was a decent TV analyst. But man, that commercial for Madden 2003 - the one with all the NFL loudmouths woofing and trash-talking - is a total sellout of the very game that put him where he is today. It does a disservice to anyone who coaches kids. It doesn't take long for that crap to flow downhill into youth football. Shame on him for putting his name on it. *********** WHERE KIDS GET THEIR IDEAS DEPARTMENT (2): TV insists on intruding on football games, which you would once have considered to be wholesome programming safe for your kids to watch, with some real scuzzy promos. I'm sure looking forward to seeing more of one George Lopez. In the promo for his show, he barges into his daughter's room. She's entertaining a guy in there, and when the girl acts astonished at his barging in, he explains, "just wanted to make sure that everybody's got a pair of pants - and they're on." That's good old George. Every teenage girl's dream dad. The kind who lets a guy go into his daughter's bedroom and close the door. (You wonder where kids get their ideas? You ever see a TV show where a parent wins? A show where a teenager who really wants something doesn't get it? You ever see a parent with stones? Of course not. The audience TV is after is teenagers, and teenagers are not going to watch a show where parents act like adults.) *********** I submit this for your consideration... As NFL teams continue to hold stars out of exhibition - oops - sorry - "preseason" - games, won't that mean that pretty soon the first couple of regular-season games will begin serving the purpose that exhibition games once did? And won't that mean that Madden will have to spend all his time and wind telling us how it's early in the season and they still don't have their timing down yet, and that explains the dropped passes, and fumbles, and penalties, and missed tackles, blah, blah, blah? (A Chicago sports writer says "NFL" should stand for "National Fraud League" in view of its teams' larcenous practice of forcing pre-season games - at full-price - on their season-ticket holders, and then openly and brazenly admitting that the games mean nothing to them.)
As many of you know, I am a great believer in teaching blocking and tackling using hand shields. Unfortunately, the standard-size shield can sometimes make it impossible for a little guy to wrap his arms around it while "grabbing cloth," much less locking his arms. (Those of you who have my "Safer and Surer Tackling" tape will understand what I am saying. As a result of inquiries from coaches, a company in the Northwest has produced a "youth" pad about 15-20 per cent smaller in all dimensions: approximately 20 x 16 x 3, with two handles same as the adult size. Its price is $45 each when you buy from 1-4; $40 each if you buy 5 or more (prices include shipping). *********** What a great idea! Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois
TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -
*********** At the Parents' meeting, I explained that I do not give out individual awards (like stars on the helmets and such), but that I do give one award, and explained the Black Lion award. P.P.S. Know of any Black Lions around this area? Jody Hagins, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Good question - I have requested a listing of the members of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - by location. If I am successful, I should be able to furnish you names of men to contact to help present your award. HW)
|
August
30 - "There are worse things in
life than a tumble on heather, and life is
itself but a game at football." Sir Walter
Scott
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Norm Van Brocklin, the guy in
the shirt and tie at left, has reason to be happy.
He is in the locker room after the first game he
ever coached, and his Minnesota Vikings, playing
their first game ever, have just upset the Chicago
Bears, 37-13.
The
Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois,
are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's
Black Lion
Award winner,
Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John
Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being
named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note
the Black Lions
regimental
patch that he
proudly wears on his jersey!
(THERE IS PLENTY MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE WEB IF YOU DO A SEARCH ON "HEAT STROKE")
***********
A youth coach of my acquaintance wrote to tell me he'd
received a note from his league commissioner, telling him
they'd had a board meeting the night before, at which there
was some concern expressed that he was using "an
untraditional offense called the Single Wing."
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: If there is ever an All-Time Owners'
Team, Carroll Rosenbloom will be on it. He owned two
different NFL teams, on opposite coasts. He pioneered the
first one; he traded for the second.
***********
Art Schuldt (LEFT) a member of Jon McLaughlin's staff at
Rich Central High, was one of only 500 high school
coaches nationwide honored as AFLAC National Assistant
Coaches of the Year for 2001. Art, who handles all
special teams at RC, also coaches ends on offense and the
secondary on defense. Having worked with him, I can
personally vouch for his worthiness of the honor; he
works hard at his job and takes great pride in it.
************
The Devils Lake, North Dakota School Board has voted
unanimously to stop calling its high school teams the
"Satans." Maybe now they'll be the Devils. Or the Red
Devils. Or the Lakers. Or maybe something really innocuous
and dumb, like Red Storm, or Red Hawks.
***********
KID-SIZED SHIELDS?
I have had many coaches mention
that while they do the blocking and tackling drills I
show on my tapes, they sometimes have problems because
their kids are so small.
When
the team gathered in a circle at the end of practice, Idris
Amao was in the middle of the pack, surrounded by teammates.
He was part of the family.
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Emlen Tunnell (pronounced "tunn-ELL")
was one of the first black players of the NFL's modern
(post-war era), and the first to play for the New York
Giants. He had an outstanding career as a defensive back,
and along with Tom Landry he helped demonstrate the
feasibility of the Giants' revolutionary "umbrella"
four-deep secondary that finally showed that the Cleveland
Browns' feared passing game could be stopped. He was named
by Pro Football Chronicle to its 1950s All-Decade team. At
the time of his retirement, he was the NFL's all-time leader
in interceptions and punt returns. He was named to nine Pro
Bowls. He was the first black man to serve as an assistant
coach in the NFL. When he entered the Pro Football Hall of
Fame in 1967, he became the first black man to be inducted,
and purely-defensive player as well. (Eagles' linebacker
Chuck Bednarik, who entered with him, was considered to be
the last of the NFL's two-way players.)
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Bobby Mitchell effectively integrated
the last all-white NFL team.
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: As much as any man, Bert Bell is
responsible for the fact that professional football stood
alone among major sports in not allowing a concentration of
power in the so-called major-market franchises. Dedicated to
the ideo of a level playing field for all teams, and
constantly fighting to put the interests of the league
first, he managed to build the NFL to the point where it
stood on equal footing with college football.