*********** Congratulations to Pete Porcelli, of Lansingburgh, New York, named Coach of the Year by both the Troy Record and the Albany Times-Union. In his second year at Lansingburgh High, the Knights' supercharged double-wing racked up an 11-1 record and made it to the state semifinals before meeting defeat. The Knights outscored their opponents 640-97, including a 22-18 win over defending state champion Peru. Prior to this year, Lansingburgh's best season ever was 7-3 in 1992. One of coach Porcelli's athletes, Marcel Youngs, who rushed for 1,288 yards and set a section season record with 36 touchdowns, was named co-player of the year. Youngs was one of three Lansingburgh backs to rush for over 1,000 yards. *********** Coach Wyatt: I hope this note finds you and yours happy and healthy this holiday season. Our development has been satisfactory, but I wonder if you could forward this e-mail to your colleges in Washington. You see, I'm trying to expand the visibility of football in Puerto Rico and I thought that I have enough contacts in the states to help us out with our biggest problem: equipment. We are requesting that coaches who are replacing gear send us one or two of their old helmets and shoulder pads. We'll recondition and use what we can. This will provide a way for young men in our less-than-prosperous town to learn the game and play ball rather than engaging in the many vices that befall young men of modest income. I'm sure this is not a new idea, but we sure could use the help, and it never hurts to ask your coaching collegues to help you out. Fellow coaches should take a look at my Coach's Corner link of our team home page if they want more info. Brian Haack, Fajardo Giants, Fajardo Puerto Rico
************Hi Coach, While catching up on some post-season reading, I re-read the SI issue devoted to Johnny Unitas. As I stared at the cover (and those back of the helmet feathers the Redskins once had) I noticed the center with 2 hands on the ball. Which led me to think: who was the last 2 handed center? Or the 1st well known 1 handed one? Perhaps the masses that read the News might know? Todd Bross, Sharon, Pennsylvania I'm guessing it happened all at once. Those linemen you see there couldn't use their hands to block. Once the pros permitted the center to block with the extended hand, the two-handed center snap vanished. It would be like asking who was the last pro lineman to block with a classic blocking surface. HW *********** Hello Coach Wyatt, My name is Daniel Fee, and I have e-mailed you a couple times before (I sent you a couple pictures from a 1957 CFL Fan Guidbook. I live in Oceanside, CA in North San Diego County. I am not a coach, but I almost became a volenteer assistant at my local high school (I couldn't dedicate the time the coach deserved so I declined but thanked him for the opportunity). I am currently pursuing other career options as a computer/video game designer. One of the things that have always made me mad is the violence and showboating portrayed in most football video games. The history and evolution of football video games is an interesting story that I won't get into, but football game designers in general have definately focused on taking the way the NFL glorifies everything wrong with "Modern Football" and amplified it ten fold. You have often written about how bad the "Madden" series has gotten (especially with Madden using it to show kiddies at home how things are "supposed to be done"). Unfortunately, the Madden series is the least offencive of the bunch. Here is an article from ESPN.com dealing with how the NFL is reacting to negative associations between videogame and live NFL violence. http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2002/1121/1464315.html The article was also posted on the International Game Developers Association website (an association organized to help developers make better games, avoid lawsuits, and discuss ethical issues such as rating systems and sexual/violent content in games. The gist is that local San Diego publisher Midway Games has been putting out the worst game licenced by the NFL and Players Association, "NFL Blitz". This is the game where players are really more like "pro" wrestlers as they beat each other up after each play (just try to teach a kid proper tackling technique after he has grown up playing a game where he spins the ball carrier around, slams him to the ground, then adds in a couple of drop kicks for good measure and poses for the camera). Now don't get me wrong, I'm actually someone who doesn't think video games are "bad", even football games (I am entering the Industry after all). I believe that video games could actually be educational to some degree if designers abandoned the Monday Night Football mold for designing and marketing football games. Some of the older NCAA football games did a very nice job of using fight songs and crowd cheers to reward good plays instead of player poses, taunts, and bodyslams. So while the NFL is re-evaluating its practice of failing to call spearing (intentional helmet contact to any part of the opponent's body, not just the quarterback's head), it looks like video games will be forced to curb at least some violence that falls outside of NFL rules. The NFL and Players Association can't afford lawsuits from parents of kids who get paralyzed from tackling the way they learned from watching TV or playing a "Licenced" video game. At any rate, I just thought you might be interested and wanted to assure you that there are people out there in the video game world who do care about how real football is played...now if I can just get them to put in a tight doublewing formation and not just the "flex-bone". Thanks for your time, Daniel Fee, Oceanside, California *********** Coach Wyatt, My name is Coach Greg Hall from Greenbelt, Md. I met you the past 2 years with Coach Dewayne Pierce. I wanted to let you know that the Double Wing has done it again. In my first year as Head Coach I won my County Championship and I wanted to tell you thanks for all your help. Your clinics, tapes and playbooks that you put together, has been a tremendous help along with Coach Pierce who I call my mentor. I would have never imagine doing well so fast, especially when I still have so much to learn about the Doublewing and football period. Once again thanks for everything. *********** Q. The defenses we faced this season ran a 5-3, and 4-4 defense. They had athletic LB's,DE's, and CB's.. They were able to contain my team to only running plays to the inside. Will your offense allow me to dominate both inside and out? A. No. There is no offense that will do everything you'd like to do against any defense - unless by some chance the offensive team is clearly superior to the defensive team. Even a mediocre defense can be set up to take away a certain aspect of your game. That is where coaching comes in. A coach has to get over the idea that he is Superman and can force anything to work, and give the defense a little credit and be willing to take what is there. If you have ever been in a position where nothing you try works, you will be grateful to have an offense that still allows you to move the ball. But it doesn't work on its own. It is your job as a coach to find what will work and run it - and not beat yourself by running plays into a brick wall. *********** Q. How much help should parents expect from coaches to get their little darlin's into the school of the parent's choice? Personally, I don't think coaches get paid enough to provide this service. A coach got fired even though he had sent some players to Division I schools. A. I don't think that a high school coach should get a lot of credit for "getting kids into" D-I programs. Everybody knows who those kids are. Nor should a coach get blamed because nobody recruits his kids. They can play or they can't, and colleges are not going to take a high school coach's word for it. They have so few scholarships to give that they can't afford to make a mistake like that. The slight exception would be the high school coach who has been at a place for years and years and has earned the respect of college coaches by honestly appraising a kid's ability, and not exaggerating. College coaches know whose word they can trust, and they will not only ask that guy about his own kids, but they will also use him as a "cross-check" on opponents' kids. The coach who deserves the credit is the one who will go the extra mile to help less-gifted kids find the right Division II or Division III or junior college. I do think that it is a coach's responsibility to counsel his kids, and guide the parents/kids in the college-selection process - emphasis on guide. I have found that parents and kids themselves don't seem to want to do a lot in this regard. Affluent parents who are used to having things done for them and not doing things themselves are feeding an industry of college "recruitment services" that do little more than brong colleges and kids together - for a price. In the end, in most cases, there is really not a whole lot that they do that parents couldn't have done for themselves.
*********** I read something not too long ago by a Dr. Arnold LeUnes, a professor of sports psychology at Texas A & M. I might normally have excerpted it, but it was excellent just as is, so I contacted Dr. LeUnes for - and got - his permission to reprint the article in its entirely. If I had to give it a title, it would be: SPECIAL ARTICLE: KIDS' SPORTS - FOR THE KIDS? OR FOR THE GROWNUPS? COLLEGE STATION, Texas - When it comes to playing sports, winning is definitely not everything. In fact, it doesn't even rank in the top five priorities - at least for the majority of children, says Texas A&M University sports psychology professor Arnold LeUnes.
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION
AWARD THE BLACK LION
AWARD |
December
31 - HAPPY NEW YEAR
For
years, General Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions
friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in
Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of
Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don
Holleder along with them. At last, it is in
print.
*********** A "Murray" Christmas from the People's Republic of Washington: Senator Patty Murray (Democrat of Washington) told a captive group of high school students out here in Peace at All Costs Country that Osama bin Laden is loved by people in the Arab world, and challenged them to understand why. "We've got to ask, why is this man so popular around the world? Why are people so supportive of him in many countries … that are riddled with poverty? "He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that. "How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?" Say, Day care centers? In a part of the world where women don't work? Say, "We haven't done that?" Ever heard of the Marshall Plan, witch? The amazing thing to me is that while she was saying this, Trent Lott was turning on a spit, and no one in the mainstream (which is to say, liberal) media has called her on it.
*********** I just wanted to weigh in on bowl games. I love bowl games! I love every bowl game. If I could, I'd watch them all. As it is, I get almost all of them taped to watch while I'm on my Air-Dyne. I love watching teams like North Texas and New Mexico. To the people who think there are too many bowl games, I say that I think there aren't enough. Let market forces determine if a bowl is worth it or not. If it can't make money, let it fold. If it does, then what's the problem? If the teams are consistently not good, I think the game will fold. I really don't like the BCS. But I think a play-off would be even worse. So what if there are three undefeated teams at the end of the year? So what if there are two National Champions. The more the merrier. I know i'm in a minority here, but that's OK. If they ever go to a play-off, I'll probably watch. After all, it'd still be college football. One last thing. I'm irked at the large volume of sportswriters who refer to certain bowl games as, "meaningless." If the New Orleans Bowl was meaningless, if the Independence Bowl is meaningless, then so is the Olivet College vs. Kalamazoo College game, so is the Evart High School vs. Pine River High School junior varsity game, because they don't lead to a championship. Every game has meaning. Every game is a chance for the participants to stretch, to grow, to be tested, to learn about themselves, to learn to respect their oppoonents, not to mention to have fun.
************ " You can't underestimate a man who persuades people that cutting open their chests is a good idea." Maureen Dowd, on new Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, of Tennessee, who before getting into poltics was a cardiac surgeon. *********** Hey- that guy back at the exit ramp - the one holding the cardboard "Will coach for food" sign - wasn't that Bill Parcells? Parcells, an unemployed football coach who is said to need money after a recent divorce, met last week with Jerry Jones, owner of a sinking football franchise who is reported to soon be needing a coach. But their talk - five hours in length - had nothing - absolutely nothing - to do with whether Parcells might wind up as the Cowboys' coach next year. Both Jones and Parcells agree on that. Jones just flew to New Jersey to talk football with his ole pal Bill. "We basically had a good football visit," Jones said. "I really enjoy, have for years, talking about players with Bill. And certainly, we talked about the game, the NFL and our team." "Any speculation about the Cowboys' head coaching job would be premature at this time," Parcells said in the statement. "We discussed pro football, philosophy and the Cowboys. I have spoken to Jerry Jones several times over the years." And you know what? I believe them. Of course, I also believe that Osama bin Laden is loved by his people because for decades he has been building roads, and infrastructure and day-care centers and hospitals for them. What I do believe is the vision I have of Jerry Jones as a sailor, fresh off the boat with a pocketful of money, walking into a saloon. Parcells, seeing him walk in, gets up off her barstool, tugs on her miniskirt so it barely covers her ass, then saunters over to him, chewing gum and swinging her purse. With one hand on her hip, she winks and says, "Hi, sailor! I can take you places you haven't been in a long time!" This time last year, Parcells was going after Tony Dungy's job. Now it's Dave Campo's.
*********** This letter was found on the Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, and sent to me by John Grimsley. Change the names and the places and it could have been written by someone you know. Maybe you. To the residents of southeast Idaho:
*********** Coach Wyatt, I read and watched the Junction Boys, and enjoyed your editorials. I have never been to Texas, so I can't vouch for the accents. I like a lot of Tom Berenger's ( Bryant character ) movies, but you are right, the movie portrayed him as a complete pr--k. The author really was exposed as a scummy little worm. I remember looking this up last year when I read the book, of those Junction survivors, only 3 were real contributors to the 1956 champs. Goehring ( all america guard ), Stallings ( solid starter ) and Jack Pardee ( stud's stud ). My question was, what would have happened to the scholarships of the 70 or so players that quit at Junction? Could that have been re funneled into the program, or "recruiting?" Take care, Mick Yanke, Cokato, Minnesota *********** Coach Wyatt, I was watching Fox's The Best Damned Sports Show Period the other day. They mentioned the Deion Sanders rule. Fine upstanding citizen Michael Irvin said that Deion didn't go to FSU to graduate with a degree, he went to FSU to graduate to the NFL so he didn't need to take the exams. I feel so much better since Irvin explained it. Looks like he then graduated from the NFL to Pimp Daddy. Wonder if he skipped that exam also? If so I bet Michael Irvin was the professor. Greg Stout, Thompson's Station, Tennessee (Rejoice! Deion may be back! With the Raiders! I can hardly wait! HW) *********** I really think that the number of mediocre players and mediocre teams in the NFL are proof that the league has too damn many teams, and those teams too many players on their rosters. The owners have been happy to pocket the expansion fees from newer clubs, but they have created a situation that any student of Econ 101 would recognize - an inflated demand for a limited supply of "talent", which means that more and more teams' rosters are padded with more and more guys who at one time would have had no business playing in the NFL. I submit as evidence "wide receivers" who can't even catch - have you noticed how many passes are missed? The late Art Rooney, owner and founder of the Steelers said it best (this was years ago, so you'd have to adjust his figures somewhat to allow for inflation) "I don't mind paying a good player $200,000. What I mind is paying a $20,000 player $22,000." Today's NFL has an awful lot of those $20,000 players - but they're being paid $520,000. And up. The NFL will rue the day it basically gave the Player's Union veto power over its personnel costs. The League is riding high right now, but it wouldn't be the first once-strong American business to wind up bankrupt because when times were good, and it thought the good times would never end, it allowed a union to become its partner. *********** Thanks Coach Wyatt for all your help this season. My first year with the double wing and my 10, 11 and 12 year old team went 7-3 for the season and to the semi finals in the playoffs. Every time I e-mailed you with a question you answered me by the next day. I know you must be very busy and for you to take the time to answer my questions is greatly appreciated. My last game I added the "Stack I "which worked very well and the boys had know problem because of the way the plays are called. It was just another formation with the same plays. I also coached a freshman team and used your numbering system. The head varsity coach did not let me run the double wing but even out of the I formation and spread formation the numbering system makes it easy to call plays. I would like to attend a clinic this year. How soon will you know when you are coming to California. Thanks again Coach Wyatt. Charlie Martin, Apple Valley, California *********** Man, I've done my share of searching for high school scores over the past several years, and I've been through all the newspaper and Rivals and iHigh sites, and I haven't come across anything even close to what someone has done for Michigan high schools. You have got to see this site to believe it. I am going to give you its address, but first you have to listen to my sales pitch. You will start out looking at an alphabetical list of all Michigan high schools that play football, followed by another, shorter list of schools no longer playing (mainly because most of them are no longer in business). Each school appears as a mini-banner in its colors. A click next to any school's name and you go to that school's page, on which is shown, year-by-year, game-by-game, now the school has done, since 1955. It is all very colorful - opponents' names all appear as mini-banners. Okay, I'm done selling. Here's the address: < http://michigan-football.com/allteams.htm > Now, go! *********** Hugh, I was very fortunate this year to be selected as the Washington State class A and AA Baseball Coach of the Year. I was honored at the Washington State Baseball Coaches Clinic that was held in November at the Double Tree up at Sea-Tac. My superintendent got wind of it and I've been treated like royalty ever since.
*********** I read something not too long ago by a Dr. Arnold LeUnes, a professor of sports psychology at Texas A & M. I might normally have excerpted it, but it was excellent just as is, so I contacted Dr. LeUnes for - and got - his permission to reprint the article in its entirely. If I had to give it a title, it would be: SPECIAL ARTICLE: KIDS' SPORTS - FOR THE KIDS? OR FOR THE GROWNUPS? COLLEGE STATION, Texas - When it comes to playing sports, winning is definitely not everything. In fact, it doesn't even rank in the top five priorities - at least for the majority of children, says Texas A&M University sports psychology professor Arnold LeUnes.
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION
AWARD THE BLACK LION
AWARD |
But they also had some talent on the coaching staff, too. There are no fewer than four NFL coaches, and the fifth is a highly-successful college coach. Number 1 is JIm Fassel, now head coach of the New York Giants. Number 2 is Denny Green, who became head coach at Stanford before taking over as head coach of the Vikings. Number 5 is Ray Handley, who also served as head coach of the Giants. Number 4 is Jack Harbaugh, father of NFL QB Jim and currently head coach of Division I-AA finals-bound Western Kentucky. Number 3 in Paul Wiggin. He's the head coach in the photo. A Stanford alumnus, he was an All-American end there. He played defensive end for the Cleveland Brown from 1957 through 1968, nearly paralleling the career of his teammate Jim Brown. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1966 and 1968. In 1975, he succeeded Hank Stram as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and served through 1977. He had the misfortune to be the Stanford coach in 1982, when Stanford lost to archrival Cal in what will forever be known as The Play. With four seconds left, Stanford, with the game in hand, kicked off to Cal, which lateralled the ball five times ( and at least once, in Stanford's opinion, touching a knee to the ground) and finally scored by threading through the Stanford band. It was Elway's final game, and a Hall of Fame Bowl representative was on hand to offer Stanford an invitation. Just seconds after the game ended, a bowl representative found Stanford A.D. Andy Geiger and said only, "Sorry." And for Elway, at least in Geiger's opinion, "that game cost John the Heisman Trophy." A year later, Wiggin was fired. He is convinced his fate was determined by The Play, but going 1-10 the next year sealed it. He worked briefly for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, then joined the Minnesota Vikings as defensive line coach, and now serves as Director of Pro Personnel of the Vikings. He says he long ago accepted he would be forever be connected to The Play. "That play is a part of my life; it sort of changed things,''he said. "It taught me a lot about perception. I was considered a good coach until that play, and then things changed in four seconds... . I'm no longer bitter about it. It was a crazy play and it wasn't right, but I guess those things happen.'' He said he realized early that he was going to have to live with The Play. "To get away, in the days after The Play, I went to Virginia for Thanksgiving. I hadn't even checked into the hotel yet and a guy in line said, 'Hey, aren't you that coach from The Play?'' Correctly identifying Paul Wiggin - Joe Daniels- Sacramento ("Here's some more trivia, I went to High School( Mt. Pleasant High school in San Jose, CA) with one of Wiggin's recievers who was also a pretty fair baseball player. In fact he had a contract with the Chicago White Sox while still playing college football (Sox had to pick up his college tab since he was a pro)...smart too! After a nice career, mostly with the Sox and the Blue Jays..he is now their GM...Kenny Williams!")... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... Scott Russell- Potomac Falls, Virginia... John Bothe- Oregon, Illinois... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois ("His record as a head coach may be mediocre but he has coached some of the most effective defensive linemen to play the game. Among these were: Chris Dolman, Keith Millard, Henry Thomas, and John Randle.")... Dave Potter- Durham, North Carolina... Mike Framke- Green Bay, Wisconsin... Mark Kaczmarek- Davenport, Iowa... Mike Benton- Colfax, Illinois... Don Capaldo- Keokuk, Iowa... Skip Bennett- Lawrence, Kansas... John Zeller- Sears, Michigan... Brian Garvey- Vienna, Virginia ( # 3 is Paul Wiggin. Unfortunately, I have to give credit to a family friend for figuring this one out. I emailed the picture to my mother's best friend, Nancy Dowhower. She is the wife of Rod Dowhower, who I'm sure you know spent many years in the college and pro coaching ranks. I knew that Rod had coached with Stanford and thought he might be in the picture as well. Used to be neighbors of my parents while Rod was with the Redskins. Enjoyed many games at RFK as his guest.")... Brian Rochon- North Farmington, Michigan... Greg Stout- Thompson's Station, Tennessee... Alan Goodwin- Warwick, Rhode Island... John Reardon- Peru, Illinois... David Maley- Rosalia, Washington... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota... David Crump- Owensboro, Kentucky... *********** Do not look for the NEWS after the first of the year. I will be busy moving - to either Vancouver, B..C., Bozeman, Montana, Melbourne, Australia, Durham, North Carolina, Houston, Denver , Cape May, New Jersey, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, Northampton, Massachusetts, Meredith, New Hampshire or someplace in upstate New York. Or maybe to all of them. I can live any damn place I want, because I'm going to be rich, see. After all these years, I'm set. It all started a few weeks ago when I received an e-mail from a nice young gentleman in Nigeria. I don't know how he found me, but given his limited command of English, he poured out his soul to me. Seems his family used to be very powerful over there, but there was some sort of uprising, and his father was killed, but not before he managed to move all the family wealth to hidden bank accounts in the United States. Now, though, in order to get at the money, my young friend needed an American to represent him, and of all the people in the United States, he selected me! Can you believe my luck? All I had to do was send him $10,000 to show my good faith, and that would make me his partner - he'd tell me where the bank accounts were, and I'd get the money out and send it to him, after first taking out my share - he said he'd cut me in for 15 per cent of what's in the bank. What would you do? Same as me, probably. I decided to send him $100,000. I took the money out of our retirement account and wired it to him, and now I'm just sitting here waiting to hear what to do next. Man, this is so cool. From the way he talked, there's about $100 million in the bank, so you do the math... Oh, and please don't tell my wife. I'm going to surprise her for Christmas. *********** Funny that none of the toadies in USA Today who kiss John Madden's ring and love to tell all the TV guys what a lovely, lovely job they're doing have been silent on the subject of the Junction Boys. No matter. I'll take on the job. Take a book that claims to portray a real-life incident but plays fast and loose with what really happened, and then make a movie from it that plays fast and loose with the book, and you've got The Junction Boys. Where shall I start? With the book? I've already dismissed that as a, um, particle of excrement. How about the production itself? They used a crew of Australian actors (they work cheaper than Americans, even if you have to fly there to find them), taught how to "play football" by people from NFL Films. In a couple of weeks, tops. Damn, I didn't know the game was that easy to teach. Why, they actually looked like a football team. Okay, a high school JV football team. Actually, a bad high school JV football team. Take those guys - they made sure to pick the ones who looked lean and trim, like swimmers, instead of football players - and put them in old leather helmets. Forget the fact that the Aggies of that time wore white Riddell plastic helmets with single maroon stripes. Oh, yes, and they put single-bar plastic face masks on them, like the kind Gary Anderson still wears. Guess they couldn't find the kind that the real Aggies (some of them, that is) wore - clear plastic bars, 2 inches wide. Let's get right to The Bear himself. First of all, I know The Bear was a hardnosed guy, but I don't believe he was a mean, dirty, no-good, unprincipled son of a bitch, like the ***hole in the movie. I think the "Bear Bryant" we saw in that one-hour show was a distillation of all the Bear Bryant stories that author Jim Dent, a former Dallas sportswriter, ever heard football guys tell after they'd had a few. This "Bryant" deserved to be shot, and no jury would have convicted the kid who did it, yet the whole movie was based on a flashback, as he returned to a reunion, years later - a reunion with the very players he is supposed to have brutalized. And at the reunion, they, without our seeing any evidence to indicate that Bryant was ever caring and considerate, all came up to him to hug him and tell him how much he meant to them! Now, you and I as coaches know there had to be a lot more than the brutality of Junction that went into the relationship he had with those players, but where was it? It had to leave the ordinary viewer asking, "How could this be? You mean after what he put them through, they loved him? How dumb are football players, anyhow" I had trouble in the book and I had trouble in the movie with the scene in which Bryant first arrives at A & M and sacks his trainer. The line he uses to dismiss the man - the movie people must have liked it because they took it straight from the book - was "you got 10 minutes to clear your shit outta my locker room." Now, no human on earth knows whether it really happened the way author Dent describes it, since the Bear is dead and I believe the trainer is, too, and Jim Dent sure as hell wasn't there. (Not that that ever stood in the way of his recreating conversations he never heard.) But I knew that trainer. His name was Bill Dayton. He was hired by Yale after The Bear let him go, and that's when I met him. He was the head trainer at Yale when I got there. He was a very good and very decent man and thoroughly professional - a class act in every respect. Bear Bryant had every right to let the man go, of course, but based on what thousands of Yale athletes learned about Bill Dayton, his firing was more a reflection of the lack of professionalism of Paul W. Bryant than on the professionalism of Bill Dayton. Anybody who would have spoken to any employee - much less a man like Bill Dayton - the way Coach Bryant is supposed to have spoken to his trainer had to be a lowlife cur. I choose not to believe that it happened that way. I am certainly not one of those who consider Bear Bryant to be The Lord God Almighty , but I do prefer to believe that he had within him a scintilla of human decency. How about The Big Lie? The movie makes it appear that the players were back home for the summer when they learned they had a new coach, and then they no sooner showed up for fall practice than hoo, boy - git in them busses, boys. (Anybody else think for just a fleeting moment about the poor European Jews being herded into boxcars and sent off to the concentration camps?) Are you aware that those guys had already been through spring practice with their "new coach?" That they already knew their coach, and he already knew them, when they got on the buses for Junction? Ah, hell - no sense in going any further with that cheap-ass production. Let's fast-forward an hour to the real Junction Boys, on ESPN's "Outside the Lines." There, in the studio, they assembled five of the old Aggies - Bill Schroeder, Dennis Goehring, Gene Stallings, Elwood Kettler and Henry Clark. Wait a minute, didn't you say, Henry Clark? How can that be? He's dead. Got to be. Jim Dent says so in the book. But sure enough, that guy, sitting there next to Gene Stallings, keeps insisting his name's Henry Clark, and he sure as hell doesn't look dead to me. Uh-oh. You mean to tell me the book isn't accurate? Henry Clark would be a good one to answer that: "A lot of instances in the book were based on fact, but they were overblown" Added Stallings, whom you may remember as head coach of Texas A & M, head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, and coach of a national champion at Alabama, "They were embellished." You wanted authenticity? I already mentioned the hokey leather helmets (in 1954, there were maybe a dozen colleges left in the whole country still wearing leather). The Aggies all recalled that the buildings at Junction weren't as bad as they were shown to be. And, said Stallings, "I didn't recognize some of the language." (But of course, we all know nowadays that throwing in foul language is how you convince people they're watching something real.) Oh, and tey didn't stay the whole time on that horrible field - after two or three days on they moved to a high school field in town. Stallings also said he didn't recognize Smokey, the alcoholic "trainer." Says a lot for Bear Bryant, doesn't it, that he'd run Bill Dayton out of College Station and keep a character like that? Then there was the head-butting incident. In the book - and in the movie - "Bryant" tells Henry Clark to take his helmet off, and then, to further emphasize whatever point he was trying to make, grabs the back of the kid's head with both hands and head-butts him. Blood flies every which way. Trouble was, said Henry Clark, it just didn't happen that way. First of all, the incident on which the head-butting is loosely based didn't even take place at Junction - it happened during spring practice, months before. Clark also insisted that he had his helmet on, not that that mattered - "we didn't have face masks then." And coach Bryant crouched down and drove up into him, demonstrating how important it was to get lower than your opponent when you were blocking. "He was trying to demonstrate how to get under a guy and he came up and hit me in the face," said Clark. "He was showing us how to block." Clark said he could still remember "gray hairs in my teeth" afterward. (Head-butting, a relatively modern fighting tactic, was undoubtedly thrown in there for the young audience, which gets off on that kind of stuff). Bill Schroeder was the guy who had the heat stroke and almost died. Did Bryant really kick him as he lay there? Schroeder, of course, couldn't say - he was unconscious at the time. But the other four guys answered as one: "I didn't see it." The coolest part of the whole evening was when they pinned down that weasel of an author. Squirm? Dodge? He made Bill Clinton look like an amateur. When informed, on camera, that Henry Clark was not dead, he said, "you make mistakes when you write a book." (Nice research, Jim. How come the ESPN guys found him and you couldn't?) He was also told that Henry Clark said that the head-butt incident never happened, and the best he could come up with was, "Henry Clark has a bad memory." (Being dead, I'm told, can do that to you.) As proof, Dent said that one of Clark's teammates had verified that it had taken place. Not so, said Henry Clark. I just spoke to that teammate and he agrees with me that it never happened. Whereupon Dent, in true Clinton fashion, went on the attack. It was Henry Clark's fault! "Why did he wait three years to tell me he wasn't dead?" Responded Clark, delivering the ultimate insult to any author, "I never even knew he wrote a book!" There was one thing the movie did leave out, something I think much of their audience half-expected, because it's become almost formula when young people are put under stress --- nobody commited suicide. I'll bet they discussed it, though, before deciding that they just coulnd't get away with it. Not this time. Save it for next time. I've already gone over the fact that Bryant did not build a winner at Junction. He built a loser. He took a bunch of guys returning from a team that had gone 4-5 and "built" a team that went 1-8, its only win a 6-0 defeat of Georgia. As smart as he was, and with the staff he had - men like Jim Owens, Pat James, Jerry Claiborne, Phil Cutchins and Willie Zapalac - he could have taken that bunch and easily gone 5-4. The question that's left unanswered for me, the question I'd like to ask him, is, "Why, Bear? Why the hell'd ya do it?" *********** "And now, the piece of sh-- oscar goes to ........." I'm still laughing coach! Jesus, you have been on a roll this fall and winter! I watched the "Junction Boys" Saturday, I also watched the "Real Junction Boys" later that evening. I honestly didn't think the Aussies did a bad job of acting. The "Real Boys" had some mixed reviews as to the authenticity and Gene Stallings stumbled all over himself about the Bears coaching style being misrepresented. It would be interesting to see what the 80+ that walked out on the BEAR that fall thought of the show! Anyway, reading your rants is more entertaining than watching the show itself. It used to be that we could see all the all-Americans in the front page of the sports section. Now if the team doesn't have a corporate sponsor, we don't get to see or hear anything about them. Don Capaldo, Keokuk, Iowa (Don makes an excellent point. The Aussies didn't do a bad job of acting. As my son in Australia said, they were probably better than what you would have had if you'd taken a bunch of American actors and tried to get them to act like football players and talk like Texans!) *********** Florida State sophomore QB Chris Rix won't be playing in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia, sending all those Seminole fans who got Georgia fans to give them 21 points into deep shock. Team leader Rix slept through a final, and because the state of Florida passed what has come to be called the Deion Sanders rule, he will not be eligible to play. (Sanders, who plays Shorty the Pimp on Sunday studio TV, had signed a pro baseball contract, and was paying his own tuition at Florida State - and evidently not doing a whole lot of schoolwork - when he played in the 1989 Sugar Bowl, despite the fact that he hadn't taken any final exams.) Explained Rix, "I simply slept through the exam." Simply? Wonder what Bobby Bowden does to players who show up at halftime, saying, "I simply slept through the first half." Rix' backup, sophomore Adrian McPherson, had already been tossed off the team back in November after being charged with stealing a check. Meantime, at Vanderbilt, QB Jay Cutler will not be playing in a bowl game any time soon, either. Well, duh. he plays for Vanderbilt. But young Mr. Cutler pleaded guilty to a charge of evading arrest and was given 24 hours of community service. He was originally charged with underage drinking and resisting orders to halt. And then, I open Thursday's paper to read that Trinity's QB, Roy Hampton, won't be playing in this Saturday's Division III title game after being arrested for public intoxication. I say it's time for Florida State and Vanderbilt and Trinity to show that they mean business and won't tolerate that kind of crap! May I make a suggestion? How about a three-way swap? Send Rix and Ferguson to Vanderbilt, Cutler to Trinity, and Hampton to Florida State. That way, nobody'll know about their past and they'll be able to start over clean. Hey - it worked for the Archdiocese of Boston, didn't it? *********** Coach Wyatt you are close to the action, what's the word in the Great North West about Price, taking the BAMA job ? hope he doesn't he is on the cusp of turning WAZZU into a consistent winner, and correct me if I am wrong, but is he not a Jim Sweeney disciple ? he has stong ties in the Great North West and Pacific going back to the Big Sky Conf. I think he played for Eastern Wash. I just think WAZZU fits Price like a glove,and down at BAMA he would look like a parrot hangin with penguins ( just doesn't seem like a good fit for the poor SOB).What ticked me OFF about Junction Boys was the Aussie actors let their accent's slip more than a few times. can't wait till friday. John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts I am sick about Mike Price leaving. I like him. I don't know anyone who doesn't. I think he is a good and honorable man who experienced a case of midlife crisis. It's like the guy with a long, happy marriage who makes a damn fool of himself over some young thing and throws it all away. He and Wazzu were the perfect fit. It's a country school and he's a country guy. The alumni ate out of his hand. They knew he was a good guy, and they knew they were lucky to have him, and they were willing to put up with his good year-bad year cycles, because Washington State is not Alabama. At Washington State a bad year this year seems to be seen as the price you have to pay for a good year next year. (Check it out -this is not meant as a criticism of coach Price, but these last two seasons were the first two back-to-back winning seasons at WSU since Jim Walden did it in 1983-84. In fact, Mike Price has had eight losing seasons at WSU against six winning seasons. And after the Ryan Leaf/Rose Bowl year of 10-2 in 1997, the Cougars had three straight losing seasons. That's pretty much acceptable there, at a school which knows that by rights it ought to be the Indiana of the Pac-10; but back-to-back 9-2 seasons can get you in trouble at Bama.) WSU was willing to give him what essentially was lifetime security back when he was a no-name. There was some criticism at the time, some fearing that he would lose his motivation to work, but that hasn't been the case. It will never be easy at WSU because you'll never even dominate your own state. That means you will not beat Washington (and, increasingly, Oregon) for the in-state blue chippers, and since there aren't enough D-I players in the state to support even one program - much less two -anyhow, you have to go where everybody else in the Pac-10 goes - California. And when you start talking to California kids, you have to convince them to come to a town of some 25,000 people out in the middle of nowhere. Where the winters are cold (did I say that it's the only place in the Pac-1o where it snows?) He has done it by bottom-feeding in his recruiting, taking the kids that others passed on but he saw some potential in, and then coaching them up. He's going into a totally different environment. The culture is different and the football culture is vastly different. And he doesn't know a damn thing about either, nor does anyone else on his staff. I am afraid that this is an arrangement which could wind up with no one happy - not Washington State, not Alabama, not Mike Price. *********** "A Michigan man will coach a Michigan team," said Michigan AD Bo Schembechler, in dismissing basketball coach Bill Frieder and sending him off to Arizona State. Frieder had announced that he would be leaving for ASU, but he asked if he could coach the Wolverines in the NCAA tournament. Nothing doing, said Schembechler, whose call proved to be brilliant, as Steve Fisher took over the Maize and Blue and coached them to the national championship. On the other hand, the last time Duke went to a bowl game, Steve Spurrier got them there. (Honest, Duke has gone to a bowl game in your lifetime.) But then Spurrier took the Florida job, and spent most of the bowl season recruiting for the Gators instead of preparing the Blue Devils, with the result that Duke played like garbage in the bowl game and lost to Texas Tech So... Mike Price is now the head coach at the University of Alabama. Good for him and good for them. And Bill Doba, Price's defensive coordinator at Washington State, is the new WSU head coach. But not yet. If you can believe this, he's going to stand back and let Mike Price coach one more game - the Rose Bowl. The WSU people say it's partly so they'll have a whole staff on hand for the game, since Price is expected to take some of the present staff with him. Maybe yes, maybe no. Now, I like Mike Price and I wish him well. He's been a good coach for Washington State. But he ain't a Cougar any more. And I think it's rather important that when potential recruits watch the Rose Bowl on TV, they see Bill Doba, the new coach of the Washington State Cougars, on those sidelines, and not Mike Price, the new coach of Alabama. Oh, for a Bo Schembechler at Washington State. *********** A pet peeve- listening to some astute TV football announcer describe a well executed play as a "little" trap, a "little" option, or a "little" screen pass in complete disregard to the "little" amount of time, work and sweat that is expended in making it happen. I guess the "little" things do count. Have a great holiday. Sincerely, John Reardon, Peru, Illinois (Amen to that. I have said for years, nothing ticks me off more than to hear someone say "just" as in, "it's 'just' a wedge.") *********** Mike Putnam, of Stayton, Oregon, sent me a great article by Gregg Easterbrook on espn.com He's trying to straighten out the TV talking heads on the subject of reverses and end-arounds and "double reverses. Lots o' luck, Gregg. Of the many annoying football-announcer verbal tics -- and the total hard drive capacity of the entire Web combined prohibits listing every one -- the worst is shrieking "it's a double reverse!" on plays that are actually a single reverse or aren't even that. This is a equal-opportunity blunder, committed by all announcers on all networks at all levels of the sport. And it is time this problem were fixed. It is also time for a name change, Easterbook writes: to The Heisman Trophy for the Division I-A Quarterback or Running Back Who Receives Most Publicity. *********** Now that Carson Palmer has won the Heisman Trophy, he becomes the owner of the fifth Heisman awarded to a USC player. Writes the Los Angeles Daily News' Tom Hoffarth, he joins such exclusive company as Mike Garrett, Marcus Allen, Charlie Sheen and Tom Kreissman. Huh? Ha, ha. Sheen bought Charles White's 1979 Heisman - and then re-sold it for $184,000. Kreissman, who owns a Philadlephia sheet metal company, bought O.J. Simpson's Heisman for $255.000. *********** You probably already knew that sports writers had their heads up their arses, but if you didn't, this should convince you: The Associated Press All-American team was announced Tuesday (remember my asking whatever happened to All-American teams?). The first-team quarterback is Carson Palmer of USC. The Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year, Brad Banks, was the second-team quarterback. *********** Thanks for keeping me entertained with your page. My girlfriend enjoys my relay of your comments and opinions on everything. Also, wanted to thank you for the offense. I am the Head Freshman coach under Gordon Leib at James Madison High School. We ended our sniper-interrupted season 6-0. Kids really enjoyed the offense! I almost have to giggle when I get to call 47/56 counter after running superpower 10 times in a row. We got a lot out of Spread 29 GO Reach this year. Thanks again. Brian Garvey, James Madison High School, Vienna, Virginia *********** Don't you wish somebody would smack the little bastard? "Now, this is a classic," Peyton Manning says, as he hands the jersey to the kid. "It's all yours." (It's a "classic" - Archie Manning's New Orleans Saints jersey..) "Nah," says the kid. "I got my own." Little pissant. Guess he never heard of saying "No, thanks." Nice job you're doing, Mom and Dad. *********** Notice the way the NFL is pushing "The Playoffs?" Don't kid yourself thinking that NFL's doing it because it wants to make sure you're watching television on the weekends between the end of the season and the Super Bowl. How much you wanna bet they've registered that phrase, on the order of Final Four, and now they're going to turn it into a brand? *********** Coach Mark Kaczmarek, head coach at United Township HS in East Moline, Illinois, is, like me, a veteran of the World Football League. He played center for the New York Stars/Charlotte Hornets (some of the teams moved around a bit, looking for a place where they were welcome), and before that, he played at Western Illinois. He was at McComb, Illinois for the Division I-AA playoff game two weeks ago between Western Illinois and Western Kentucky when a last-second Western Illinois field goal attempt fell short and Western Kentucky won. The NCAA is still trying to sort out what happened afterward, but a major brawl took place between players of both teams, and six Western Kentucky players - all backups - were suspended from playing in this past Saturday's game against Georgia Southern. Coach Kaczmarek wrote, "As the long FG fell short, and I was dejectedly walking down the aisle from the top row (Coaches Corner), all I heard was a growing roar from the student side of the field. I looked up and all hell was breaking loose on the field. It was scary! I couldn't be a reliable witness as to the start of the riot. The police were smart. They attacked any on rushers from the stands and left the players to the coaches, thus, minimizing the situation. It could have been really ugly if the fans got involved." Western Kentucky denied starting the brawl but did admit that once things were started, their players didn't back off. I would have been inclined to believe them, had I not seen the ugly scene Saturday in which a WKU player, a kid named Rooney, made a catch and jumped up and gave the "first-down" signal. He was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, and pulled from the game, where he was given a tallking-to by coach Jack Harbaugh, at the end of which, the kid shoved the coach with both hands, in the classic spoiled brat "get outta my life" display. And then we saw what passes for discipline at Western Kentucky. To my great dismay, not only was the kid not sent immediately to the showers - or, better yet, forced to take off his equipment on the spot - but sure enough, he returned to the game, coming up with a key catch in Western's last-minute winning drive. What price victory, Hilltoppers? A big thanks to the Western Kentucky staff, from high school and youth coaches everywhere. HW ************ On the subject of that WKU receiver's spoiled-brat display, Dave Livingstone, of Troy, Michigan, writes, "It's the very same reason he got booted from my alma mater, Western Mich. Unv. He ran the program like a damn zoo. What the kid did was over the line, big time. But Harbaugh keeping him on the sideline, let alone putting him back in the game was spineless. The man has got no onions. I wonder if he realizes he lost that team? *********** A judge has ruled that the University of Missouri broke state law in charging its students for tuition, ordering it to repay them. There are some 200,000 students involved, and the university could be forced to refund as much as $450 million. The suit was based on an 1889 law stipulating that "all youths, resident of the state of Missouri, over the age of 16 years," could attend the university tuition-free. Most states who passed similar laws around the same time have since changed them, but Missouri never got around to it until last year. The University, however, had been charging fees but not technically referring to them as tuition. *********** SAVE THE DATE, it says! I received the nicest invitation to be an exhibitor at the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators' 2003 Annual Convention next October. It starts on Saturday, October 11. (Now, doesn't it just figure that a bunch whose primary aim is destroying football would open their convention on a Saturday in the fall?) Yeah, save the date. Can you imagine finding yourself in a room with those people and listening to a presentation on Title IX? Given a choice, I would prefer a flexible sigmoidoscopy. *********** Har, har, har! I didn't invent the Double-Wing and I didn't invent the Wedge. But I have done my share to spread the word about the Double-Wing, and I do think that I've done as much as any man alive to promote the wedge as an important play, a play that defenses have to take into account if they want to play one of our teams. So you can't imagine how proud I felt when I read a flier sent to me by Greg Koenig, Double-Wing coach in Las Animas, Colorado. It was advertising something called the Southern California All Sports Clinic. At the top of the flier was a drawing of an old-time football game. A herd of helmetless guys was charging straight ahead at the opposition. Underneath, it read "FOOTBALL COACHES!!! WE HAVE ENCLOSED THE PHOTO ABOVE (picky, picky me - it ain't a photo guys) WHICH DEPICTS 'THE FLYING WEDGE' WE HAVE PICTURED 'THE WEDGE' BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN IT IS THE ONLY PART OF THE GAME OF FOOTBALL WHICH WILL NOT BE COVERED IN THE FOOTBALL SESSIONS OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALL SPORTS CLINIC. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am flattered to think that our brand of football is that repulsive to you passing guys. A little too physical, huh? Hey - strap it on. *********** "I don't know if I can ever watch ESPN's SportCenter again. Why would any station want to promote a conversation with O. J. Simpson? As far as I'm concerned, he may not have been convicted of murder in a criminal case, but he was found culpable in a civil case. Why does a murderer deserve air time? Wasn't there a time when societies ostracized those who committed heinous acts? Am I missing something here? "I agree with your comments about the 'Junction Boys'. Plus, I don't think Bear Bryant would have fumbled the papers getting out of the car at the 25 year reunion. I watched some of the follow-up program starring the "Real" Junction Boys. Maybe I read too much into their comments, but the Real Junction Boys, while being nice, weren't real thrilled with the movie either. "Regarding your justifiable pride in the left coast soccer teams, I have 2 words..... F- - - soccer! "With our future Marine son, Aileen and I attended a pot luck hosted by our area Marine recruiters. After a good meal, the recruiters answered questions about what our kids could expect when they go to Marine training and beyond. One mother ( who's obviously been watching too much CBSNBCABC News) asked if her kid would be going to Iraq soon, implying that her kid may not be ready. The Marine sergeant politely told the mother that he didn't know what future orders her son would have. He also assured her that no training would be cut short and that her son would receive the best training from the best. Then he made the most eloquent statement of what the job of the Marine Corp is: to go where ordered to protect our freedoms. Necessarily this will be in harms way. He pointed out that during the Gulf War 675,000 people served in theater and only 129 were casualties. While this was devastating to those 129 families, he rightly pointed out that you had greater odds of being killed or injured by a drunk driver than serving in the Gulf. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Keith Babb, Northbrook, Illinois *********** Coach, the "U" on the Miami Hurricanes helmet has nothing to do with the weather phenomenon. The symbol for that type of hurricane is two red flags (flown one over the other on the flag staff) with a black rectangle in the center of each. These flags were used on Miami's gold helmets in 1967, but apparently not since that time."Alan Goodwin, Warwick, Rhode Island. (Okay, I asked. So now we're back to square one. So what does that split "U" stand for? Replied Alan, "it stands for "Uh, do we have a library here?" *********** I saw one play of the Jets and Bears game Sunday, and it was a kickoff. And guess who made the tackle? You got it, John Hall. Now it happened kind of fast, and I can't swear by the form, but I can say this; it wasn't one of those accidental, fall all over yourself tackles you sometimes see kickers make. He went in there, K-Mart helmet and all, like he meant it, and I even think I remember that he kept his head up! I thought that the "U" on the Miami helmet goes back to when Schnellenberger took over at Miami & the Dolphins were the only team anyone outside of Miami knew about. The "U" was for "University," as in, not the Dolphins. John Zeller, Sears, Michigan *********** Steve Tobey, of Malden, Massachusetts, wrote to tell me of the recent death of Coach Larry Klimas. Coach Klimas was 63. Coach, Some sad news... I covered Larry Klimas' Methuen High teams for two years in the early 90s, including one year when his team won an Eastern Mass. Super Bowl. (The paper I worked for at the time no longer exists). I always liked him and I think you would have liked him too. He seldom, if ever, had his team kick the extra point. It always went for two. I remember his kickoff teams never kicking deep and I remember one game that ended in a scoreless tie because he wouldn't kick a field goal. I think it was a philosophical thing, too, from what I've heard, not just a matter of not having a good kicker. Ironically, in his playing days, I heard he was a pretty good kicker, but like everyone else in the 50s, he had to do other things and he did those well, too. His teams ran the veer. Hardly anybody around here runs that offense. The last time I spoke to him was maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I knew he was sick, but was still shocked to hear of his passing. *********** I read something not too long ago by a Dr. Arnold LeUnes, a professor of sports psychology at Texas A & M. I might normally have excerpted it, but it was excellent just as is, so I contacted Dr. LeUnes for - and got - his permission to reprint the article in its entirely. If I had to give it a title, it would be: SPECIAL ARTICLE: KIDS' SPORTS - FOR THE KIDS? OR FOR THE GROWNUPS? COLLEGE STATION, Texas - When it comes to playing sports, winning is definitely not everything. In fact, it doesn't even rank in the top five priorities - at least for the majority of children, says Texas A&M University sports psychology professor Arnold LeUnes.
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION
AWARD THE BLACK LION
AWARD |
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: This is the 1980 Stanford coaching
staff. They had some talent on that team - a receiver named
Ken Margerum, a running back named Darrin Nelson, an
offensive lineman named Brian Holloway, and a quarterback
named Elway.
But they also had some talent on the coaching staff, too. There are no fewer than four NFL coaches, and the fifth is a highly-successful college coach. Number 1 is JIm Fassel, noe head coach of the New York Giants. Number 2 is Denny Green, who became head coach at Stanford before taking over as head coach of the Vikings. Number 5 is Ray Handley, who also served as head coach of the Giants. Number 4 is Jack Harbaugh, father of NFL QB Jim and currently head coach of Division I-AA finals-bound Western Kentucky. Number 3 is the man we're looking for. He's the head coach in the photo. An Stanford alumnus, he was an All-American end. He played defensive end for the Cleveland Brown from 1957 through 1968, nearly paralleling the career of his teammate Jim Brown. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1966 and 1968. In 1975, he succeeded Hank Stram as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and served through 1977. He had the misfortune to be the Stanford coach in 1982, when Stanford lost to archrival Cal in what will forever be known as The Play. With four seconds left, Stanford, with the game in hand, kicked off to Cal, which lateralled the ball five times ( and at least once, in Stanford's opinion, touching a knee to the ground) and finally scored by threading through the Stanford band. It was Elway's final game, and a Hall of Fame Bowl representative was on hand to offer Stanford an invitation. Just seconds after the game ended, a bowl representative found Stanford A.D. Andy Geiger and said only, "Sorry." And for Elway, at least in Geiger's opinion, "that game cost John the Heisman Trophy." A year later, it cost our man his job. He is convinced his fate was determined by The Play, but going 1-10 the next year sealed it. He worked briefly for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, then joined the Minnesota Vikings as defensive line coach, and now serves as Director of Pro Personnel of the Vikings. He says he long ago accepted he would be forever be connected to The Play. "That play is a part of my life; it sort of changed things,''he said. "It taught me a lot about perception. I was considered a good coach until that play, and then things changed in four seconds... . I'm no longer bitter about it. It was a crazy play and it wasn't right, but I guess those things happen.'' He said he realized early that he was going to have to live with The Play. "To get away, in the days after The Play, I went to Virginia for Thanksgiving. I hadn't even checked into the hotel yet and a guy in line said, 'Hey, aren't you that coach from The Play?'' *********** The President of the Downtown Athletic Club, a guy named Jim Corcoran, comes out once a year to award the Heisman Trophy, then goes back to his real life until next year. So wouldn't you think, with all that time to get ready for his Big Moment, the guy could say what he has to say without reading it? Wouldn't you think he could at least look up once or twice? *********** Ho-hum. The Heisman hype is over for another year. No complaints. Carson Palmer is deserving. So, of course, was Brad Banks. And Larry Johnson. And Willis McGahee. And Ken Dorsey. And Quentin Griffin. And Jason Gesser. And Byron Leftwich. And Kliff Kingsbury. Meantime, can anybody tell me who was on the All-American team this year? All-East? All-Coast? Don't know about you, but I sure liked it a whole lot better when those teams were still important, and when players were selected on them based on how they did in college, rather than by where Mel Kiper, Jr. projects them in the draft. I get tired of hearing about Heisman winners who were busts as pros. Piss on the pros. It's supposed to go to the college player who had the best year. If that's a wishbone quarterback from Air Force, give him the Heisman. And while we're at it, let's restrict it to seniors. Guys want to leave college early? Piss on them, too. *********** I don't have the time to write at length about "The Junction Boys." I will do so on Friday. Suffice it to say that for quite some time now, I have said that I thought the book, The Junction Boys, was a piece of sh--, and that I figured that it would be impossible for any movie based on it - especially one using Australian actors as phony football players and faux Texans - to be anything else. Finally, after endless weeks of hype, the great day arrived, and we got to see the movie on ESPN. I watched it, and I must say I owe an apology. An apology to pieces of sh-- everywhere. Calling that thing a piece of sh-- is unfair to good excrement. If all movies were the quality of "The Junction Boys", a piece of sh-- would walk away with an Oscar. *********** One thing worth mentioning. The character that is supposed to be Paul "Bear" Bryant told his assistants, "I... will... not... lose." (As if they didn't know him and he was making his philosophy known to them for the first time.) Only one trouble. He did lose. He lost big. Texas A & M was 1-9 with The Junction Boys. All that bullsh-- in the movie about "turning them into winners?" What turned the Aggies into winners was a bunch of talented kids they went out and bought - freshmen such as John David Crow who weren't even at Junction and weren't eligible to play on the varsity that year. The next year, only 11 lettermen returned from that 1-9 team. At most, four of them earned starting positions. The rest of the starters were sophomores. A & M went 7-2-1. As juniors, that class was 9-0-1, and as seniors, they were 8-3. And then, following a 3-0 loss in the Gator Bowl to Tennessee, their eligibility was up and the Bear was off to Alabama. Face it. All that stuff about building character - about "finding out who wants it" - was just so much garbage. What the Bear was doing at Junction was running kids off, plain and simple. So where was the miracle? Any coach can turn a mediocre 4-5 team into a piss-poor 1-9 team. *********** Coach Wyatt. I read a recent post regarding Cheerleading and its implication for Title IX. Next to football. I think that boy's lacrosse is the next best sport for youth and high school level athletes. We have been trying to get our High School boy's lacrosse club team recognized as a varsity sport for about 3 years now and one of the hurdles we keep coming up against is Title IX. As at most High Schools our cheerleaders get all the same treatment as any other varsity sport...uniforms provided, travel expenses paid, access to athletic trainers and school facilities for practice, paid coaches, etc. Since different girls (and some guys) cheer for different sports there may be as many as 30 female cheerleaders during a school year. Curiously though, their numbers are not included in the calculations to determine the required proportionality spread between male and female athletes. If they were, I bet that every High School in America would be out of compliance...in favor of the girls...and in fact, with the force of Title IX behind them most already are. Our AD, a woman and recognized expert in Title IX, says her hands are tied until she can get the OK for another girls sport to "balance things out" with a boy's varsity lacrosse program. Help may be on the way with a report due out in January resulting from a panel studying the effects of Title IX on men's programs. Critics of Title IX may be making headway in shedding light on the obvious inequities to men's athletics. It won't be easy to get changes in the works;however, because as is often the case when we try to legislate fairness, the original proponents are never willing or able to recognize that the job is done and now their efforts are hurting more than helping. In extreme cases I even wonder if some actually feel the need to punish us further for all the "injustices suffered in the past" Randy Sims, Collegeville, Pennsylvania My God! This can only mean that soon we will all be required to attend women's professional soccer games as reparations for all those years we kept women barefoot and pregnant. PS- Beware of pushing lacrosse. It has great potential as a "monopoly" sport, meaning that parents will start their kids in it when they're young and that is all they will play. I think it is a great as a sport for kids - including football players - to play in the spring, but I think it sucks when kids never even get to play football because they're playing lacrosse year-round. (Ask the football coaches on Long Island about that.) *********** Coach Wyatt, Here in Michigan, cheerleading is a sport, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors a State Championship. Not every school has "competitive cheer," so in some schools, cheerleading is just an "activity." The school at which I teach is a competitive cheer powerhouse. Two of my greatest seasons as a coach took place in the late 80's, when I coached at Gull Lake High School in Richland, Michigan. Not only was head coach Denny Keck a great guy to work for and with, and not only did we have great kids who worked their tails off, but it was two consecutive years without the distraction of cheerleaders on the bus. The first year I coached the freshman team. Lo and behold, only two freshman girls turned out for cheerleading. The next year, I got moved up to the JV team. You guessed it, no cheerleaders. Somehow, in spite of the lack of cheer support, we managed to go 13-4-1 in those two years! John Zeller, Sears, Michigan Cheerleaders on the bus! Aargh! I'd almost forgotten about that. I stepped into high school coaching cold, and found out about it fast. After two years at a school where it was a tradition that I couldn't change, I moved on and practically made sure it was in my contract that under no circumstances would cheerleaders ride on the team bus. *********** Like so many young athletes these days, Marcus Moore, a 6-6 junior on the Washington State basketball team, seems to have a problem keeping his mouth shut. True, he does sound like a fairly decent player - he scored 42 points against Gonzaga last Saturday. But when was the last time you heard a guy come out and declare himself the leader of his team, as Moore did? Maybe he is, but I'd like to see the ballots, because as selfish as most college basketball players are, I doubt that a guy who proclaimed publicly that he is the best player on the team - as Moore did before the season - is going to win in a landslide. He also probably set off buzzers at NCAA mission control when he talked about his dream of playing in the NBA. 'There's a lot more money involved," he said. "A lot more than in college." *********** First the selfish, egotistical parents get their kids on "elite" teams, and spend countless hours and dollars, year-round, following their little darlings around to tournaments, year-round. Now, if they want to live their lives through their kids, that is their choice. But we'd better watch our backs, because these a**holes, with their own kids provided, see no need to support school sports. Portland public schools, which practically invented the term "fiscal irresponsibility" by stuffing their district headquarters with assorted suits bearing titles such as "coordinator" of this or "facilitator" of that, and paying king's ransoms in severance packages to departed superintendents, has run out of money and has lots of bills coming due. So it has announced that the first bold step it is taking on the path to resonsible spending is to eliminate spring sports in the high schools. Now, we all know that's a showboat move, and we all know that the public will come forward with donations to save our kids' sports. In fact, pothead Trail Blazer Damon Stoudamire, a product of Portland's Wilson High School, has announced that he will donate $200,000 to keep spring sports going. Maybe it means he'll have to buy a lesser grade, but he's willing to make that sacrifice for our kids. And then a guy wrote in to the Portland Oregonian Saturday to say, in effect, that they should sock it to the kids who play, by jacking up the participations fees. "Playing sports is a privilege, not a right," he writes, "and if we want our kids to play, we are going to have to pay. "My son plays ice hockey. My wife and I are willing to pay the $550 season fee because he enjoys it so much. Sorry, but the same is going to have to be true for high school sports." Guys, our American system of sports in the schools is often out of control. (Can you say LeBron James?) But it is the envy of the world. In those other countries that even have organized sports, they are provided by clubs. Some are good and well-funded. Some are very shaky. The bets teams get the best coaching and the best players, which means they will win and get the best sponsorship deals, which means they'll continue to get the best coaches and the best players, which means they will win and get the best sponsorship deals, etc., etc. To try to picture an America like this, close your eyes and think of elite soccer on steroids. *********** (For obvious reasons, I had to do a little editing here) Hello I am trying to find a video tape of the (team name) Superbowl win for my husband. He is a huge Bear fan and I would love to be able to find this tape. If you could help me, I would be very grateful.Thank you in advance for your help. (The best advice I can give you is to try the individual team's site - go to < http://www.nfl.com/teams > and click on your team's "official site." If that doesn't work, you may have some success at NFL Films, the people who produce all these works < http://www.nflfilms.com >) *********** When I traveled from the Maryland Suburbs to north of Baltimore to attend your clinic last winter it was with the determination of learning to defense the Double Wing. My 12-13 year old 125 pound team had been throttled by a D-Wing team twice last season. I have run Delaware for as long as I have been coaching. While sitting at Archbishop Curley listening to you and the other devotees, watching the demos in the gym and the examples on tape, the light suddenly went on and I came to the conclusion that running was going to be a lot more fun than trying to stop it. I rushed back, talking to my assistant head coach, a guy who is devoted to coaching youth football as much as I am, talking on the cell phone the whole hour or so it took to get back to Washington. We spent the rest of the winter, spring and summer pouring over the playbook and tapes. By August 1 when practice started we were convinced that this was our year. The Intermediate PANTHERS of the Rockville Football League completed their undefeated championship season yesterday. We scored 233 points in nine games, rushed for over 2200 yards while giving up at total of 25 points (only six of which were while our first defensive unit was on the field and the game undecided). Our 20-0 Superbowl victory was pretty much determined from our first series after the opening kick-off. Going no-huddle we ran Tight 29 G-O Reach for 22 yards, Over Tight 6-G for 17, then Tight 47-C for the final 25 yards and the only score we really needed. When you see the tape (it will be on the way this week) you will notice the Astroturf field. I know you will appreciate it as it is "old" Redskin Park. Due to six inches of snow and several ice and rain storms we almost didn't get to play this game at all. Luckily, the Park was available and we traveled the 30 miles to Chantilly. This is the very field where George Allen prepared the "Over the Hill Gang" and then Joe Gibbs practiced the Hogs, Riggo, Smurfs and Fun Bunch for their Superbowl seasons. The Redskins moved out of the Park in 1992 and it has been all downhill for them since. The park is managed by a company that truly believes in Youth Football. With two grass fields and the turf, they played 152 games there since November 1. While I think it might have meant more to the parents than the kids, just playing in that atmosphere was an inspiration and another tribute to "our legacy". Thanks again for helping us onto the right track. We are looking forward to this year's clinic and taking the Double Wing to yet another level next season. Eric Heckman, Intermediate Panthers, 2002 Champions, Rockville Football League, Rockville, Maryland *********** Ahem! Pardon my pride. I'm sure you saw the news - it was all over your sports pages, just like it was all over ours, out there on the Left Coast. But just in case you didn't - all four finalists in this year's NCAA soccer championships - men's and women's - were from the West Coast! Eat your hearts out, you southerners, easterners and midwesterners. That goes double for you Texans. *********** I'm tired of hearing about the "athleticism" of defensive linemen. If they're so f--king gifted, then let's penalize them when they hit a QB even one split second after he throws. *********** Anybody see that brilliant defense that Tennessee lined up on, down on their 10-yard line? The one with both defensive tackles in "3" techniques - and no linebackers between them? Brady automatocked to a sneal and walked in, and doofus Madden didn't say a whole lot about what a stupid call that was. Maybe that's because just a play or two before they'd shown us the Tennessee defeneive coordinator. *********** Coach Wyatt, Saturday, December 15th, I presented the BLACK LION Award to a young man, Jonathan Skinner in Hope Mills, NC. Jonathan is a humble proud young man, he was picked to play cornerback and wide receiver, but due to injuries and realignment of the team plays, he was moved to defensive end and blocking tight end. He never complained, just did his job, even played on a badly sprained ankle, and strived to help his teammates get better. This is a wonderful award that you have created and I hope I have many opportunities to represent the BLACK LIONS and present this award. I was a squad leader with Delta Company, 2/28th during this operation and lost many friends on the 17th. Thanks Again, BLACK LIONS! SIR! Mike Stubbs, Operations Manager, Convergion, Charlotte, North Carolina *********** Have you watched some of these NFL guys "tackle" when they can't throw a body at a guy? They can't hold on!!! *********** "Coach, I have enjoyed your comments regarding Chuck Nelson's thoughts about kickers being fullbacks. In addition, Scott Barnes (from Rockwall, Texas) added his thoughts on having a kicker (Grammatica, Anderson, or Hall) leading through on a blast play. My thinking on the topic was this - How would you like to be the tailback (aka ballcarrier) running behind the kicker (aka blocker?) on the blast play? I am thinking your family would be setting one less plate on the table at supper and they would be asking about visiting hours at the local hospital!" Mike O'Donnell, Pine City, Minnesota *********** Situation; Score -- Giants 37, Cowboys 0. Giants have scrub unit in, Cowboys still playing full 1st team. Pass from Hutchinson to rookie Antonio Bryant (R. Moss wannabee), scores! Bryant "dunks" the ball over the goal post and starts to mock the Giant fans. Want to know "what's wrong" with the Cowboys? Not a single coach grabbed this primadonna and told him that the next time he pulls that sort of crap, he's done. How embarrassing to be a fan of this team. I can live with losing, but I can't live with an organization that tolerates horsesh-- like this! Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas *********** We lost a great one last week when "Sis" Lawless passed away. She was the wife of my high school coach, Ed Lawless, and I first met her in the summer of 1954, when she and Ed took me with them to the sports camp in New Hampshire where Ed was a counselor and he managed to get me a part-time job in return for camp tuition. Her real name was Helen, but she was the only girl in a football family, and nobody ever knew her as anything other than Sis. Her dad, Jack Glascott, was a long-time referee and professor of PE at Penn, and a couple of her brothers played college football. Her younger brother, Bob, was an unbelievably talented running back who started at Penn and transferred to Tennessee, where he lettered one year as a single-wing fullback before screwing up his knee. She would have been in her late twenties back when I first met her, and I was a kid of 16. God, I thought she was great. She was good-looking, a jet-haired, fair-skinned, blue-eyed Irish girl. And nice! I was just so impressed watching her and Ed, and watching the way she took care of their little kids, and I just knew that that was the kind of girl I wanted to marry someday. Fortunately, I did. I pray for Sis and for Ed. *********** Dear coach: First of all let me apologize for writing you immediately after reading your news today, but I couldn't wait. I usually wait a while because you get my emotions rolling so much. I pulled a muscle in my rib cage when you mentioned the guy was probably a baseball player because he had this sallow, weakling look. Absolutely hilarious. What about the foot fairies? Troy, MI is a huge yuppy soccer haven and at our field we have all four teams practicing on either the game field or a baseball outfield. There are five soccer fields stretching about a quarter mile that are rarely fully used especially on weekdays when they are empty, except for some guys playing touch football on one of them. And yes, we are not allowed on them. Anyway, H.C. makes me vomit. I cannot believe she got the voters in NY to buy her schtick, but hey if Kennedy can get elected over and over.... She reminds me of the late (courtesy of a firing squad) Mrs. Ceaucescu (spelling?). Is that my mom who is the mystery shopper? Great story by my dad, a real warm and fuzzy, good stuff. Did you see the 'Nova coach going ballistic on the offensive pass int. call? His receiver picked the db., I mean knocked him on his ass block, to open the reciever for a huge gain. I know it was the playoffs and 2 minutes to go in his season, but when you intentionally cheat and get caught, don't behave like an ass on national tv. I heard a coach say today to the other coach (the winner) "sorry my kids didn't show up." This in response to getting their butts kicked. I'm sorry, but that's my pet peeve and it's lame as hell. My guys (the butt kickers) had nothing to do with it? Own up and compliment the winner on his preperation and execution. Don't pawn it off on the players because you got it handed to you! Lastly, did you see #15 on Western Kentucky get up after catching a first down and doing the first down point that the pros do on every first down to show the world how great they are? He got pulled immediately by 63 year old Jack Harbaugh and chewed hard because he caused an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He responded by pushing 63 year old Harbaugh three times and had to be restrained by other players and coaches. Unbelivable! Then the sidline reporter babe says that was quite a scene, but he'll be back in once he cools down. Suffice it to say, most coaches I know would have had his ass walkin back home ten seconds after it happened. No bus, nothin, just take that uniform off and move your ass off the field before I kick it. Love your wisdom, words and wit coach. You are the best! Merry X-MAS Dave Livingstone, Troy, Michigan I did see the WKU kid pull that stunt, and I was dismayed to see him back in the game (he made the catch down inside the 5 that set up the winning TD). Is it any wonder, with players that react like that to a well-served ass-chewing, that WKU had five kids suspended for fighting after last week's game? (Wonder what the reaction would have been if 63-year-old Jack Harbaugh had shoved the kid?) Of course, Coach Harbaugh may not be a totally innocent victim here. I am willing to wager that that young man has an "anger management" problem, and that that wasn't the first time he, uh, challenged authority. In fact, he may suffer from the newest of the Designer Disabilities: Oppositional Defiant Disorder. I swear to God, I have heard parents say that their kids "suffer" from this. The symptoms? They are disobedient. *********** The Portland Oregonian used to have a "Weddings" and "Engagements" page. It was free. Send in your story and your photo. But the Oregonian, like a lot of papers, has figured out a way to make a little money by charging people to have their story and photo printed. AND they have changed the name of the page to "CELEBRATIONS," including weddings, anniversaries, engagements. AND something called "COMMITMENTS." No, this was not about old Uncle Charlie being sent away. Not that kind of commitment. This was about two lesbians, named Mary Croft McCarty and Lieselotte Gretchen Zorn. They were "married" (which is true, in the sense that your two dogs can be said to be "married") in Portland, and then "the brides' (that's two brides) union" was "legalized" in Vermont. "Chloe and Haley, Lieselotte's daughters, were ring bearers." Still with me? Or have you headed for the toilet bowl? "As part of their wedding vows, the brides serenaded each other." *********** the U on the Miami helmet I was told ( I cannot verify this) is some type of Signal for a Hurricane, or a warning sign along those lines, when I went down to see the B.C-Miami game in 94' the Orange Bowl Faithful told me this , I don't know if they were yankin' me on this one or what- but anyway have a good weekend Coach, John Muckian Lynn,Massachusetts *********** If you think "taking it to the house" is a really cool way of saying "scoring a touchdown," why, you'll just love ESPN's latest - "housing it." *********** Rodney Gilmore is a Stanford grad, but I heard him use the word "trickeration" three times in the same f--king game. *********** They said that Western Kentucky's quarterback, Jason Michael, was a transfer from from Army. I can't help wondering if it had anything to do with the firing of option-coach Bob Sutton and the hiring of spread-em-out Todd Berry. *********** Coach, The pass play that Miami ran on the goal line was not intended for the TE but it was a throwback pass to the QB. I think they were trying to get one last Heisman boost for Dorsey by getting him a TD reception. Does Eric Crouch vs. Oklahoma 2001come to mind? Dorsey had pitched the ball to Jarrett Payton on a sweep right and bootlegged left while Payton threw the ball to Dorsey. It was easily intercepted for a TD and got VT back in the game. If Miami would have handed to the RB it would have been an easy score and the game would have been a huge blowout. Miami arrogance. There was sideline error involved also. Payton was sent into the game without knowing he would be throwing the ball. He still had his gloves on, which may have contributed to the duck he threw. Even then the play should not have been called. I love to watch Miami play from snap to whistle. It is everything else that drives you nuts. John Bothe, Oregon, Illinois *********** Okay, Demos. Back off. You are trying to portray all southern white Republicans as racists because of something one southern white Republican said. It ain't gonna work. I believe this is called prejudice, about the same as snapping to the prejudgement that an urban black female must be a crackhead on welfare whose daughter is a ho' and son a gang banger. You know I thik that Trent Lott's day is done, but before you go any futher with this racism b-s... maybe it's time to dredge up the fact that by the same standards to which Trent Lott's being held, Al Gore's daddy was a far bigger racist; that Bill Clinton's mentor was that genial old racist, William Fulbright; that stately old Senator Byrd of West Virginia (campaign slogan: "he will take all the money paid in every year by every American taxpayer and spend it right here on you folks in West Virginia") was once a member of the KKK; that Senator uh, uh, uh, uh Kennedy of Massachusetts is a sexist, in the sense that that was a female he left to drown in the car he drove off a bridge; that avowed homosexual Barney Frank, congressman from Massachusetts, had a young man living in his residence who was running a, uh, "dating service" out of the place; that Jesse Jackson was about a sleazy a cheat on his wife as a man can be; I will only stop if you opportunistic weasels back off. *********** St. John's University announced last Friday that it was discontinuing football along with other men's sports, in a move to reflect the growing proportion of female students at the university. The Rev. Donald Harrington, the university president, noted that 58 percent of the students at the school are women. Interestingly, while drop[ing football and men's track and cross-country, St. John's announced that it was adding lacrosse. The interesting thing is the way this spirals - the percentage of male enrollment is down and the percentage of female enrollment is up, so to maintain proportionality, we add women's sports and chop men's sports. Which almost certainly means that fewer men will apply, which means that the percentage of male enrollment will continue to decline and the converse will be true for women, so they'll have to add more women's sports and drop more men's sports, etc., etc. Adding lacrosse? I think it's a matter of demographics - lacrosse is by and large a suburban sport, played by white, middle-class kids whose families can pay tuition. *********** Normally I hate "Doonesbury" because it is so left-wing, but in one strip last week, a US/UN inspector is talking with an Iraqi official. The Iraqi, attempting to needle the American, asks, "Is it true that only 13 per cent of young Americans can even find Iraq on the map?" The American says, "Yes, that's true. But the 13 per cent are all Marines." *********** I wrote: Speaking of electrifying quarterbacks... you have got to see former Clemson QB/tailback Woodrow Dantzler's 84-yard kickoff return that helped Cowboys nearly upset the 49ers. Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas, wrote: This kid made plays throughout the pre-season, but the Cowboys (in all their infinite coaching wisdom) just couldn't find a place for him on the roster -- he's been on the practice squad - They said he "wasn't an NFL QB" and wasn't ready for "NFL RB duties" - Ya know, Coach -- sometimes there are guys you just need on the football field because they're "players". Woody Dantzler is a football player -- fact. *********** After a second quarter interception, Hopewell, Pennsylvania didn't throw another pass, and became only the second team in state history to win a state championship without completing a pass. Hopewell rushed 57 times for 304 yards in defeating Strath havenm 21-10, to win the state Class AAA title. "It might be boring football to some people," said Hpoewell coach Dave Vestal. "To us, it's pure beauty." *********** I read something not too long ago by a Dr. Arnold LeUnes, a professor of sports psychology at Texas A & M. I might normally have excerpted it, but it was excellent just as is, so I contacted Dr. LeUnes for - and got - his permission to reprint the article in its entirely. If I had to give it a title, it would be: SPECIAL ARTICLE: KIDS' SPORTS - FOR THE KIDS? OR FOR THE GROWNUPS? COLLEGE STATION, Texas - When it comes to playing sports, winning is definitely not everything. In fact, it doesn't even rank in the top five priorities - at least for the majority of children, says Texas A&M University sports psychology professor Arnold LeUnes.
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION
AWARD THE BLACK LION
AWARD |
No less a man than the great Jim Brown once said, "The two toughest men I ever knew were Gino Marchetti (of the Baltimore Colts) and Andy Robustelli." A native of Stamford, Connecticut, he spent two years in the service, then played college football at Arnold College, which has since become part of the University of Bridgeport. He was drafted in the 19th round by the Los Angeles Rams, where, unable to compete at offensive end with such all-time greats as Tom Fears and Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, he was switched to defense. There, he would become an all-time great himself. But after four years, the strain of moving his family back and forth every year between California and Connecticut got to be too much, and with his wife pregnant with their fourth child, he told Rams' coach Sid Gillman he'd be reporting "a little late," in his words. Gillman told him, "Get to camp or I'm going to trade you," and he replied, "If you want to trade me, then trade me." The next day, Wellington Mara of the New York Giants called him and said, "You're twenty-nine years old. Do you think you can play for us for a while?" The answer was "yes," and he played until he was 39. (He recalled later, "I knew I could play for the Giants at the age of twenty-nine.You see, just about that time they started space exploration, and I noticed that all the people in the program were thirty-six, thirty-seven.") He arrived in 1956, in time to join the great Giants' defense put together by Jim Lee Howell's defensive coach, Tom Landry. With our guy and Jim Katkavage at the ends, Dick Modzelewski and Roosevelt Grier at the tackles, Sam Huff at middle linebacker, and Harland Svare, Bill Svoboda and Cliff Livingston at outside linebackers, Landry had the people to make his 403 defense work. He played nine years with the Giants, the last four as player-coach, and never missed a game. "We played with a unit that played together all the time," he recalled. "We didn't want - we were afraid - to have substitutions, afraid they'd take our job away. We just didn't want anybody else to have a shot at it, so we stayed in there all the time." He was a member of the first group installed in the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame and the Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame. After retirement from pro football, he devoted himself full-time to his prosperous business interests, including a travel agency in his home town of Stamford. In 1971, Andy Robustelli was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. From 1974-1978, he served as Director of Football Operations of the Giants. Sadly, it was not a triumphant return. By the 1978 season, disgusted Giants' fans were burning their tickets outside the stadium, and after the 1978 season, he retired, He was replaced by George Young, who built a Super Bowl team. Correctly identifying Andy Robustelli- Joe Daniels- Sacramento... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana... Greg Stout- Thompson's Station, Tennessee ( "Check out the rest of the '71 HOF class. Jim Brown, Bill Hewitt, Frank "Bruiser" Kinard, Vince Lombardi, Y.A. Tittle, Norm Van Brocklin.")... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... Scott Russell- Potomac Falls, Virginia... John Bothe- Oregon, Illinois... Mark Kaczmarek- Davenport, Iowa... Mike Framke- Green Bay, Wisconsin... Jeff (Don't call me Jean) Belliveau - Voorhees, New Jersey ("Could never seem to shake that name from my memory...I still expect to see it on Supermarket shelves as a brand name tomato sauce one day")... Dave Potter- Durham, North Carolina... David Crump ("Easy one for me this week! The legacy is Andy Robustelli. A truly tough guy!!! I watched him too many Sunday's when I was growing up. He and my Cleveland Browns had some great games against each other. I would like to add that the Browns won the majority of the games. I would not want Andy to hit me carrying a football. I have seen him put some licks on Jim Brown and take him down by himself! We need guys like him in pro football today!!!)... John Muckian- Lynn Massachusetts... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois ("Can you imagine being a superb defensive end while standing only 6' 0" tall and weighing only 230 pounds? The man had a nose for the ball recovering 22 fumbles in his career. His Hall of Fame induction class included Jim Brown, Vince Lombardi, Norm Van Brocklin, and teammate Y. A. Tittle - a nice group to be in the company of.")... John Zeller- Sears, Michigan... Mike Foristiere- Boise, Idaho... Pete Porcelli- Troy, New York ("His nephew, Dan Sileo, played at Univ of Miami and also Arena Football with me. He told me lots of stories.")... Ron Timson- Umatilla, Florida ("I remember him from when there was only one game on Sundays.")... *********** Remember when I told you to beware of the AD who's just been hired at your place? To be on your guard, because there's a good chance he was contracted to whack you? Dan Guerrero's first day as Athletic Director at UCLA was July 1, 2002. On Monday, December 9, 2002 after a little more than five months on the job, he axed Bob Toledo as the Bruins' head coach. It came, the headlines blared, after "a mediocre season." In fact, so universally was the word "mediocre" used that cynics among us might accuse the UCLA sports information department of including the word in their press release announcing the firing. But, wait a minute - "mediocre?" The Bruins finished 7-5. They were 7-3 before losing their last two games, to USC and Washington State, both of them BCS teams and Pac-10 co-champions. Mediocre? So, too, were Oregon and Washington in the Pac-10. So, too, was Cal, whose coach, Jeff Tedford, has been mentioned as a possible Coach of the Year. Mediocre? Tennessee, picked by some to win the national title, finished 8-4, with the help of games against Wyoming, Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt. There were no Wyomings, Middle Tennessees or Vanderbilts on UCLA's schedule. (Okay, okay- I'll swap you Stanford for Vanderbilt, even-up.) Mediocre? Guy Morriss finished 7-5 at Kentucky, and that was considered sufficiently miraculous as to get him the job at Baylor. (Good luck, Guy. You'll need a lot of it there. You're going to wish you'd stay in Lexington.) UCLA played eight bowl teams. (It would have been nine, except that Cal is on probation and will be staying home.) I am defending Bob Toledo because first of all, I like the guy. I have worked with him at summer camps, when we had the quarterbacks. I know he is a good guy, and I believe he is a decent guy. He has paid his dues. He told me of the time he was head coach at University of the Pacific, when he took his team to South Carolina to get their brains beat out in return for a big check. They were on a tight budget, so after the game they got on the buses and went straight to the airport for the flight home, where each kid was handed a box lunch from The Colonel. I will give the devil his due. Bob is a straight-talker. That is not always an asset. There were some occasions when he said some things that had to hurt some people. I can't say I've never done the same thing. I was embarrassed by some of the things he said publicly a few years ago about his defense, in effect pointing the finger at defensive coordinator Nick Alioti. There really is nothing I can say in defense of that. (Alioti, now the DC at Oregon, no doubt took some delight in beating UCLA this year, 31-30). I admired the guy's stones. Hard-nosed? He learned from a master when he was on John McKay's staff at USC. He told me that Coach McKay's simple rule of conduct for his players was, "F--k me? F--k you!" It was said that at Oregon, on one of Bob's first days there as offensive coordinator, a - shall we say jive-ass? - kid came sauntering into his office, chains around the neck and baseball hat askew, and said, "what's happenin', Buddy?" Bob is said to have replied, "Let's get one thing straight around here... I am not your f--kin' buddy." There is no question he can coach. He ended the 1997 season with 10 straight wins and opened the 1998 season with 10 more. But his stay at UCLA was star-crossed. That 20-game winning streak was ended by Miami in an end-of-season game that should have been played at the start of the season but couldn't, because a hurricane had forced its postponement. UCLA's season had already ended, in effect, capped by a big win over crosstown rival USC, and almost anyone could have predicted what was going to happen to it. Miami wasn't all that good at the start of the season, but by the end of the season, the Hurricanes had discovered Edgerrin James, and they whipped the Bruins. Bob had problems with the miscreants who used phony handicapped-parking permits so they could park closer to practice (not to excuse what they did, but if you don't know LA. you can't appreciate the desperate things people will do to find a parking space). In 2001, he lost the services of DeShaun Foster, perhaps the best back in the country at the time, in midseason, when Foster was discovered to be driving a vehicle "loaned" to him by a UCLA booster and the NCAA suspended him. Oh, yes, and then there was Cory Paus. Paus, UCLA's starting quarterback, had picked up a couple of drink driving convictions while at UCLA. Trouble was, he never told Bob Toledo about them. That news came to light just before the USC game. Paus started, and UCLA lost, 27-0. This year, UCLA was picked to finish sixth in the Pac-10. When Paus went down in mid-season, Toledo was forced to go with freshmen quarterbacks, but somehow, despite the two end-of-season losses, the Bruins managed to finish fourth. (Let this be a lesson to you guys who think you can save the world, or even one head-case quarterback: Paus, who had to be a handful, was asked to comment on Bob Toledo's firing, and was said to be "barely able to contain his glee." He said, "I support the decision." That turd.) Wrote T.J. Simers in the Los Angeles Times, "Toledo got the bum's rush in the end, and he deserved a lot more for the entertainment his teams provided each Saturday, and the way he conducted himself through both the highs and the lows of it all... The whole thing is a farce, of course, and right now I'm talking about the state of college athletics because of what has happened to a truly decent man, who exceeded preseason expectations, guided his team to a 7-3 record only to lose two in a row to a pair of the BCS final eight and then lose his job." So this guy Dan Guerrero has done exactly as he was hired to do, and handed Bob Toledo the black spot. And now, guided no doubt by his previous 14 years at two schools whose sports programs do not include football - Cal State-Dominguez Hills and Cal-Irvine (a place that takes its sports so seriously that its teams are called The Anteaters) - he suddenly finds himself in the Big Time, at center stage, faced with the most important job any big-time AD ever has to do - hire a winning head coach. Hey! Wait a minute... didn't UCLA already have one? *********** There is such a thing as misplaced loyalty, and at times, I think it is the most dangerous thing our nation faces. It is normal for people to defend their own, even when they've done wrong, but there comes a time when we simply must do what's right, no matter the cost, because our God, or our country, demands it of us. I deplored the hideous defense of William Clinton by sleazy politicians who put the good of their party ahead of their country. And I shudder whenever the "black community" (as if all black Americans speak as one) instinctively rushes to defend a black criminal because, well, just because those officers were white. Forget the crime that he committed. He is a victim of racism. And when a black person seeks political gain by spouting something shamefully racist, I deplore it because of the damage it does to our country - continuing to foster the idea that we are a racist people, instilling in young black peoples' minds the belief that they are victims of an evil system, and emboldening others to further rouse the rabble. But fair's fair, and it is only right that I say, as a white, conservative Republican, that Trent Lott, Republican Senator from Mississippi and Senate Majority Leader, had to be nuts to say what he did. "I want to say this about my state (Mississippi)" he said publicly, at South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmon's 100th birthday celebration.. "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." Yeah, Mississippi voted for Strom Thurmond. That was 1948, and he was advocating ardent defense of segregation. Yeah, Mississippi voted him. Not that black people had a lot to do with it. They weren't doing a lot of voting in Mississippi in those days. Black people (excuse me - "nigras", in the Mississippi of that time) were pretty much deprived of the right to vote by assorted devious practices including "poll taxes" (fees which most black Mississippians didn't have the money to pay) and literacy tests (in a state which had trouble providing decent education for its whites, much less its blacks). Poll taxes and literacy tests didn't apply to whites, you see - they'd been "grandfathered" in( if your grandfather was eligible to vote, you didn't have to pay the tax of pass the test). If the rest of the country had followed Mississippi's lead - as I understand Senator Lott to mean it - blacks would not now serve on juries, would not attend schools with whites, would not use the same rest rooms or drinking fountains as whites. They would not be able to try on clothing in stores or eat in "white" restaurants or stay in "white" hotels. They would be required to sit in the back of the bus, the balcony of the movie theatre, a special section of a church or a special section of a grandstand. Blacks would be required to use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss) in addressing whites; whites, no matter how young or uneducated or undignified, would normally address any black person, no matter his or her station in life, by first name. A professor or a doctor would still be "Boy." "Miscegenation" laws would see to it that blacks and whites did not intermarry. Blacks couldn't even be buried in a "white" cemetery. If the rest of the country had followed Mississippi's lead? In simple terms that most people nowadays who never witnessed segregation can understand, blacks would not be competing in sports side-by-side with whites. No Lenny Moore, Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Emmett Smith, Jerry Rice. No Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant. No Jackie Robinson, Frank Robinson, Ron Campanella, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds. Wait - scratch the Bonds. I think that if the rest of the country had somehow followed Mississippi's lead in 1948, the 1960s in America would have been bloody, indeed. I think that the deaths from the blacks' fight for equality would have numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Maybe other nations would have intervened. I'm sure our good friends, the Russians, would have been happy to provide arms to American blacks to help them in our struggle. You think America is worried about terrorism now? How bad would it have been if 13 per cent of the American population were so powerless they were willing to die for the cause of equal rights and human dignity? But no. Most of the blood was shed a hundred years before, in the Civil War. True, the fight for Civil Rights had its casualties. But countless people, black and white, prominent or quite ordinary, performed countless acts of bravery and kindness so that we wouldn't have a second, even bloodier civil war over basic human rights. We still have a long way to go, but when you've seen what a person my age has seen, and you've been fortunate enough to live to see the way the races do work together in America - and, despite what certain professional racists will tell you, they do - you will marvel at the sight. I have friends I never would have had if our laws had "protected" me from black people. I see black football players at Ole Miss. I travel to a once-segregated city like Atlanta and see blacks and whites socializing quite unselfconsciously. I see my grandson, living in the South and playing football on a mostly-black middle-school team with a black coach. I see Tyrone Willingham coaching Notre Dame and Condoleezza Rice advising the President. And I shake my head in amazement. I never believed it could happen. To me, of all the things I've seen happen in my lifetime - TV, jet travel, Interstate highways - nothing has been so unexpected, so miraculous, nothing has made me so proud of America as our climb from the days of segregation. That we have done so, and done it with so little bloodshed, makes me believe that God really has blessed us, and gives me great hope for the future. If the rest of the country had followed Mississippi's lead? No, Trent Lott can't have meant what he said. No intelligent, right-thinking American would believe that, much less say it. That was my first reaction. And the more I thought about it, the more I kept saying, "wait a minute - that mealy-mouthed mother is a United States Senator." Trent Lott is slick - too slick by half. He is a politician's politician. It's his job to weigh every word he says, and he does that and does it well. He is the master of the well-thought-out, how-can-I-say-this-most-diplomatically, what-is-the-safest-way-to-say-this phrase. So I don't accept that what he said "just came out," or "he didn't mean it that way." Nope. I think hubris - arrogance - got the best of him. I think he knew exactly what he was saying and, in that one moment, he somehow thought he could let it fly and get away with it. If the rest of the country had followed Mississippi's lead? He's a white man and he's a Republican. So am I. So what? I repudiate him. So did President Bush, who ripped him publicly Thursday, and rightly so. But we shouldn't don't stop there. Republicans should can his ass. Insist on his resignation as Senate Majority Leader. He is unqualified to to occupy a position of national or party leadership. One of the biggest challenges we face right now is uniting our nation. How can we do that if black Americans think Republicans disrespect them - if they think that one of our party's leaders is a closet-segregationist? Or, even worse, that we tolerate his kind. (Disclaimer: I must admit that I've always thought that Trent Lott was a candy-ass anyhow. When I look at him I see the ultimate suit - a cover-your-ass, try-to-please-everybody school administrator. And as long as we're talking about following Mississippi's lead... his own brother-in-law is a superstar trial lawyer who has grown obscenely rich suing tobacco companies and helping turn Mississippi into such a notorious stronghold of trial lawyers and corrupt juries that they're driving doctors out of the state. Some lead.)
*********** I have been contacted by the Democratic National Committee to determine whether there is any interest among my readers in supporting Senator Hillary Clinton (D., NY) for president in 2004. I, personally, am not, as you might imagine, but in the interest of democracy, I believe that those of you who are should at least have the right to show your support. SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON *********** I happened to mention to Mike Framke, in Green Bay, that I'd seen the Packers-Vikings game Sunday night. "Damn, it looked cold," I told him. I expected him to give me some of that bracing "we're used to it up here" stuff, but, boy - was I wrong... "It was verrry cold!" he wrote. "I can't stand winter...just hate the white sh*t and everything that goes with it...shovelling, snowblowing, driving in it. However, we haven't had any substantial amount of snow. P.S. Even though I'm a lonely Bear's fan living in GB, I am still appalled at the amount of cheap shots that occurred at the end of the Packer's game vs. Vikings." *********** You'd be surprised at how many females coaches there are. At least, it seems that way this time of year, based on the number of orders I get from women. Okay, okay, they're Christmas gifts. One lady sent me an order and I had a question for her so I e-mailed her asked if by chance the tapes were for her husband. From her reply, it sounds as if she has a very good understanding of what it's like to be a Double-Wing coach: Yes, it is a gift for my husband. He has been using your offense in our youth football league the last three years. He has coached for many years in the youth league and at the high school level. Since using your offense he has won 2 championships in the last 3 years. He is often criticized at the first of the season by some who say it is too difficult of an offense for 10 and 11 year old kids to learn but after a couple of games people are amazed. NAME WITHHELD TO KEEP THE GIFT A SECRET *********** I don't know the weather out your way, but we have beautiful Michigan snow. I went to the doctor today for a minor check up, then bought some chicken which I ate at a great park on the way home. Going Christmas shopping with my wife of 38 years tonight, to buy stuff for some great people. Hugh, I have never figured out how to make a lot of money, which I would love to do, but I have always felt lucky. I have a large & funny family, great friends & pretty damn good neighbors. The one downer is we have a 13 year old varsity player who finished his last year with us this year, who just got operated on for a larger than a tangerine sized tumor in his brain. The whole team, plus coaches, parents, et cetera, went to a nondenominational church service for him Sunday, then all went out for Mexican food. At the restaurant, his dad got up to speak, said they call the Cowboys a football organization, but at times like this, it's family. He tried to say a little more, but started to break up. It was sad to see the kid's face; it's twisted into a kind of sneer, but it was great to be with the kind of people who do things like that. (One of the dads arranged to pick up all of the player's jerseys, so they could wear them at the service.) We chipped in & got him some presents, for when he comes out of the effects of the operation, plus some cash for his parents to help cover the attendant expenses, & finally, some folks are posting his condition & progress on a website, so we can stay informed without driving anyone nuts with phone calls. Hugh, we hear so much about how bad parents & others are around youth sports, but in my 30 years, I have met & liked so many great parents. The few pains have gone glimmering in the mists of my aging memory. It's great to be alive in America. Merry Christmas to you & yours. Bill Livingstone, Troy Michigan Cowboys Varsity *********** Coach Wyatt, Just wanted to ask you to add Lowell High School (San Francisco, CA) to the list of Double Wing Champions. We won the San Francisco City League (AAA) 16-12 over Washington, an option team. We finished 11-1-1, 6-0-1 in league, scoring over 400 points, 4,000 yards on the ground, and a mere 360 in the air. Had a wing with 1600 yards and 22 TD, the other with 655 on just 70 carries. Ironically, it was simply a power right that saved our season, we won the Turkey Bowl with 12 seconds left in the game. There have been naysayers in my league for four years now, it was nice to finally shut them up!! When time permits, I have a QB sweep play that I added off of the double wing formation, that I would like to share with you all. For now though, I am enjoying the "spoils". Respectfully, Jason Krolikowski, Lowell High School, San Francisco *********** The Denver Rocky Mountain News published their all-state teams today (www.rockypreps.com). Clint Myers (jr, 6'2", 195) was first team offensive guard, Andrew Abdulla (sr, 6'3", 220) was first team linebacker, and BJ Ronquillo (so, 6', 200) was second team offensive guard. It is nice to see our players recognized for their achievements. These three young men are three of our most dedicated lifters, and their efforts are beginning to pay off for them. Greg Koenig, Las Animas, Colorado *********** I had a nice long talk with my friend John Naylor, in Fort Worth. John is - at least for the moment, until his knee replacement is fully rehabbed - a retired Texas high school coach. It is impossible for us to have a short talk, because John knows so much football and knows so many people and is so well-informed. And, as is often the case with southerners in general and Texans in particular, he knows a lot of stories and knows how to tell them. He said his wife is getting tired of hearing him say, every time a promo for "The Junction Boys" comes on (which at this point seems to be about every five minutes), "Yeah, he turned 'em into champions - and he beat Texas one out of four times!" Did I also say John's a Longhorn? *********** Seeing how all coaches preach how important special teams are, I saw that Steve Tasker will be eligible for the 1st time this season. While I definitely don't think a special teams player should be a 1st ballot, do you think a career special teamer, who was undoubtedly one of the best at what he did and acknowledged by his peers as such, deserves to be in the HOF? Todd Bross, Sharon, Pennsylvania I think they already let too many people in. I think it should be for the true giants of the game, guys who were head and shoulders above others. I think that the very idea that someone who played special teams would even be mentioned for the Hall of Fame shows how much the game has been diluted by expansion and perverted by overspecialization. I mean, Tasker probably wouldn't even have been in the NFL if they still had 40-team rosters. And almost certainly not if there were only 28 teams. *********** With about 24 minutes left in the game, Miami was up 49-21. They had moved to the Virginia Tech 6 yard line. Did they trust their running game? No. Dorsey handed to the backup tailback on a sweep right (excuse me, an "end-around"). The back stops and throws a duck to the tight end on the left. The ball floated into the capable hands of defensive back Willie Pile, who returned it 96 yards for a Hokie touchdown. This was the first of 16 straight VT (er, VPI) points, keeping the game in question until Kellen Winslow caught a late touchdown. You had a coaching tip about dumb play calls. I didn't think you built a 34-game win streak with plays like that. But I guess, in your words, it was just Miami being Miami. Christopher Anderson, Cambridge, Massachusetts Wow. The fact that I didn't lead with that story is proof that I didn't see the play. You don't build a 34-game winning streak that way. You do it the same way Oklahoma won 47 in a row - by playing in an overall weak conference so that you only occasionally have to turn it on for a tough opponent. And being very good. *********** I read an article in the Grand Rapids Press about women's collegiate bowling. It was a scream! One of the young ladies who was quoted, who by the way was giving up beauty school to chase her dream, said that, "It's not just going out there and bowling three games, and then sitting back and having a beer and a cigarette." The way she was quoted made it seem like it was a part of it however! Then, two days later, the Michigan High School Athletic Association announced that bowling will be an interscholastic sport in 2003-2004. In spite of the fact that is is going to be for boys as well as girls, the timing was just too good." John Zeller, Sears, Michigan (The worst of it is, in a bizarre effort to attain "proportionality," colleges are actually giving athletic scholarships to women bowlers. Title IX at work for all of us, providing opportunities previously denied to our little girls. HW) *********** We ended the season 9 -1. Our only loss came in the championship game, 14 to 6. We fumbled 5 times in the red zone. 3 of the fumbles were from the qb and center snap, which has never happened before. But with the help of your system we did go farther than I had ever dreamed of going. Out of 20 teams in the league we were number 1 , offensively and defensively. So thanks alot. Coach Michael D. Glenn, Chicago *********** Coach Wyatt, No doubt Leftwich is an incredible quarterback but all of that kissing his biceps and twirling his imaginary pistols was ridiculous and juvenile. As a Colts' fan, I can remember Johnny U. walking off the field after a touchdown pass to Jimmy Orr, Willie Richardson or John Mackey coolly strolling off the field, head down, acting as though he'd done it a million times before (oh yeah, he HAD). Dave Potter, Durham, North Carolina *********** According to Joe Theismann, a human being can run faster than a ball can be thrown. Why else would he say it was a mistake for a team to line up in shotgun in a desperation, must-pass, two-minute situation? Here's what he said: "I'm not a fan of the shotgun in a situation like this - it takes you too long to get the ball back there." (Did you ever have a quarterback who could take a T-formation snap from center and get back there faster than a snapped ball could? You did? Was his name, by any chance, Michael Vick?) *********** You had to love Larry Csonka's acceptance speech Monday night, when the Dolphins retired his jersey number. You also had to love the look on his elderly mom's face ("Oh, that Larry," she seemed to be saying to herself) when he gave credit to his teammates: "When you run the ball behind offensive linemen whose hearts are this big (spreading his arms wide, to illustrate), and asses this wide (spreading his arms wider, to illustrate)... it's an easy thing to do." *********** Coach, I believe the NCAA permitted a 12th game this season because an early Labor Day allowed an extra week in the fall before a later Thanksgiving. This will not be standard practice but they already have listed the years in advance that colleges will be able to schedule the 12th game. NCAA schools are not allowed to schedule the extra regular season game in years that do not have the extra week before Thanksgiving. I believe I read about it on the NCAA website. John Bothe, Oregon, Illinois *********** Hey, all you kids watching at home. Here's a tip from the pros! Craig James, a former NFL running back and noted expert on teaching the fundamentals, tells us what he knows about tackling! "Tackling high is a bad disease among defenses at any level." Thanks, Craig. And, kids - remember to tune in at 7, when Craig will tell us about blocking, and how the pros grab jerseys. *********** Just in case you thought that those guys in the Army-Navy game were born disciplined. Midway through the second quarter, the Army QB was sacked, and a Navy defender jumped up and started in on "look-at-me", whereupon a big Army lineman gave him a shove and the Navy guy started jawing at him. A few seconds later, we cut to the Navy sideline, where it was obvious that Navy coach Paul Johnson was giving that young man a refresher course in football etiquette, followed by a little reinforcement from his position coach. That's called coaching, and f you see guys woofin' and struttin', you know they ain't gettin' any. *********** Dick Vitale really cares. Thursday night, he stopped drooling long enough to share a concern with us. He was concerned about LeBron James, the superstar high school basketball player from Akron who is pegged as a sure-fire NBA star this time next year. He was worried about the leeches who try to exploit a kid like that. "You hear a lot about exploitation, and there is a lot of that," he said. Did I tell you that he said it from courtside at a sold-out Cleveland Arena? To a nationwide audience on ESPN? That he was there broadcasting one of the kid's high school games? *********** Coach Wyatt, Steve McNair is a stud football player. He could play on my DW team anytime. He is a warrior in a game full of guys that take plays off. I have always liked him. Living in Tennessee now, I have listened to the pissing and moaning of so-called football fans that as long as NcNair was the QB, the Titans couldn't win. BULLSH--. If it was not for McNair, the Titans are a 6-10 or 7-9 team at best. He is hurt and he refuses to come out of the game. Plus he is effective. Give me a team full of NcNairs anyday. Now, don't think I have jumped ship from being a Lion's fan. I still am, week after excruciating week. I also am a Titan's fan since I live here now. If the Lions play the Titans I root for the Lions. Just like I root for the Predators until they play the RedWings. Old loyalties die hard. Have a happy holiday season. Greg Stout, Thompson's Station, Tennessee *********** Good Morning Hugh, Just finished reading the "News". Two comments: our beloved Maine Black Bears just got beat by Georgia Southern - there is a team that is not a service academy but can they run the option. They ran up and down the field for over 450 yards on the ground against a pretty good Maine Defense. They threw the ball 3 or 4 times all afternoon. Fun to watch but tough on our Bears. They were in a wing set or an over set much of the day and could those guys block - knocking down the contain all day long. Teams need not tinker with the DW - run the basic plays along with the basic pass stuff - we have been essentially running those plays you mentioned in your Tip Section some time ago. We led the whole state in scoring 455 point , regardless of class, and have been running the same basic things for 7 years now. No need to tinker - just execute. Why coaches insist on tinkering with the DW is beyond me. Happy Holidays Jack Tourtillotte, Boothbay Harbor, Maine I consider Jack Tourtillotte to be the best answer I know of for the guys who complain that defenses have figured them out - that this or that defense is "killing" them. He has been playing pretty much the same opponents with the same offense for six or seven years now, and we know how they all talk among themselves, so what he is doing is no secret, and unless Maine coaches are stupid, which I doubt, they have tried everything known to man against him, and in the process, they've discarded what hasn't worked, and wound up with some pretty good packages. By this point, he is not coming across many virgins. He could have observed that teams were playing him tougher and come to the conclusion that they'd solved him - that they'd found the magic bullet - and that he needed to do something more, something different. But instead he found greater success by sticking to his plan and working at improving his execution and play-calling. It's not as sexy to do it that way, but I think it is in keeping with the New England tradition. I don't think Jack will be offended if I say that I think a major part of his success may be due to the Yankee in him - the idea that it makes no sense to throw away something perfectly good and useful just because something new and shiny comes on the market. Just find a way to make the old thing work Jack went on, "I truly believe I could take this system into any high school in the country and do well. I also believe that it is an outstanding passing offense and that 49 Brown and 58 Black along with the blocking variations is an unstoppable pass. Throw in stack, an unbalanced look, and a little spread and this offense is unstoppable if everything else is relatively equal. You should post again your basic plays for high school coaches running the DW. I agree I am stubborn but we have won two state Championships in a row, and both times with teams that were predicted to finish in the middle of the pack - and 50% of 720 plays we ran in our 12 games were either 88 or 99 super power - go figure.". *********** "Can't you just see Martin (Marteen) Gramatica, or Gary Anderson, or John (I got the helmet for Christmas) Hall leading through on a blast play?" God -- don't you just want to walk up to John Hall and smack the SH-- out of him!! wearing that freakin' chin strap around his neck like that -- what a complete STROKE! I don't give a crap how good he kicks, if he's on MY team he's wearin' his damn helmet the way a football player wears it. OK -- let's say there's a kick-off return and o'l spud Hall decides he wants to get into the action -- gets his tracheal tube ruptured because of his f'in chinstrap...but hey.. "Coach never told me I shouldn't wear it like that! I think it's his fault! I think I'll sue him, the team and the league!" What a dipsh--. Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas *********** Coach: That Keystone Firebirds picture was a classic. I fell for it as I was skimming down the page. I might have to "borrow" this idea and run with it. I have always tried different things to sell the kids on the idea that the offense they run is pure football, and the empty back, spread em out stuff is essentially new to football. I think doing pictures like that makes the game fun and they will remember that team for a long time. Kudos to Coach Bross. A few other things in response to your web site today......I am only 31 but I sure do remember when things were different in college football and it wasn't all that long ago........ I remember when all the teams played eleven (11) games per season. I remember when if you were the number one ranked team in the polls, YOU STAYED NUMBER ONE UNTIL SOMEONE KNOCKED YOU OFF!!!! (BYU beating a 6-5 Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl and going the whole year ranked number one. Right or wrong they were the national champs that year.) Nobody named, Gateway, Apple, Dell, Mac, or any mathematicians had anything to do with it. I remember when a handoff to a flanker in motion was NOT called an END-AROUND by the announcers. I remember when an offensive lineman would be called for holding when he had two handfuls of the defensive lineman's jersey in his fists. Now it is ok to grab his jersey as long as "you are working in the framework of the torso????" huh? I remember when the Big 10 Champ would play against the Pac 10 Champ in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day. I know the Iowa staff will say they love playing in the Orange Bowl.......but come on, every one of those coaches and kids would rather be in Pasadena. I remember when redshirt sophomores like Willis McGahey would be hyped as the next person to win two or three Heisman Trophies.......now we just wonder what selection he will be in the draft next year........but I guess we wouldn't even know him if it wasn't for the fact that Edgerin James and Clinton Portis all left the Miami backfield early as well..... Have a great Christmas holiday. Bill Lawlor, Hoffman Estates, Illinois *********** Coach Wyatt, As someone who lives just down the road from the Augusta National I can tell you that most folks here couldn't care who is a member of the club. For most of us Masters week is when we try to stay the hell away from Washington rd. the main road leading to the golf course. There seems top be far more serious issues that women could protest about. Any how that my 2 cents worth on the subject. I know you are pretty old school when it comes to uniforms for football players. I kind of like Penn States drab uniforms. Miami's orange and green looks awful. By the way, what is the U on the side of their helmets for? I jazzed up our helmets this year adding some stripes and a block R. I'm trying to find ways to get more kids involved in our program and I thought this might help. I make the kids wear Navy socks, soccer style too. They're not what I like, but its better than the style the players prefer. They like those little socks that don't show over their ankles. Why does the NFL allow blocking below the waist outside the tackle box? I've seen all kinds of knees ripped up using this block. It is usually done with a player diving head first at the defenders knees. Thanks for listening to my rambling. Go Dawgs! Dan King Evans, Georgia Don't know what the "U" on the Miami helmet is and I'll bet none of their players do, either. As long as they play the way they do, they can wear almost anything they want. But Rip Engle was right - if you try to get too fancy, you look like a spanked ass when you lose. We had to wear long stockings at school and I hated them. but at least we wore white sweat socks over them. There are two looks right now that I can't stand - one is the "guys in black tights" look, when they wear black all the way down to their toes, and the other is the one you describe, where they wear footies that barely show over the shoetops, like they were in too big a damn hurry to dress right. And, of course, I can't stand to look at a team on which every kid makes his own decision about sox, stockings and shoes. They look, in the words of my college backfield coach, like the "raggedy-ass cadets." I personally think that a coach should take more pride in how his team looks, and not leave uniform decisions up to kids, who pretty much show you every day in school what kind of taste they have. If you left the uniform decisions up to them, they'd figure out a way to wear boxers over their girdle pads. *********** COACH FRAN UPDATE: Dennis Franchione's own site, www.coachfran.com, is down, but not to worry. A disenchanted Alabamian has replaced it with http://www.coachfransux.com Meantime, a rather lively exchange has been taking place between Aggies and Alabamians - with an occasional Auburn fan sneaking in - in THE CRIMSON WHITE - http://www.cw.ua.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/12/06/3df03b3f1391d I have selected a few choice digs: Aggie: Bite us! Bryant did it to the Aggies. Quit crying like little babies. Joe Aggie
*********** Coach, I have a title XI question, are the cheerleaders considered athletes? I know my son's girl fried runs around in a t-shirt that says she an athlete and cheering is her sport. She is only in jr high, maybe it changes when they get older. That was a unbelievable run by Woodrow Dantzler, my son gives it his vote for this year's football Espy. Rick Stiffey, Brighton Twp. Bears Interesting question. Cheerleaders seem to be aggressively pushing the notion that they are athletes. I guess they are sensitive to the beauty queen image they have in most places. Although some of the cheerleaders I have seen on those TV competitions appear to be doing athletic things, most athletes involved in mainline sports scoff at the notion. There are those who are also pushing cheerleading (or just "cheer") as a sport, but I call it an "activity." My old-fashioned belief is that if the difference between one athlete or one team and its opponent is not measurable, it is not a sport. That doesn't mean that the participants - such as gymnasts - aren't athletes, but I distrust anything that involves judges.
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION
AWARD THE BLACK LION
AWARD |
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Andy Robustelli played his college ball
at a school that no longer exists. He was a defensive
standout, the anchor of the defensive unit that first
inspired fans to chant, "Defense! Defense! Defense!"
No less a man than the great Jim Brown once said, "The two toughest men I ever knew were Gino Marchetti [of the Baltimore Colts] and (you name him)." A native of Stamford, Connecticut, he spent two years in the service, then played college football at Arnold College, which has since become part of the University of Bridgeport. He was drafted in the 19th round by the Los Angeles Rams, where, unable to compete at offensive end with such all-time greats as Tom Fears and Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, he was switched to defense. There, he would become an all-time great himself. But after four years, the strain of moving his family back and forth every year got to be too much, and with his wife pregnant with their fourth child, he told Rams' coach Sid Gillman he'd be reporting "a little late," in his words. Gillman told him, "Get to camp or I'm going to trade you," and he replied, "If you want to trade me, then trade me." The next day, Wellington Mara of the New York Giants called him and said, "You're twenty-nine years old. Do you think you can play for us for a while?" The answer was "yes," and he played until he was 39. (He recalled later, "I knew I could play for the Giants at the age of twenty-nine.You see, just about that time they started space exploration, and I noticed that all the people in the program were thirty-six, thirty-seven.") He arrived in 1956, in time to join the great Giants' defense put together by Jim Lee Howell's defensive coach, Tom Landry. With our guy and Jim Katkavage at the ends, Dick Modzelewski and Roosevelt Grier at the tackles, Sam Huff at middle linebacker, and Harland Svare, Bill Svoboda and Cliff Livingston at outside linebackers, Landry had the people to make his 403 defense work. He played nine years with the Giants, the last four as player-coach, and never missed a game. "We played with a unit that played together all the time," he recalled. "We didn't want - we were afraid - to have substitutions, afraid they'd take our job away. We just didn't want anybody else to have a shot at it, so we stayed in there all the time." He was a member of the first group installed in the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame and the Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame. After retirement from pro football, he devoted himself full-time to his prosperous business interests, including a travel agency in his home town of Stamford. In 1971, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. From 1974-1978, he served as Director of Football Operations of the Giants. Sadly, it was not a triumphant return. By the 1978 season, disgusted Giants' fans were burning their tickets outside the stadium, and after the 1978 season, he retired, He was replaced by George Young, who built a Super Bowl team. *********** Wow. I actually heard Al Michaels criticize NFL teams for wearing so damn many different uniforms - strictly so they can sell clothing to kids. And I heard Madden say he didn't like "dark on dark" uniforms, a la the Seahawks. *********** When we moved to Washington in 1975, Washington teachers' average pay ranked in the top ten among the 50 states. But in 25 years, it has been allowed to slide to where it now ranks 20th. In 2000, despite a 3.2 percent statewide cost of living increase - the first in 10 years - the average Washington teachers' salary was lower than the national average. So who let the pay slide? Can't really blame the state legislators - their job is to allocate scarce resources, to spend the money where they're convinced it's needed. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so to speak. So whose job was it to squeak? Wouldn't you say that was the job of the union leaders? I would. But they spent the last 27 years dividing their time between alienating Republican legislators through their blind support of anything that can crawl, as long as it calls itself a Democrat, and advocating social causes such as gun control, sex education, sexual harassment and political correctness. They did a hell of a job on the social issues, but they didn't put any money in teachers' pockets. Now, with the legislature starting to waffle on a voter-approved 3.2 per cent increase, the union leaders are stirring up the troops. Not to strike, though. Instead, to take a day off and march on the state capital. The union guys fiddle while Rome burns, and now they hope to show what great leaders they are by parading a bunch of teachers, sheep-like, through the streets of Olympia. They are using those teachers as human shields, to deflect attention from themselves. Because while the actual buying power of the state's teachers has dwindled, the folks down at the teacher's union - if not the teachers they are paid to represent - have been rather well taken care of. The Washington Education Association (WEA), Washington's branch of the National Education Association (NEA), is fairly typical of similar associations in other states. Based on information obtained by the Education Intelligence Agency for the 1999-2000 school year, Size of professional staff............................................................. 76 Not bad, huh? Of course, that generous compensation can come from only one place - members' dues. Meantime, let's see what the grunts on the front line - the teachers - have been getting in return for their generous investment in such a well-compensated "professional staff": For that same school year, the statewide salary scale - set uniformly by the state legislature, thanks to a surrender of its members' rights by the "professional staff" of the WEA - peaked out at a maximum of $51,421. That's for a teacher with 20 years' experience and either a Ph.D. or a Master's degree plus an additional 90 hours of graduate credits. In other words, the highest-paid teacher in the state of Washington earned a salary about 62.5 per cent that of the average "worker" at the teacher's union.
*********** Army's offense sucks. The surest way for Army to get to the deplorable state they're in - where they'd lose 11 games and get blown out by Navy - would be if they were to somehow hire an athletic director who didn't really understand the unique nature of coaching and recruiting at a service academy, and then that AD were to fire the football coach they had - Bob Sutton, a guy who was a proven winner at Army - and hire a former associate - Todd Berry, a coach who'd worked under him at the last place he'd worked as an AD - to come in and open things up with an offense that requires the kind of kids that aren't, uh, service-academy-oriented. But that's what they did - and that's what he did.
*********** Coach Wyatt - I must tell you what I thought I heard last night. I was on my computer and had the SEC championship game on, and I believe they were talking about some skill player from Georgia who must have played in a Wing-T offense in high school and I "swear to God" I heard Todd Blackledge "RIP" the kids high school coach by stating something to the effect of "What a waste of talent to have the kid play in the Wing-T" (something along those lines). Now I'm STUNNED for two reasons - one, I always liked Blackledge. He has always come across (at least to me) as someone who talks "common sense" football and preaches the "basic" axioms of the game, and secondly I swear I heard or read somewhere his Father is a former High School/College coach. You'd think Blackledge would know better- Coach have a pleasant Sunday John Muckian , still "shocked" and " stunned" from Lynn, Massachusetts (We coaches all know, of course - or at least, we should know, since we have the benefit of the same advice from the same TV guys that our kids' parents listen to - that our first job is to run an offense that will "prepare kids" (certain kids, that is) "for the next level," not one that enables our kids (all our kids) to be the best that they can be. (I wonder if Navy's option QB Craig Candeto - who scored six TDs against Army - was "wasted" in a spread-'em-out high school offense?) Maybe Todd Blackledge must not know that Rich Gannon - a far better quarterback than Mr. Blackledge ever was - was "wasted" in Delaware's Wing-T offense. Tubby Raymond should have opened things up so he could better prepare Gannon for the next level. By the way, two of the five Washington 11-man state championships - 1A and 3A - were won by wing-T teams, and in the largest class, 4A, a wing-T team narrowly lost. Bellevue, running the pure Delaware Wing-T about as well as it can be run - and looking like Delaware in blue-and-gold uniforms with Michigan/Delaware winged helmets - won its second straight 3A title. Damn shame their coach was so pig-headed, insisting on running an offense they could win with, instead of one that would better showcase one or two potential stars. Oh, and by the way - Bellevue's coach is not a teacher - he owns and runs a tee-shirt printing business.)
I found it interesting how quickly Michael Vick went from being the MVP-apparent to "they'd better get him outta there now because you don't want a young quarterback taking hits like that" (which I honestly heard in the fourth quarter of Sunday's Falcons-Bucs game). So before we make Michael Vick the MVP - before we prepare a bust for him in Canton... Maybe we had better wait another couple more weeks. *********** Speaking of electrifying quarterbacks... you have got to see former Clemson QB/tailback Woodrow Dantzler's 84-yard kickoff return that helped Cowboys nearly upset the 49ers. ************ I've really lost respect for Franchione. He did just what Neuheisel did - categorically denied he was leaving his school, and within 40 hours the ink was drying on the contract. Christopher Anderson, Cambridge, Massachusetts I am very disappointed in Dennis Franchione. I keep looking for ways to spin things in his favor, but I am unable to do so. I am really pissed at the way the guy played on his players' loyalties, coaxing them to return to Alabama when they could have skipped - then betrayed them by skipping out on them. I mean, how much f--king money does any one man need? I think that colleges (and Texas A & M has always seemed to lead the way in this respect) are preparing the noose for their own hanging. It is outrageous the way they moan about Title IX, and cut minor sports to save pennies, then blow obscene amounts of money luring coaches already under contract to other colleges, sometimes even coming up with the "buyout" money so they can get out of those contracts. (I won't even mention the obscene severance payouts they're forced to make when they fire the old guy, to whom they'd given a long-term contract.) This is playing right into the hands of the viragos who keep attacking football as the source of all evil. I think it is time that colleges honored each other's contracts, and held their own coaches to the contracts they signed. It is time for someone to take a stand. I think that any school that doesn't hold a guy to his contract - and also honor his contract - should be required to allow its players to transfer immediately, with instant eligibility. Then maybe Alabama could force a guy like Franchione to stay and coach. And, hey - if he doesn't want to coach for you - which is the excuse we always hear ("we don't want an unhappy coach coaching us") - treat him the same as you would have if you'd fired him. Give him one of those phony "special assistant to the President" titles, and lock his ass in a windowless little cubbyhole of an office.
Gotcha!... Coach Todd Bross, of Sharon, Pennsylvania, likes to run the single wing. So when it came time to take the 2002 team photo, he told his team, the Keystone Catholic Firebirds, that they were going to look like the kind of team that would run an old-fashioned offense - they were going to look like the Keystone Catholic Firebirds of 1932. They weren't sure what he meant, but they did as he told and showed up in long-sleeve black shirts. And the coaching staff showed up in shirt and tie. And then he took the photo, and did a little work with Photoshop (adding the vertical stripes on the jerseys), and came up with a picture ready to be sent to Canton! Coach Bross wrote - Oh, to actually be able to have uniforms like that! I think player numbers were started by Pop Warner (not sure on that) as convenience, but MAN, would it be a blast to actually have the leather stripped sweaters with multi-band sleeves in a contemporary jersey style as uniforms! Heck, even paint the helmets worn leather brown/tan and simulate the REAL Michigan Wing, which of course is false. Its really the Princeton Wing. Fritz Crisler just "took" it with him when he went to Michigan from Princeton to give his Wolverines an identity and something to rally around. I have to admit when I was putting the decals on this year (not easy nor fun to put that &^$@!# Wing decal on) and had the facemasks off the helmets, it was very tempting to leave them off for just 1 practice to see those faces bucking the line "unplugged", so to say. Don't think most of the kids (and moms & dads) would agree, though. Betcha Charlie Caldwell would have liked it... I can't help wondering if football wasn't a better game when only guys who'd had serious facial injury wore face masks, and helmets were merely to protect the wearer. I know it was a better game when players had to go both ways! We may yet see that if the feminists prevail on the issue of reducing football scholarships. I'm sure you know that Dave Nelson (Michigan guy) took the "Princeton" helmet to Maine and then to Delaware (which still wears it, and still, coincidentally, shares the same colors as Michigan). *********** "Maybe I just haven't been paying close enough attention, but..... "When did the Div 1 programs go to 12 and sometimes 13 games in the regular season? For many years it was a base 11 game schedule. If you played one outside the continental US, you could get another one in, making 12. A lot of the WAC teams did this when they played Hawaii. Them you got into the "SEC" or "Big Eight" championship, which added another game. If you drew the "Kickoff classic", you got an extra game. But those were aberrations: "Most teams played 11 and a possible bowl game. Now I see that a run of the mill Wisconsin team is 7-6. Thirteen games! Pitt and WVU, 12 each, and neither played in a "special" game. Are colleges free to schedule as many games as they want now? "Mark Rice, Beaver, Pennsylvania They started getting into this when teams began playing in so many different preseason "Kickoff Classics" and "Eddie Robinson Classics," which also didn't count against the 11. So figure it out - play a pre-season classic, play 11 regular-season games, play one in Hawaii (which doesn't count), play in your conference championship, and play in a bowl game. That's 15!!!!! And that was before this year, when all schools were permitted to schedule 12 regular season games. But as I understand it, this year's 12 games regular-season schedule was supposed to be a one-time thing.
*********** Remember when I told you that the "review" of Title IX promised by the Republican administration - which certainly didn't get elected by feminists - would turn out to be a farce? Before the committee even had its first meeting, the femmies started waving the bloody shirt, crying, "this administration is trying to turn back the clock - they're out to gut Title IX." Fat chance. The committee was made up mostly of people with a vested interest in either preserving Title IX or actually advancing it, plus a couple of college athletic directors thrown in there in an attempt to give it some authenticity (although I am still waiting to see the first AD with the stones to stand up to the femmies). Sure enough, the only thing that seems to have come from this highfalutin' committee is what appears to be a petty argument over the extent to which the government should enforce "proportionality" - the absurd concept advanced by a Clinton administration hack named Norma Cantu that the surest way for a college to prove that it is providing equality of opportuntiies for women is by showing that women are represented in the school's athletic program in the same percentage they represent in the overall student body - whether or not there are enough women of sufficient interest or ability on campus to bring that proportionality about. A sort of compromise has been proposed between keeping proportionality, which the femmies would love, and dumping it, which is what I expected a Republican administration to do. The compromise would retain proportionality as a goal, but would allow schools to comply if they come within seven per cent of the target - that is to say, schools with a student body 55% female could be considered in compliance with Title IX if 48% of its athletes were female. Horrors! Shout some feminists on the committee. Julie Foudy, captain of the US women's soccer team and a committee member (now, you know she was able to look objectively at Title IX) was quoted as insisting that nothing less than exact percentages - "complete equality," she called it - would be acceptable. The whole thing seems very dishonest to me, a clear betrayal of male athletes by the Bush administration, because hidden behind the argument seems to be an unquestioning assumption that in one form or another, the hated Clinton policy of proportionality - the socialistic doctrine that has resulted in elimination of men's wrestling, swimming and baseball programs while offering scholarships to women to participate in sports in which they have no proven skills - will continue. *********** The little moppets come and play soccer on the fields across the street from where we live. Mommy and Daddy sit in their folding chairs and watch their little darlings run around in their little uniforms. They are so cute. They are our hope for the future. They love the planet and they love their environment. They love whales, and they hate people who cut down trees for a living. Also people who hunt and fish and drill for oil. In school, they learn how greedy humans and their corporations are destroying the earth just so they can make obscene amounts of money. To get away from their worries about the health of the planet, they have soccer. They run around in their little uniforms, and when the game is over, they get in their SUV's and go home with Mommy and Daddy. And leave their empty water bottles strewn around the field. *********** Now that our season is over I have been able to compile some interesting footnotes for you. Since installing the double wing last year we have: Played in two consecutive league championship games at the varsity level, and won it this year with a 6-0 record (the first league football championship in BSM history!); the varsity has gained over 7,000 yards and scored 62 touchdowns in two seasons; and for the first time ever in school history (which includes the history of Benilde High School AND Benilde-St. Margaret's School - 47 years) the seventh grade team (9-0), eighth grade team (5-3), freshman team (7-2), junior varsity team (5-2), and varsity team (6-3) ALL had winning records running the double wing!! Also, the junior high teams won their district championships. Needless to say the future looks bright for BSM football thanks in large part to the double wing! Joe Gutilla, Minneapolis *********** I loved your view on those stupid Lions fans booing Harrington like it's his fault they stink as an organization and team. They have no talent on the entire squad except for Jason Hanson. Dave Livingstone, Troy, Michigan (To be fair, I must note that Greg Stout, a former Michigander who now lives in Tennessee, wanted me to be sure to point out that I was not condemning all Lions fans. I was not, of course. In fact, I have a great deal of admiration for fans who have kept coming back, game after sorry game, the way Lions' fans have over the years. Anybody can turn out to watch a winner. HW) *********** Hugh, As usual, great reading! That Thomas Wyman (the former CBS executive who resigned from Augusta National Golf Club) is your typical (liberal) TV type. When a little heat comes, he sheds his skin. He should take his putter and stick it where the sun doesn't shine...his garage! BTW, Hootie should tell the NOW people that he'll allow women into the club when NOW has a man for president of their organization! Oh, I forgot, equality only works one way. Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey *********** Coach, Wanted to thank you once again. As you know when we instituted your version of the DW we began to initially win league titles with the freshmen. They went on to go undefeated as sophmores, lost 1 as juniors and went 12-0 and a section title. The following year's team went a remarkable 43-1 for their high school career and won yet another section title for large schools. Lassen now has the longest current winning streak at 24. When we started this program it was to get us on a winning track. Little did we know that four years later it would help a high school with about 800 kids defeat all the others in northern California . . some with 3,500 kids. Something even more amazing is that we were ranked #2 in the state right behind DeLaSalle. We can't keep this up for ever but for coaches to win at this level, on this scale well, it's been a real blessing. Thank you for being there for all of us. Tom Pipes, Susanville, California *********** I do not think it would be easy to be a state policeman. Or trooper. Or patrolman. Or whatever you call them. Yes, I get pissed at them when I see them driving along at 55, just waiting for some chump to pass them. And, yes, I wish they'd be there when some idiot tailgates, or weaves in and out of traffic at speeds 20 to 30 miles per hour faster than everybody else. But I can only imagine the chill they sometimes feel when they pull a car over and approach the driver's window. What awaits them? The muzzle of a gun? A charge of profiling? Who knows? I am also grateful to them for putting the pinch on drug-addled professional basketball players, and drug-dealing college football players. But, damn - now that the big-brother State ofWashington has made failure to wear a seat belt a "primary offense", allowing state police to cite drivers without first having to pull them over for some other violation - to write an $80 ticket - they sure have taken on a sleazy role. They were actually bragging about the wonderful job they'd done over the Thanksgiving holidays: in our part of the state, they wrote 1,200 tickets - more than 500 of them for failure to wear a seat belt. They couldn't care less whether people use their turn signals, but... Lessee... 500 tickets at $80 per. That's $40,000 coming in to the state coffers this year for the first time. $40,000 in fresh money for the poltiicians to spend. And that's just from our little corner of the state. The Washington State Patrol. New Motto: The Meter Maids of the Interstate. *********** Anybody remember 1961? I do. That was the year when they took away our ability to compare. That was the year somebody finally broke Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season, a record set in 1927. Just a coincidence, of course, but that was also the year that baseball's regular season increased in length from 154 games to 162. Not to take anything away from Roger Maris, the man who broke the Babe's record, but he did have eight more games in which to do it - and he needed them all. The old farts who complained were drowned out by all the excitement over "breaking the record." (What? We asked. A world 100-meters record where a guy only had to run 95 meters?) Fortunately, 100 meters is still 100 meters. There are a few cynics - count me among them - who think that the whole idea of inflating performance records is merely another marketing device, another way for sports promoters to give themselves a goose at the gate. Look what basketball has done. How can you compare players who didn't have the three-point shot with those who do? (Imagine Pete Maravich with a three-point shot.) Look at pro football - what is a 1,000-yard rusher, anyhow? Is it Steve Van Buren, who did it in 12 games? Jim Brown, who did it in 12- and then 14-game seasons? What do the old passing records mean when compared with the quarterbacks playing nowadays, with all those restrictions on defensive backs, and practically none on offensive linemen? The NCAA has decided to join the band. This year, individual statistics from college bowl games will be added to a player's overall stats. Cool. It's not enough they're playing 12- and 13-game regular seasons as it is. Why not add in an extra game? Great. Now we can break all the records of those old geezers who only played 11 games. Send them to the back of the room. Their bowl stats don't count - the new NCAA ruling won't allow them to. That ought to prove once and for all who the best players are. *********** First, they did away with double-headers. Now this - Anticipating the sort of criticism that meets an increase in ticket prices by a losing ball club, the New York Mets will increase prices for certain high-demand games, while preserving last season's ticket prices for others, and actually cutting ticket prices for 16 games. The Mets announced a "four-tier" ticket plan that charges premium prices for games against key opponents, especially those played on weekends, and lowers ticket prices for games against less successful teams on weeknights. For example, it will cost more to watch the Braves than the Phillies, and it will cost more to watch the Braves on weekend than on weeknights. "We decided that the three principal factors that determine why a fan goes to a game are time of year, day of week and the opponent," David Howard, the Mets' senior vice president for business told the New York Times. "In the summer months, attendance rises with school out, then we see a difference in attendance for weekends than midweek, and there's a different demand for Yankees series than any other." Seems to make sense. I remember when I was in college, tickets cost more when we played Harvard or Princeton than when we played Columbia or Brown. I wonder what's next- Charging more depending on who's pitching? Raising the price of a cold beer by a dollar when the temperature gets over 90? *********** Hugh, how are you? just finished reading your news and I have a few comments as usual. First on the part about people who try to tweak the Double -wing. I just watched a tape of a playoff game between Bishop Kelly - Catholic high school here in town - and Century of Pocatello. Well Century runs the Double wing - well sort of - they would line up in tight and run the super power for huge chunks of yardage and then they would break out to a spread with one back and throw and just get lit. Then they would go back to tight and the super power and just march up and down the field. They lost because they tried not to run it all the time. When I talked to the BK coach he told me thank God they didn't run it all the time - because we couldn't stop it. All they ran was Super Power nothing else.
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION
AWARD THE BLACK LION
AWARD |
***********
Found in an attic in Sharon, Pennsylvania... this photo of
the Keystone Catholic Firebirds of 1932.
*********** Just a few weeks ago, Arizona tight end Justin Levasseur was prominent among a group of malcontents who went to the president of the university attempting to get Coach John Mackovic fired. Levasseur said that the coach had "verbally abused him" - had called him "an embarrassment to his teammates" and "a disgrace to his family" - after his missed block had caused a quarterback sack. Subsequent events make you wonder whether coach Mackovic might have known something nobody else did... This past Tuesday, Justin Levasseur was pulled over for speeding near Geneseo, Illinois. The Illinois state trooper who made the stop found 87 pounds of marijuana in the car and arrested him and a passenger for drug possession and trafficking. Bail for each was set at $300,000. Police said the marijuana has a street value of $150,000. This is a guy who only recently stood in judgement of a football coach who'd called him names. Levasseur could find himself wishing for the good old days of being yelled at by a coach. If convicted of the felony drug charge, he could get up to 30 years in prison, where the abuse, I'm told, can go way beyond name-calling.
*********** So let's see now... if you are a member of Augusta National Golf Club and you want to admit a woman as a member, you are thoughtful...rational. But if you are a member and you don't want to admit a woman, why, you are a redneck, old-boy type. So says a 70-something showboat named Thomas H. Wyman, a former CBS Chief Executive who resigned from the club this week while taking some parting shots at the club and many of his former fellow club members, too late for them to cross him off their Christmas card lists. He called them "pigheaded." He told the New York Times (which as you can imagine just lapped up a story about an Augusta member quitting over the supposed issue of equal rights to membership in a private club), "There are obviously some redneck, old-boy types down there , but there are a lot of very thoughtful, rational people in the membership and they feel as strongly as I do." Uh - not yet, they don't, Tom. At least they ain't resigned yet. Maybe they've started to think a little bit about the fact that their membership in Augusta National, limited to 300, didn't come easy - not even for rich, powerful men - and there are an awful lot of golfers out there with plenty of money who would kill to belong. He makes a big deal of the fact that "at least 50 to 75" members agree with him. Last I checked, that was at most 25 per cent of the membership. Most places I've belonged to, 25 per cent won't pass anything. There are a couple of things I would love to ask Mr. Wyman. I would say, "Tommy, I see that you've taken what you consider to be strong action in protest of Augusta National's men-only policy. I notice, too, that you made a public display of it. My first question would be, 'why did you join such a 'pigheaded' club full of 'redneck, old-boy types' in the first place?' And my second would be, "If you felt this strongly about it, why did you wait to resign until a feminist named Martha Burk turned up the heat on guys like you by making it a public issue?'" (Speaking of the New York Times, that great defender of all that is just and true, the word is that two of its sportswriters wrote columns disagreeing with the Times' editorial position in favor of the feminists' position - and management "spiked" (killed) both columns.) *********** It's Army-Navy Saturday, and Dave Kindred, in USA Today, wrote of a mom named Patty Rasmussen who will be attending a wedding shower for her future daughter-in-law this Saturday afternoon. A strange time, to be sure, to be holding the shower, because somehow, Patty is going to be watching the game. Her son, Matt, is a 2001 West Point graduate, and is now a lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. Her grandfather, father, husband, brother and son are Army men, and she is West Point all the way. Whatever the other women will be wearing, she will be wearing Army black and gold. And rooting for the Cadets. ''When the game's on television," she told Kindred, "whatever else is happening, I am watching the game. My favorite moment is when the players after the game stand and sing -- with the corps and with the brigade -- their alma maters, the winners alongside the vanquished. It makes me cry.'' Patty Rasmussen is General Jim Shelton's daughter. Lt. Matt Rasmussen is his grandson. *********** In a season marred by drunken college students storming the fields and raising all kinds on hell after games, West Point grad John Lock (USMA Class of '82) told USA Today he could remember only one near riot.
*********** I read an interesting article recently about a Vancouver, Washington businessman named Elie Kassab. Thirty years ago, he was a 20-year-old guy in Beirut, Lebanon who attended a farewell party for another guy who was leaving for the United States. He said he was going to Portland, Oregon. Mr. Kassab's mother had been pressing him to get out of Lebanon and go to the United States, so the next day he went to the U.S. Embassy and applied for a visa. Six months later, he was in Portland. He started out as a janitor at a downtown hotel, and worked his way up to catering manager at the same hotel. He started a jewelry business and became involved in the successful redevelopment of Portland's downtown. In 1988, he moved across the Columbia River to Vancouver, where he has been involved in its attempt at redevelopment, investing in multi-screen theatres, restaurants and apartments. "I wish we had a thousand people like Elie Kassab," says Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard. He is, like most successful people, a positive guy. His guide to success is Norman Vincent Peale's book, "You Can if You Think You Can," and his favorite quote is "Above all, run as hard as you can from the cynics, and the gripers, and the negativists. They are not going anywhere. You are." *********** I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about the Peace Corps' desire to attract more minorities, the better to represent America as a multi-racial country. A Peace Corps recruiter named Nikki Maxwell, a black woman, told of the way it freaked out a group of black South African school kids when they learned she was an America. Turns out most of what they knew of America came from watching "Baywatch." Those kids, she said, "didn't know people like me existed in this country." *********** Coach, just wanted to let you know that we were really pleased with the double wing system this year. We scored on the first possession in 6 out of 7 games on clock consuming drives. We beat some good teams, but lost to 2 great programs at the end of the season. We were able to adjust to just about anything the defense threw at us. I will just have to do a better job of coaching the kids on defense and holding on to the football next season. Thanks for helping me out this season. I look forward to learning more in the off-season. I will be in touch soon about getting another tape. Steve Owens, Wrens, Georgia *********** Kevin Finkey wrote me from Gering, Nebraska High School to order another playbook. " I had a playbook," he wrote, "but I sent it and the first tape to my brother who took over an 0-9 team and they went 8-3 and made the playoffs. He is sending back the tape, but I may have to drive down to get the playbook back." *********** Thanks to Scott Barnes, of Rockwall, Texas, I think I got the news of R.C. Slocum's firing before Coach Slocum himself. Coach Barnes said that the rumor was his successor would be "the guy from TCU - the one who's at Alabama now." Saying to myself, "Dennis Franchione? Coach Fran?" I reacted sharply, and fired back--- Sorry, Aggies, but I think Coach Fran would be nuts to leave Alabama. I know they can th'ow a lotta money around at A & M, but I wouldn't leave Bama to go there. At A & M, he will never be better than #2 in his own state. He will always be the Auburn of Texas - no matter how good he is, it will be a constant uphill battle for respect. Nationally, A & M doesn't have anywhere near the glamour, prestige and reputation of Alabama. Example: name me one great quarterback from Texas A & M. Check that. name me one good quarterback from Texas A & M. Ed Hargett? I will spot you Joe Namath and Ken Stabler, and with Richard Todd and Scott Hunter I've still got you beat. That's the opinion of one non-Texan looking on it from the outside. But Coach Barnes wasn't done. He fired back: A&M - Win 1 Championship and you are the king of Texas; Uh-oh. Got me there. Now that is what I call a persuasive argument. Bama fans, I hate to tell you this - but he's as good as gone. Meantime, how about all those Bama kids who could have left, in the face of upcoming sanctions, but stayed on out of loyalty to the cause? (And, maybe, to Coach Fran?) *********** Now, let's get Bama a good coach. A guy who's gonna bleed crimson and ain't gonna use Bama as a step to something bigger and better. My vote goes to Mike Riley. I lobbied for him to replace Willingham at Stanford, but Stanford decided they were tired of winning and hired someone with no successful major college head coaching experience, Riley, for those of you with short memories, coached the San Diego Chargers while being saddled by management with Ryan Leaf. But he was also the guy who really started the great turnaround at Oregon State, the one that Dennis Erickson finished, and before that he won two Grey Cups as head coach of Winnipeg in the CFL. On top of that, he is a Bama guy, All his family is from there. He played football under the Bear and is an Alabama grad. He went to high school in Corvallis, Oregon, but that's because his dad, Bud, an Alabama guy also, was an assistant coach under Dee Andros at Oregon State. I have worked with him at Rich Brooks' summer camp, and I have always been impressed with him. *********** I see A & M fired RC Slocum. As much as I love coaching and college football, it's just too dog-eat-dog. Problem is, with spoiled kids and spoil 'em parents, it's like that some times all the way down to youth level. Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey You are so right. Brutal job. At least in college you're well-paid to put up with it... that is, if there's enough money in the world to get you to fire old friends who've worked side-by-side with you for years, as Jackie Sherrill just did at Mississippi State. Or Frank Solich did at Nebraska. *********** Interesting timing, to say the least. Nebraska's Frank Solich just let his defensive coordinator and most of his defensive staff go, most likely to save his job. He has undoubtedly been getting a lot of heat, but if it was coming from the AD, he just got a reprieve. The AD, Bill Byrne, is leaving, without Frank Solich's blood on his hands. Meantime, R.C. Slocum was just let go at Texas A & M (not because he didn't win, but because he didn't win enough. Or beat Texas enough.) Amid all sorts of speculation over who his successor will be, a new AD is riding into town - Bill Byrne. I think I know the first thing he'll be asked. *********** I got this e-mail from Cole Shaffer, a former player and assistant who's now living in the Denver area: Hey Coach, Monarch High in Louisville, Colorado, is the local school here where I live. I realized too late that they were a DW team, but did get to listen to their semi-final game on the radio. They ran out of stack-I the entire time I was listening. The commentary was beautiful. "Monarch pitches to the tailback in that triple I formation and they're gonna run it up the middle again." It was like a bad broken record. What's really impressive is Monarch did that all that with out their leading rusher for the last few games of the year. (Monarch High and coach Phil Bravo won the Colorado state - correct me if I'm wrong on this - class 3A title.) correction: it's 4A. Thanks to Jim Kuhn, in Greeley, Colorado. I was listening to Irv Brown and Joe Williams here on sports radio yesterday. They're always talking about high school football, which is quite a departure from Blazer talk (which is all you get in Portland). I nearly ran off the road the first time I heard high school football talk on drivetime radio. Anyway, some angry "minority" parent (his words not mine) called in yesterday and started talking about the football coach at his son's high school, who had just resigned. The coach had told the papers he was forced out and this was reported at the beginning of the show. This parent calls in to tell the world the evils of this coach. He got as far as asking the guys if they thought holding a player's head in a tank of water was a fair form of motivation. Irv and Joe responded by telling the guy they knew nothing about the dismissal and what was involved, but there was no way they were going to let a coach be bad-mouthed on the show. They went on a lengthy deal about coaches and all they do for kids and the little praise and monetary compensation they get back, rendering them an untouchable subject on the show. To quote one of them "there's a lot of a-hole parents out there" and the show is not a place for people to take shots at high schools coaches, they're off limits. The parent responded by saying that if the coach hadn't left, all the "minority" players would have quit. He still drew the race card before they could cut him loose. Anyway, I thought that was a pretty strong statement on their part. *********** Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said he and most of his players are "mutts." He says the Hawkeyes are winning with the "sixth- and seventh-round draft choices, free-agent type guys" who go on to do the grunt work in the NFL. He lumps himself in with them because when Hayden Fry retired, many Hawkeyes fans wanted Iowa to hire Bob Stoops, who went to Oklahoma instead. "I was maybe not the sexiest candidate out there," admitted Ferentz, a Pittsburgh native who played linebacker at UConn, and spent nine years on Hayden Fry's staff at Iowa. Now, his name is being mentioned as a candidate for one of the NFL positions sure to come open soon, and he is quick to head of any rumors, knowing full well how they can be used against him at Iowa. "Believe me, college recruiters are good at putting that one out there for recruits," he said. "Why would I want to leave? This is a great place for my family." *********** I also have been really noticing the bowing of the o-linemen. Terrible. Sometimes the tackles are deeper than the QB who is under center. Laughable. Have you noticed it's also tough to tell if the receivers are on the line or behind too? Partly because of the linemen, but also the receivers who aren't allowed on the line are up too close. Oh and one more thing is men in motion heading up field before the snap. Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin *********** After reading your post last week I tracked down the Dave Nelson book, "Anatomy of a Game." I hope it is waiting for me in my mailbox when I get home! Sam Knopik, Kansas City, Missouri (I think you will enjoy the book. Although the subject matter - a history of the rules of college football - could be rather dry on its own, Dave Nelson has a way of explaining things, sometimes inserting some wry humor into his explanation, that makes it very interesting reading, not to mention a great resource. HW) *********** Coach Wyatt remember "Whitey" Bulger was second in charge of the Winter Hill Gang ( Irish Mafia). He was such a MEAN SOB, the ITALIAN mafia would hire him and his boys to do some of their "dirty work". John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts *********** Al From, and Bruce Reed, two prominent Democrats, put out a memo on Monday suggesting that unless they want to keep getting their asses kicked, Democrats had better start sounding more like Republicans. "Close the cultural gap that, left unchecked, will give Republicans back a virtual lock on the Electoral College . . .," they urged. "Half that battle is simply respecting the values of mainstream America in the first place. We will never be the party that loves guns most, but we can respect law-abiding citizens' rights to own them. We will never be the pro-life party, but we can show that we want abortion to be rare as well as legal."
*********** Wrote a coach, after reading my put-down of the phony and much-hyped "Junction Boys," "Please reconsider. Read the book, You'll love 'The Junction Boys.'"
*********** Barry Horn's got it about right. Read what he wrote in the Dallas News this past week: ESPN's relentless self-hype for its made-for-cable movie, The Junction Boys, is about to go into high gear. Whether The Junction Boys is a hit or miss across the country remains to be seen. Here's betting, however, that in Aggie Nation precincts it will be forever relegated to the fiction section. *********** Coach, Although the timing was bad and it definitely reeked of rubbing Syracuse's face in it, I actually think running a fake punt vs. Syracuse was in the game plan all week. If I was going to have to face Frank Beamer and his kick-block "Beamerball" happy Virginia Tech Hokies next week in a game that was a national semi-final game for all intents, I would run one to give them something to think about. I don't know how many times Miami faced a punting situation, but I'll bet by the way their offense was clicking it wasn't very often. Todd Bross, Sharon, Pennsylvania (Although that is some justification, and a whole lot better than Musberger's or Danielson's, I think Frank Beamer is astute enough as a special teams guy to understand that as good as Miami is, they have a play, whether or not they've shown it, that every high school team has. Shame on Syracuse for falling asleep and letting Miami get away with it, but shame on Miami for being - Miami. HW) *********** Apparently satisfied that they've saved all the souls there are to save, a few liberal clergymen have been castigating their fellow Americans for the large rigs they drive - oversized pickups and, especially SUV's - by asking "What Would Jesus Drive?" (Answer: something small and economical, that gets good gas mileage. Something that won't pollute our atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Something that won't give its passengers an unfair advantage in a crash with a smaller vehicle. Something that uses less gas so that we won't have to go to war with Iraq, the real purpose of which, as everybody knows, is just to get at its oil.) A guy named the Reverend Jim Ball, who is spokesman for something called the Evangelical Environmental Network, has gone so far as to say, "Transportation is a Moral Issue." Verily, he saith, it is better for a man to ride a Yugo - or a bus or a trolley or a bike - than to drive an SUV. For whosoever driveth a large gas-guzzler, that man doeth the devil's handiwork. My short answer to that is "bullsh--, Rev," but for my long answer, I must depend on people whose credentials are better than mine. Brock Yates, editor at large of Car and Driver magazine, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says that before accusing us of doing the devil's work by driving an SUV, rather than, say, a Toyota Prius or a Honda Insight, the righteous men of the cloth oughtn't to be quite so hasty: "Jesus might have driven a Prius to the Sermon on the Mount, when he was traveling alone," he writes, "but with His 12 disciples He might have preferred a larger vehicle, like a Ford Excursion. And it might have produced less pollution and consumed less petroleum than six Insights carrying two passengers each." Furthermore, he adds, considering the "rock-strewn desert terrain" that Jesus was forced to travel, He would almost certainly have needed a vehicle with four-wheel drive. George Will, in the Washington Post, reminds us that from the standpoint of pollution, a modern-day SUV is actually a great improvement on the major mode of transportation of Jesus' day: "Jesus reportedly arrived in Jerusalem on a fuel-guzzling and high-pollution conveyance, a donkey. For millennia, before automobiles arrived to offend liberals, quadrupeds ruled the streets. A century ago in fragrant New York City, the healthiest of the 150,000 horses each put up to 25 pounds of manure each day onto the streets, to the delight of swarms of flies, or in stables - most blocks had one - filled with urine-soaked hay. In dry weather, traffic pounded manure to dust that penetrated noses and houses. *********** Oh well, better than nothing... Harry Agganis was an All-American football player, and as a baseball player the Red Sox saw his as the successor to Ted Williams. Sadly, he died young. That was years ago, but he is still remembered in Boston, and especially in his native Lynn, Massachusetts. He's remembered at Boston University, too, where he helped the Terriers achieve athletic renown they haven't come close to since. So Boston University is going to honor him. But how to do that? I mean, BU doesn't even play football any more. Baseball, either. But that's not going to stop BU from going ahead anyhow. And naming a hockey arena for him. *********** Last week I wrote about a guy who manages to run the Double-Wing despite making a couple of what I would call risky alterations. He is successful, but probably more because of his talent than he'd like to admit. "But," I wrote, " for every coach like that, who tinkers and is successful, there is another one who doesn't know a whole lot about offensive football and doesn't have the kids, either, but thinks maybe he can help his cause by maybe moving the fullback back a little, or opening up the splits some, or not pulling linemen, etc. "And then when he has the results we all could have predicted, he tells everybody that the Double-Wing doesn't work. And the people who whipped his butt go on the Web and explain how they have had "great success" against the Double-Wing." And then I heard from a coach, who was head coach at a small school where he ran the Double-Wing, and then moved to a large school as offensive coordinator. He (only half) jokingly signed his letter "Frustrated." Coach, Your statement about tinkering with the offense is so true! That is exactly what we ended up doing here. You will be happy to know that we have totally given up on trying to run it. I know I actually feel better about switching systems because our head coach was not allowing us to do justice to it. I wrote back, "If you've learned only that, it's been a valuable experience, because not everybody who says he 'wants' to be a head coach really wants to be a head coach. You are far better off not running the Double-Wing at all than running a neutered version of it and being blamed for what goes wrong! Your time will come." *********** This is why you do it. It came from a former player who's now coaching his own stepson. Dear Mr & Mrs Wyatt, My wife, Victoria, was talking with Brian a couple days ago and she asked him how he got interested in football. Was is being around Michael or watching it on TV? The funny thing was neither, it was "Being in Mrs Wyatt's class." He got interested because she would always talk about football and how her husband is a coach. How ironic is that? It made me remember and finally understand why he would say he wanted to go to Hudson's Bay High and play football. He knew that Coach Wyatt was my coach and he wanted to play for Coach Wyatt! An interesting tidbit I thought you would like to hear. More importantly, thank you both for being a positive influence. Not only in my life, but my family's life as well. Sincerely, Mike Lindstrom *********** Bob Lumsden died in Baltimore a little while back. He was 81. In 18 years as head football coach at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute ("Poly" to the natives) he had a record of 139-24-4 and coached five unbeaten teams. In 24 years as Poly's baseball coach, his record was 379-31, with 15 city titles. The Poly-City rivalry - the annual Thanksgiving Day game between Poly and Rival Baltimore City College (no, not a four-year college but a high school) has always been huge, and one of his favorite football memories was of the 1963 game. Poly's line was huge that year, averaging some 275 pounds per man, which in those days was gargantuan, and City coach George Young - who would later become general manager of the New York Giants - was quoted in the local papers as saying, "They're big, but they don't hit." As Lumsden's son, Robby, recalled in the Baltimore son, "Coach took his team over there and wiped up City, 27-0, and after the game, George Young comes walking across the field and says to my dad, 'Those guys are not only big, but they hit.' " Bob Lumsden replied, "I told you so." Bob Lumsden came from a working-class section of West Baltimore. His son told the Baltimore Sun that a defining moment in his dad's life was the day he came home from high school and looked across the street at the park , "and there was his mother and father pulling dandelions in order for the family to have greens for dinner, and he vowed that day that 'my kids will always have a roof over their head.' And we sure have." *********** "Still have not been able to get any crews to call blocking below the waist on my FB by DEs, and have just about given up the ghost. I have been given every excuse in the world, and I think complaining about it just results in us getting other calls going against us. It is a shame, but I am just telling my FB to make sure he makes them pay as much as possible for this tactic, and it causes us to have to run around them on the super powers." Ron Timson, Umatilla, Florida *********** Coach, The double wing is just about the only offense I have ever known from my days at Colton High till now. After years of coaching eleven and eight man football I took over a failing sixman program here in the Houston area. Since DW is what I know I adapted it to sixman, especially the mindset and attitude. Well, I have taken a lot of heat about the old and outdated football I'm playing and we were 3-5 going into our first district game yesterday. Every one listed us as the underdog and wrote us off, but yesterday we ran the ball for 311 yards, passed for 61 and won 41-13. But the best part was after weeks of practicing with your tackling drills from your tapes the team tackled for real for the first time. I attribute the change in our defense to the drills from your tapes "Surer and Safer Tackling" and "A Fine Line". Thanks for your dedication to the DW and good football. Darrell Causey, Kingwood, Texas - PS. I'm having a tape made for you so you can see the sixman DW in action *********** Great coaching tip this week. I went to stack and over-stack at different times during the season. We went to it off and on, we only repped it when we knew we might need it. It was great to fall back on. We also ran "wildcat" but kept that in all season. It was very easy to shift from that set to punt, kick, kick extra point, and run our normal plays. We also ran a great 59 keep G out of that a few times, it was a devastating diversion. I even heard a coach yell out NOW WHAT!!!!, when we ran our extra point. The referee ran right by the ballcarrier on the play...didn't know he had the ball. Twice this year we had intervertant whistles....refs didn't know where the ball was. Thanks again for all the info....next year looks like fun. The kids I had this year have graduated to High School. And I'm moving to a lower level. I have my sights on a very very good team. John Urbaniak, Hanover Park, Illinois *********** Four Illinois state titles classes - in classes 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A - were won by Catholic schools. I'm told there is, to put it mildly, grumbling. *********** I am torn between putting the best players on offense or on defense. We will have a couple of weak spots on one side of the ball or the other, but right now my thinking is that our offense will move the ball and score even with a couple of weaker players starting for us. We lose our starting center and both tackles as well as a tight end and our fullback. We were big and athletic at the tackle spot the last two years, and that led to some great success for us. However, we don't have the same caliber of player to fill the tackle spots next year, and we may have to play some pretty small guys (5'7" and 145ish) there. I think with the talent we will return in the backfield, we can still be successful moving the ball with the double-wing. Anyway, when you have been faced with a lack of depth at the high school level, what was your approach? Did your starters all go both ways, or did you create some depth and play some suspect players? Also, did you put the majority of the better players on offense or on defense? I'm always going to have my best kids on the field. Even at big schools, I have not, nor have I worked with other coaches who have not had the best athletes going both ways. On either side of the ball, the best man at the position is the one who plays, and there is no consideration whatever given to the fact that he starts on the other side of the ball. I will never put myself in a situation where I have to decide whether to put better players on offense or on defense. Either way, you are admitting that you don't have your best people on the field at all times. Now, then... having said that... where possible, I would rather that my QB not play defense, because I do like to have him on the sidelines near me when we're on defense, but that's not always possible, because a kid who is smart enough to play QB is often smart enough to help you on defense... And certainly there is a big difference between what's required on the offensive line and on the defensive line. Certainly, a lot of us are able to play kids at center and at offensive tackle who really aren't quick enough to do us much good on defense. And, of course, we all have a few of those renegade kids who can play very good defense but can't help us on offense because they aren't yet disciplined enough or mature enough to learn their plays or run them right. I also believe that it is very important to have a defensive line rotation so none of the bug guys is tempted to take a play off. We are always looking for kids who are "almost" as good as a two-way starter at one of his positions, and unless the two-way guy is an absolute stud, we would get the other guy as much action there as we can. Yes, you will find times early in the season when it is hot as anything, and you would like to have a lot of players, but I grew up in the days of two-way football, and I don't buy the idea that a young, well-conditioned kid can't play both ways, and play well. Most of us have had our experiences with good players who don't want to come out. I will never back off from my firm belief that the best man for the job is the one who should be playing. That is what I tell the players. That is what I tell their parents. That, I believe, is one of the coach's main jobs. Answer me this --- if your best running back is also your best linebacker, but you decide to play him only on offense and rest him on defense, then that means that you don't have your best man at linebacker, right? So what are you going to do when the other team is moving the ball on you? Are you going to stand there and watch, or are you going to put the better kid in there? What if it's too late? How are you going to defend the decision to start the inferior player, when everybody knows the other guy is better? In reality, I have had as many as a six or seven kids going one-way, but I could never justify leaving a stud on the sidelines. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZER
CENTRAL *********** The Washington County, Oregon
District Attorney has decided to drop assault
charges against Portland Trail Blazer Ruben
Patterson. The DA's office claimed they didn't have
enough evidence to justify to convict him of
domestic violence charges initially brought against
him by his wife, but a supervisor of Washington
County's domestic violence special unit says the
DA's action "makes me wonder." Noting that the
county is "aggressive about charging," she said,
"it is extraordinary that this case would not be
charged." The DA also said that Patterson had no previous
history of violence, although police responding to
Mrs. Patterson's call took a statement from her
that he had physically abused her for six years.
But as usual, after the police put their lives on
the line to respond to the Patterson's domestic
problems, the little lady decided that she didn't
want to press charges after all. She said they'd
"work this out as a family," and said, "I'd hope
people would respect and appreciate the fact that
we need our privacy, whether he's a celebrity or
not." So Ruben Patterson is free to return to the warm
applause and loving arms of his other family,
adoring Trail Blazers fans, who only care about his
performance on the basketball court. But the damage has been done. The police
released the transcript of the 911 tape from the
night Mrs. Patterson called them, and based on what
it reveals it's going to take a whole lot of
playing Santa Claus and handing out gifts to poor
children to clean up the image of this bunch of
musty millionaires. To excerpt: Woman: (Deep breathing) Yeah, I need
to report an assault. My husband just kicked my
ass. (A few seconds later, after she's explained
to the dispatcher that her husband is Ruben
Patterson, and he's still in the house) Woman: I need to leave. He just tried
to f--king choke me. "And now..... ladies and gentlemen..... let's
hear it..... for yo-u-u-u-u-u-u-r....
PORTLAND.... TRAIL BLAZERS!" *********** Gene McIntyre, of Keizer, Oregon,
wrote to the Portland Oregonian, "Blazer fans
should go easy on team members who break laws,
behave badly and flout social convention.
Interviews indicate they speak English as a
second language and can't be blamed for not
understanding our ways." Mr. McIntyre was being
sarcastic (I think) but where far too many NBA
basketball players are concerned, he came awfully
close to the actual truth. *********** You know your franchise is
hemorrhaging when BIG corporate sponsors are pissed
off and they go public with it. This letter
appeared in a recent Portland Oregonian: Ron B. Tonkin, Tonkin Family of
Dealerships (Mr. Tonkin is the Portland area's largest
automobile dealer, and is a former president of the
National Automobile Dealers Association)
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -
It is our intention to continue with the Black Lion Award next year. Thank You - NAME & SCHOOL WITHHELD I appreciate your taking the time to write. I imagine it was not the easiest of years if you don't have a worthy nominee. I appreciate your honesty. It is people like you who recognize the importance of high standards that help make this the sort of award we envisioned when we established it.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
|
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!
*********** Now that Oklahoma State has hung one on the Sooners - ooh-whee, did those Cowboys whup them - a Miami loss to Virginia Tech (please, Santa) could conceivably wind up giving us the game that the Big Ten should have given us in the first place - Ohio State-Iowa. But this time it would be for the national title. I know, you're going to say, "What about Georgia?" I would answer, "Don't they still have to beat Arkansas?" *********** Damn. USC's back. I've never been a fan of the Trojans, and it's been fun the last several years, with USC out of the picture, watching the schools in the Northwest fight it out at the top of the Pac-10. It was fun, while it lasted. But now, it could be over. The Trojans are back. And they are good. Those of us on the West Coast saw it coming. We saw them barely beat Auburn in Los Angeles, and we saw them narrowly lose to Kansas State in Manhattan. We saw Washington State nip them up in Pullman, and we saw them beat Cal by only two points the next week, to go 4-2. But since then, they have been kicking ass and taking names. Nobody who'd seen them the past five weeks was surprised by what they did to Notre Dame. They were bigger, faster and stronger. They were just plain better in every aspect of football. Overlooking a punt block and a couple of stupid interceptions, they were damn near perfect. If they could play K-State and Washington State again, they would beat them decisively. In fact, they may be the best team in the country right now. I think they are far better than Ohio State, and they may be better than Miami. Apart from the fact that they are back and now we Northwesterners have to deal with them again, what the Trojans did against Notre Dame was to expose the Irish for what they really have been all along - a group of average football players who kept finding ways to win. To me, the blowout at USC just further illustrates what a great job Tyrone Willingham did in getting Notre Dame to the final game of the regular season with only one loss. He made the difference. He is my Coach of the Year. *********** Now, then - a question for my Coach of the Year: Coach Willingham, once it was obvious to everybody in the stadium that Carlyle Holliday couldn't throw, why did you continue to throw? Oh, I see - you didn't have a running game, either. Does anyone out there want to show Coach Willingham the Double-Wing, or shall I? *********** Regarding my comments about Redskins' punter Bryan Barker, who broke his nose because the weeny single-bar helmet he wore wasn't enough protection when he was forced to make an honest-to-God football play - "Here's my real question, though: so he broke his nose? Why didn't he come back" Scott Barnes, of Rockwall, Texas wrote, "That is EXACTLY the question my son Austin kept asking me!! "a broken nose? so what?" "is he a football player, or not?" -- of course, I opted for the "or not" answer to his question, but it was really rhetorical. "Wow..what an embarrassment!" *********** Jim Hooper, of Denver (who coached my grandson this poast year) writes, "Coach Phil Bravo's Monarch HS Coyotes just won the Colorado 4A football championship, capping off an undefeated season by defeating Golden HS 42-35. The Coyotes Double Wing offense racked up 4,000 yards rushing this season. Having followed the Coyotes this year, I believe the play by play announcers calling their games surely hold the single-season record for most uses of the phrases 'up the middle' and 'just keep running the ball.' Listening to them getting tongue-tied trying to call a trap play in real time has been a riot." I'm sure that the play-by-play guys don't enjoy calling a Double-Wing game, for the same reason fans most fans don't enjoy watching it - they don't understand the nuances of the offense, and don't take the time to learn about them. It exposes their ignorance of the game. It shows that they don't do their homework, because for most games, all the radio guys have to do is show up and imitate pro announcers. If it mattered to them, they would push themselves away from their TV sets and ask Coach Bravo a few questions. I'm sure he would take the time to help. *********** And they wonder why people hate them... It's 35-7, Miami, with five minutes left in the game. Syracuse's Paul Pasqualoni's job is said to be on on the line, and this could be his last five minutes as the Orange's coach. It's fourth down and Miami lines up to punt - and damned if that punter doesn't throw the ball. For a touchdown. Classy. Miami pulls a fake punt to make it 42-7. (A late interception makes the final 49-7.) How degrading to the game. What a classless bunch. I like Larry Coker, but what a bunch of outlaws he's got. And then, high up in the press box, the spin started. It's not poor sportsmanship, said Brent Musburger. It wasn't called by the coaches. "It's just young athletes being young athletes." Bullsh--, Brent. It's Miami being Miami. That's how reputation works. Anybody else and we might give them the benefit of the doubt. But we've seen Miami before. We have had ample opportunity to see what kind of sportsmen they are - what kind of respect they show for opponents and for the game itself. Brent's partner in the booth, Gary Danielson, must have felt he had to add his spin: "Miami players have great instincts." Yeah, Gary. But so do my dogs. And they're a lot better behaved. *********** Coach Wyatt: Well, my Ben Franklin Lions did it. We won the Toy Bowl! It was a heck of a game. Our boys played great. We drove 55 yards on the opening possession for a TD on the 9th play of the drive. On our second possession, we drove to the 5 yard line until the Chargers defense held firm. We did not give up the ball to them until there was just 3 minutes left in the first half. Our defense contained their speed and gave up nothing in the little time remaining. We went into the locker room at halftime up 6-0. On the first play of the second half, their speedster got around the corner and juked our DBs and raced for a 46 yard TD. We faced adversity for the first time this season. Our Double Wing went back to work and drove to their 18, only to be held out again ! We each had another possession but neither team could score. We ended regulation play tied 6-6. In OT we won the toss and elected to play defense first. In OT each team gets 4 plays from the 10 yardline to attempt to score. You repeat until you have a winner. Our defense was ready for the challenge. We threw them for a loss on all 4 plays. They finished 32 yards out from the goalline ! Then it was our turn. We got the ball on the 10 yard line. First play we wedged to the 6. Next play we wedged again to the 4. I could see they we stacking the middle to try and stop the wedge for a third time. There's a saying in Texas that goes like this. "You always dance with the one who brung ya". Tite Rip 88 Power brung us to the Toy Bowl, so I called Tite Rip 88 Power to finish the season and the Championship. Our playside linemen walled off perfectly and our B back and pulling Guard each pancaked their man. Our A Back cut up inside the kickout block and scored with ease. Final score....Lions 12, Chargers 6. It was a perfect ending for a perfect season. We finished with 10 wins and no losses. Thanks again for the Double Wing. It was the perfect offense for these boys to learn the game of football. Coach John Bradley, Wichita Falls, Texas *********** Coach Wyatt, Last Saturday, the SOC Patriots completed their dream season (13-0) by beating the Mission Viejo Cowboys (12-1) in the Superbowl by the commanding score of 24-6. We dominated the Cowboys in much the same way as we have all of our tough Southern California opponents at the Clinic level (9-10 year olds). We scored on the first drive of every game this season and Saturday was no exception. The ball was spread around pretty evenly amongst 4 different backs and as always, our passing was there when we needed it. We scored with the 88 SP, the 47-C XX, the 3 Trap @4 and the Wedge. The blocking was incredible. There were over 2000 fans in attendance and I doubt more than a quarter of them could figure out where the ball was. Our offense controlled the ball so effectively this season, it turned out to be our best defense. We outscored our opponents 352 to 43. In most games we doubled or tripled the number of plays run by our opponent, which explains how we managed 7 shut-outs. We never had to punt, which was fortunate, since we only practiced it a few times. This was our first year running your offense and we made very few modifications to it. We run the no huddle and I am proud to say, that despite quite a bit of initial resistance, we did not run even one single play out of any formation other than the Double Wing. Thanks again for all your help! Without the seminars, the materials and the support, this would not have been possible. Coach Al Bellanca, Offensive Coordinator, South Orange County Patriots, Dana Point, California *********** Observations from the Northland... Coach Wyatt, Fun weekend of football. Miami is impressive to watch, but I would love to see them get knocked off, they are talented but they act like a bunch of thugs. *********** Dewey Sullivan picked up win number 323, and won a state championship in the bargain. Coach Sullivan, of Dayton, Oregon is the winningest coach in Oregon high school history. A native Texan, Coach Sullivan is modest and unassuming, a class act all the way. I had the privilege of facing him twice, back in the 70s in my early days of coaching high school football. What made this win especially significant was that it was over Amity. Amity and Dayton are farm towns in the Williamette Valley, at most an hour's drive southwest of Portland. They are just ten miles apart, separated only by open fields. As good as Dayton has been over the long haul, Amity has been even better in recent times. Amity came into this year's Class 2A final with a 45 game win streak, including four straight state titles. The last time Amity lost was to Dayton, in 1999. Dayton lost to Amity in their regular-season game earlier this year, 22-21. In that game, Dayton was called for an uncharacteristic 21 penalties, 19 of them false starts. (Don't ask me how - I've got to call Dewey about that.) But this time, Dayton beat Amity. Led by 6-3, 225-pound Dante Rosario, who carried 22 times for 126 yards and four touchdowns, the Pirates won, 45-20. Dayton didn't throw a pass - you can be sure that nobody in Dayton was bitching - running 61 plays and piling up 404 yards of offense. Coach Sullivan runs the old-fashioned Belly-T. His kids know it and believe in it. So does he. He paid me one of the greatest compliments I have ever received after he bought my original tape and said, "If I weren't running my offense, I'd run yours." *********** If Washington State beats UCLA, the Cougars win the Pac-10 and go to the Rose Bowl, simple as that. Which leaves USC hanging out there as an at-large possibility. USC or Notre Dame? It's not exactly the BCS's choice. It is the individual bowl game's option to choose a team from those that are eligible, and Notre Dame is guaranteed eligible if it finishes in the Top 12 (that's the dirty deal the BCS entered into) - which it will. Here is the problem - USC doesn't "travel well," or at least that's the suspicion, since its only experience with major bowls has been the Rose Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. Notre Dame does. If it should somehow come down to Notre Dame vs Iowa... Iowa doesn't assure a large TV audience. Notre Dame does. One thing you can bet on is that unless UCLA beats Washington State - which would eliminate the Cougars from the BCS and send them to the Holiday Bowl, either USC, Iowa or Notre Dame is going to get screwed. (Tip: bet the farm that it won't be Notre Dame.) I hate the system, but that's the way it is. Reluctantly, in disgust at the way everybody genuflects to Notre Dame, I am gradually leaning - listing - toward an eight-team playoff. *********** No matter how your season ended, I doubt that it ended as badly as it did for some kids in Lynden, Washington. It happened in the Tacoma Dome. Maybe you've heard about it. It was the Washington Class 2A semi-final, and Lynden Christian had the ball at midfield, six seconds away from a 19-14 defeat of Elma, last year's champion. Elma and Lynden Christian are perennial powers in their class - Lynden Christian was 11-0 this year, and Elma was 10-1, its only defeat coming in the pre-season at the hands of eventual Class 3A semifinalist Columbia River. It was fourth down. Rather than punt or take a chance on running a play and turning the ball over to Elma for even one desperation play, Lynden Christian chose to spend the last six seconds taking a safety. Taking the snap, the LC quarterback turned and raced back toward his own end zone. When he got there, he laid the ball on the carpet and raised his hands triumphantly, as the scoreboard read 0:00 Mere seconds later, though, it also read, ELMA 20, Lynden Christian 19. Time had run out, true. But the ball was still live, and the Elma defensive end who'd chased the quarterback into the end zone knew that. He picked up the live ball, and, since he was in possession of it in the Lynden Christian end zone, by definition he had scored a touchdown - a touchdown that gave Elma the win and a chance to defend its title, and a touchdown that in an instant turned the Lynden Christian team from joy to despair. *********** Coach, Severn Seminoles 19 - Millersville Wolverines 13 OT Sad to report, we lost again in the county championship game this past weekend. We lost in Double Overtime. We were losing 6-0 in the first half. Scored on the opening posession of the third quarter. Severn answered right back and went up 13-6. We tied the game without 2 minutes to go to force Overtime. We just came up short in the second overtime period. The game was professionally filmed and I will send you a copy of the tape. I know we need work but, I stumbled upon a good thing called theh Double-Wing. Thanks for your support. Jason Clarke, Millersville, Maryland *********** A New York City policeman has been suspended from the force and will probably face a departmental trial for insubordination - for refusing to follow orders. He refused to participate in the arrest of what used to be called a bum, a homeless person who had been sleeping in someone's garage and wouldn't move on when ordered to do so. According to a police report, the officer said, "I won't arrest an undomiciled person." "Undomiciled person?" That guy has been in the wrong business. He should have been a social worker. *********** If you like your sports movies to be authentic, you'll lo-o-o-o-ve the much-hyped "The Junction Boys." If you like movies about our most American of sports, especially one that is supposed to be taking place in central Texas, to actually be shot in Australia - I kid you not, it was filmed west of Sydney, because with the current exchange rate of the Australian dollar at 55 cents US the ESPN people got more bang for their buck - you'll lo-o-o-o-o-ve "The Junction Boys." If you like watching pencil-necked actors posing as real football players, you'll lo-o-o-o-o-ve "The Junction Boys." If you like listening to actors with phony Texas accents - Australian actors at that, because the only American in the cast is the guy who plays Bear Bryant - you'll lo-o-o-o-o-ve "The Junction Boys." *********** Are you kidding me? Louisville (7-4) goes to Houston to pick up the win. The Cougars (4-7) have already fired their coach, Dana Dimel, with two years remaining on his contract. But stays on and coaches his final game, and Houston beats Lousville, 27-10. I don't know a lot about the situation, other than the fact that Coach Dimel seems to have gone out with a lot of class. Before coming to Houston he did a good job at Wyoming, and after finding the cupboard bare at Houston, and going winless in his second year, he managed to build to the point where in this, his third year at Houston, the Cougars finished with five wins - one-game short of being bowl-eligible. (If you're looking for one particular game, how about a 54-48 loss to East Carolina - in overtime?) Uh-oh. I think I see the problem. The AD who hired him, Chet Gladchuk, is no longer the AD. He is now the AD at Navy. The new AD at Houston, on the job since since last February, is a guy named Dave Maggard. He was AD at Miami from 1991-93, where they had good football teams, and from 72-90 at Cal, where they didn't. Since leaving Miami, he worked for Turner Sports and did a variety of other things. Look - the guy is probably a good administrator, and he has an impressive resume and a clean reputation, but his credential as a judge of football coaches are pretty scanty. Do not be deceived by the record at Miami. He had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any success Miami had on the football field, where in 1991, Maggard's first year, Dennis Erickson won his second national title in three years. Erickson was hired by Sam Jankovitch, who had hired Jimmy Johnson before that. I think it is safe to say that Dave Maggard stepped into a situation that really didn't require anything on his part. Judge him instead by his 18 years at Cal, where the four coaches he hired - Mike White, Roger Theder, Joe Kapp and Bruce Snyder - were 90-117-6. Interestingly, the most successful of them, Snyder, wasn't a winner until his fourth year at Cal, when he went 7-4-1. By his fifth year, Maggard was gone, Snyder went 10-2-0, and left for Arizona State. Oh - you say it's a marketing thing, a matter of putting people in the seats. "This is not a market that we can have the kind of program that we've had in the past few years and we need to elevate that," he said. He has certainly had first-hand experience with the marketing challenges presented by large markets that won't tolerate losers. Unfortunately, it was not good experience. Seems to me that all those empty seats in Cal's stadium - an average of 30,000 over the years, even with a guaranteed sellout for the Stanford game every other year - playing against teams a lot more attractive to fans than the ones Houston brings in, say all that needs to be said about the guy's history of putting asses in the seats. Hey, you and I both know what this is all about - it's about ego. Every athletic director's ego demands that he get to make the Trophy Hire - the football coach. Simple as that. Bruce Snyder - 4-7 in his third year at Cal - got a fourth year because he was Dave Maggard's hire. Dana Dimel didn't because he wasn't. Moral: Always be on your guard when your record is shaky and a new AD is brought in. Chances are good he already has your replacement in mind. *********** Anybody else see Dan Fouts totally blow the call on USC's Tackle screen, calling it a "tackle eligible?" Did you notice how he went to all the trouble of explaining how the guy "lined up on the end, which made him eligible," even using the telestrator to circle the guy on the end, only to have him turn out to be a real tight end who went out for a pass, while the tackle (#77) sank back in simulated pass protection to where he was behind the QB, and therefore able, like anyone else on the field, to catch what was actually a lateral? Damn, you'd think that somebody who's paid what he's paid to broadcast those games - and does a very good job for the most part - would know what the hell he'd just seen, without having to give us the standard NFL "tackle eligible" explanation. It pisses me off because he was content to misinform his viewers and go his merry way. For the record: there is no such thing as a "tackle eligible" play under high school or college rules. That is an abomination that the pros refuse to purge from their rule book, probably because then they'd be admitting that the rest of us were right. *********** I take back everything bad I have ever said in the past about school administrators. Well, college presidents, anyhow. I am truly sorry. I have seen the light. They're really a great bunch of people. In fact, America is a better place thanks to our college presidents. I finally realized what great people they really are when I read that William Bulger, president of the University of Massachusetts, is the kid brother of Whitey Bulger. James "Whitey" Bulger, a New England organized crime kingpin, is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, and has been since 1995, when he went on the lam after being indicted on racketeering and murder charges. He is said to be connected in some way with some 22 killings in the 1970's and 1980's. As I have always said, college presidents are great people. They are brave and courageous. That goes double for the president of the University of Massachusetts *********** An Oklahoma defensive back, a kid named Woolfolk, led with his helmet and hit the knee of an Oklahoma State runner. Hard. Then lay there on the turf, knocked cold. He got up and they helped him off, as the guys in the booth did their "speculating" as to what might be wrong with him. I'm still waiting for someone to say, "that's no way to be tackling." *********** Wouldn't I like to sneak into that Coors Light commerical - the one where those tarts are dancing on the toilet seats - and pull the flush handle? *********** Don't know how they did it, but I guess with all the money involved, anything's possible - the BCS people arranged for Florida State to beat Florida. This means that the Seminoles, who as ACC champions get an automatic berth in a BCS bowl, will go in with "only" four losses, and not five. *********** Dear Coach Wyatt; I just wanted to ask if I was the only person in the country that noticed Joe "The Ego" Theismann (rhymes with 'Heisman') casually mention that, "If I were a receiver in the NFL I'd practice pushing off all the time." Can I just be the first to say, "Hey Joe, thanks for telling millions of us viewers out here that you're perfectly willing to cheat. You're a great example to our kids. Keep up the good work." By the way, have you noticed that ever since coaches started emailing you and letting you know that they were writing and emailing ESPN about it, the Sunday Night Football Crew has all but stopped using the phrase "...lowers his head..." It looks like we finally made a difference to those stuffed shirts by pointing out the risk of a lawsuit to those buffoons. Take care, Very Respectfully, Derek Wade, Tomales, California *********** Please, NFL, please... will you please enforce the rule requiring a team to have seven guys on the line? Will you please make those tackles - the ones in those two-point stances with their outside feet back - move forward so they're not deeper than slot backs? We're starting to see it at the high school level. *********** Talk about out of touch. My daughter, Cathy, called from Houston. She was beside herself. She is a Notre Dame fan (I suppose every family has one), and the people at ABC in their infinite wisdom were treating the Houston area to Florida-Florida State. Other than the possibility that the station general manager at the ABC affiliate in Houston is either a Seminole or a Gator, I can't imagine too many people outside the state of Florida who would care more about Florida-Florida State than about Notre Dame-USC, a game that had been hyped for weeks. *********** So Notre Dame blocks a USC punt, and it's spinning around loose in the end zone, a touchdown for the taking, and damned if Notre Dame's #6 (sorry, no names on the jerseys for either team), doesn't try to pick it up! He drops it, and fortunately for the Irish, there are enough teammates on hand to cover it for the touchdown. You young fellas - if you're watching this at home - forget about scooping up fumbles - cover them! *********** John Urbaniak of Hanover Park, Illinois, was kind enough to send along this photo of his Hurricanes' last two Black Lion Award winners. On the far left is last year's winner, Jeff Ball, who's wearing the regimental patch on his jersey. On the right is this year's winner, Nick Pantaleo. Notice how the award has been dressed up - the certificate and the patch have been mounted on a hardwood plaque, along with symbols of Major Don Holleder - a major's insignia, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and the ribbons Major Holleder had earned. *********** Plantation FL - Plantation Wildcats 20 Cooper City 0 (8yr old) We won the Superbowl and finished undefeated with a record of 14-0. We scored again with Rip 3 trap @ 2 and Rip 78 throwback. We used Rip Stop 77 and it worked very well. The best thing about the DW is that we force the defense into cheating to stop one play and then we run at the vulnerable spot. I think that I will move up to the next level with these kids mainly because I would get sick to see the next coach running a different offense. I look forward to purchasing more of your products before next season. Mike Kahn, Plantation, Florida *********** Got to figure out a way to ship that yellow yard-to-go stripe to Hawaii. Didn't you miss it in the Alabama-Hawaii game? I did. The technology behind it requires a special truck to be sent to the game site, which is why it's so expensive on the mainland, and, at this point at least, unfeasible for Hawaii. *********** Not too many small-state schools can win in Division 1-A with a majority of in-state kids, but Hawaii can. Hawaii is not a bad club, and most of its players are island kids. *********** Some TV doofus was showing us the shillelagh (Irish club) that USC and Notre Dame were supposedly playing for - sort of their Little Brown Jug or Paul Bunyan's Axe. He showed us where they put little gold Trojan heads on it for the years USC won, and - he said this - "if the Irish win, they put on a four-leaf clover." Uh, fella - better count them leaves again. I think those are shamrocks. *********** Arizona State's Dirk Koetter, on Arizona's "expressive" wide receiver, Bobb Wade, Part I: "Bobby Wade is a fantastic player. I think he talks too much, but he's a fantastic player." Part II: "I'm a Bobby Wade fan - especially when he keeps his mouth shut." *********** You ever had to correct a kid and had him give you the Jon Gruden look? Didn't you just want to smack him in the mouth? *********** Suzy Kolber update. Okay, so maybe she knows some football. I'll take your word for it. But tell me once again - what's she there for? *********** The way the NFL overtimes keep ending in field goals... would someone please tell me how it's any better - any more reflective of the difference between the two teams - than a soccer shootout? *********** With a little over a month left in 2002, a 26-year-old Washougal, Washington man has come out of nowhere to take what appears to be an insurmountable lead in the competition for this year's Edward M. Kennedy Award of Valor, named for the gallant Senator from Massachusetts who swam to safety while a female intern drowned in his car. All the Senator - a married man - was doing was trying to have a little fun with the intern, when on the way back from a cookout or barbecue or clambake of some sort, his car went off a bridge. (Don't Democrats have the darnedest luck with interns?) This year's apparent winner was driving along the treacherously winding Washougal River Road late Saturday night a week ago when his pickup, said to have been weaving, went off the road and down an 80-foot embankment into the river, where it tipped over onto the passenger's side. The guy climbed out and made his way back up to the road, where he flagged down a passing motorist and asked for a ride home. (Did I mention there was a young woman in his truck? Neither did he.) So the good samaritan gave the guy a ride home, and then happened to drive back past the scene of the accident, where he saw rescuers trying to pull the truck out of the river. The guy got out and told the police at the scene where they could find the driver. They went to the guy's house, where he had a gun and was threatening to kill himself. Poor guy. See, he was a victim. As was his former woman companion, who was left to drown. *********** Coach, Well it's official here in NJ. The toe punchers are making a comeback! At every "city" school I'vs seen, the kickers are toe punchers!" Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey. (Unquestionably, the reason for this would have to be the total lack of any soccer presence in the lives of "city" kids. While the suburban kids were being hauled around to play on elite soccer teams, the city kids were playing football. I love it. Those kids are probably position players, too. I am eagerly awaiting the first black Lou Groza! HW) *********** Dear coach: How are you? I'm surprised you didn't have a take on Jonathon Vilma's headfirst, headdown tackle, feet launching off the ground into the Pitt rb's neck area, followed by that idiot Corso commenting on the replay that it was "right out the textbook, a perfect tackle." I was shocked. It's the kind of tackle that puts football players in wheelchairs and it made me cringe. I guess being Burt Reynolds roommate at FSU has been advantagess for Corso, because he doesn't know sh-- about football. He stunk as a coach, and he's even worse as a commentator. How can they condone that kind of tackle without being held to task? Unbelievable! Happy holidays coach. David Livingstone, Troy Michigan (While I wouldn't go so far as to say that I think Lee Corso knows that little, you can be sure I didn't see/hear the tackle in question or I would have had a few things to say about it. HW) *********** Hi coach! Coach Wayne Gandy's Joaquin Rams lost in the last minute of their playoff game. It didn't help that they had fumbled earlier, and there were a few tough breaks/miscues, etc.... the DWING he has installed has taken the program, which had been 1-9 the previous year, to the playoffs! I was fortunate to make the drive from D/FW and introduced myself to him about 1.5hrs. before game time. It was an honor to meet him, and he brought his son, Bradley, over to meet me as well. They already knew about being "snubbed" by the websites and the Ft. Worth "startlegram" (Star-Telegram. HW) , so his bulletin-board material was well in hand. (I'd think he'd be at least a candidate for coach of the year) It was my first time to actually see the dwing in action, and it is obvious that it drives the opponents nuts! I loved it! Especially enjoyed the chat with a grandfather in the stands....we both joked about how tempting it (was) to go over to the other side and listen to the puzzled comments....you can just imagine, huh? John Rockwell, Fort Worth, Texas *********** Sports Illustrated has been doing a four-part series on high school sports ("Inside the Changing World of Our Young Athletes"). The kid on the cover of the first in the series was an outstanding football player from an outstanding program, Trinity High School in Lousville. So why, I must ask - and I have a feeling that I'm joined in asking by hundreds and hundreds of high school football coaches nationwide - was he shown - on the cover of Sports Illustrated - doing an near-universal no-no, sitting on his helmet? Grrr. *********** Public education gets a bad rap, much of it well-deserved, but let's be fair about one thing - before the public complains about how much we are spending on education and how little we're getting in return, it should take a look at Oregon, as a representative state. The amount of money Oregonians spend on their schools has increased dramatically over the years, yet there is the sense among the taxpaying public that they are not getting their money's worth. And despite the increased dollars going to education, there is no question Oregon's schools are hurting. While politicians wage war over how - or whether - to properly fund them, Oregon school districts are laying off teachers and cutting days off the school year (and dollars out of teachers' paychecks) in an effort to stay afloat financially. But spending to pay for "mainstream" classroom instruction has gone up only about 3 per cent per year since 1992, so how can this be? Aha! I knew you'd ask. Ever heard of "special ed?" Funding to pay for special education students in Oregon has gone up 14.2 per cent - per year - since 1992. In 1992, special education programs cost Oregon school districts $448 per student. By 2001, not only had the cost per student risen to $1,301, but there were 35 per cent more students identified as needing special education. There is no such thing as cutting back on special education, either, because, while not exactly an unfunded mandate, it is certainly an underfunded mandate. Required by the Federal Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act of 1977 (Lord, has it really gone on that long?) to provide "an appropriate education" for retarded students, the law has proven to be quite flexible with respect to what consititutes an "appropriate education" and what constitutes a "disability," and how far taxpayers must go to provide the education. The result of this expansion of mandated services has been that what originally was to receive 40 per cent funding by the Federal taxpayers now receives only about 12 percent, with local districts picking up the balance. I suppose this is not a good time to discuss school districts' being ordered by courts to send kids with special needs to private schools - at costs to local paypayers of $30,000 and up. *********** "Can't get better than that - helmet right on the ball," said either Dick Stockton or Moose Johnson, as a Packer launched a helmet-first suicide dive into the Bear's Darrien Gordon Sunday, causing him to fumble. *********** Cute. Guys in the Heineken ad shred waste paper by the basketful and then toss the "snow flakes" out the office window, onto the streets far below, to the tune of "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow." Cute. Thanks, Heineken, for giving all those bozos such a cute idea. You gonna pay to sweep our streets? *********** Paul McGuire on Warren Sapp's blindside lick on Chad Clifton: "I'm tellin' ya - it was a good hit."
Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.) A one year tour of duty had been established for all US forces in Vietnam, causing the turnover phenomenon, and very few men would volunteer to extend. This was not surprising. The tempo of operations in the 1st Infantry Division was phenomenal, and the work wasboth physically and mentally exhausting. Asoldier who spent a year there, particularly in an infantry battalion, was worn out. There were exceptions to this, but the grueling pace in a grueling environment took its toll on the stamina of all men.
TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -
It is our intention to continue with the Black Lion Award next year. Thank You - NAME & SCHOOL WITHHELD I appreciate your taking the time to write. I imagine it was not the easiest of years if you don't have a worthy nominee. I appreciate your honesty. It is people like you who recognize the importance of high standards that help make this the sort of award we envisioned when we established it.
inscribed on the wall of the 1st
Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
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